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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species 1 in the reply filed on 11/09/2024 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Species 1 and Species 2-9 “are similar species” and that a search for one species would encompass a search for the remaining species. This is not found persuasive because as set forth in the Restriction Requirement mailed on 09/12/2024, there is an examination burden in that different search strategies and search queries would have to be employed to examine all of the numerous embodiments.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 5-8 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 09/12/2024.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3 Line 2: The Examiner recommends amending “the robot includes, as the heat generating member, a first motor” to --the heat generating member is a first motor-- for the sake of simplicity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 Line 6: The recitation “a tip end side of the robot arm” is indefinite. In particular, it is unclear in light of Applicant’s election of Species 1 (Figs. 1-3) how the limitation is meant to be interpreted. Applicant’s originally filed disclosure sets forth the robot arm as being element 20, which is made up of the first arm 22 and the second arm 23. In Species 1, the first opening section (51) is located in the middle of the overall robot arm, and on the distal end of the first arm portion (see Fig. 2). Further, Claim 2, as addressed below, recites that the second arm is connected to a tip end section of the first arm, yet from Claim 1 the first opening is at the tip end of the overall robot arm, which appears to be more in line with Species 2 (see Fig. 4). For the purpose of this Office Action, the limitation is going to be interpreted as the robot arm having multiple tip end sections, such as one on the first arm and another on the second arm.
Claim 1 Line 7: The recitation “further toward a first axis side” is indefinite. In particular, it is unclear what the first axis side is part of (e.g. the base section or the robot arm).
Claim 2 Line 4: The recitation “a second arm connected to a tip end section of the first arm” is indefinite. In particular, it is unclear how to interpret the limitation based on Applicant’s election of Species 2. Claim 1 recites that the first opening section is at a tip end of the robot arm, and Claim 2 sets forth that the first arm is the middle arm segment connecting the second arm to the base section, yet the first opening is at the tip end of the overall arm. In contrast, see Applicant’s Fig. 2, Species 1 has the first opening at the tip end of the first arm, and not the overall robot arm (e.g. which would require the first opening to be located on the second arm).
Claims 3-4 and 9 are rejected due to their dependency on a rejected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Manome (US 2024/0326238).
Regarding Claim 1, Manome (Figure 6 Embodiment) discloses a robot (100) comprising:
A base section (201).
A robot arm (8, 9) connected to the base section along a first axis (J1) and configured to pivot about the first axis (see Fig. 6).
A heat generating member (2).
A first opening section (17) arranged at a tip end side of the robot arm (see Fig. 6).
A second opening section (201a) arranged further toward a first axis side than is the first opening section of the robot arm or arranged in the base section (see Fig. 6).
A flow path (W1, W2) communicating between the first opening section and the second opening section and through which outside air flows from the second opening section toward the first opening section by operation of the robot arm (see Figs. 6).
Wherein the heat generating member is arranged at a position along the flow path (see Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 2, Manome further discloses the robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot arm includes:
A first arm (8) configured to pivot about the first axis (see Fig. 1; see also [0093]).
A second arm (9) connected to a tip end section of the first arm along a second axis and configured to pivot about the second axis (see Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Manome further discloses the robot according to claim 2,
Wherein the robot includes, as the heat generating member, a first motor (20) that is provided on the base section (see Fig. 6), that drives the first arm (see Fig. 6), and that has a first hollow section (231).
The second opening section is arranged in the base section (see Fig. 6)
The flow path includes the first hollow section (see Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 4, Manome further discloses the robot according to claim 3, wherein the first opening section is arranged at a tip end side of the first arm (see Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 9, Manome further discloses the robot according to claim 1, wherein the first opening section is positioned vertically above the second opening section (see Fig. 6).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Furukawa et al. (US 2013/0156534): See Figs. 3-4, showing openings 61a and 52, with a flow path indicated by arrows.
Shao et al. (US 10,814,503): See Figs. 2-3, showing openings 13 and 15, with a flow path indicated by arrows.
Hahakura et al. (US 10,906,171): See Fig. 18, showing openings 41a and D, with a flow path indicated by arrows.
Zemlok et al. (US 11,510,747): See Fig. 7, showing openings at a left side and a right side as the figure is oriented, and a flow path indicated by arrows.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY WEBER whose telephone number is (571)272-3307. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F.
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/GREGORY ROBERT WEBER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618