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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7 and 14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/25/2026.
Claims 1-6, 8-13 and 15-20 are pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-6 and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Parfett et al. (US 2018/0360470 A1 and Parafett hereinafter).
As to Claim 1, Parafett in its teachings as shown in Fig.1-100 disclose a surgical stapler (see [0001]) comprising:
a firing assembly (172) configured to translate along a longitudinal axis such that translation of the firing assembly in a distal direction is configured to deploy staples (191) from an end effector (300) (see [0151]);
a motor assembly (714) mechanically coupled to the firing assembly and configured to drive the firing assembly along the longitudinal axis; and
a speed control (1104) circuit (see [0181]) configured to:
output a motor drive signal to the motor assembly such that the motor drive signal is configured to drive the firing assembly to a target speed during a firing stroke (see Fig.10 input signal to driver 100 and also [0182] and [0201]),
detect (11638), during the firing stroke, a speed error in which an actual speed of the firing assembly is less than a speed threshold that is less than the target speed (see also [0526]),
set (11652) the target speed to zero for a pause time duration in response to detecting the speed error (see also [0526]),
increase the target speed above zero after the pause time duration, and drive the firing assembly to the increased target speed a predetermined distance through the firing stroke ( After the predetermined pause, the control circuit 2510 reinitiates 11632 the firing cycle at a velocity that is slower than the SLOW velocity at which the motor stall occurred for the remainder of the firing cycle – see [0526]).
As to Claim 2, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 1, wherein the motor drive signal comprises a pulse width modulated signal (see 11638 and [0201] and [0222]).
As to Claim 3, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 2, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to dynamically adjust a duty cycle of the PWM signal during the firing stroke to drive the firing assembly to the target speed (see 11638 and [0201], [0222]).
As to Claim 4, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 2, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to: detect, during the firing stroke, an excess power condition in which the duty cycle of the PWM signal is greater than a duty cycle threshold, and set the target speed to zero for the pause time duration in response to detecting the excess power condition (see 11638 and also [0201] and [0222]).
As to Claim 5, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 2, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to dynamically adjust the duty cycle of the PWM signal based at least on an instantaneous speed error, a rate of change speed error, or a cumulative speed error (see Fig.17 and [0221], [0260]).
As to Claim 6, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 2, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to dynamically adjust the duty cycle of the PWM signal based at least on an instantaneous speed error measured as an instantaneous difference between the actual speed and the target speed, the instantaneous speed error being greater than a difference between the target speed and the speed threshold (see Fig.17 and [0221], [0260]).
As to Claim 8, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 1, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to: set the target speed to an initial speed such that the firing assembly traverses an initial distance of the firing stroke driven to the initial speed (see 2534 and [0530]).
As to Claim 9, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 8, wherein the speed control circuit is configured to: set the target speed after the pause time duration such that the target speed is set less than the initial speed and greater than zero (see 2534 and [0530]).
As to Claim 10, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 8, wherein the initial speed is approximately 12 mm/s to approximately 16 mm/s (see 2534 and [0530]).
As to Claim 11, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 8, wherein the initial speed is approximately 12 mm/s (see 2534 and [0530]).
As to Claim 12, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 8, wherein the motor drive signal is a PWM signal having less than 100% duty cycle in an unloaded firing condition as the firing assembly travels at the initial speed (see 11638 and [0201], [0222]).
As to Claim 13, Parafett disclose the surgical stapler of claim 1, wherein the pause time duration is approximately one second (see 11638 and [0201] and [0222]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As to Claim 16: In view of the limitations the closest prior art (US 2018/0360470 A1) as shown in Pto 1449/896 including the prior works of the assignee/inventor does not explicitly describe or reasonably suggest or render obvious in combination with all the given limitations output a motor drive signal to the motor assembly such that the motor drive signal is configured to dynamically adjust power to the motor assembly to drive the firing assembly to a target speed during a firing stroke, execute a first control loop during the firing stroke in which the speed control circuit is configured to initiate a pause during the firing stroke in response to a detection of an excess power condition in which an actual power to the motor assembly is greater than a power threshold, and execute a second control loop during the firing stroke in which the speed control circuit is configured to initiate a pause during the firing stroke in response to a detection of a speed error condition in which an actual speed of the firing assembly is less than a speed threshold that is less than the target speed, wherein the second control loop is distinct from the first control loop as claimed by the applicant. In the examiner’s opinion, the claims are now deemed to be directed to motor control of surgical stapler with pausing in response to speed error.
Claim 15 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (US 2020/0093506 A1: The present disclosure provides a surgical instrument including an end effector, a drive member movable to effectuate a motion in said end effector, a motor operable to move the drive member to effectuate the motion in the end effector and a bailout assembly operable to perform a mechanical bailout of the surgical instrument in response to a bailout error. The bailout assembly includes a bailout door, a bailout handle accessible through the bailout door. The bailout handle is operable to move the drive member to effectuate a bailout motion in the end effector. A controller includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to detect the bailout error. The processor is programed to stop the motor in response to the detection of the bailout error – see [Abstract])
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL T AGARED whose telephone number is (571)270-1981. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 (Mon- Thur).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at (571) 272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GABRIEL AGARED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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