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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the application filed on 7/10/2025. Currently claims 1-7 are pending in the application.
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 103 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made 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 non-obviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.103 as being obvious over Miyamae (JP 2017 105 564 A), hereafter, referred to as “Miyamae”, in view of Horigome et al. (JPH 06 399 07 A), hereafter, referred to as “Horigome”.
Regarding claim 1, and 6-7, Miyamae teaches a rotational conveyance system and a synchronous operation regulation device for a rotary conveyance part, and the method for controlling the rotary conveyance device, the synchronous operation regulation device comprising: an image acquisition unit that acquires a captured image showing a first mark that is a portion of a first rotary conveyance part and a second mark that is a part of a second rotary conveyance part of a pair of rotary conveyance parts that transfer a workpiece between a first gripper provided to the first rotary conveyance part and a second gripper provided to the second rotary conveyance part while rotating relative to each other; a displacement amount specification unit that specifies the amount of displacement between the positional relationship between the first mark and the second mark shown in the captured image and a prescribed target positional relationship; and a rotation control unit that controls the rotational driving of at least one of the first rotary conveyance part and the second rotary conveyance part so as to reduce the amount of displacement (claims 1 and 6). Furthermore, it is found that, in order to drive the rotary conveyance parts in the rotation direction, the foregoing has a motor and a drive mechanism that transmits the power of the motor to the rotary conveyance parts.
But Miyamae fails to explicitly teach that the foregoing is provided with a positioning part that engages with the rotary conveyance parts at a stop position and restrains the rotary conveyance parts in the horizontal direction. However, Horigome teaches a rotary-drive-type blow-molding machine wherein a lock pin 50 is positioned by being inserted into a positioning hole 54 of a rotary disk 6 (para. [0025]). Additionally, Miyamae and Horigome pertain to rotational conveyance in a blow-molding machine (para. [0004], Miyamae; and para. [0001] of Horigome). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Horigome, and easily apply the feature of providing a positioning part that engages with the rotary conveyance parts at a stop position and restrains the rotary conveyance parts in the horizontal direction to the invention disclosed in Miyamae, in order to transfer a workpiece at a suitable position, provide a positioning hole in the rotary conveyance parts, and restrain the rotary conveyance parts in the horizontal direction by using a lock pin. It would also have been obvious to any ordinary artisan that a non-transitory storage medium on which is stored a computer program for causing a computer of a rotary conveyance device (as part of control unit), the rotary conveyance device including a conveyance body configured to rotationally convey a workpiece between a plurality of stations by moving in a rotation direction.
Regarding claim 2, Horigome teaches that correction is performed with respect to a stop position ahead in the rotation direction to which the rotary conveyance parts have advanced by an inertial force. Therefore, it would not be particularly difficult to configure the invention disclosed by Miyamae, such that the rotational drive is controlled by using, as the amount of displacement, the position stopped after the rotary conveyance parts have moved due to inertia.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 are objected to as being directly or indirectly dependent upon rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitation of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for indication of allowable subject
matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art of references (of record) do not teach or fairly suggest the (by themselves or in combination) a rotary conveyance device, “wherein the control unit detects the first stop position and the second stop position based on a rotation amount of the
motor”.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of references (of record) do not teach or fairly suggest the (by themselves or in combination) a rotary conveyance device, “wherein the control unit detects a gap of a gear of the drive mechanism by driving the motor in a conveyance direction with a torque at which the conveyance body to be restrained does not move after detecting the second stop position, and the control unit determines a shift direction of the conveyance body when the positioning unit engages with the conveyance body based on a size of the gap.”
Claim 5 depend on claim 4.
Examiner’s Note
The examiner included a few prior arts which were not used in the rejection but are relevant to the disclosure.
JP 2007 069 241 A (Fujioka et al.): Fujioka teaches to provide a method and an apparatus for rotary type blow-molding capable of enhancing the added value, increasing the production rate, and reducing the production cost through the blow molding for matching the pattern of a container with an expansion part. Fujioka teaches a rotary blow molding apparatus comprising: a continuously rotating member; a plurality of holding means provided on the periphery of the rotating member for holding the upper or lower part of a pre-molded body having one end open and the other closed; a blow molding die provided on the central side of the rotating member for each of the holding means for blow molding the pre-molded body; a circumferential positioning means provided on the rotating member for each of the holding means, having a sensor for detecting the angular position of the pre-molded body with respect to the circumferential direction and a positioning motor for controlling the angular position of the pre-molded body with respect to the circumferential direction based on the detection signal of the sensor; and a moving means provided on the rotating member for moving the holding means at least between a pre-molded body transfer position and a blow molding position.
US 5,229,143 (Ogura et al.): Ogura teaches a rotary blow molding machine comprising: extruder means for extruding a parison, a turntable arranged under said extruder means and having plural sets of mold means mounted thereon for holding said parison therebetween and for blow-molding the parison, motor means for rotating said turntable, an annular driven gear provided on said turntable, a driving gear driven by said motor means, and one pair of idle gear means for substantially reducing backlash between said driven gear and said driving gear, said idle gear means being positioned between and meshing with both said driven gear and said driving gear for transmitting the rotation of said motor to said turntable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD M AMEEN whose telephone number is (469) 295 9214. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm (Eastern Time).
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, Christina Johnson can be reached on (571) 272-1176. 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.
/MOHAMMAD M AMEEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
Prosecution Insights