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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 1-4, 10, 14, 15, 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qin et al. (CN112894864). Regarding claim 1, Qin et al. discloses a device with a finger body 10, the finger body including one or more finger cavities 6 disposed along a length of the finger body 10, the length of the finger body 10 in a default shape defining a first axis, the finger body 10 being bendable away from the first axis in response to a change in a finger fluid pressure in the one or more finger cavities; and a petal 11, the petal being coupled to the finger body 10 at one or more points along the length of the finger body 10, the petal 11 having one or more petal cavities 7 disposed thereon, wherein the petal 11 is actively deformable and/or passively deformable in response to the bending of the finger body 10 and/or a change in a petal fluid pressure in the one or more petal cavities 7.
Regarding claim 2, Qin et al. discloses that the petal 11 is deformable between any two of a plurality of shapes.
Regarding claim 3, Qin et al. discloses that the petal 11 is deformable by a concurrent bending relative to the first axis and a change in a lateral curvature of the petal 11.
Regarding claim 4, Qin et al. discloses that the one or more petal cavities comprises a plurality of the petal cavities 7 distributed along one or more bellows axes, and wherein the lateral curvature is defined along the one or more bellows axes.
Regarding claim 10, the petal 11 is deformable towards a default shape under an elastic bias of the finger body 10 and/or the petal 11.
Regarding claim 14, Qin et al. discloses a gripper comprising a palm 1 defining a central axis, and a plurality of devices 5, each of the plurality of devices including: a finger body 10, the finger body including one or more finger cavities 6 disposed along a length of the finger body 10, the length of the finger body 10 in a default shape defining a first axis, the finger body 10 being bendable away from the first axis in response to a change in a finger fluid pressure in the one or more finger cavities; and a petal 11, the petal 11 being coupled to the finger body 10 at one or more points along the length of the finger body, the petal 11 having one or more petal cavities 7 disposed thereon, wherein the petal 11 is deformable in response to the bending of the finger body 10 and/or a change in a petal fluid pressure in the one or more petal cavities 7, wherein each of the plurality of devices 5 is coupled to the palm via a respective coupling 3,4 independently of any other of the plurality of devices 5, and wherein the respective finger body 10 of the plurality of devices 5 collectively define a working aperture ,and wherein the plurality of devices 5 and the palm 1 collectively define a workspace volume.
Regarding claim 15, Qin et al. discloses that any one or both of the working aperture and the workspace volume is changeable in response to a deformation of any one or more of the plurality of devices 5.
Regarding claim 17, Qin et al. discloses that the plurality of devices 5 are distributed in a radial symmetry about the central axis.
Regarding claim 18, Qin et al. discloses that selected ones of the plurality of devices 5 are distributed in a mirror symmetry about an axis of symmetry.
Regarding claim 19, Qin et al. discloses that the gripper is changeable between any two of a plurality of modes of operation, and wherein the plurality of modes of operation comprises: a default mode, a pinch mode, a power mode, a wide mode, and a scoop mode.
Claims 1-3, 10, 14, 15, 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (CN 114434474A). Regarding claim 1, Zhang et al. discloses a device comprising: a finger body (Fig. 1, 210, 220), the finger body including one or more finger cavities (Fig. 3, 211,221) disposed along a length of the finger body, the length of the finger body in a default shape defining a first axis, the finger body being bendable away from the first axis in response to a change in a finger fluid pressure in the one or more finger cavities (Paragraph [0038], “…pneumatic software fingers 210 inflate…” and Paragraph [0039] “…pneumatic software fingers 210 are inhaled”), and a petal (Fig. 1, 230), the petal being coupled to the finger body at one or more points along the length of the finger body (Paragraph [0031], “…connecting soft body part 230 are connected to the two pneumatic soft body fingers 210…”), the petal having one or more petal cavities (Fig. 4, 231) disposed thereon, wherein the petal is actively deformable and/or passively deformable in response to the bending of the finger body and/or a change in a petal fluid pressure in the one or more petal cavities (Paragraph [0038], “…connecting software part 230 inhales…” and Paragraph [0039], “…connecting software part 230 is inflated…”).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang et al. discloses that the petal 230 is deformable between any two of a plurality of shapes.
Regarding claim 3, Zhang et al. discloses that the petal 230 is deformable by a concurrent bending relative to the first axis and a change in a lateral curvature of the petal.
Regarding claim 10, Zhang et al. discloses that the petal 230 is deformable towards a default shape under an elastic bias of the finger body and/or the petal.
Regarding claim 14, Zhang et al. further discloses a palm (Fig. 2, 100) defining a central axis, wherein each of the plurality of devices 210 is coupled to the palm 100 via a respective coupling independently of any other of the plurality of devices, and wherein the respective finger body 210,220 of the plurality of devices collectively define a working aperture, and wherein the plurality of devices and the palm 100 collectively define a workspace volume.
Regarding claim 15, Zhang et al. discloses that any one or both of the working aperture and the workspace volume is changeable in response to a deformation of any one or more of the plurality of devices 210.
Regarding claim 17, Zhang et al. discloses that the plurality of devices 210 are distributed in a radial symmetry about the central axis.
Regarding claim 18, Zhang et al. discloses that selected ones of the plurality of devices 210 are distributed in a mirror symmetry about an axis of symmetry.
Regarding claim 19, Zhang et al. discloses that the gripper is changeable between any two of a plurality of modes of operation, and wherein the plurality of modes of operation comprises: a default mode, a pinch mode, a power mode, a wide mode, and a scoop mode (paragraph [0020]).
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.
Claim 16 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qin et al. or Zhang et al., as applied to claim 14 above, in view of Yeow et al. (WO2022098300) . Qin et al. and Zhang et al. further disclose a control circuit (see Qin et al. paragraphs [0039]-[0042] and Zhang et al. paragraphs [0034]-[0035]) coupled to the gripper. Qin et al. or Zhang et al. discloses all of the claimed subject matter except that the palm cavity is operable by a palm fluid pressure and the radial displacement being responsive to a change in the palm fluid pressure.
Yeow et al. teaches for a gripper comprising a palm 102,104 defining a central axis, and a plurality of devices 106, each of the plurality of devices including: a finger body, the finger body including one or more finger cavities 124,126 disposed along a length of the finger body 10, the length of the finger body in a default shape defining a first axis, and that (claim 16 and 21) a palm cavity is operable by a palm fluid pressure and the radial displacement being responsive to a change in the palm fluid pressure for the purposes of picking up objects of different shapes and different dimensions. See Yeow et al. page 1, lines 5-6.
Since Qin et al, Zhang et al. and Yeow et al. are all in the same field of endeavor the purpose disclosed by Yeow et al. would have been recognized in the pertinent art of Qin et al or Zhang et al. It would have been obvious at a time before the invention was effectively filed to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the gripper of Qin et al. or Zhang et al. such that the palm cavity is operable by a palm fluid pressure and the radial displacement being responsive to a change in the palm fluid pressure for the purposes of picking up objects of different shapes and different dimensions.
Prior Art
Prior art made of record but not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure for showing other grippers with a plurality of fingers and cavities.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 8, 9, and 11-13 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. The improvement comprises (claim 5) at least one of the one or more bellows axes is non-parallel to the first axis, (claim 6) the petal comprises at least one lateral portion, and wherein the petal is deformable by displacing the at least one lateral portion, (claim 8) the petal is deformable towards a scoop shape in response to the bending of the finger body and an expansion of the one or more petal cavities under a positive petal fluid pressure, the petal in the scoop shape forming a hollow in which the finger body is disposed, (claim 9) the petal is deformable towards a tubular shape in response to a contraction of the one or more petal cavities under a negative fluid pressure, the petal in the tubular shape being folded away from the finger body, (claim 11) the petal defines a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, and wherein the petal is coupled to the finger body at the first surface, and wherein the one or more petal cavities are disposed on the second surface, (claim 12) a nail elastically coupled to the finger body, wherein the nail is resiliently displaceable along the first axis relative to the finger body, and (claim 13) a flap extending laterally from a side of the petal.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to Thomas Lazo whose telephone number is (571) 272-4818. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor Nathaniel Wiehe, can be reached on (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THOMAS E LAZO/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3745
September 1, 2026
Prosecution Insights