DEVICE FOR SECURING MOBILE INSPECTION MEANS TO OBJECTS TO BE INSPECTED
FIRST OFFICE ACTION
DRAWINGS
The drawings are objected to because the figure number labels as well as the element numbering in each of Figs. 1 and 3 - 5 are unclear.
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. 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). The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
TITLE
The title is objected to because it is not clearly descriptive of the claimed invention. A suggested title is:
“Device For Securing Mobile Inspection Means To Aircraft Engine To Be Inspected”.
ABSTRACT
The abstract of the disclosure has been considered and approved.
SPECIFICATION
The specification of the disclosure has been considered and approved.
CLAIMS
In the event that the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the rationale supporting the rejection would be the same.
35 U.S.C. § 102
In accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), a person shall be entitled to a patent unless 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.
Claims 1 - 3, 5 - 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Applicant’s cited prior art of Peters et al. (2020/0319119).
With respect to independent claim 1, Peters et al. set forth a device for securing a mobile inspection robot (1) to an aircraft engine (80), the mobile inspection robot being designed to insert a borescope (70) into the aircraft engine to be inspected (see Fig. 1), the device comprising:
an orientation adjusting unit (30) configured to adjust the position or orientation of the mobile inspection robot in relation to the aircraft engine to be inspected (paragraph 62); and
a connector (20) for providing a connection, which is rigid in at least one degree of freedom, between the mobile inspection robot and the aircraft engine to be inspected, in order to fix, in at least one degree of freedom, the relative position or orientation of the mobile inspection robot in relation to the aircraft engine to be inspected (paragraph 61).
With respect to claim 2, Peters et al. set forth a connector (20) which is interpreted as a suspension as claimed because the connector secures (ie. suspends) the mobile inspection robot (1) to the aircraft engine (80) to be inspected as claimed (see Fig. 3a).
With respect to claim 3, Peters et al. set forth that the suspension (20) comprises the orientation adjusting unit (30).
With respect to claim 5, Peters et al. set forth that the device further comprises a holder (30) for the mobile inspection robot (1) and that the connector (20) is a spacer (23) which is configured to be fixedly connected both to the mobile inspection robot situated on the holder and to the aircraft engine to be inspected (Fig. 3a),
the mobile inspection robot being flexibly mounted by the holder in such a way that relative movements in at least one degree of freedom that are transmitted from the aircraft engine to be inspected to the mobile inspection robot via the spacer are reproduced to a predefined extent by the mobile inspection robot (Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 6, Peters et al. set forth that the holder (30) comprises suspension elements (31 - 33) that are configured to flexibly mount the mobile inspection robot by way of the holder (paragraph 62).
With respect to claim 7, Peters et al. set forth the orientation adjusting unit is designed such that a positional adjustment in at least two directions in space (Fig. 2, side to side and front to back) or an orientational adjustment by at least two axes in space is possible (paragraphs 55+).
With respect to claim 8, Peters et al. set forth that the positioning adjusting unit (30) comprises components (34 & 35) which are displaceable along a rail (34).
With respect to claim 11, Peters et al. set forth that the suspension (20) is configured to completely carry the mobile inspection robot (Fig. 3a).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 9, and 10 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.
With respect to claim 4, the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the suspension is configured to be secured at multiple spaced-apart securing points to the aircraft engine to be inspected, wherein a connection between the mobile inspection robot and a securing point comprises a stay cable.
With respect to claim 9, the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the device comprises a jig which is designed to adjust the positioning or orientation adjusting unit independently of the mobile inspection robot in such a way that after being secured to the device, the mobile inspection robot assumes the desired position or orientation in relation to the aircraft engine to be inspected.
With respect to claim 10, the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the mobile inspection robot is for borescope inspection, during which an actuator element is used to systematically deform a repeatedly plastically deformable and elongated carrier element for the borescope and insert the carrier element into an aircraft engine to be inspected, in such a way that the free end of the carrier element and thus the borescope head is moved on a predefined path.
CITED DOCUMENTS
The Applicant’s attention is directed to the “PTO-892” form for the relevant art made of record at the time of this Office Action.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the Examiner should be directed to Eric S. McCall whose telephone number is 571-272-2183. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, the Applicant is advised to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at:
https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/Eric S. McCall/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
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