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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 1/19/2024 has been considered. An initialed copy of form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because are not of sufficient quality. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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- 20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the phrases “driven assembly” and “driving assembly;” whereas, the “driven assembly” is “for driving the load to rotate;” implies, both assemblies are performing the driving function. Hence, it’s not clear what the difference between the two phrases used in the claim. Therefore, rendering claim 1 vague and unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers, thereby rendering the definition of the subject-matter of said claim unclear. The structure which goes to make up the device must be clearly and positively specified. The structure must be organized and correlated in such a manner as to present a complete operative device.
Claim 1 recites the "the driving component" in the limitation “wherein the driving component comprises a fixed component and a rotating component”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for "the driving component" in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the phrase “movably matched.” It’s not clear what the matching concept is characterized in this limitation. Therefore, rendering claim 4 vague and unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers, thereby rendering the definition of the subject-matter of said claim unclear. The structure which goes to make up the device must be clearly and positively specified. The structure must be organized and correlated in such a manner as to present a complete operative device.
Claim 11 is method claim depend from claim 1 which is apparatus claim. The claim is held ambiguous; therefore, rendering claim 11 vague, unclear and indefinite.
Claims 2- 19 are rejected by virtue of its dependency on claim 1, thereby containing all the limitations of the claim on which they depend.
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.
Claims 1- 4, 10,12-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fan et al. (CN 209624050 U).
So far as the claims are understood
Re. claim 1, Fan discloses in figure 1 a rotary driving device, for driving a load (12) to rotate, comprising:
a driven assembly for driving the load to rotate (the loading motor/shaft 12);
a driving assembly (drive motor 11 and shaft 13) for outputting torque, wherein the driving component comprises a fixed component (motor 11 housing) and a rotating component (motor 11 rotor coupled to shaft 13), the rotating component is rotatably connected to the fixed component (motor base 3);
a torque transmission member (torque reducer 61) connected to the rotating component (shaft 13) and the driven assembly (the loading motor/shaft 12), wherein the rotating component is configured to drive the driven assembly to rotate through the torque transmission member (as shown in figure 1);
a first torque sensor (torque sensor 42) connected to the fixed component and the torque transmission member ( 61) and configured for detecting a torque acting on the first torque sensor from the torque transmission member (61); and
a second torque sensor (torque sensor 41) disposed on the driven assembly (drive motor 11 and shaft 13) and configured for detecting an output torque from the driving assembly (drive motor 11 and shaft 13).
Re. Claim 2, Fan discloses wherein the fixed component comprises a motor support (motor base 3) and a motor stator, the rotating component comprises a motor rotor (inherent feature of motor); the motor support, the motor stator and the motor rotor form a rotating motor (motor 11 rotor coupled to shaft 13); the motor stator is fixedly disposed on the motor support, the motor rotor is rotatably connected to the motor support through a first bearing (71), and the motor stator is capable of driving the motor rotor to rotate (inherent feature of motor).
Re. Claim 3, Fan discloses a control component, wherein the control component is electrically connected to the rotating motor (PLC: numerical control system for detecting and drawing torque angle curve-as shown in FIG. 4); the rotating motor further comprises an incremental encoder (encoder 14), the incremental encoder is disposed on an end of the rotating motor (motor 11 rotor coupled to shaft 13), and the incremental encoder is configured for measuring a rotating speed of the motor rotor; the control component is capable of adjusting a variation of a rotational speed of the motor rotor according to a measurement result of the incremental encoder (Figure 3 is displaying the angle change curve of each angle in a rotating (output end); so as to obtain the speed reducer transmission error value of actual motion error curve).
Re. Claim 4, Fan discloses the fixed component comprises a mounting seat (see supporting seat 51, 15, 52 and 72), the mounting seat is fixedly connected to the motor support (motor base 3); the rotary driving device further comprises a brake, and the brake is disposed at the mounting seat, and the brake is movably matched with the motor rotor to brake the motor rotor.
Re. claims 10 and 20, see Fan, claim 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 11- 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan et al. (CN 209624050 U) in view of Zhang et al. (J. Zhang and H. Feng, "The permanent magnet rotating (angular) acceleration sensor and a new method of mechanical rotating system torsional vibration measuring," 2017 29th Chinese Control And Decision Conference (CCDC), Chongqing, China, 2017, pp. 1940-1945.)
Re. Claim 11, Fan discloses the steps of:
disposing a load on a driven assembly (on the loading motor 12);
starting a driving assembly to accelerate a rotation of the rotating component (the drive motor 11 is accelerated to 2000- 3000r/min);
the rotating component accelerating a rotation of the driven assembly through the torque transmission member (loading motor 12 is coupled to the drive motor 11 through the speed reducer 72);
measuring a output torque G2 from the driving assembly by a second torque sensor disposed on the driven assembly (signal generated by torque sensor 42);
measuring a torque G1from the torque transmission member by a first torque sensor connected with the torque transmission member (signal generated by torque sensor 41).
Fan does not discloses correcting a system error of the rotary driving device by means of a formula: G2- G1 =M*a. Zhang discloses correcting a system error of the rotary driving device by means of a formula: G2- G1 =M*a (see equation (1) in paragraph 3, wherein
d
Ω
d
t
is equivalent to the angular acceleration a.) Hence, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Fan with the teaching of Zhang to use the equation (1) taught in Zhang in order to correct the system error to meet the measurement requirements of rotation acceleration of different rotating machinery systems.
Re. Claim 12, Fan discloses wherein the fixed component comprises a motor support (motor base 3) and a motor stator, the rotating component comprises a motor rotor (inherent feature of motor); the motor support, the motor stator and the motor rotor form a rotating motor (motor 11 rotor coupled to shaft 13); the motor stator is fixedly disposed on the motor support, the motor rotor is rotatably connected to the motor support through a first bearing (71), and the motor stator is capable of driving the motor rotor to rotate (inherent feature of motor).
Re. Claim and 13, Fan discloses a control component, wherein the control component is electrically connected to the rotating motor (PLC: numerical control system for detecting and drawing torque angle curve-as shown in FIG. 4); the rotating motor further comprises an incremental encoder (encoder 14), the incremental encoder is disposed on an end of the rotating motor (motor 11 rotor coupled to shaft 13), and the incremental encoder is configured for measuring a rotating speed of the motor rotor; the control component is capable of adjusting a variation of a rotational speed of the motor rotor according to a measurement result of the incremental encoder (Figure 3 is displaying the angle change curve of each angle in a rotating (output end); so as to obtain the speed reducer transmission error value of actual motion error curve).
Re. Claim 14, Fan discloses the fixed component comprises a mounting seat (see supporting seat 51, 15, 52 and 72), the mounting seat is fixedly connected to the motor support (motor base 3); the rotary driving device further comprises a brake, and the brake is disposed at the mounting seat, and the brake is movably matched with the motor rotor to brake the motor rotor.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 5-9 and 15- 19 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/SAID BOUZIANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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