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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in figures 1 and 2, “A2” should be --AL-- ([0042] last line); in figure 5, on the left side, “238” should be --236-- ([0052], compare with fig. 4); in figure 14, “2300” should be --2309-- ([0082]). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 11, and 23 are objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 2, last line, “the planet gear” should be --the second planet gear--; in claim 11, “coupled a” should be --coupled to a--; in claim 23, line 1, “engaging a first” should be --engaging the first-- (or “with the first” in line 2 could be --with a first-- to treat “engaging…inner member” as a step name). Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-3, 5, 7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marczyk et al., U. S. Patent 8,968,312.
Marczyk et al. discloses an instrument 10 (fig. 1).
The instrument 10 comprises a shaft 16.
A moveable component 12 is coupled to the shaft 16.
An actuation member drive assembly 22 (figs. 19-22) is coupled to the shaft 16 and comprises:
a rotatable drive member 518 (fig. 22);
a ring gear 526 operatively coupled to the rotatable drive member 518 and configured to rotate in response to rotation of the rotatable drive member 518 (col. 20, lines 1-2); and
a planet gear 524a meshed with the ring gear 526.
An actuation member 38a extends through the shaft 16 and is operably coupled to the moveable component 12 (col. 19, lines 31-32) and the planet gear 524a (38a is “attached to the distal tip(s)” of 520a, col. 19, lines 33-34, 520a being coupled to planet gear 524a through 522a as shown in fig. 22).
The actuation member 38a is moveable in translation in response to rotation of the planet gear 524a (col. 20, lines 4-8, 38a being moveable with 520a).
(claim 1)
The planet gear 524a is a first planet gear.
The actuation member 38a is a first actuation member.
The first actuation member 38a is moveable in translation, with 520a, in a first direction in response to rotation of the first planet gear 524a.
The instrument further comprises:
a second planet gear 524b meshed with the ring gear 526 (col. 20, lines 2-4); and
a second actuation member 38b (attached to 520b) operably coupled to the moveable component 12 and to the second planet gear 524b (through 522b).
The second actuation member 38b is moveable in translation in response to rotation of the planet gear 524b.
(claim 2)
In response to rotation of the ring gear 526, the first actuation member 38a (with 520a) is moveable in a first direction, and the second actuation member 38b (with 520b) is moveable in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite the first direction (col. 20, lines 9-12).
(claim 3)
The planet gear 524a is engaged with a lead screw 522a, and the lead screw 522a is coupled to the actuation member 38a through 520a.
(claim 5)
The moveable component 12 comprises an articulable component configured to articulate in pitch and yaw (figs. 16-18, 23).
(claim 7)
The moveable component 12 comprises an end effector (col. 7, line 6).
(claim 9)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
Claims 10-14, 17, 18, and 20-25 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
No reference nor combination of references was found which teaches an instrument comprising a shaft, an articulable component coupled to the shaft, a first actuation member, a second actuation member, and a force transmission system comprising a ring gear, a first planet gear, a second planet gear, a first lead screw, and a second lead screw, wherein the first and second actuation members extend through the shaft and are coupled to the articulable component and are each coupled to a respective of the lead screws, and each lead screw is in threaded engagement with a respective of the planet gears, as required by claim 10. Berhommier (EP 0 301 960), Flamme (DE 20115608), Crawford (U. S. Patent 11,320,031), and Hopkins (U. S. Patent 11,624,429) each disclose a system using lead screws in threaded engagement with gears. In each of these systems, the lead screws and threaded gears coordinate to move large members in a manner requiring a relatively large amount of space such that it would not be obvious to use such systems with actuation members extending through a shaft.
No reference nor combination of references was found which teaches a method of tensioning first and second actuation members coupled to an articulable structure of a medical instrument comprising driving first and second lead screws to apply tensile forces to first and second actuation members to which the lead screws are respectively attached, and maintaining the tensile forces in the first and second actuation members by coupling the first and second lead screws with respective planet gears and meshing the two planet gears to a ring gear, as required by claim 21.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
EP 0 301 960 (Berthommier) November 1991 - "The element 1 carries an electric motor 3 on the shaft of which is fixed a pinion 4. This is engaged with two pinions 5 a and 5 b which can rotate in the element 1 but not move axially relative to it. Each of these pinions has an axial thread 6a or 6b and is mounted on a screw 7a or 7b which can slide in the element 1."
DE 20115608 (Flamme) February 2003 - "The solution to this problem provides for two threaded spindles 1 / 2 arranged parallel to one another, which are driven by a double worm gear 3 in such a way that one threaded spindle 1, which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the outer profile tube, can be adjusted by means of a worm wheel 4, which is designed internally as a threaded nut, and the second threaded spindle 2 is fixedly arranged in the second worm wheel 5 and rotates in the threaded nut 6, which is fixed to the inner profile tube 9, and thus drives it together with the tube."
U. S. Patent 10,568,640 (Bozung) February 2020 - a surgical instrument using leadscrews driven by pinion gears.
U. S. Patent 10,945,797 (Anglese) March 2021 - "With respect to upward pitch articulation, input from robotic surgical system 1000 (FIG. 3) is provided to drive rotation of drive gears 122 of input gear assemblies 112, 114 similarly in a first direction and to drive rotation of drive gears 122 of input gear assemblies 116, 118 similarly in a second, opposite direction. As a result of the driving of drive gears 122 of input gear assemblies 112, 114 similarly in the first direction, transition gear assemblies 132, 134 are driven to rotate in the second, opposite direction to, in turn, drive lead screw assemblies 152, 154 to rotate in the first direction, translating the hubs 164 thereof proximally and, thus, pulling articulation cables 38a, 38b proximally."
U. S. Patent 11,320,031 (Crawford) May 2022 - "A right-hand gear 116 having internal right-hand threads may be attached to the right-hand threaded rod 112... A left-hand gear 118 having internal left-hand threads may be attached to the left-hand threaded rod 114....The right-hand and left-hand gears 116, 118 may be configured as straight cut gears or helical gears and may be threaded themselves or contain separate nuts with internal threads (e.g., as shown in example apparatus 600)."
U. S. Patent 11,419,691 (Kim et al.) August 2022 - in a surgical apparatus shown in figure 32, "The pair of screw members consists of a first lead screw 42 with a first thread 41a and a second lead screw 43 with a second thread 41b oriented in the opposite direction to the first thread. The first lead screw 42 and the second lead screw 43 are connected to the driving part 40 by a gear 44 and rotate in the same direction along with the rotation of the driving part. The first bending actuation wire 403 is mechanically connected to the first lead screw 42, and the second bending actuation wire 404 is mechanically connected to the second lead screw 43. Accordingly, as is the case in FIG. 31, when the motor (not shown in this figure) rotates, the first and second bending actuation wires 403, 404 may move in opposite directions, causing the steerable member to bend."
U. S. Patent 11,624,429 (Hopkins) April 2023 (filed July 2021) - "Each planet gear 208 encompasses a leadscrew nut 211, which rotates with the planet gear 208. Each leadscrew nut 211 mates with a threaded leadscrew rod 214." Figure 3 shows the planet gears 208 driven by a sun gear, and figure 4 shows the planet gears 208 driven by a ring gear.
U. S. Patent 11,751,954 (Beckman et al.) September 2023 - " The surgical tool 1600 may be modular such that certain features of the surgical tool 1600 may be removed and replaced. In this manner, a portion of the surgical tool 1600 may be reusable for multiple surgical procedures, and thereby reduce capital expenditure."
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERRY LYNN ESTREMSKY whose telephone number is (571)272-7090. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-4:30pm.
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, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. 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.
SLE
/SHERRY L ESTREMSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655