DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed December 16, 2025 for the above identified patent application.
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) 1-7, 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); and 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 (220,222) configured to receive rotation of the input part that is decelerated and transmitted to the eccentric rotating part, an output part (either member 210, or cylindrical hub member connected to 210 with fasteners 262 and integrally formed with 30A) configured to receive rotation of the eccentric rotating part that is decelerated and transmitted to the output part, and a carrier (280) arranged inside the output part (280 is radially inside 210, and disposed inside the cylindrical hub member) and outside at least a portion of the input part (280 is disposed outside 223), wherein the carrier of the eccentric oscillating speed reducer is attached to the first arm (via 241 and 242 and at 20Aa) 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.
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 2: Nakamura teaches an electric-motor holder (such as bolts, not shown but described in paragraph spanning columns 6 to 7, or alternatively, a top surface of 280) attached to the carrier (280) with the electric-motor holder for holding the electric motor (40A).
Claim 3: Nakamura modified with Kume teaches the carrier 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.
Claim 5: Nakamura teaches the carrier includes a first carrier part (280) on a side opposite to the base side in an extension direction of a rotation axis of the eccentric rotating part, and a second carrier part (270 or 242) connected to the first carrier part 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 (via 261 or at 20Aa); and the electric motor is attached to the first carrier part.
Claim 6: Nakamura teaches 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 (carrier 270) 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, including: the carrier includes a first carrier part (280) 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 (such as 270 or 242) connected to the first carrier part 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 to the first carrier part or the second carrier part.
Claim 25: Nakamura teaches a robot as described above, including: an electric-motor holder (such as bolts, not shown but described in paragraph spanning columns 6 to 7, or alternatively, a top surface of 280) that is attached to the carrier with the electric-motor holder being holding the electric motor, and 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 December 16, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As described above, the claims are rejected based on a new interpretation of Nakamura (USP 8,029,400).
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 WILLIAM C JOYCE whose telephone number is (571)272-7107. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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/WILLIAM C JOYCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618