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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in Figure 2, the numbers 441 and 442 appear to be switched. 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.
Figure 9 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1-7, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shang (CN 113927627 B).
Regarding Claim 1, Shang discloses a snake arm robot comprising:
A base disk (1-2).
A rotary unit (see Fig. 1, showing the portion of the robot above the base disk) rotatably connected to the base disk (see Fig. 1) and having multiple sub-disks sequentially arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction and rotatably connected to each other (see Examiner’s annotated version of Fig. 1, hereinafter “Figure A”).
A wire connector (see Figure A) having multiple wires (3-4) connected to the base disk or a plurality of disks selected from the sub-disks and sequentially disposed in the arrangement direction or disposed to partially face each other in a circumferential direction of the sub-disks (see Figure A).
A wire operator (see Figs. 1 and 8) operating the wires to rotate the sub-disks by a predetermined angle (see Figs. 1 and 8, showing that moving the wire operator linearly, will pull on the wire, causing the sub-disks to rotate by a predetermined angle based on the amount of linear travel).
Regarding Claim 2, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 1, wherein the wires are radially disposed around a center of the base disk or the sub- disks (see Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 2, wherein the rotary unit includes multiple odd sub-disks and even sub-disks rotatably connected to each other by rotary joints (5-1), and the odd sub-disks and even sub-disks are alternately arranged in the arrangement direction (see Figure A), and the wires are connected to the odd sub-disks adjacent to each other or the even sub-disks adjacent to each other, respectively (see Figure A and Figs. 2-3, showing that the same wire goes through all the odd and even sub-disks and accordingly the odd-sub disks are connected to each other by the same wire and the even sub-disks are connected to each other by the same wire).
Regarding Claim 4, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 3, wherein the wire connector includes: a first sub-connecting unit including multiple first sub-pulleys rotatably installed on any one of the odd sub-disks adjacent to each other (see Figure A, showing the pulleys on the odd sub-plates), and multiple first sub-wires installed on the other one of the odd sub-disks adjacent to each other (see Figure A, showing four such wires, two of which are first sub-wires), wound on the first sub-pulleys (see Figure A), and having an end connected to the wire operator (see Figure A).
A second sub-connecting unit including multiple second sub-pulleys rotatably installed on any one of the even sub-disks adjacent to each other (see Figure A), and multiple second sub-wires installed on the other one of the even sub-disks adjacent to each other (see Figure A, showing four such wires, the even sub-wires being the remaining two), wound on the second sub-pulleys (see Figure A), and having an end connected to the wire operator (see Figure A).
Regarding Claim 5, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 4, wherein the first sub-wires are radially disposed around a center of the odd sub-disk (see Figure A), and the second sub-wires are radially disposed around a center of the even sub-disk and are disposed between the first sub- wires adjacent to each other (see Figure A, showing four wires with the even wires and odd wires alternating).
Regarding Claim 6, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 4, wherein the wire connector includes: a first main connecting unit including a first main pulley rotatably installed on an odd sub-disk that is the most adjacent to the base disk of the odd sub-disks (see Figure A), and multiple first main wires installed on the base disk (see Figure A, showing two of the four wires), wound on the first main pulley, and having an end connected to the wire operator (see Figure A).
A second main connecting unit including a second main pulley rotatably installed on an even sub-disk that is the most adjacent to the base disk of the even sub-disks (see Figure A), and multiple second main wires installed on the base disk (see Figure A, showing the other two of the four wires), wound on the second main pulley (see Figure A), and having an end connected to the wire operator (see Figure A).
Regarding Claim 7, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 6, wherein the first main wires and the second main wires are radially disposed around the center of the base disk and are alternately arranged in a circumferential direction of the base disk (see Figure A, showing the four wires can be chosen to meet this condition).
Regarding Claim 11, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 7, wherein the wire operator includes a first main rotary unit pulling or releasing the first main wires facing each other with the center of the base disk therebetween (see Fig. 8).
Regarding Claim 13, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 7, wherein the wire operator includes a second main rotary unit pulling or releasing the second main wires facing each other with the center of the base disk therebetween (see Figure A).
Regarding Claim 15, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 5, wherein the wire operator includes a first sub-rotary unit pulling or releasing the first sub-wires facing each other with the center of the base disk therebetween (see Figure A, showing four units).
Regarding Claim 17, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 5, wherein the wire operator includes a second sub-rotary unit pulling or releasing the second sub-wires facing each other with the center of the base disk therebetween (see Figure A, showing four units).
Regarding Claim 19, Shang further discloses the snake arm robot of claim 3, wherein the rotary joint is a quaternion joint (see Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY WEBER whose telephone number is (571)272-3307. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F.
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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/GREGORY ROBERT WEBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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