DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Examiner comment(s)
An inventor’s oath/declaration is not received from the applicant as of the date of this office action (see previous Miscellaneous communication dated 09/26/2023).
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) [ 1, 2, 3, 4 and 10 ] is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boletis et al. (Patent No.: US 8,791,607 B2 and Boletis hereinafter) in view of Rohner et al. (Pub.No.: US 2014/0139050 A1 and Rohner hereinafter).
As to claim 1, A rotatable linear actuator, comprising:
an actuator body;
a drive shaft arranged within the actuator body, the drive shaft having a longitudinal axis and configured to be linearly actuated along and rotatable around the longitudinal axis within the actuator body, wherein the drive shaft is configured to be coupled at a first end thereof to a linearly actuated component that is configured to receive linear and rotational movement;
one or more permanent magnets coupled to the drive shaft and magnetized in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis; and
one or more electric coils disposed within the actuator body around the one or more permanent magnets and configured to receive an electric current that interacts with a magnetic field of the one or more permanent magnets to generate an axial force to linearly actuate the drive shaft.
(Boletis teaches (figs.1-9c, (col.1, lines 3-5), (col.3, lines 20-21), (col.4, lines 5-28), “linear drive 1 in a combined rotary-lifting motor 33”, see (col.6, lines 33-35) & “linear motors”, see (col.7, lines 37-40))
a rotatable linear actuator such as a rotatable linear drive/motor 1 (figs.1, 8), comprising:
an actuator body/housing 7, 28 (figs.1, 8);
a drive shaft 8/8a arranged within the actuator body/housing 7 (figs.1, 8, (col.4, lines 5-28), (col.6, lines 35-39)) the drive shaft 8 having a longitudinal axis (see figs.1, 8) and configured to be linearly actuated along and rotatable around the longitudinal axis within the actuator body/housing 7 (figs.1, 8, (col.4, lines 5-28), (col.5, lines 30-35), (col.6, lines 49-51));
one or more permanent magnets 4, 5 (of magnet system 3, figs.1, 8) coupled to the drive shaft 8 and magnetized in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis (fig.1, (col.4, lines 18-40)); and
one or more electric coils 37 (of winding system 2, figs.1, 8) disposed within the actuator body/housing 7 around the one or more permanent magnets 4, 5 and configured to receive an electric current that interacts with a magnetic field of the one or more permanent magnets 4, 5 to generate an axial force to linearly actuate the drive shaft 8/8a (see (col.4, lines 40-50).
Boletis teaches the drive shaft 8/8a (figs.1, 8), but do not mention the drive shaft is configured to be coupled at a first end thereof to a linearly actuated component that is configured to receive linear and rotational movement;
Rohner teaches a combined rotary and linear device (figs.1-4, par’s [0001], [0002], [0003], lines 1-6, [0034] thru [0042]), wherein the drive shaft 30 (figs.1-4) is configured to be coupled at a first end thereof to a linearly actuated component [step-down gear 40] (figs.1-4) that is configured to receive linear and rotational movement (see para’s [0043], [0044], [0046], & [0049].
Given the combined teaching of Boletis and Rohner, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was filed to have the drive shaft is configured to be coupled at a first end thereof to a linearly actuated component that is configured to receive linear and rotational movement of Rohner in the system of Boletis because a product can be gripped, lifted, rotated and set down (para. [0002]) and a rotationally secure, transverse-force resistant and tilting-resistant arrangement of the step down gear can be achieved (para’s [0021]-[0022].)
As to claim 2, The rotatable linear actuator of claim 1, further comprising an electric motor disposed within the actuator body and configured to rotate a rotationally actuated component.
(Boletis teaches (figs.1, 8) The rotatable linear actuator 1 of claim 1, further comprising an electric motor 27 disposed within the actuator body/housing 7, 28 and configured to rotate a drive shaft 8/8a (fig.8, (col.6, lines 33-51)).
However, Boletis does not mention motor is configured to rotate a rotationally actuated component.
Rohner teaches a rotary motor 20 (figs.1-4, para’s [0038] thru [0042]) is configured to rotate a rotationally actuated component [step-down gear 40] (see figs.1-4, para’s [0043], [0044], [0046], & [0049]).
Given the combined teaching of Boletis and Rohner, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was filed to have an electric motor disposed within the actuator body and configured to rotate a rotationally actuated component of Rohner in the system of Boletis because a product can be gripped, lifted, rotated and set down (para. [0002]) and a rotationally secure, transverse-force resistant and tilting-resistant arrangement of the step down gear can be achieved (para’s [0021]-[0022].)
As to claim 3, The rotatable linear actuator of claim 1, wherein the one or more permanent magnets are coupled to the drive shaft at a second end thereof.
(Boletis teaches (figs.1,3, 8) The rotatable linear actuator 1 of claim 1, wherein the one or more permanent magnets 4 are coupled to the drive shaft 8 at a second end thereof [left side], see fig.3)
As to claim 4, The rotatable linear actuator of claim 1, comprising two permanent magnets and two corresponding electric coils each disposed around a respective of the two permanent magnets, wherein the two permanent magnets have opposite polarity.
(Boletis teaches (figs.1, 8) The rotatable linear actuator 1 of claim 1,
comprising at least two permanent magnets 4, 5 and two corresponding electric coils 37 each disposed around a respective of the two permanent magnets 4, 5, wherein the two permanent magnets have opposite polarity such as shown with (opposing magnetic arrows, see fig.1).)
As to claim 10, The rotatable linear actuator of claim 1, further comprising a sensor
configured to measure a position of the drive shaft.
(Boletis teaches (figs.1, 8) the rotatable linear actuator of claim 1, further comprising a sensor 10 configured to measure a position of the drive shaft 8 ((col.1, lines 43-45) (col.2, lines 51-59) & (col.4, lines 51-54)).
Allowable Subject-Matter
Claims 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record(s) fails to teach the limitations of claims 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11-20.
Citation of pertinent prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Portegies et al. (US 5,789,830) teaches (figs.1-3, abstract) a linear/rotary drive actuator 10 wherein an actuating component [probe 14] to assist in gripping parts is driven by a shaft 40 of a rotary motor 32, wherein the probe 14 receives both rotational and translational movements ((col.3, lines 55-67), (col.4, lines 1-8), col. 5, lines 1-35).)
Fick et al. (Pub. No.: US 2013/0127264 A1) teaches a combination drive for rotary and linear movements (figs.1-5, abstract, para [0004].)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTONY M PAUL whose telephone number is (571)270-1608. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8 am to 4 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached on 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Antony M Paul/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846 07/10/2025
