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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 06/21/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 4, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya (US 20160332297 A1) in view of Yui et al. (US 20230173660 A1, hereinafter Yui).
Regarding claim 1, Sugaya teaches:
A programming apparatus for teaching a motion program of a robot off-line (at least as in paragraph 0055, “The information processing apparatus A of this embodiment is configured so as to allow operations of inputting, editing and changing the teaching data for the robot apparatus to be performed through the operating input unit D, and can display, for example, a display screen E for the offline teaching system as illustrated in FIG. 1 on the displaying apparatus C”), comprising:
an operation unit (at least as in paragraph 0053, “The operating input unit D may be operation devices, such as a pointing device including a mouse or a track pad, and a keyboard”);
a display unit configured to display a 3D model of the robot so as to repeat movement and stop in accordance with an operation by a user on the operation unit (at least as in paragraph 0054, “The displaying apparatus C may be a displaying apparatus, such as an LCD (or a displaying apparatus with another display scheme”; at least as in paragraph 0058, “On the virtual environment screen 10 (virtual environment displaying unit), a virtual environment is displayed. In the virtual environment, a placement environment equivalent to that of the actual robot apparatus to be programmed (taught) by this apparatus is reproduced. For example, the virtual environment screen 10 virtually displays the state of the robot 101 apparatus identified by the position and orientation data in a three-dimensional model representation, such as of a three-dimensional CAD model. In this case, the display control function of a CPU (33), described later, for controlling the displaying apparatus C renders, for example, a three-dimensional image of the robot 101 at the position and orientation identified by the position and orientation data in a virtual space that simulates the operating environment of the robot 101, and achieves virtual display”; at least as in paragraph 0098-0107, wherein the user may input a new teaching point through various means; at least as in paragraph 0117-0120, after calculation of the new teaching point and “when an input is made into the relative value setting unit 202 through the operating input unit D, the display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 and the display on the parameter setting screen 20 are immediately updated”);
a motion state identification unit configured to identify that the 3D model has transitioned (at least as in paragraph 0361, “If no limitation error occurs, (final) updating of the display screen E of the displaying apparatus C is executed according to the result of calculation. That is, according to change in the position and orientation of the robot 101 through the operation handle 111, the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 is subjected to (finally) updating, and the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20 is updated. The position and orientation of the robot 101 indicated by solid lines in FIG. 22B correspond to the position and orientation of the robot 101 after the edit having moved the offset teaching point 107 through the operation handle 111 displayed at the distal end of the robot 101”; at least as in paragraph 0362, “As described above, according to this embodiment, as another operation method related to input and editing of the position and orientation data, a GUI operation unit is provided. The GUI operation unit changes the position and orientation of the robot 101 virtually displayed in relation to the operating input unit D (or the virtual environment screen 10). The user can perform the input and edit operation that changes the position (orientation) of the robot 101 (and the teaching point associated with the robot) through a significantly intuitive operation on the virtual environment screen 10 using the operation handle 111. The result of the input and edit operation on the virtual environment screen 10 is synchronously reflected in the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 and also in the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20. Consequently, the user (operator) can immediately confirm the position and orientation and the parameter concurrently with operating the operation handle 111”);
a recording unit configured to record a plurality of teaching candidate points one after another in accordance with the stop of the 3D model (at least as in paragraph 0352, “During a mouse dragging operation, continuous movement is designated. Finishing the movement is designated by releasing the button of the mouse”; at least as in paragraph 0354, “In step S27, the user can change the position and orientation of the robot 101 displayed on the virtual environment screen 10, using the operation handle 111”; at least as in paragraph 0357, “software may be configured so as to repeatedly execute the processes from step S28 to step S9, which is the last in the diagram, for every minute operation of the operation handle 111 in step S27”; at least as in paragraph 0361, “according to change in the position and orientation of the robot 101 through the operation handle 111, the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 is subjected to (finally) updating, and the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20 is updated”; at least as in paragraph 0362, “The GUI operation unit changes the position and orientation of the robot 101 virtually displayed in relation to the operating input unit D (or the virtual environment screen 10). The user can perform the input and edit operation that changes the position (orientation) of the robot 101 (and the teaching point associated with the robot) through a significantly intuitive operation on the virtual environment screen 10 using the operation handle 111. The result of the input and edit operation on the virtual environment screen 10 is synchronously reflected in the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 and also in the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20. Consequently, the user (operator) can immediately confirm the position and orientation and the parameter concurrently with operating the operation handle 111”; at least as in paragraph 0125, “This confirmation operation finishes the forming of the offset teaching point 107. Thus, the CPU 33 stores the information on the confirmed offset teaching point 107 in the storing apparatus 35”; at least as in paragraph 0126, wherein the new teaching point data is stored in the storing apparatus 35; therefore, after an input operation, such as that of the operation handle, the virtual robot moves to the new teaching point, the new point is confirmed and stored after the virtual robot operation; Examiner notes wherein the claim is interpreted such that the recording unit operates “in accordance with the stop of the 3D model” and not the “stopped state”);
a teaching point registration unit configured to register, as teaching points, a plurality of teaching candidate points selected from the plurality of recorded teaching candidate points in accordance with the operation by the user (at least as in paragraph 0095, “the CPU 33 controls the displaying apparatus C to display a list 206 of teaching points which can be selected using the teaching point setting unit 203 on the parameter setting screen 20 in a manner of, for example, a pulldown menu”); and
a creation unit configured to create the motion program based on the registered teaching points (at least as in paragraph 0128, “After the new offset teaching point 107 is normally formed as described above, the node on the new offset teaching point 107 is newly formed at the descendant of the teaching point 106 serving as the reference on the management screen 40 for nodes”; at least as in paragraph 0130, “The position and orientation data stored in the storing apparatus 35 can be output to an external apparatus (input and output unit) in units of the entire tree (e.g., the entire tree of each of FIGS. 7A to 7C) or a specific part of the tree designated through the operating input unit D, in the format of the file F, via the interface 36”),
wherein the motion state identification unit is configured to identify that the 3D model has transitioned (at least as in paragraph 0361, “(final) updating of the display screen E of the displaying apparatus C is executed according to the result of calculation. That is, according to change in the position and orientation of the robot 101 through the operation handle 111, the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 is subjected to (finally) updating, and the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20 is updated. The position and orientation of the robot 101 indicated by solid lines in FIG. 22B correspond to the position and orientation of the robot 101 after the edit having moved the offset teaching point 107 through the operation handle 111 displayed at the distal end of the robot 101”; at least as in paragraph 0362, “The GUI operation unit changes the position and orientation of the robot 101 virtually displayed in relation to the operating input unit D (or the virtual environment screen 10). The user can perform the input and edit operation that changes the position (orientation) of the robot 101 (and the teaching point associated with the robot) through a significantly intuitive operation on the virtual environment screen 10 using the operation handle 111. The result of the input and edit operation on the virtual environment screen 10 is synchronously reflected in the virtual display of the robot 101 on the virtual environment screen 10 and also in the content of the numeric value display on the parameter setting screen 20. Consequently, the user (operator) can immediately confirm the position and orientation and the parameter concurrently with operating the operation handle 111”).
But Sugaya does not explicitly teach “from a moving state to a stopped state… from the moving state to the stopped state, based on an absence, for a predetermined elapsed time, of the operation by the user performed via the operation unit with respect to the 3D model.”
However, Yui, in the same field of endeavor of a robot operation apparatus for manual operation during teaching work of the robot, specifically teaches “from a moving state to a stopped state… from the moving state to the stopped state, based on an absence, for a predetermined elapsed time, of the operation by the user performed via the operation unit with respect to the 3D model” (at least as in paragraph 0093, “The robots 20 and 30 stop in response to a stop of drag operation by the user”; at least as in paragraph 0094, “the teaching pendant 40 of this embodiment continues motion of the robots 20 and 30 in accordance with continuation of movement of the finger 90 of the user or the like in a manner drawing a circle, and stops the robots 20 and 30 in accordance with a stop of the finger 90 of the user or the like”; at least as in paragraph 0142, “In S32, the controller 45 determines whether or not touch operation has been performed for the operation graphic 51 or the like for a predetermined period or longer. The predetermined period in S32 is referred to as a touch operation detection period when distinction between the predetermined period in S32 and a predetermined period in other steps is needed. The touch operation corresponding to a detection target in S32 is operation corresponding to a trigger for performing a stop process in S37 in FIG. 24”; at least as in paragraph 0147-0149, “When touch operation for the predetermined period or longer is input to the operation graphic 51 in S32 in FIG. 23 (YES), the controller 45 shifts to S36 in FIG. 24. In S36, the controller 45 determines whether or not the robots 20 and 30 are operating, that is, whether or not the robots 20 and 30 have stopped. When it is determined that the robots 20 and 30 have stopped (NO in S36), the controller 45 shifts to S39 while skipping processes in S37 and S38. When the robots 20 and 30 are operating (YES in S36), the controller 45 executes S37 and S38… In S37, the controller 45 executes a stop process. The stop process is a process for stopping motion of the robots 20 and 30… Thereafter, the controller 45 shifts to S39 to determine whether or not input of the touch operation detected in S32 has been ended… When it is determined that input of the touch operation has been ended (YES in S39), the controller 45 executes S40 to cancel, that is, initialize current settings of the behavior mode and the behavior direction of the robots 20 and 30. As a result, a series of processes are completed, and the motion of the robots 20 and 30 ends”; at least as in paragraph 0196, “the behavior speed of the robot decreases to a stop after an elapse of a predetermined period from the time of no input of movement operation”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the teachings of Sugaya, to include Yui's teaching of a robot control operation apparatus detecting a movement operation or stopped operation of the robot and detecting a lack of operation for a predetermined period, since Sugaya teaches wherein the robot operation apparatus provides the user a capability of directly and intuitively controlling the robots thus operability for the user and safety improves.
Regarding claim 4, in view of the above combination of Sugaya and Yui, Sugaya further teaches:
The programming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the display unit is configured to display a list of the plurality of recorded teaching candidate points to allow the user to select the teaching points from the plurality of teaching candidate points displayed in the list (at least as in paragraph 0095, “the CPU 33 controls the displaying apparatus C to display a list 206 of teaching points which can be selected using the teaching point setting unit 203 on the parameter setting screen 20 in a manner of, for example, a pulldown menu”).
Regarding claim 5, in view of the above combination of Sugaya and Yui, Sugaya further teaches:
The programming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the display unit is configured to display the plurality of recorded teaching candidate points overlapping the 3D model to allow the user to select the teaching points from the plurality of teaching candidate points overlapping the 3D model (at least as in paragraph 0115, “In step S7, it is determined whether each articulation value on the offset teaching point 107 is within the limitation defined by the hardware specifications of the actual robot 101 (or further by operational regulations) or not (limitation determining process). For example, in the actual robot apparatus, the range of possible rotation angle of a certain articulation is sometimes limited within a specific range. It is determined whether each articulation value of the robot 101 is within such a range of limitation or not. Such conditions of limitation including the movable range of the robot 101 have preliminarily been stored in the ROM 35a, the RAM 35b, or the external storing apparatus 35c, in an appropriate storing format”; at least as in paragraph 0122, “According to the result of the position and orientation calculation, for example, when any of the articulation values is determined to be out of the hardware limitation in step S7, the CPU 33 causes the displaying apparatus C to display an error indicating unavailable orientation (abnormality displaying process; S8). For example, in this case, an error screen 50 to be displayed may be a screen as in FIG. 8. The error screen 50 of FIG. 8 indicates that the orientation to be reached is out of the limitation and an error occurs, using a character string and a graphical symbol”; at least as in paragraph 0095, “the CPU 33 controls the displaying apparatus C to display a list 206 of teaching points which can be selected using the teaching point setting unit 203 on the parameter setting screen 20 in a manner of, for example, a pulldown menu”).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya (US 20160332297 A1) in view of Yui et al. (US 20160271792 A1, hereinafter Yui), and further in view of Wada (US 20110054685 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the above combination of Sugaya and Yui teaches the programming apparatus according to claim 1, but does not explicitly teach further comprising:
a setting unit configured to collectively set an interpolation format and a moving speed between the teaching points in accordance with the operation by the user, wherein
the creation unit is configured to create the motion program based on the interpolation format and the moving speed together with the registered teaching points.
However, Wada, in the same field of endeavor of robot off-line teaching using a plurality of virtual teaching points, specifically discloses:
a setting unit configured to collectively set an interpolation format and a moving speed between the teaching points in accordance with the operation by the user (at least as in paragraph 0066, “In the interpolating operation, a processing for smoothly moving the virtual tool between the virtual teaching points is carried out in order to cause the virtual tool to take a registered posture at a part of the virtual teaching points where the posture data are registered”; at least as in paragraph 0067 “In the interpolating operation, a coordinate (a position) and a posture of the virtual tool are calculated at a minimum calculating interval corresponding to a calculating capability of the CAD device 10. At the STEP 9, then, a result of the calculation is stored as an interpolating operation point. The processings of the STEPs 8 and 9 are executed from the start point to the endpoint of the virtual teaching point (STEP 10). Consequently, a plurality of interpolating operation points through the interpolating operation is generated”; at least as in paragraph 0046, “the virtual teach pendant 36 can continuously carry out a predetermined operation at a low speed while a cursor button is pushed consecutively, and can move the virtual tool 33 at a predetermined speed in a predetermined direction, for example”), wherein
the creation unit is configured to create the motion program based on the interpolation format and the moving speed together with the registered teaching points (at least as in paragraph 0071, “If the posture data are generated on all of the virtual teaching points, the created data are stored as the teaching data 26 and the processing is ended”; at least as in paragraph 0073, “The same work is carried out for the virtual teaching points T3, T4 and T6 to T8 and data on the virtual teaching points which are created are stored as the teaching data 26, and the processing is ended”; at least as in paragraph 0074, “After the virtual teaching points of all of the virtual robots 32 are completely registered, the single and composite simulations are sequentially executed to carry out an operating verification. If there is no problem, the virtual teaching points of all of the virtual robots 32 are stored as the teaching data 26 which are registered”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the teachings of Sugaya, to include Wada’s teaching of teaching point interpolation and speed setting, since Wada teaches wherein the teaching method reduces errors by checking and correcting for errors and makes creating teaching data easier and faster thus improving teaching efficiency.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya (US 20160332297 A1) in view of Yui et al. (US 20160271792 A1, hereinafter Yui) and Wada (US 20110054685 A1), and further in view of Kuwahara (US 20150379171 A1).
Regarding claim 3, the above combination of Sugaya, Yui, and Wada teaches the programming apparatus according to claim 2, but does not explicitly teach wherein
the setting unit is configured to set a name of the motion program in accordance with an instruction of the user.
However, Kuwahara, in the same field of endeavor of robot simulators and teaching programs, specifically teaches wherein the setting unit is configured to set a name of the motion program in accordance with an instruction of the user (at least as in paragraph 0059, “These functions in the off-line teaching system of a robot are well known”; at least as in paragraph 0083, “The output area G4 is a “job name area” where a job name confirmable in the general-purpose electronic document G is output, and the output area G5 is an “information area” where the information related to the job program and the general-purpose electronic document G is output such as a model of the robot 30V, a date when the general-purpose electronic document G is output, and a name of an operator”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the teachings of Sugaya, to include Kuwahara’s teaching of a robot simulator and teaching system saving various job information, since Kuwahara teaches wherein the system simplifies the simulation result confirmation and distribution by improving the accessibility to such information and data to various operators.
Conclusion
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/RICARDO I VISCARRA/Examiner, Art Unit 3657
/KHOI H TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656
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