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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Itatsu (JP 2007222971 A, machine translation relied on, from IDS).
Re Claim 1, Itatsu discloses a workpiece supply robot 25 comprising:a support arm 27/2; a permanent robot hand 4 fixedly provided to the support arm, and [configured to hold a workpiece placed on a workpiece placement platform] (para. 15, 24, 36; Fig. 5, 13); and an extending robot hand 3 configured to hold the workpiece together with the permanent robot hand, wherein the workpiece supply robot is [configured to be able to transport the workpiece from the workpiece placement platform], and the extending robot hand is configured to be removable (para. 15, 25, 36; Fig. 13). The recitation in brackets [ ] is considered functional language. The reference discloses all the structural components of the tool, which read on those of the instant invention. Therefore, the device is capable of performing the same desired functions as the instant invention as claimed. This statement applies to dependent claims as well.
Re Claim 2, Itatsu discloses the support arm includes a permanent side removable unit 33 from which the extending robot hand is removable, the extending robot hand includes an extending side removable unit 31 [capable of being connected to the permanent side removable unit], and electric power is supplied from the permanent robot hand via the extending side removable unit (para. 38-39; Fig. 13-14).
Re Claim 5, Itatsu discloses the extending robot hand is arranged in a bilaterally symmetrical manner with the extending side removable unit as a center (Fig. 13-14).
Re Claim 8, Itatsu discloses the permanent robot hand is [configured to lift up one end of an uppermost workpiece from among a plurality of the workpieces stacked on the workpiece placement platform] (para. 15, 24-25, 38-39; Fig. 5-6, 13-14).
Re Claim 9, Itatsu discloses the extending robot hand is [configured to lift up one end of an uppermost workpiece from among the plurality of the workpieces stacked on the workpiece placement platform] (para. 15, 24-25, 36; Fig. 5-6, 13).
Re Claim 10, Itatsu discloses a workpiece supply system comprising: a workpiece supply robot according to claim 1; and a workpiece placement platform 28, wherein the workpiece placement platform includes a storage unit 29 for storing the extending robot hand (Fig. 13).
Re Claim 11, Itatsu discloses the workpiece placement platform includes a plurality of workpiece placement units (between rods 29), and the storage unit 29 is arranged in a gap between the plurality of the workpiece placement units (Fig. 13).
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.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Itatsu in view of Nakayama (PGPub 2018/0297200).
Re Claim 3, Itatsu discloses the permanent side removable unit is provided to a side surface of the support arm (Fig. 13-14) but does not disclose the extending side removable unit is connected to the permanent side removable unit from a horizontal direction. However, Nakayama teaches extending side removable unit 11 for an extending robot hand 10 is connected to a permanent side removable unit from a horizontal direction (Fig. 10). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize extending side removable unit is connected to the permanent side removable unit from a horizontal direction, as taught by Nakayama, for the purpose of providing more flexibility in movement and easy adjustment for adapting to different objects to be picked up.
Re Claim 4, Itatsu discloses the extending robot hand further includes: a first extending hand unit 5 and a second extending hand unit 5 opposed to each other with the permanent robot hand between the first extending hand unit and the second extending hand unit (i.e. when viewed from the side, arm 4 extends between fingers 5; Fig. 10, 13-14); and a connection unit 7 [configured to connect the first extending hand unit and the second extending hand unit], and the extending side removable unit 31 is provided to the connection unit (Fig. 10, 13-14).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Itatsu in view of Ban (7,123,992).
Re Claim 6, Itatsu does not disclose the permanent robot hand includes a surface detection unit, and the surface detection unit is configured to be able to detect a surface of the workpiece. However, Ban teaches robot hand includes a surface detection unit, and the surface detection unit is configured to be able to detect a surface of a workpiece (col. 3-4; Fig. 1). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a surface detection unit, as taught by Ban, for the purpose of enabling efficient automated picking up of objects safely and effectively.
Re Claim 7, Itatsu does not disclose the permanent robot hand includes a material detection unit, and the material detection unit is configured to be able to detect whether or not the workpiece is placed on the workpiece placement platform. However, Ban teaches robot hand includes a material detection unit, and the material detection unit is configured to be able to detect whether or not the workpiece is placed on a workpiece placement platform (col. 3-4; Fig. 1). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a material detection unit, as taught by Ban, for the purpose of enabling efficient automated picking up of objects safely and effectively.
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Itatsu in view of KR101848215B1 (from IDS).
Re Claim 12, Itatsu does not disclose the storage unit includes: a support column extending in a direction intersecting with the workpiece placement platform; and a hanging unit extending in a direction intersecting with an extending direction of the support column. However, KR101848215B1 teaches a storage unit 400 includes: a support column 410 extending in a direction intersecting with the workpiece placement platform; and a hanging unit 430 extending in a direction intersecting with an extending direction of the support column (Fig. 9-10). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize storage unit with this configuration, as taught by Ban, for the purpose of enabling easy access to numerous attachments for the robot and to ensure safe placement without damaging components.
Re Claim 13, Itatsu discloses the extending robot hand further includes:a first extending hand unit 5 and a second extending hand unit 5 opposed to each other with the permanent robot hand 4 between the first extending hand unit and the second extending hand unit (i.e. when viewed from the side, arm 4 extends between fingers 5; Fig. 10, 13-14); and a connection unit 7 configured to connect the first extending hand unit and the second extending hand unit; the extending side removable unit 31 is provided to the connection unit (Fig. 10, 13-14), and the hanging unit is [configured to be able to hang the connection unit of the extending robot hand].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN J WALTERS whose telephone number is (571)270-5429. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm EST.
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/Ryan J. Walters/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799