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 .
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.
Claim 18 is 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.
Re. Cl. 18, the limitation “the controller is configured to determine one of the plurality of suction cups for gripping the object based on the property information” renders the claim indefinite in the Examiner’s position. The limitation appears to be an incomplete phrase since it does not state what the controller does after determining one of the suction cups. Does the Applicant intend to refer to employing or using the selected suction cups or is the controller only used for determining? Appropriate clarification is requested.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim US 2004/0130085 (hereinafter Lim) in view of Uchitake US 2025/0222597 (hereinafter Uchitake).
Re. Cl. 1, Lim discloses: A gripping device (Fig. 1) comprising: a base part (27s, Fig. 1); a plurality of grip modules (25s and 23s, Fig. 1) disposed at the base part and configured to grip an object by applying suction to a surface of the object (see Fig. 1, using 23), the plurality of grip modules being configured to move relative to the base part in an X-axis direction (see Fig. 1, via 43), a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction (see Fig. 1, via 43), or a Z-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction (see Fig. 1, via 25).
Re. Cl. 2, Lim discloses: the base part comprises a first base (27 in the Y direction, Fig. 1) and a second base (27 in the X direction, Fig. 1), wherein the plurality of grip modules are movably coupled to the first base and configured to move relative to the first base in the Y-axis direction (see Fig. 1, via 43), and wherein the first base is movably coupled to the second base and is configured to move relative to the second base in the X-axis direction (see Fig. 1, via 43).
Re. Cl. 3, Lim discloses: the first base is one of a pair of first bases that are spaced apart from each other in the X-axis direction and that are configured to move relative to a center of the second base in the X-axis direction (see 27s in the Y-direction, they are spaced apart in the X-direction and can move along the 27 in the x-direction via 43).
Re. Cl. 4, Lim discloses: the plurality of grip modules comprise one or more grip modules disposed at one of the pair of the first bases (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 12, Lim discloses: each of the plurality of grip modules comprises: a suction part configured to suction the object (see 23, Fig. 1 and 3); a lifting part (25, Fig. 3) movably coupled to the suction part and configured to retract or extend in the Z-axis direction to thereby move the suction part in the Z-axis direction (see Fig. 3, via 47 and 49); and a movement part movably coupled to the lifting part and configured to move the suction part in the Y-axis direction (49, Fig. 3).
Re. Cl. 13, Lim discloses: the suction part comprises a suction cup configured to couple to the object by suction (see 23, Fig. 3), the suction cup having a shape opened toward the object and being configured to come into contact with the surface of the object and to perform vacuum suction (see Fig. 3).
Re. Cl. 14, Lim discloses: the suction cup of each of the plurality of grip modules has a same suction area (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 20, Lim discloses: the base part comprises one or more beams that linearly extend (see 27s, Fig. 1).
Re. Cls. 1 and 5-11, Lim does not disclose a controller configured to adjust movements of the plurality of grip modules or a movement of the base part based on property information including a material of the object, a degree of smoothness of the surface of the object, a weight of the object, or a shape of the object (Cl. 1), the controller is configured to determine a target suction point at the object based on the property information (Cl. 5), the controller is configured to receive input of three-dimensional data of the object and to determine the target suction point at the surface of the object based on the three-dimensional data (Cl. 6), the controller is configured to: identify a plurality of surfaces based on a curvature and a normal direction of the plurality of surfaces of the object; and determine the target suction point at one of the plurality of surfaces that has the largest surface area among the plurality of surfaces (Cl. 7), the controller is configured to: search for a single continuous surface of the object that has (i) a cross-sectional curvature less than a reference curvature and (ii) a cross-sectional area exceeding a reference surface area; or search for a plurality of discontinuous surfaces that each have (i) a cross-sectional curvature less than the reference curvature and (ii) a cross-sectional area less than the reference surface area (Cl. 8), the controller is configured to, in response to the single continuous surface not being found from the object, search for the plurality of discontinuous surfaces (Cl. 9), the controller is configured to: determine the target suction point at the plurality of discontinuous surfaces based on Z-axis lengths, X-axis lengths, and Y-axis lengths of the plurality of discontinuous surfaces (Cl. 10), the controller is configured to determine a spacing of the plurality of grip modules based on an X-axis length of the surface of the object and a Y-axis length of the surface of the object (Cl. 11). Uchitake discloses a gripping device (Fig. 4) which includes a base part (45, Fig. 4) and a plurality of gripping modules (41, Fig. 1) which are movable relative to the base to adjust to an object (8). Re. Cl. 1, Uchitake discloses a controller (12, Fig. 2) configured to adjust movements of the plurality of grip modules or a movement of the base part based on property information including a material of the object, a degree of smoothness of the surface of the object, a weight of the object, or a shape of the object (Paragraph 0071). Re. Cl. 5, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to determine a target suction point at the object based on the property information (Paragraph 0076, by determining suction inaccessible area). Re. Cl. 6, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to receive input of three-dimensional data of the object and to determine the target suction point at the surface of the object based on the three-dimensional data (Paragraph 0072 and 0073, by receiving input from the user or specifier 135). Re. Cl. 7, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to: identify a plurality of surfaces based on a curvature and a normal direction of the plurality of surfaces of the object; and determine the target suction point at one of the plurality of surfaces that has the largest surface area among the plurality of surfaces (see Paragraph 0076, 0077, 0078; by input date from the user or using the specifier to determine the suction inaccessible or prohibited areas). Re. Cl. 8, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to: search for a single continuous surface of the object that has (i) a cross-sectional curvature less than a reference curvature and (ii) a cross-sectional area exceeding a reference surface area; or search for a plurality of discontinuous surfaces that each have (i) a cross-sectional curvature less than the reference curvature and (ii) a cross-sectional area less than the reference surface area (Paragraph 0118, by using the determiner 137 and repeating the steps shown in Fig. 11, steps s7-s8, s10, s11). Re. Cl. 9, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to, in response to the single continuous surface not being found from the object, search for the plurality of discontinuous surfaces (see Fig. 11, until the step s8 is completed, by going through step s7, s10, s11). Re. Cl. 10, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to: determine the target suction point at the plurality of discontinuous surfaces based on Z-axis lengths, X-axis lengths, and Y-axis lengths of the plurality of discontinuous surfaces (see Paragrpah 0072, by receiving the input from the user). Re. Cl. 11, Uchitake discloses the controller is configured to determine a spacing of the plurality of grip modules based on an X-axis length of the surface of the object and a Y-axis length of the surface of the object (see Fig. 5-8, determining the spacing between 41s and adjusting so it’s appropriate to grip the target object 8).
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 Lim device to include the controller of Uchitake with reasonable expectation of success since Uchitake states that such a modification controls components of the device to centrally manage an operation of the robot device (Paragraph 0036, Lines 1-4).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim in view of Uchitake as applied to claims 1-14 and 20 above, and further in view of Kieffer US 2021/0162610 (hereinafter Kieffer).
Re. Cl. 15, the combination of Lim in view of Uchitake does not disclose the suction cups of the plurality of grip modules have different suction areas from one another. Kieffer discloses a gripping device (Fig. 1) with suction cups (12) wherein the suction cups have different suction areas from one another (Paragraph 0036).
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 Uchitake device to include suction cups having different suction areas as disclosed by Kieffer with reasonable expectation of success to enable the user to vary the gripping forces for particular areas of the device, thereby creating a more customizable device subject to changes depending on the industry of use.
Claims 16 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim in view of Uchitake as applied to claims 1-14 and 20 above, and further in view of Oka US 2025/0296251 (hereinafter Oka).
Re. Cls. 16 and 18-19, Lim in view of Uchitake does not disclose the suction part comprises: a hinge bracket rotatably coupled to the lifting part; and a plurality of suction cups disposed at an end of the hinge bracket (Cl. 16), the controller is configured to determine one of the plurality of suction cups for gripping the object based on the property information (Cl. 18) or the controller is configured to maneuver the hinge bracket to position one of the plurality of suction cups directly above the object for suction engagement (Cl. 19). Oka discloses a gripping device (Fig. 3) which includes a suction part (21e, 21f, 21d, 21h, Fig. 3) which includes a hinge bracket (21e, Fig. 3) rotatably coupled to the lifting part (21a, Fig. 3, rotatably connected via 21f); and a plurality of suction cups (21d, Fig. 3) disposed at an end of the hinge bracket (see Fig. 3). Re. Cl. 18-19, Oka discloses a controller (90, Fig. 9) is configured to determine one of the plurality of suction cups for gripping the object based on the property information (see Fig. 6-8) and the controller is configured to maneuver the hinge bracket to position one of the plurality of suction cups directly above the object for suction engagement (Paragraph 0037, by changing the position of 21e about 21f).
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 combined Lim in view of Uchitake device to have its suction cups hingedly mounted as disclosed by Oka with reasonable expectation of success since Oka states that such a modification enables for rotation of the suction device relative to its support (Paragraph 0036). Such a modification would be useful in gripping objects which have non-planar shapes.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim in view of Uchitake in view of Oka as applied to claims 16 and 18-19 above, and further in view of Kieffer.
Re. Cl. 17, the combination above does not disclose the suction cups of the plurality of grip modules have different suction areas from one another. Kieffer discloses a gripping device (Fig. 1) with suction cups (12) wherein the suction cups have different suction areas from one another (Paragraph 0036).
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 Uchitake device to include suction cups having different suction areas as disclosed by Kieffer with reasonable expectation of success to enable the user to vary the gripping forces for particular areas of the device, thereby creating a more customizable device subject to changes depending on the industry of use.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Acciavatti US 2023/0415359, Alonso Ramila US 2017/0368692, and Gao US 2024/0157562 disclose other known gripping devices which are presented to the Applicant for their consideration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E GARFT whose telephone number is (571)270-1171. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at (571)272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER GARFT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
