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 without traverse of Species I, claims 1-15 in the reply filed on 7/6/26 is acknowledged. Thus, claims 16-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species II-III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/6/26.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed method invention as representing in claim 1 entirely (see lines 1-19) must be shown in proper diagram formats or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed to.
“in an example, a method “(see abstract line 1) should be updated to: -- A method --.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Since the scope of the claims directed to “a method for assembling of a modular cable that assisted by a robotic insertion system” (see claim 1, line 2, 4, 69, 12, 15) and the same features of the robotic insertion system also existed throughout the claims. Therefore, it is suggested the preamble should be include the use of “a robotic insertion system” and the rest of claims 2-15 should also be updated to reflect the changes as suggested above.
In formulate the rejection on the merits of claims 1-15, the Examiner presumes that claims directed to “A method operatively associated with a robotic insertion system for assembly a modular cable connector, and claims will be rejected accordingly.
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 1-15 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.
Many terms or phrases is/are awkwardly worded, unclear and confusing and should be rewritten into the proper method claim format (see below).
The phrase: “A method for assembly of a modular cable connector, the method comprising:” (preamble should be updated to:
-- A method operatively associated with a robotic insertion system for assembly a modular cable connector, comprising steps of:”--
The phrase: “at an end effector affixed to an articulated robot arm of a robotic insertion system, holding a cable insert module for insertion into a module slot of a module retainer; “(claim 1, lines 2-4) should be changed to reflect the inventive method step:
--" holding a cable insert module for insertion into a module slot of a module retainer by an end effector affixed to an articulated robot arm of a robotic insertion system;” --.
The phrase: “via a camera system of the robotic insertion system, capturing two or more images of the module retainer, wherein at least one of the two or more images is captured while the module retainer is illuminated by a laser alignment system of the robotic insertion system;” (claim 1, lines 5-8) should be updated to:
--"capturing two or more images of the module retainer by a camera system of the robotic insertion system, wherein at least one of the two or more images is captured while the module retainer is illuminated by a laser alignment feature of the robotic insertion system; “—
The phrase: “at a controller of the robotic insertion system, performing image processing on the two or more images to identify a segmented image region corresponding to the module retainer, and to identify a virtual plane parallel to a face of the module retainer;” (claim 1, lines 9-11) should be:
-- performing image processing on the two or more images to identify a segmented image region corresponding to the module retainer and to identify a virtual plane parallel to a face of the module retainer by a controller of the robotic insertion system;” --.
The phrase: “controlling the articulated robot arm to move the cable insert module to an alignment pose determined based, at least in part, on the segmented image region and the virtual plane; controlling the articulated robot arm to move the cable insert module from the alignment pose toward an insertion pose; and “ (claim 1, lines 12-16) do not appear to further limit the claimed method, since above terms or phrases directed to the operation of the robotic insertion system rather than the method of assembly.
The phrase: “upon insertion of the cable insert module into the module slot of the module retainer, releasing the cable insert module from the end effector to thereby at least partially assemble the modular cable connector” (claim 1, lines 17-19) should also updated to reflect method assembly the following is suggested.
-- releasing the cable insert module from the end effector upon insertion of the cable insert module into the module slot of the module retainer to obtain the assemble the modular cable connector” --.
It is also suggested claims 2-15 must be updated to positively active method claim formats to reflect changes as noted in base claim 1 above.
Claims 2-3 directed to an operation of the robotic insertion system which does not further limit the assembly method as claimed in claim 1 above.
like claims 2-3 above applied to claims 6-7 since no inventive method feature existed thereto.
Claims 8-14 directed to outside elements (e.g., structure element of the camera system) which made scope of these claims unclear.
“are inserted” (claim 15, line 1) not positively method limitation, the use of “inserting one or more cable.” is suggested.
The above are examples of inconsistencies and problematic issues noticed by the Examiner. Applicant is respectfully asked to review the application for any deficiency that may still be present.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-15 as best understood is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi et al (JP2016058320A).
Yamaguchi et al discloses the claimed method for assembly of a modular cable connector, the method comprising:
at an end effector affixed 20A/20B to an articulated robot arm of a robotic insertion system, holding a cable insert module for insertion into a module slot of a module retainer or housing 10 (see Figs. 1-2, and discussion in ¶ [0021];
via a camera system of the robotic insertion system, capturing two or more images of the module retainer, wherein at least one of the two or more images is captured while the module retainer is illuminated by a laser alignment system of the robotic insertion system (see "An alignment device for terminal insertion of this embodiment is provided with camera 210 carried in terminal insertion head 25, illumination part 220, and laser light source 230 as shown in Fig. 6. Camera 210, illumination part 220, and laser light source 230 are attached to a member which moves with terminal insertion head 25 of a terminal insertion apparatus shown, for example in Fig. 4" in paragraph [0063]);
at a controller of the robotic insertion system, performing image processing on the two or more images to identify a segmented image region corresponding to the module retainer, and to identify a virtual plane parallel to a face of the module retainer ((see "Camera 210 contains a two-dimensional image pick-up device (for example, CCD), can photo a two-dimensional picture of a photographic subject which exists in the predetermined direction, and can output information on an image. Illumination part 220 can build in a LED source and can illuminate the photography direction of camera 210. Although mentioned below for details, laser light source 230 can emit a laser beam towards a direction sloping to the photography direction of camera 210 see discusses in paragraph [0079]));
controlling the articulated robot arm to move the cable insert module to an alignment pose determined based, at least in part, on the segmented image region and the virtual plane (see an outline of an alignment device for terminal insertion, and above-mentioned terminal insertion apparatus, When inserting terminal 91 into cavity (cave) 81 of connector housing 80 supported by housing receptacle 11, position Together of a position of applicable cavity 81 and the position of terminal 91 must be relatively carried out with high precision" in light discussion in paragraph [0059]);
controlling the articulated robot arm to move the cable insert module from the alignment pose toward an insertion pose (see "[Terminal insertion] Then, a series of processing’s for inserting terminal 91 in connector housing 80" in paragraph [0047, 0048]); and
upon insertion of the cable insert module into the module slot of the module retainer, releasing the cable insert module from the end effector to thereby at least partially assemble the modular cable connector (see "mobile 32 will open conveyance zipper 33 and electric wire carrier 30 will release electric wire 90, as shown in Fig. 37 (A)-37 (B) and discussed in paragraph [0053]), respectively.
Note that claims 1-15 are not clearly directed to the method of assembly due to the claim objection to and the issues of 112 above.
Limitations of claims 2-15 do not appear to contain any additional inventive method features when depart from the applied reference above. Therefore, the system features of above claims cannot contribute to an inventive method limitation feature.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH N TRINH whose telephone number is (571)272-4569. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH ~5:00-3:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas J Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINH N TRINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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