DETAILED ACTION
This application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 1-2 and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0241958 A1 to Yuan et al., which discloses:
Claim 1: A housing for accommodating a section of a robot arm used in hygienic application (intended use), comprising:
a housing body 101 made of a first material (Paragraph [0039] “The body 101, which is made of plastic material”) suitable for contacting product in the hygienic application (intended use), comprising:
an extension portion 101 configured to accommodate the section of the robot arm; and
a connection bore 102 located at an end of the extension portion, and a connector 103 made of a second material (Paragraph [0053] “insertion 103 may be formed by metal material, such as steel”) and comprising an outer surface, wherein the second material has a higher strength than the first material (Paragraph [0053] “The material for forming the insertion 103 may be any suitable material with the E-modulus higher than that of the plastic material”),
wherein the housing body 101 is connected on at least one portion of the outer surface of the connector 103 to couple the connector 103 onto an inner surface of the connection bore 102 (see left side of FIG. 5).
Claim 2: The housing of claim 1, wherein the first material is plastic (see citation in rejection of Claim 1 above), and the housing body 101 is connected on the at least one portion of the outer surface of the connector 103 by overmolding the plastic on the outer surface (Paragraph [0043]).
Claim 8: The housing of claim 1, wherein the extension portion 101 extends in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the connection bore 102 (at least a portion of 101 is perpendicular to 102).
Claim 9: The housing of claim 1, wherein the extension portion 101 extends in a direction parallel to an axis of the connection bore 102 (at least a portion of 101 is parallel to 102).
Claim 10: The housing of claim 1, wherein the connector 103 comprises an outer ridge on the outer surface, the connection bore 102 comprises a recess on the inner surface, and the outer ridge is configured to be received in the recess so as to be fixed and positioned in place with respect to the connection bore 102.
Claim 11: The housing of claim 1, wherein the connector 103 comprises an inner ridge provided with a plurality of connection holes for connecting the connector 103 of a first housing for a first section of the robot arm 101 to a second housing for a second section of the robot arm engaged with the first housing 101.
Claim 12: A method for manufacturing a housing 100 for a section of a robot arm used in hygienic application (intended use), the housing 100 comprising a housing body 101 and a connector 103 located at an end of the housing body 101, comprising:
forming the connector 103 by a second material (Paragraph [0053] “insertion 103 may be formed by metal material, such as steel”), wherein the connector 103 has an outer surface;
forming the housing body 101 by a first material ([Paragraph [0039] “The body 101, which is made of plastic material”) suitable for contacting product in the hygienic application (intended use), wherein the second material has a higher strength than the first material (Paragraph [0053] “The material for forming the insertion 103 may be any suitable material with the E-modulus higher than that of the plastic material”); and
connecting the housing body 101 on at least one portion of the outer surface of the connector 103 (See FIG. 5). See also FIG. 7.
Claim 13: The method of claim 12, wherein the first material is plastic (see citation in rejection of Claim 12 above), and forming the housing body 101 by the first material comprises: placing the connector 103 into a mold corresponding to a shape of the housing 100, and injecting molten plastic into the mold so as to overmold the molten plastic on the at least one portion of the outer surface of the connector 103 so as to form the housing body 101 (see FIG. 7).
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0241958 A1 to Yuan et al., in view of European Patent Application Publication No. 3 297 795 B1 to Reekers et al.
Claim 6: Yuan discloses the housing of claim 1, wherein the housing body is connected on the at least one portion of the outer surface of the connector such that a portion of the outer surface of the connector is located outside the connection bore.
Yuan does not disclose wherein the housing further comprises a sealing ring surrounding the portion of the outer surface of the connector. The Office notes that Claim 6 does not limit the structural relationship or connection between the claimed “sealing ring” and the housing and/or connector.
Reekers teaches a sealing ring 39 provided with a housing of a robot arm.
In view of the Reekers teaching, the Office finds that it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of filing to modify, with a reasonable expectation of success, the housing disclosed by Yuan, such that the housing further comprises a sealing ring similar to the sealing ring 39 taught by Reekers which surrounds the portion of the outer surface of the connector, in order to reduce and/or limit contaminants from the interior of the robot arm.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, and 14 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0241958 A1 to Yuan et al. and European Patent Application Publication No. 3 297 795 B1 to Reekers et al. are the closest prior art.
Regarding Claims 3 and 14, the closest art does not disclose or suggest the “product contact component” recited therein.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANDELL J KRUG whose telephone number is (313) 446-6577. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9:00-14:00 AZ time.
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/RANDELL J KRUG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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