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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Under the Foreign Patent Documents section, Cite No 1 has been struck through since there is no portion of the patent provided with an English translation.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figures 2, 2a and 3 show cross sectional views, yet none of them show the proper cross hatching for such views. Hatching must be used to indicate section portions of an object, and must be made by regularly spaced oblique parallel lines spaced sufficiently apart to enable the lines to be distinguished without difficulty, 37 CFR 1.84(h)(3).
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 Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: lines 4-5 should likely be amended to recite --opening chambers, and two discharge--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office 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.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the on/off type" in line 2. Claim 9 recites the limitation "the two-way, two-position type" in line 3, the limitation “the passage of air from the inlet port” in lines 3-4 and the limitation “the passage of air from the respective jaw closing and opening chambers” in lines 5-6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 and 10-12 are allowed.
Claims 8 and 9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: MacFarlane et al. (US 2020/0375388 A1) (“MacFarlane”) teaches a pneumatic gripper ¶ [0327], comprising a shell that forms an internal gripper compartment wherein a pneumatic actuation group and an electronic command and control board [0173] for commanding and controlling the pneumatic actuation group are housed, two gripping jaws 630 [0345], [0422] commanded by the pneumatic actuation group so as to be translatable along a jaw translation axis between a jaw opening position and a jaw closing position, wherein the pneumatic actuation group comprises:
an internal body wherein two pneumatic chambers 9610 [0720] are formed, which extend along respective chamber axes parallel to each other, a jaw actuation piston 9560 being slidably housed in each pneumatic chamber (Figs. 97A and 97B), each pneumatic chamber being divided by the respective jaw actuation piston into a jaw closing chamber and a jaw opening chamber;
cartridge solenoid valves [0456] housed in respective valve seats formed in the internal body and suitable to control a passage of air from an inlet port to the jaw closing and opening chambers and from the jaw closing and opening chambers to one or more discharge ports;
a transducer shaft 9710 being operatively connected to the jaw actuation pistons;
and wherein the electronic command and control board is provided with:
electrical connection means suitable to create an electrical connection with the cartridge solenoid valves [0563]-[0564];
a position sensor [0720] operatively coupled to the transducer shaft; and
at least two pressure sensors [0576], [0624].
MacFarlane does not specifically teach a pneumatic gripper which comprises:
an internal body wherein two pneumatic chambers are formed, which extend along respective chamber axes parallel to each other and to the jaw translation axis, a jaw actuation piston being slidably housed in each pneumatic chamber, each pneumatic chamber being divided by the respective jaw actuation piston into a jaw closing chamber and a jaw opening chamber, each gripping jaw being rigidly connected to a respective jaw actuation piston;
a transducer shaft that extends with possibility of axial rotation along a shaft axis perpendicular to the chamber axes in a shaft seat provided in the internal body, the transducer shaft being operatively connected to the jaw actuation pistons so as to be rotationally actuated by a translation of the jaw actuation pistons; and
wherein the electronic command and control board is provided with:
at least two chamber pressure sensors suitable to measure air pressure in the jaw closing and opening chambers, respectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CATHERINE A LOIKITH whose telephone number is (571)270-7822. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Doug Hutton can be reached at 571-272-4137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Catherine Loikith/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674
30 July 2026
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