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 .
Status of Claims
The Office Action is in response to the application filed 06/04/2024. Claims 1-4 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/04/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 4, filed 12/28/2025, with respect to the claim interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The amendments to the claims have overcome the claim interpretation. The claim interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 4-5, filed 12/28/2025, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The amendments to the claims have overcome the rejection. The rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 5-6, filed 12/28/2025, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The amendments to claims have overcome the rejection. The rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, see pages 7-10, filed 12/28/2025, regarding the rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As stated in paragraph 39 of Ueno, the management device and the control devices are configured to as to be able to communicate with each other through a network such as a wired or wireless LAN. Additionally, the functions of the robots configuring the cells, the number of cells formed and the like are input by the operator to the management device [paragraph 45], meaning that the management device is used to control the machines shown in FIG. 1. Ueno also teaches that the input portion at 24 of FIG. 2 is configured with an input device such as a touch sensor; and receives the input of various types of information to the control devices by a user [paragraph 59]. This is the input device of the management device shown in FIG. 1 at 30 and in more detail in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the management device is used to control a plurality of robots. The applicant’s arguments regarding the element “the data type of the variable including at least one of an integer type, a real number type, or a character string type” does not distinguish the claims from the prior art, as the term “character string type” is broad enough to include the disclosed examples in paragraph 55 of Ueno, which include “the setting of a tool coordinate system (coordinate system for defining a tip end point of the tool of a robot hand), the setting of a user coordinate system (coordinate system which can be used when the load and unload operation of the robot 10 is defined, the setting of a wrist load of the robot 10, the setting of a user alarm, the setting of a macro program, the input of a model program and the writing of a necessary comment”. In particular, the setting of a coordinate system could be set by simply inputting the character string type “coordinate set: 0,0”, which is a form of inputting settings into a computer system that is common in the art. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the reference Katou US 20250269528 A1 (“Katou”), relying on foreign application priority data from May 18,2020, has been added to the rejection to cover the bit string element of the claims. While Ueno is not explicit about a predetermined order for the robots, Cella teaches in paragraph 246 that the artificial intelligence may specify a series of actions required to accomplish a recommended or desired outcome of consolidation, as well as involving a conditional execution of steps based on monitored conditions, so a predetermined order based on a signal is covered by Cella, and would have been obvious to modify Ueno to include this disclosure, in part because Ueno already discusses organizing the functions of a set of robot cells for an operation, including a manufacturing line wherein information indicating the configuration of the manufacturing line is input to the management device [paragraph 45], and because it would have the obvious benefit of allowing the order of operations of the robots be structured so as to follow a production operation step by step.
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) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueno US 20180253083 A1 (“Ueno”) in combination with Cella et al. US 20210358032 A1 (“Cella”) and Katou US 20250269528 A1 (“Katou”).
Regarding Claim 1. Ueno teaches a robot controller, the robot controller controlling a robot and performing communication with a programmable logic controller and comprising:
a storage configured to store an operation program and a basic file in which a data type of a variable for performing communication between the programmable logic controller and the robot controller is specified (A setting performance portion uses data a program received by a setting reception portion so as to produce a setting file for the setting of the present device (the control device), and performs the setting of the present device based on the setting file. The setting performance portion stores the produced setting file in the storage portion [paragraph 55]. A communication portion at 27 of FIG. 2, such as a wired or wireless LAN or a USB, which performs signal processing based on a predetermined communication standard, and controls communication which is performed by the control device at 20 with the management device at 30 [paragraph 60]); and
a processor configured to
drive the robot based on the operation program (After the setting of the control devices 20 is completed, the line management portion 31d starts the operation of the manufacturing line, and sequentially acquires the state of the operation of each of the control devices 20 so as to monitor the state of the operation of the entire manufacturing line and the control devices 20 [paragraph 68], which includes performing machining on a product [paragraph 14]);
generate, in a file format readable by the programmable logic controller, a definition file in which the data type of the variable is specified, based on the basic file (In the group determination program, a conditional statement is written which makes the IP addresses of all the robots correspond to any of the data groups, and the address management portion 21a executes the group determination program with reference to the IP address of the present device and thereby can determine the data group of the robot 10 controlled by each of the control devices 20. In other words, the group determination program has a function corresponding to table data which makes the IP address correspond to the data group. The group determination program is a program in which its size is relatively small and in which a processing load at the time of execution is small, and in the present embodiment, the group determination program is previously transmitted from the management device 30 to ail the control devices 20 by broadcast or the like. In the group determination program, as an example, a conditional statement as mentioned below can be described so as to correspond to all the IP addresses [paragraph 51]. IF (a system variable indicating IP address)=x1 [paragraph 52]);
perform communication in order to transfer information relating to the variable to the programmable logic controller when driving the robot (As shown in FIG. 1, the data setting system 1 is configured so as to include robots 10-1 to 10-n (n is an integer of 2 or more), control devices 20-1 to 20-n for the robots 10-1 to 10-n and a management device 30, and the control devices 20-1 to 20-n and the management device 30 are configured so as to be able to communicate with each other through a network 40 such as a wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) [paragraph 39]. The communication portion 27 includes a communication interface, such as a wired or wireless LAN or a USB, which performs signal processing based on a predetermined communication standard [paragraph 60]); and
allocate, based on the data type of the variable specified in the basic file, a bit string or a byte string corresponding to the data type of the variable in an input region for inputting the variable and for outputting the variable in a memory included in the storage (The storage at 22 or 23 of FIG. 2, described in paragraph 55),
wherein
the programmable logic controller receives a signal from at least one of a device, a sensor, or a switch that is connected to the programmable logic controller (The input portion 24 is configured with an input device such as a touch sensor; and receives the input of various types of information to the control devices by a user [paragraph 59]. This is the input device of the management device shown in FIG. 1 at 30 and in more detail in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the management device is used to control a plurality of robots), and
the processor is configured to drive the robot when the communication is performed to transfer the information relating to the variable stored in the output region to the programmable logic controller (After the setting of the control devices 20 is completed, the line management portion 31d starts the operation of the manufacturing line, and sequentially acquires the state of the operation of each of the control devices 20 so as to monitor the state of the operation of the entire manufacturing line and the control devices 20 [paragraph 68], which includes performing machining on a product [paragraph 14]).
Ueno does not teach:
The communication is periodic digital communication, and
the processor drives a plurality of drive machines included in a device connected to the programmable logic controller in a predetermined order based on the signal.
However, Cella teaches:
The communication is periodic digital communication (Data collection service(s) that may include data collection devices (e.g., sensors) and/or may be in communication with data collection devices. The data collection service may monitor entities, such as to identify data or information for collection. The data collection service may be event-driven, run on a periodic basis [paragraph 189]. Sensors may be analog or digital [paragraph 192], so the periodic communication can be digital as well), and
the processor drives a plurality of drive machines included in a device connected to the programmable logic controller in a predetermined order based on the signal (the artificial intelligence may specify a series of actions required to accomplish a recommended or desired outcome of consolidation, as well as involving a conditional execution of steps based on monitored conditions [paragraph 246], which reads on a predetermined order, and the actions may include actuator operations as actions [paragraph 155], so driving machines is also covered in the disclosure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the invention of Ueno with the communication is periodic digital communication, and the processor drives a plurality of drive machines included in a device connected to the programmable logic controller in a predetermined order based on the signal as taught by Cella in part because Ueno already discusses organizing the functions of a set of robot cells for an operation, including a manufacturing line wherein information indicating the configuration of the manufacturing line is input to the management device [paragraph 45], and because it would have the obvious benefit of allowing the order of operations of the robots be structured so as to follow a production operation step by step.
Ueno does not explicitly teach:
the data type of the variable including at least one of an integer type, a real number type, or a character string type, and
wherein the digital communication communicates using a digital signal composed of a bit string or byte string at a predetermined communication cycle.
Katou teaches:
the data type of the variable including at least one of an integer type, a real number type, or a character string type (paragraph 23, where a bit string is identified as a form of digital data communication), and
wherein the digital communication communicates using a digital signal composed of a bit string or byte string at a predetermined communication cycle (paragraph 23).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the invention of Ueno with the data type of the variable including at least one of an integer type, a real number type, or a character string type, and wherein the digital communication communicates using a digital signal composed of a bit string or byte string at a predetermined communication cycle as taught by Katou because bit string digital communication is a known element in the art, and so combining it with the disclosure of Ueno would have been obvious to try.
Regarding Claim 2. Ueno in combination with Cella and Katou teaches the robot controller of the robot of claim 1.
Ueno does not teach:
wherein the processor is further configured to perform the conversion, when communicating with the programmable logic controller, between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication (Ueno does teach a communication interface, which implies a conversion unit configured to modify data for communication, but it is not explicit and does not teach that the communication is periodic).
However, Cella teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to perform the conversion, when communicating with the programmable logic controller, between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication (Paragraph 2480 describes converters that can convert information to a data type for communication signals. This property is also implicit within the periodic communication of paragraph 192).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the invention of Ueno with wherein the processor is further configured to perform the conversion, when communicating with the programmable logic controller, between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication as taught by Cella so as to allow the system to perform the periodic digital communication regarding the information relating to the variable.
Regarding Claim 3. Ueno in combination with Cella and Katou teaches the robot controller of the robot of claim 2.
Ueno does not teach:
wherein the processor is further configured to generate a conversion program for performing the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, and
wherein the processor is configured to perform the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, based on the conversion program (Ueno does teach in paragraphs 58-60 how the ROM at 22 of FIG. 2 can store various types of system programs for controlling the devices of the disclosure. This includes storing a program for the setting transmission processing and the like [paragraph 60], but does not specifically relate the program to a conversion program for performing conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the periodic digital communication signal).
However, Cella teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to generate a conversion program for performing the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, and
wherein the processor is configured to perform the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, based on the conversion program (Paragraph 2480 describes a programmable device or logic controller relating the communication and conversion of data for communication. The methods and systems described by Cella may be deployed in part or in whole through a machine that executes computer software, program codes, and/or instructions on a processor. The present disclosure may be implemented as a method on the machine, as a system or apparatus as part of or in relation to the machine, or as a computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium executing on one or more of the machines [paragraph 2483]. It should also be noted that the properties of this claim are implicit in claim 2, as the controller would need some form of program or instructions to perform the conversion in order to carry out the conversion described in claim 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the invention of Ueno with wherein the processor is further configured to generate a conversion program for performing the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, and wherein the processor is configured to perform the conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication, based on the conversion program as taught by Cella so as to allow the system to perform the periodic digital communication regarding the information relating to the variable.
Regarding Claim 4. Ueno in combination with Cella and Katou teaches the robot controller of the robot of claim 1.
Ueno also teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to generate, in the programmable logic controller, a function file for generating a program (In step S22, the setting performance portion produces a setting file for setting the present device (the control device 20) with the data and the programs received by the setting reception portion [paragraph 83]) configured to perform a function (paragraph 84).
Ueno does not teach:
the program is a conversion program, and the function is a conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication.
However, Cella teaches:
the program is a conversion program, and the function is a conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication (Paragraph 2480 describes converters that can convert information to a data type for communication signals. This property is also implicit within the periodic communication of paragraph 192).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the invention of Ueno with the program is a conversion program, and the function is a conversion between the information relating to the variable based on the data type and the digital signal in the periodic digital communication as taught by Cella so as to allow the system to perform the periodic digital communication regarding the information relating to the variable.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 AARON G CAIN whose telephone number is (571)272-7009. The examiner can normally be reached Monday: 7:30am - 4:30pm EST to Friday 7:30pm - 4:30am.
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, Wade Miles can be reached at (571) 270-7777. 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.
/AARON G CAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3656