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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 21 March 2024, 29 May 2025 and 07 April 2026 were filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al (US 10,525,598).
Takahashi et al disclose the following claimed features:
Regarding claim 1, a position and posture measurement system (Figures 1-5, element 5) for measuring three-dimensional position and posture of a measurement target for use in control of a robot (10), the position and posture measurement system (5) comprising: a visual sensor (12a, 12b) subjected to calibration; a position and posture moving unit (6) that is capable of moving three-dimensional position and posture of the measurement target or three-dimensional position and posture of the visual sensor (12a); a calibration data storage unit (17) that stores in advance calibration data obtained during the calibration of the visual sensor (12a, 12b); an image processing unit (14) that processes a captured image of the measurement target, the captured image being obtained by imaging the measurement target by the visual sensor (12a, 12b); a position and posture measurement unit (20) that measures three-dimensional position and posture of the measurement target by using a result of image processing by the image processing unit; an imaging position correction unit (19) that performs correction processing at least once, the correction processing comprising causing the position and posture moving unit to move the visual sensor or the measurement target by using the three-dimensional position and posture of the measurement target measured by the position and posture measurement unit, followed by sequentially causing the image processing unit to perform image processing, and the position and posture measurement unit to perform measurement; and an imaging position correction termination unit that determines whether or not to terminate the correction processing by the imaging position correction unit, wherein when determining that the correction processing is not to be terminated, the imaging position correction termination unit causes the correction processing to be performed again, and when determining that the correction processing is to be terminated, the imaging position correction termination unit adopts (column 6, lines 49-52), as the three-dimensional position and posture of the measurement target for use in control of the robot, three-dimensional position and posture of the measurement target obtained through a final measurement or a halfway measurement by the position and posture measurement unit (Figure 5; column 5, line 55 to column 6, line 48).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the imaging position correction unit performs the correction processing after causing the robot to perform motion to be at a robot position where the visual sensor approaches a position at which the visual sensor is present as viewed from the measurement target when a position serving as a reference based on which correction is made is set (Figure 4; column 5, lines 11-54).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the imaging position correction termination unit determines that the correction processing is to be terminated in a case where the imaging position correction unit has performed the correction processing a predetermined number of times (column 6, lines 49-52).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the imaging position correction termination unit determines that the correction processing is to be terminated when a movement amount in which the visual sensor or the measurement target has been caused to move by the imaging position correction unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold value (column 6, lines 28-39).
Regarding claim 8, a position and posture measurement system (Figures 1-5, element 5) comprising: a visual sensor (12a, 12b) subjected to calibration; an image processing unit (14) that processes a captured image of a measurement target, the captured image being obtained by imaging the measurement target by the visual sensor (12a, 12b); a position and posture measurement unit (20) that measures position and posture of the measurement target by using a result of image processing by the image processing unit; an imaging position correction unit (19) that moves the visual sensor or the measurement target such that the visual sensor or the measurement target approaches first position and posture indicating a reference posture of the measurement target, and thereafter, performs, at least once, correction processing based on image processing by the image processing unit and measurement by the position and posture measuring unit; and an imaging position correction termination unit that determines whether or not to terminate the correction processing based on second position and posture of the measurement target measured by the position and posture measurement unit through the correction processing by the imaging position correction unit (Figure 5; column 5, line 55 to column 6, line 52).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 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 primary reason for the allowance of claim 5 is the inclusion of the limitations of the position and posture measurement system that includes a measurement target luminance determination unit that measures luminance of the measurement target in a captured image processed by the image processing unit, and determines whether or not a difference in luminance between the luminance measured and luminance of the measurement target in an image captured at the time of setting a reference position of the robot is greater than a predetermined first threshold value; and a measurement target luminance adjustment unit that makes adjustment such that the luminance of the measurement target approaches the luminance at the time of setting the reference position of the robot in a case where the measurement target luminance determination unit determines that the difference in luminance is greater than the predetermined first threshold value. It is these limitations found in the claims, as they are claimed in the combination of, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 6 is the inclusion of the limitations of the position and posture measurement system that includes a measurement target luminance determination unit that measures luminance of the measurement target in a captured image processed by the image processing unit, and determines whether or not a difference in luminance between the luminance measured and luminance of the measurement target in an image captured at the time of setting a reference position of the robot is greater than a predetermined second threshold value; and a measurement target information presentation unit that presents to a user information that the luminance of the measurement target is significantly different from the luminance at the time of setting the reference position of the robot in a case where the measurement target luminance determination unit determines that the difference in luminance is greater than the predetermined second threshold value. It is these limitations found in the claims, as they are claimed in the combination of, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 7 is the inclusion of the limitations of the position and posture measurement system that includes a measurement target undetectable range determination unit that measures an undetectable range of the measurement target in a captured image processed by the image processing unit, and determines whether or not the undetectable range is greater than a predetermined undetectability threshold value; and a measurement target information presentation unit that presents to a user information that the undetectable range is large in a case where the measurement target undetectable range determination unit determines that the undetectable range is greater than the predetermined undetectability threshold value. It is these limitations found in the claims, as they are claimed in the combination of, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yamazaki et al (US 11,845,194) disclose a robot system that includes a three-dimensional measuring device for generating a range image of a plurality of workpieces, a robot having a hand for picking up at least one of the plurality of workpieces, a display part for displaying the range image generated by the three-dimensional measuring device, and a reception part for receiving a teaching of a picking position for picking-up by the hand on the displayed range image. Liu et al (US 10,076,842) disclose a machine vision system that includes a robot or motion stage and a camera in communication with a control system. The control system is configured to move the robot or motion stage to poses, and for each pose: capture an image of calibration target features and robot joint angles or motion stage encoder counts. The control system is configured to obtain initial values for robot or motion stage calibration parameters, and determine initial values for hand-eye calibration parameters based on the initial values for the robot or motion stage calibration parameters, the image, and joint angles or encoder counts. The control system is configured to determine final values for the hand-eye calibration parameters and robot or motion stage calibration parameters by refining the hand-eye calibration parameters and robot or motion stage calibration parameters to minimize a cost function.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AN H DO whose telephone number is (571)272-2143. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:00am-4:00pm.
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/AN H DO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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