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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on DATE has been considered by the Examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “ring gear bearing inserted into the hollow portion of the ring gear-integrated pulley” (claim 5) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Fig. 6 shows a bearing (item 3) large enough to be arranged on the opposite side of the ring gear teeth of ring gear item 4 and also fitting within the interior circumference of the intermediate casing 11. No new matter should be entered.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: items 2 and 6 as shown in Fig. 6.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 8-1.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “3” has been used to designate both “sun gear shaft bearing” and “ring gear shaft bearing” (see page 12, first and second full paragraphs of the specification as filed).
Figures 1 and 11 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g).
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Applicant may wish to amend “quiet” to “quite” at page 1, line 30 of the specification as filed.
Page 7, line 17 of the specification as filed, the unit of torque is described as 12 Km. This should be amended to the correct unit.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 4 objected to because of the following informalities: claims 3 and 4 are formed with 2 complete sentences instead of one. See MPEP 607.01(m) which states, “Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. Periods may not be used elsewhere in the claims except for abbreviations.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites, “a ring gear bearing inserted into the hollow portion of the ring gear-integrated pulley”. Claim 6 recites “a ring gear bearing inserted into the hollow portion of the ring gear-integrated pulley”. Meanwhile, Fig. 6 shows a bearing (item 3) sized to be arranged on the outer circumference of the ring gear item 4, opposite of the ring gear teeth and also fitting within the interior circumference of the intermediate casing 11. Thus, it is unclear what Applicant seeks to protect. Please clarify.
Claims 1 and 4 recite the limitation “the outer side”. Claims 3 and 4 recite the limitation “the outer periphery”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Claims 3 and 4 objected to because of the following informalities: claims 3 and 4 are formed with 2 complete sentences instead of one. Are the claims intended to end at the first period or the second period? Please clarify.
Claim 3 recites, in its first sentence, “rotating the respective planet gears through the sun gear rotation”. Claim 7 recites, “a planet gear fixing portion that fixes each of planet gear shafts to the upper casing”. It is unclear how the planet gears are rotatable while also being fixed to the upper casing. Does the upper casing rotate along with the planet gears? Please explain if the sun gear rotates (claim 1), planet gears rotate (claim 3) and the ring gear (ring gear-integrated pulley) rotate (claim 3) simultaneously or are the planet gears fixed to a fixed upper casing.
Claim 3 also recites the limitation, “the sun gear meshes with the inner space formed by meshing of the multiple planet gears”. Is this text an error in translation? Please explain how the sun gear meshes with an inner space. Examiner will proceed with the notion that the sun gear meshes with the multiple planet gears.
Remaining claims are rejected for their dependence on the aforementioned claims.
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 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 10,441,441).
Kim discloses and shows at Fig. 16, for example, a pulley-integrated cable actuator comprising:
a base motor (320);
a sun gear shaft (not labeled) of which the lower end portion is coupled to the center of the base motor, rotating by the motor rotation, and provided with a sun gear (330);
a planet gear set consisting of multiple planet gears (348) that mesh with the sun gear; and
a ring gear-integrated pulley where a ring gear (346) is formed on the inner side, meshing with the planet gear, and a pulley (348) for winding a cable (40) is formed on the outer side (col. 21:7-14).
Cl. 12 – Kim discloses and shows an operation method of a pulley-integrated cable actuator according to claim 1, comprising steps of: rotating a rotor of a base motor; rotating a sun gear coupled to a rotor center shaft, rotating each planet gear meshed with the sun gear; and rotating a ring gear-integrated pulley by the planet gear rotation to drive cables wound around the ring gear-integrated pulley.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 2-6 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al as applied to claim 1 and in view of Gregg et al. (US 2018/0325713).
Kim discloses and shows the invention of claim 1 as described elsewhere above to include a motor having a having a rotor and stator and where a sun gear shaft (motor shaft) is coupled to the center of the motor.
Regarding claim 2, Kim does not describe having a frameless motor. Gregg discloses and shows an actuator where a base motor is an inner ring rotation type of frameless motor, consisting of a stator and a rotor, the frameless motor further reduces the weight of an orthosis (para. 0037).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Kim actuator with a frameless motor to likewise reduce the weight of the overall system.
Cl. 3 – Kim discloses and shows the planet gear set is configured so that the sun gear (330) meshes with the inner space formed by meshing of the multiple planet gears (342), rotating the respective planet gears through the sun gear rotation. Simultaneously, the outer periphery side meshes with a ring gear (teeth on an interior circumference of item 346) formed on the inner side of the ring gear-integrated pulley (346), rotating the ring gear-integrated pulley.
Cl. 4 – the ring gear-integrated pulley comprises a hollow portion (Kim, 346) and a flange portion (348). A ring gear is formed on the inner side of the hollow portion and a cable fixing groove is provided along the outer periphery of the outer side of the flange portion for winding the cable (40).
Cl. 5 – (see 35 USC § 112 rejection elsewhere above) Kim further comprises a ring gear bearing inserted into the hollow portion of the ring gear-integrated pulley (col. 23:10-11).
Cl. 6 – the base motor, the gear shaft, the planet gear set, the ring gear-integrated pulley and a sun gear shaft bearing are mounted within the inner space formed by an upper casing, a lower casing and an intermediate casing (Kim).
Cl. 11 – the sun gear meshes with the inner space of the planet gear set, the ring gear is integrated with a pulley, and the planet gear set is placed inside the pulley to minimize the volume.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al and in view of Gregg et al. as applied to claim 6 and further in view of Stromotich (US 4,321,842).
Kim and Gregg disclose and show the invention of claim 6 as described elsewhere above. Regarding claim 7, neither includes the planet gears being fixed to the upper casing. Stromotich discloses and shows an actuator including a planetary gear set including a planet gear fixing portion (14) that fixes each of planet gear shafts to the upper casing (3), so as to reduce the axial dimension of the actuator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Kim/Gregg actuator where a planet gear fixing portion fixes each of planet gear shafts to the upper casing so as to likewise reduce the axial dimension of the actuator.
Cls. 8 -9 – Gregg discloses a Hall-effect sensor and magnetic incremental encoder which includes an encoder provided inside the rotor where the encoder comprises a magnetizing ring coupled to the lower surface of the rotor, and a reading head for measuring the rotor rotation speed through the magnetizing ring.
Cl. 10 – Kim shows a lower casing comprises a cable replacement casing (312) that is configured to enable detachment and attachment (with 314) to facilitate cable replacement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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