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 .
DETAIL ACTION
Notice to Applicant(s)
This application has been examined. Claims 1-21 are pending.
The prior arts submitted on November 27, 2024 and January 13, 2025 have been considered.
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 119, which have been placed of record in the file.
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 1-8 and 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fukuno et al. (2022/0071718).
As per claim 1, Fukuno et al. disclose a robot system comprising a robot (see at least figure 5, item 1; paragraphs 0003, 0004, 0007); and a moving stand (see figure 5, item 70) including a plurality of legs (see at least figure 5, items 11-14) configured to contact a floor or a ground, and an installation portion on which the robot is installed (see at least figures 4 and 5), wherein at least one of the plurality of legs (see at least figure 5, items 11, 12) includes a holding-force changing portion configured to change fixing holding-force between the at least one of the plurality of legs and the floor or the ground in accordance with state of the robot (see at least figure 6, items 603, 11, 12, 13, 14; paragraphs 0009-0017, 0087-0090, 0093, 0095, 0096, 0106-0117, 0123, 0125-0127, 0129).
As per claim 2, Fukuno et al. disclose that the moving stand includes a frame portion to which the plurality of legs is attached, and wherein the plurality of legs includes at least one fixed leg whose length in an up-and-down direction is not able to be changed with respect to the frame portion, and at least one movable leg whose length in the up-and-down direction is able to be changed with respect to the frame portion (see at least figure 5, items 11, 12, 85, 86, figure 7; paragraphs 0087, 0091).
As per claim 3, Fukuno et al. disclose that the holding-force changing portion is disposed in the movable leg (see at least figure 7, items 11a, 12a; paragraph 0091).
As per claim 4, Fukuno et al. disclose that the at least one fixed leg includes three or more fixed legs and the at least one movable leg includes two or more movable legs, wherein when viewed from the up-and-down direction, the installation portion is disposed inside a figure formed by connecting the three or more fixed legs that serve as apexes, with a line, and wherein the two or more movable legs are disposed outside the figure (see at least figures 4, 5, 7; paragraph 0091).
As per claim 5, Fukuno et al. further disclose a control portion configured to control a magnitude of the fixing holding-force of the holding-force changing portion (see at least figure 6, item 603; paragraph 0095).
As per claim 6, Fukuno et al. disclose that the holding-force changing portion is an air sticking portion configured to change the magnitude of the fixing holding-force by changing sticking force to the floor or the ground by using air (see at least figure 7, items 11a, 12a; paragraph 0088).
As per claim 7, Fukuno et al. disclose that the holding-force changing portion is a magnetic-force sticking portion configured to change the magnitude of the fixing holding-force by changing sticking force to the floor or the ground by using magnetic force (see at least figure 7, items 11b, 12b; paragraph 0088).
As per claim 8, Fukuno et al. disclose that the holding-force changing portion is an air cylinder configured to change the fixing holding-force by changing rigidity (see at least figure 7, items 11a, 12a).
As per claim 16, Fukuno et al. disclose that the moving stand includes a caster configured to move the moving stand by rolling, and a switching mechanism configured to switch position of the caster between a projecting position at which the caster projects downward from the legs and a retracted position at which the caster is retracted upward from the legs (see at least figures 4, 5, 7 and the related text).
With respect to claims 17-21, the limitations of these claims have been noted in the rejections above. They are therefore considered rejected as set forth above.
Claims 9-15 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.
Conclusion
Claims 1-8 and 16-21 are rejected. Claims 9-15 are objected.
The following references are cited as being of general interest: Lenkman (5,845,914), Kouno et al. (2014/0277713), Okazaki et al. (2018/0337577) and Wang et al. (2019/0366556).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAN QUANG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6966. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday from 7:00am to 5:30pm.
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June 25, 2026
/TAN Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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