DETAILED ACTION
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 and 2 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 recites the limitation “the surface of the first member that is away from the prescribed axis” in the last paragraph. Examiner recognizes that the claim previously recites “a surface of the first member on a side opposite from the rotating table.” However, because this recitation does not state that the ‘surface of the first member’ is ‘away from the prescribed axis,’ it is unclear as to whether Applicant intends the limitation to refer to the ‘surface of the first member’ previously set forth in the claim, or whether Applicant intends to set forth a second ‘surface of the first member’ which is separate and independent from the ‘surface of the first member’ previously set forth. For the purposes of this Office Action, Examiner will interpret the limitation as “a second surface of the first member which is away from the prescribed axis.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakano (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2011/0108305) in view of Nagai (U.S. Patent Application Number 2011/0163490, cited in IDS).
As to claim 1, Nakano teaches a positioner (abstract) comprising: a first member (figure 2, the housing being the ‘first member,’ see below; paragraph 63).
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Nakano further teaches a rotating table supported so as to rotate about a prescribed axis relative to the first member (figure 2, element 12 being the ‘rotating table’; paragraph 64); a motor that is disposed so as to be parallel to and offset from the prescribed axis, the motor being configured to rotationally drive the rotating table (figure 2, element 8 being the ‘motor’; paragraph 59); a reducer being configured to reduce a rotation of the motor and transmit the reduced rotation to the rotating table (figure 2, elements 6 and 7 being the ‘reducer’; paragraph 59); a power supply cable (figure 2, element 201 being the ‘power supply cable’; paragraphs 63 – 64); and a hollow section that passes through the first member, the rotating table, and the reducer in a direction following the prescribed axis within regions that include the prescribed axis (figure 2, see below).
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Nakano further teaches that the rotating table is configured to detachably secure one end of the power supply cable (figure 2, elements 201 and 12). Examiner notes that this can be found because the power supply cable is configured such that it may be wrapped or tied around radial ends of the rotating table, such that the power supply cable is ‘detachable secured’ to the rotating table. Nakano further taches that the first member is configured to detachably secure a current collector brush that can be attached to and detached from the one end of the power supply cable, radially outside the hollow section, on a surface of the first member on a side opposite from the rotating table (figure 2, see below). Examiner notes that the claim merely requires that a surface of the first member be configured to allow for attachment and detachment of a ‘current collector brush.’ The claims do not require the positioner to comprise the ‘current collector brush.’
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Nakano further teaches that the power supply cable has a portion having a U-shape after the power supply cable extends, from a vicinity of a second surface of the first member that is away from the prescribed axis, in a direction away from the rotating table so that, in a case in which the current collector brush is not attached to the first member, the one end of the power supply cable passes through the hollow section along the prescribed axis to be detachably secured to the rotating table (figure 2, elements 201, 2, and 12, see below). Examiner notes that this can be found because, while the second surface of the first member extends radially around the prescribed axis, the second surface of the first member is away from the prescribed axis (figure 2, see below). The power supply cable also passes through the hollow section along the prescribed axis and includes a U-shaped portion (figure 2, element 201, see below).
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However, Nakano does not teach the reducer being disposed between the first member and the rotating table. Nagai teaches a positioner (abstract) comprising: a first member (figures 1 and 2, element 20 being the ‘first member,’ paragraph 35); a rotating table supported so as to rotate about a prescribed axis relative to the first member (figures 1 and 2, element 4 being the ‘rotating table’; paragraph 35); a motor that is disposed so as to be parallel to and offset from the axis and is configured to rotationally drive the rotating table (figure 2, element 8 being the ‘motor’; paragraph 36); and a reducer configured to reduce a rotation of the motor and transmit the reduced rotation to the rotating table (figure 2, elements 6 and 7 being the ‘reducer’; paragraph 36). Nagai further teaches that the reducer is disposed between the first member and the rotating table (figure 2, elements 6, 20, and 4). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to substitute the reducer of Nagai, which is disposed between the first member and the rotating table, for the reducer of Nakano, which is disposed away from each of the first member and the rotating table, because one skilled in the art would have appreciated that either reducer would provide the same benefit of reducing a rotation of the motor, as desired by Nakano (paragraph 59).
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakano in view of Nagai as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee (German Patent Number DE 10 2016 226319 A1).
As to claim 2, Nakano does not teach a base or the first member comprising a shaft part. Lee teaches a positioner (machine translation, paragraph 1) comprising: a first member (figure 3, element 110 being the ‘first member,’ machine translation, paragraph 30); a rotating table supported so as to rotate about a prescribed axis relative to the first member (figure 3, element 130 being the ‘rotating table’; machine translation, paragraphs 30 and 33); a motor that is disposed so as to be parallel to and offset from the prescribed axis, the motor being configured to rotationally drive the rotating table (figure 4, element 111 being the ‘motor’; machine translation, paragraph 41); and a reducer being configured to reduce a rotation of the motor and transmit the reduced rotation to the rotating table (figure 4, elements 112 and 113 being the ‘reducer’; machine translation, paragraph 41). Lee further teaches a base that is installed on a horizontal installation face (machine translation, paragraph 34, wherein the ‘machining center’ is the ‘base’), wherein the first member includes a shaft part that is supported so as to be rotatable about a horizontal first axis orthogonal to the prescribed axis relative to the base (figure 3, element 120 being the ‘shaft part’; machine translation, paragraphs 30 and 32), and also includes a hollow path that extends along the first axis from an end portion of the shaft part, in a region including the first axis, and that opens to the surface (figure 3, element 120). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to substitute the first member of Lee, which comprises a shaft part rotatable about a horizontal first axis, for the first member of Nakano, because Lee teaches that such a first member provides a benefit of allowing the positioner to rotate about the horizontal first axis (machine translation, paragraph 32), which one skilled in the art would appreciate as providing a benefit of allowing additional access to the given workpiece, as desired by Nakano (paragraphs 1 and 9).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 23, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues, on pages 4 – 8, that Nakano does not teach ‘the power supply cable having a portion having a U-shape after the power supply cable extends, from a vicinity of a second surface of the first member that is away from the prescribed axis, in a direction away from the rotating table so that, in a case in which the current collector brush is not attached to the first member, the one end of the power supply cable passes through the hollow section along the prescribed axis to be detachably secured to the rotating table,’ as recited by claim 1. Examiner disagrees. Examiner first notes that Applicant seems to base their arguments on the embodiment of Nakano described in Figure 1. However, Examiner notes that the rejections set forth in the Office Action as well as the previous Office Action were based on the embodiment of Nakano set forth in Figure 2, which is separate from the embodiment of Figure 1. Regardless, it is the position of the Examiner that Nakano teaches the given limitation because Nakano teaches a second surface that is located away from the prescribed axis (figure 2, see below), and the power supply cable passing through the hollow section along the prescribed axis and includes a U-shaped portion (figure 2, element 201, see below).
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Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/CHRISTOPHER J. BESLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726