DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the applicant’s argument that the prior art fails to disclose “wherein the deformable transmissive layer is configured to be controllably positioned using the electromechanically movable mounting structure such that the interface membrane is controllably urged against the at least one aspect of an interfaced object having a surface to be characterized”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Attention is brought to paragraphs 50-51 of Rohaly ‘067, wherein a robotic system for using an imaging cartridge is explicitly disclosed, wherein a robotic arm (1102) is utilized to “position the cartridge in contact with a target surface”.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 12-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2020/0012067 to Rohaly et al.
Regarding claims 1, 7, 12-14 and 16-20, Rohaly discloses and shows in Figures 1 and 11, a system for characterizing interaction between surfaces, comprising:
a deformable transmissive layer (116) coupled to an electromagnetically movable mounting structure (1102) and coupled to an optical coating (120) (applicant’s interface membrane), wherein the interface membrane is interfaced against at least one aspect of an interfaced object (par. 3-4, 27-28);
a first illumination source (108) operatively coupled to the deformable transmissive layer and configured to emit first illumination light into the deformable transmissive layer at a known first illumination orientation relative to the deformable transmissive layer, such that at least a portion of the first illumination light interacts with the deformable transmissive layer (par. 6, 23, 26);
a detector (108) configured to detect light from within at least a portion of the deformable transmissive layer (par. 6, 23);
a computing system (par. 52) configured to operate the detector to detect at least a portion of light directed from the deformable transmissive layer, to determine surface orientations pertaining to positions along the interface membrane based at least in part upon interaction of the first illumination light with the deformable transmissive layer, and to utilize the determined surface orientations to characterize a geometric profile of the at least one aspect of the interfaced object as interfaced against the interface membrane (par. 2, 4, 22); and
wherein the deformable transmissive layer is configured to be controllably positioned using the electromechanically movable mounting structure such that the interface membrane is controllably urged against the at least one aspect of an interfaced object having a surface to be characterized (par. 2, 4, 22, 50-51; wherein a robotic arm is utilized to “position the cartridge in contact with a target surface”);
[claim 7] a robotic manipulator (1102) operatively coupled to the computing system and comprising a housing (104) (applicant’s external surface) at least partially comprising the deformable transmissive layer, the robotic arm configured to controllably position and orient the deformable transmissive layer relative to the interfaced object such that the computing system may characterize the geometric profile of the at least one aspect of the interfaced object as interfaced against the interface membrane with regard to the relative position and orientation of each of the deformable transmissive layer and the interfaced object (par. 2, 4, 22, 50-51);
[claim 12] wherein the first illumination source comprises a light emitting diode (par. 23, 26);
[claim 13] wherein the detector is a photodetector (par. 6, 23-24);
[claim 14] wherein the detector is an image capture device (par. 6, 23-24);
[claim 16] further comprising a lens operatively coupled between the detector and the deformable transmissive layer (par. 25);
[claim 17] wherein the computing system is operatively coupled to the detector and configured to receive information from the detector pertaining to light detected by the detector from within the deformable transmissive layer (par. 2, 4, 22, 27, 52);
[claim 18] wherein the computing system is operatively coupled to the first illumination source and is configured to control emissions from the first illumination source (par. 52);
[claim 19] wherein the deformable transmissive layer comprises an elastomeric material (par. 2-5, 24, 27);
[claim 20] wherein the elastomeric material is selected from the group consisting of: silicone (par. 24), urethane, polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly.
Regarding claim 15, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 15] wherein the image capture device is a CCD or CMOS device.
However, CCD or CMOS devices are well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the elements discussed above for the advantage of utilizing well-known optical elements to obtain a desired system configuration, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 21-23 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly, in view of US Patent 8,411,140 to Adelson.
In regards to claims 21-23 and 26, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 21] wherein the deformable transmissive layer comprises a composite having a pigment material distributed within an elastomeric matrix, the pigment material configured to provide an illumination reflectance which is greater than that of the elastomer matrix;
[claim 22] wherein the pigment material comprises a metal oxide;
[claim 23] wherein the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of: iron oxide, zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and titanium oxide.
[claim 26] wherein the interface membrane comprises an elastomeric material.
However, Adelson teaches and shows in Figures 1, 5-7 and 9, a tactile sensor for use in a robot fingerpad, wherein a clear elastomer material (3) is provided with a reflective skin layer (2), wherein the reflective skin comprises an elastomeric paint that includes metallic powder or metallic flakes to provide a desired reflectivity, and further the reflective particles may include Titanium dioxide (col. 2, ll. 52 to col. 3, ll. 37).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the elastomeric paint discussed above for the advantage of obtaining a desired reflectivity and system resolution, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly, in view of US Publication 2023/0152074 to Gruber et al.
In regards to claims 2-6, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 2] wherein the electromechanically movable mounting structure comprises a gantry assembly positioned above the interfaced object and configured to position the deformable transmissive layer relative to the interfaced object;
[claim 3] wherein the gantry assembly comprises a horizontal member movably coupled between two end structures, and wherein the deformable transmissive layer is movably operable in two or more degrees of freedom relative to the interfaced object;
[claim 4] wherein the deformable transmissive layer is controllably electromechanically coupled to the horizontal member between the two end structures to have two controllable orthogonal and controllable degrees of freedom;
[claim 5] wherein the deformable transmissive layer is controllably electromechanically coupled to the horizontal member between the two end structures to have two controllable orthogonal and controllable degrees of freedom as well as one additional controllable orthogonal degree of freedom, such that the deformable transmissive layer may be controllably electromechanically moved with three axes of motion relative to the interfaced object;
[claim 6] wherein X, Y, and Z axes may be defined for a global coordinate system containing the interfaced object, and wherein the deformable transmissive layer is configured to be controllably electromechanically moved relative to the interfaced object in each of the X, Y, and Z axes.
However, Gruber teaches and shows in Figure 1, gantry-type coordinate measuring machine (CMM) (211), which includes two columns (202, 203), which are arranged to be movable in the X-Y-Z directions, and further includes a rotary joint (215) to allow a measurement sensor to be articulated in additional degrees of freedom (par. 3-9, 91-94).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the gantry-type CMM discussed above for the advantage of utilizing a well-known measurement configuration to completely characterize an object under test, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly, in view of US Publication 2018/0267640 to Virgili et al.
In regards to claim 8, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 8] wherein the deformable transmissive layer is configured to be controllably inflated from a collapsed form to an expanded form with infusion of pressure to expand an operatively coupled bladder with a fluid.
However, Virgili teaches and shows in Figures 23a-23b, a tactile interface including an actuator (240) or a pump (applicant’s mechanical dilator), and an elastomeric bladder (242), for receiving a working fluid (250) (par. 122), wherein the working fluid may be actively pumped in and out to enable the deformable region (231) to expand and retract (par. 128).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the deformable bladder discussed above for the advantage of providing a desired tactile layer interface to an electronic device, with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claim 9, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 9] wherein the fluid is selected from the group consisting of: air, inert gas, water, and saline.
However, Virgili teaches and shows in Figures 23a-23b, a tactile interface including a working fluid (250), which may be water, alcohol or an oil (par. 129).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the working fluid discussed above for the advantage of utilizing an incompressible and low vapor pressure fluid to provide a desired tactile layer interface, with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claim 10, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 10] wherein the bladder is an elastomeric bladder intercoupled between the deformable transmissive layer and the mounting structure.
However, Virgili teaches and shows in Figures 23a-23b, a tactile interface including an elastomeric bladder (242) (par. 122), which may be intercoupled between a plurality of different layers, including a tactile layer (230), a substrate (210) and an adjacent touch sensor (270) or display (280) (par. 123-124).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the deformable bladder discussed above for the advantage of providing a desired tactile layer interface to an electronic device, with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claim 11, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 11] wherein the deformable transmissive layer is configured to be controllably expanded with insertion of a mechanical dilator member relative to the mounting structure.
However, Virgili teaches and shows in Figures 23a-23b, a tactile interface including an actuator (240) or a pump (applicant’s mechanical dilator), and an elastomeric bladder (242), for receiving a working fluid (250) (par. 122), wherein the working fluid may be actively pumped in and out to enable the deformable region (231) to expand and retract (par. 128).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the deformable bladder discussed above for the advantage of providing a desired tactile layer interface to an electronic device, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly, in view of US Publication 2024/0096127 to Sharma et al.
In regards to claims 24-25, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 24] wherein the pigment material comprises a metal nanoparticle;
[claim 25] wherein the metal nanoparticle is selected from the group consisting of: a silver nanoparticle and an aluminum nanoparticle.
However, Sharma teaches and shows in Figure 1, an optical layer structure, wherein metal oxide pigments may be utilized as optically absorptive materials, and wherein the materials may be milled to create nanoparticles of aluminum or titanium (par. 66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the materials discussed above for the advantage of creating materials which are transparent and provide low scattering, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 27-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rohaly, in view of US Publication 2021/0118124 to Ritter et al.
In regards to claims 27-30, Rohaly differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system:
[claim 27] wherein the surface of the interfaced object is located and oriented within a global coordinate system, and wherein the computing system is configured to characterize a geometric profile of the surface of the object as interfaced against the interface membrane with a position and an orientation relative to the global coordinate system;
[claim 28] wherein the computer system is configured to gather two or more geometric profiles of two or more portions of the surface of the object as interfaced against the interface membrane and determine a position and an orientation pertaining to the two or more geometric profiles relative to each other in the global coordinate system;
[claim 29] wherein the computing system is configured to provide a three-dimensional mapping pertaining to the two or more geometric profiles relative to each other in the global coordinate system;
[claim 30] wherein the computing system is configured to stitch geometrically adjacent geometric profiles together using interpolation of the geometric profiles and relative positions and orientations thereof.
However, Ritter teaches and shows in Figure 1, a coordinate measurement machine (CMM) which utilizes “at least one sensor of any type” (par. 4), to obtain 1D, 2D and 3D images of an object within a defined coordinate space, and wherein the images are stitched together to obtain a complete 3D visualization of the object (par. 6-8).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Rohaly to include the image stitching method discussed above for the advantage of utilizing a we-known imaging method to obtain a complete characterization of an object under test, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Publication 2014/0104395 to Rohaly et al. discloses and shows a three-dimensional imaging device wherein a set of cameras and light sources image an object through a layer of elastomer (115), wherein the elastomer has a reflective layer (120) to provide a desired surface reflection (par. 25-28, 35, 61).
US Publications 2023/0359308 and 2024/0401936 to Rohaly et al. disclose and claim substantially the same “system for characterizing interaction between surface”. However, the current application claims “an electromechanically movable mounting structure” and is therefore a more specifically claimed invention.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michelle Iacoletti can be reached at 571-270-5789. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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