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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/18/2026,03/19/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 1-5,7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US PG Pub 20120217105A1 hereinafter “Lee” of Fig.4 in view of Fig.1).
Re-claim 1, Lee discloses a linear motor actuator (21) including a yoke (4,24) that is movable while facing a stator (26), the linear motor actuator comprising: magnets (25) disposed directly on both surfaces of the yoke (24) in a thickness direction (fig.1 from top and bottom); a width direction guide mechanism (30) supporting of the yoke (24) in a width direction (up and down direction); and a thickness direction guide mechanism (35) supporting of the yoke in the thickness direction (see fig.4), wherein the width direction roller guide mechanism supports the yoke such that a position of the yoke in the width direction on at least one side in the width direction is fixed (annotated fig.4) while a position of the yoke in the width direction on another side in the width direction is variable (annotated fig.4,movement of yoke in up and down , top and bottom distance is variable, however, no movement of yoke 4 in left and right being constant).
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Re-claim 2, Lee discloses the linear motor actuator according to claim 1, wherein the magnets (P[0077],25, magnets, 45) are disposed on both surfaces of the yoke (4) in the thickness direction with magnetic poles reversed (P[pitch is different, north pole of 45 is next to north pole of another one, therefore they are going to be reversed, south-north then north south then south north, then north south).
Re-claim 3, Lee discloses the linear motor actuator according to claim 2, wherein the width direction guide mechanism fixes one of roller guides to a main body of the linear motor actuator (fixed via 23a to 26) while making another roller guide variable (35) by pressing the other roller guide with an elastic element(element 17 is elastic, see fig.1).
Re-claim 4, Lee discloses the linear motor actuator according to claim 3, wherein the thickness direction guide mechanism includes two pairs of roller guides (30,31), and the respective pairs of roller guides support both ends of the yoke (4, see fig.4) in the width direction.
Re-claim 5, Lee discloses the linear motor actuator according to claim 1, further comprising, in a detachable manner, a load (B,14) suppressing roller guide mechanism configured to suppress a load generated through movement of the yoke (4).
Re-claim 7, Lee discloses a linear motor actuator (21) including a yoke (4,24) that is movable while facing a stator (26), the linear motor actuator comprising: magnets (25) disposed directly on both surfaces of the yoke (24) in a thickness direction (fig.1 from top and bottom); a width direction guide mechanism (30) supporting both ends of the yoke (24) in a width direction (up and down direction); and a load suppressing roller guide mechanism (35) configured to suppress (4, provides support for 4 up and down, and rotationally, holding 4) a load generated through movement of the yoke (4,see fig.4), wherein the width direction roller guide mechanism supports the yoke such that a position of the yoke in the width direction on at least one side in the width direction is fixed (annotated fig.4) while a position of the yoke in the width direction on another side in the width direction is variable (annotated fig.4,movement of yoke in up and down , top and bottom distance is variable, however, no movement of yoke 4 in left and right being constant).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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:
Regarding claim 6, which depends from claim 5 and claim 1, combination recites6. (Original) The linear motor actuator according to claim 5, wherein the load suppressing roller guide includes a block that fixes the yoke, at least one guide shaft fixed to the block, and at least two pairs of roller guides supporting the at least one guide shaft.”
All combined limitations of claims 6,5 and 1 are unique when they are combined as indicted by claims 6,5,1. None of the prior art of record, alone or combined teaches or suggest the combination of limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure in PTO892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAGED M ALMAWRI whose telephone number is (313)446-6565. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M. Koehler can be reached on 5712723560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAGED M ALMAWRI/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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