DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed September 3, 2026 for the above identified patent application.
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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kume (USPub 2019/0315001).
Kume teaches a robot comprising: a first wrist element (2) supported at a distal end of an arm (140) so as to be rotatable about a first axis (A); a second wrist element (3) supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the first wrist element about a second axis (B) orthogonal to the first axis; and a third wrist element (4) supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the second wrist element about a third axis (C) orthogonal to the second axis, wherein the first wrist element is provided with a first space (shown with the dash line in the annotated Fig. below) accommodating a first motor (7) that drives the second wrist element and a second motor (6) that drives the third wrist element, and second spaces (located above and below the first space in the annotated Fig. below) that communicate with the first space and that are respectively disposed on both sides thereof with the first space interposed therebetween in the second axis direction, and a wire body (the upper wire body 8 that extends through wrist element 4, Fig. 10) guided through the arm is guided through at least one of the second spaces (upper second space in the annotated Fig. below) and then into the first space (within the box illustrated with the dash line) at a position located along the first axis, closer to the second wrist element than at least one of the first motor and the second motor.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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.
Claims 3-4 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not teach the claimed robot wrist structure of claim 1, including: the second spaces respectively accommodate a first power transmission mechanism that transmits power of the first motor to the second wrist element and a second power transmission mechanism that transmits power of the second motor to the third wrist element (claim 2), or a flat plate-shaped partition wall that partially partitions the first space and each of the second spaces, and to which the first motor or the second motor is fixed, wherein a wire body guided through the arm is guided through at least one of the second spaces, and wherein the wire body passing through the second space is held on the partition wall by means of a holding member (claims 3-4).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Note the cited references showing a wire body extending through a robot arm.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 WILLIAM C JOYCE whose telephone number is (571)272-7107. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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, 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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/WILLIAM C JOYCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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