DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed June 2, 2026 for the above identified patent application.
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 § 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) 1, 3-7, 9, 24, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura (USP 8,029,400) in view of Kume (JP 2020-116716).
Referring to Figure 5, Nakamura teaches a robot comprising: a first arm (20A); a second arm (30A) relatively rotatably attached to the first arm; a joint (10A) connecting the first arm and the second arm to each other; an electric motor (40A); an eccentric oscillating speed reducer including an input part (223) configured to be rotated by a driving force of the electric motor, an eccentric rotating part (222) configured to receive rotation of the input part that is decelerated and transmitted to the eccentric rotating part, an output part (member 210) configured to receive rotation of the eccentric rotating part that is decelerated and transmitted to the output part, and a carrier (240,241,242) arranged inside the output part and outside at least a portion of the input part, and an electric-motor holder (280) provided separately from the carrier and including a shaft insertion hole (Fig. 6) into which a shaft of the electric motor is inserted and attached to the carrier (a bottom surface of the motor holder is attached to an upper surface of the carrier 242; or alternatively, the motor holder is attached to the carrier 241 via components 270,20A) and the electric-motor holder holding the electric motor, wherein the carrier of the eccentric oscillating speed reducer is attached to the first arm (via 261) to be prevented from rotating in response to rotation of the second arm rotated by the output part of the eccentric oscillating speed reducer in a case in which the eccentric oscillating speed reducer is provided to the joint between the first and second arms; and the electric motor is attached to the carrier via the electric-motor holder (the motor 40A is attached to the motor holder 280, wherein a bottom surface of the motor holder is attached to an upper surface of the carrier 242; or alternatively, the motor 40A is attached to the motor holder 280, wherein the motor holder is attached to the carrier 241 via components 270,20A).
Nakamura does not teach the first and second arms supported by a base having a joint. It was notoriously known in the art to support a robot arm arrangement by a base having a joint. For example, Kume teaches a robot having articulated arms, the articulated arms supported by a base (BA) via a rotatable joint. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed device to support the articulated arms of Nakamura with a base having a rotary joint, as taught by Kume, motivation being to support the arts with an additional degree of freedom such that the robot can perform a predetermined task.
Claim 3: Nakamura modified with Kume teaches the carrier (240,241,242) is attached to the base to be prevented from rotating in response to rotation of the first arm; and the electric motor is arranged-in exterior space of the base and fixed to the carrier with the electric-motor holder.
Claim 4: Nakamura teaches an oil seal (252) between the electric-motor holder and the first arm (or second arm).
Claim 5: Nakamura teaches the carrier includes a first carrier part (242) on a side opposite to the base side (or opposite 20A) in an extension direction of a rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part, and a second carrier part (240,241) connected to the first carrier part (via 243) and being on the base side in the extension direction of the rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part; the second carrier part is attached to the base (or arm 20A via 261); and the electric motor is attached (indirectly) to the first carrier part.
Claim 6: Nakamura illustrates (Fig. 5) the electric motor is at an offset position offset from a center of the carrier part in a radial direction orthogonal to the extension direction of the rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part.
Claim 7: Nakamura teaches the eccentric oscillating speed reducer includes a hollow transmission shaft (220) having a through hole extending in the extension direction of the rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part and connected to the input part to transmit the driving force from the electric motor to the eccentric rotating part; and the robot further comprises a wire set (70 in Fig. 1) that can be connected to the electric motor with the wire set passing through the through hole. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed device to configure the joint in Fig. 5 of Nakamura, with a wire passing through the joint, as taught in Fig. 1 of Nakamura, motivation being to support the robot wiring from damage during movement of the robot arms.
Claim 9: Nakamura teaches the electric-motor holder includes a protruding fin (Fig. 5) formed an exterior surface of the electric-motor holder.
Claim 24: Nakamura teaches a robot as described above, wherein: the carrier includes a first carrier part (242) on a side opposite to the base or first arm side in an extension direction of a rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part, and a second carrier part (240,241) connected to the first carrier part (via 243) and on the base or first arm side in the extension direction of the rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part, the second carrier part is attached to the base or the first arm, and the electric motor is attached (indirectly) to the first carrier part or the second carrier part.
Claim 25: Nakamura teaches a robot as described above, including: an oil seal (252) that is between the electric-motor holder and the first arm in a case in which the eccentric oscillating speed reducer is provided to the first joint, or between the electric-motor holder and the second arm in a case in which the eccentric oscillating speed reducer is provided to the second joint.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 10-23 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not teach the venting arrangement as defined in claims 8 and 10, or the plurality of electric motors configured to rotate in synchronization with each other as the electric motor as defined in claim 12.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 2, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In view of the amendment, the prior art to Nakamura is being interpreted differently to read on each claim feature. Accordingly, the claims stand rejected as described above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C JOYCE whose telephone number is (571)272-7107. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at 571-270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIAM C JOYCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
Prosecution Insights