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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 17 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: the phrase “wherein an input is detected” in claim 17 in line 16 should be re-written to “wherein the input is detected’ if it’s the same input disclosed in line 12. The phrase “a deviation” in line 4 in claim 19 has similar issue because claim 18 in line 13 already discloses “a deviation”. The examiner requests applicant to correct other informalities, if any. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The phrase “wherein the rotor is used as an input device, wherein an input is detected by detecting a position of the rotor magnetic field with the aid of the magnetic field sensor and comparing it to a position expected on the basis of the energization of the coil arrangement, and wherein a deviation of the position from the expected position is determined as an external movement” is already a part of claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 18, 1, 2, 7, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PENNEKAMP DE 102018129731 A1 in a view of Matsuo et al. US 2004/0257027 A1.
Regarding claim 18, PENNEKAMP discloses
A planar drive system having: at least a stator module (item 10th) and a rotor (item 200), wherein the stator module comprises at least a stator assembly with at least a coil (item 125) arrangement, wherein the coil arrangement is energized and is configured to generate a stator magnetic field above a stator surface due to an energization, wherein the stator module comprises at least one magnetic field sensor, wherein the rotor comprises a magnet arrangement and is movable above the stator surface with the aid of an interaction between the stator magnetic field and a rotor magnetic field of the magnet arrangement, wherein the rotor is used as an input device and/or as an output device
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PENNEKAMP does not disclose but Matsuo et al. disclose
wherein a controller (fig. 1, item 4) is configured to compare a position of the rotor magnetic field detected with the aid of the magnetic field sensor (via an encoder) to a position expected on the basis of the energization of the coil arrangement (induced voltage) and to determine a deviation of the position from the expected position as an external movement and thereby to recognize an input, and/or wherein the controller is arranged to control an output via a predetermined movement of the rotor and, for this purpose, to energize the coil arrangement in such a way that the rotor moves as defined by the predetermined movement [0029, 0035, 0077] (Bold portion is optional which has not given any patentable weight).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a controller to compare a position as disclosed by Matsuo in PENNEKAMP’s teachings to perform a safe and highly reliable motor control (see PENNEKAMP’s paragraph 0002)
Regarding claim 1, Matsuo and PENNEKAMP discloses
A method for operating a planar drive system, the planar drive system comprising: at least a stator module and a rotor, the stator module comprising at least a stator assembly having at least a coil arrangement, wherein the coil arrangement is energized and is configured to generate a stator magnetic field above a stator surface due to an energization, wherein the stator module comprises at least a magnetic field sensor, and wherein the rotor comprises a magnet arrangement and is movable above the stator surface with the aid of an interaction between the stator magnetic field and a rotor magnetic field of the magnet arrangement; wherein the rotor is used as an input device, wherein an input is detected by detecting a position of the rotor magnetic field with the aid of the magnetic field sensor and comparing it to a position expected on the basis of the energization of the coil arrangement, and wherein a deviation of the position from the expected position is determined as an external movement; and/or wherein the rotor is used as an output device, wherein an output is provided via a predetermined movement of the rotor, wherein the coil arrangement are energized in such a way that the rotor moves as defined by the predetermined movement (see claim 18 for details) (Bold portion is optional which has not given any patentable weight).
Regarding claim 2, PENNEKAMP discloses
, wherein the rotor is used as an input device, wherein an input is detected by detecting a position of the rotor magnetic field with the aid of the magnetic field sensor and comparing it to a position expected on the basis of the energization of the coil arrangement, and wherein a deviation of the position from the expected position is determined as an external movement [0029, 0035, 0077].
Regarding claim 7, PENNEKAMP discloses
, wherein the external movement is used to energize one or more coil arrangement in such a way that the rotor and/or a further rotor carries out a predetermined movement.
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Regarding claim 17, PENNEKAMP discloses
A method for operating a planar drive system, the planar drive system comprising: at least a stator module (item 10) and a rotor (item 200), the stator module comprising at least a stator assembly having at least one coil arrangement (item 125), the coil arrangement being energizable and being configured to generate a stator magnetic field above a stator surface due to an energization, wherein the rotor comprises a magnet arrangement and is movable above the stator surface with the aid of an interaction between the stator magnetic field and a rotor magnetic field of the magnet arrangement; wherein the rotor is used as an input device, the stator module comprising at least a magnetic field sensor, the magnetic field sensor detecting the rotor magnetic field in order to determine the position of the rotor;
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PENNEKAMP does not disclose but Matsuo et al. disclose
and wherein an input is detected in that a position of the rotor expected on the basis of the energization of the coil arrangement to a detected position of the rotor is compared, and a deviation of the position from the expected position is evaluated as a position drag error and detected over time, and/or where an input is detected that the amount of an additional energization of the coil arrangement, which is carried out in order to maintain the position of the rotor to be expected due to the energization of the coil arrangement, is determined and evaluated as an external force and detected over time, wherein the position drag error and/or the external force is evaluated as an external movement in combination with the respective time duration and is assigned to a predetermined input event [0029, 0035, 0077].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to compare a position and using a deviation as disclosed by Matsuo in PENNEKAMP’s teachings to perform a safe and highly reliable motor control (see PENNEKAMP’s paragraph 0002)
Regarding claim 19, Matsuo et al. disclose
, wherein: an input is detected in that a position of the rotor expected on the basis of an energization of the coil arrangement to a detected position of the rotor is compared, and a deviation of the position from the expected position is evaluated as a position drag error and detected over time; [0029, 0035, 0077] and/or an input is detected that the amount of an additional energization of the coil arrangement, which is carried out in order to maintain the position of the rotor to be expected due to the energization of the coil arrangement, is determined and evaluated as an external force and detected over time, wherein the position drag error and/or the external force is evaluated as an external movement in combination with the respective time duration and is assigned to a predetermined input event (Bold portion is optional which has not given any patentable weight).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 8-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Frangen (US 2019/0348898 A1) discloses a transport device having a stator and a transport element.
Luthe et al. (US 12,040,675 B2) disclose method for driving a rotor of a planar drive system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BICKEY DHAKAL whose telephone number is (571)272-3577. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-4:30 PM.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896