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 .
Priority
The applicant’s claim to priority of PCT/JP2022/042393 on 11/15/2022 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The applicant filed an IDS on 5/7/2025. It has been annotated and considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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)(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.
Claims 1-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Itagaki et al. (US Publication 20250339966 hereinafter Itagaki).
Regarding claim 1 (and similarly claim 5), Itagaki teaches a controller comprising:
a processor (See at least: Fig. 5 item 20 “robot controller”), and
a storage unit storing an effector restriction which is a restriction on a change in at least one of a position or an orientation of an effector of a robot as seen from predetermined reference coordinates, wherein the processor is configured to cause the robot to execute an operation restricted by the effector restriction which is set based on an input by a user or from an external device (See at least: Fig. 5 items 22 “memory” and 40 “teach pendant”; [0068] Next, details of parameter setting by the zone setting unit 242, the posture limit setting unit 243, the model setting unit 244, and the speed limit setting unit 245 will be described. The zone setting unit 242, the posture limit setting unit 243, the model setting unit 244, and the speed limit setting unit 245 may be configured to accept the parameter setting through a user interface (UI) screen. For example, the UI screen may be displayed on a display screen of the display unit 43 of the external input device 40, and an input to the UI screen may be accepted through the operation unit 44.; [0069]-[0072] via “The UI screen 310 includes … [0072] a specified field 313 for specifying the position and the size of the motion zone or the limiting zone as three-dimensional coordinates.).
Regarding claim 2, Itagaki teaches wherein the storage unit is capable of storing a plurality of the effector restrictions (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]).
Regarding claim 3, Itagaki teaches wherein the storage unit is capable of storing an effector restriction set made by combining the plurality of effector restrictions (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]).
Regarding claim 4, Itagaki teaches wherein the storage unit is capable of storing a plurality of operation programs for operating the robot and the plurality of effector restriction sets respectively corresponding to the plurality of operation programs (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]).
Regarding claim 6, Itagaki teaches an input unit which enables input of the effector restriction (See at least: Fig. 5 item 40 “teach pendant”).
Regarding claim 7, Itagaki teaches wherein the storage unit stores a plurality of the effector restrictions, the plurality of effector restrictions respectively correspond to at least one of a type of the effector and a type of an object to which the effecter conduct an operation, and the processor is configured to set the effector restrictions based at least on one of information regarding the type of the effector or information regarding the type of the object, and an input by the user (See at least: [0049] The model setting unit 244 provides a function of setting a model covering the robot, a robot tool, or a peripheral device.).
Regarding claim 8, Itagaki teaches wherein the input by the user is for setting a requirement required by the user regarding the operation by the effector (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]).
Regarding claim 9, Itagaki teaches wherein the effector restriction includes a plurality of effector restriction elements, the effector restriction is one to which a priority can be set to at least one of the plurality of effector restriction elements, and the processor is configured to operate the robot by using at least the effector restriction including the priority (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]; Note: The settings input by a user can teach priority as it modifies baseline configurations). Regarding claim 10, Itagaki teaches wherein the effector restriction includes a plurality of effector restriction elements, the controller is configured, for each of the plurality of effector restriction elements, to accept a setting of a designate restriction that causes the processor to use a value designated by the user or a setting of a submissive restriction that allows a change by the processor (See at least: Fig. 5; [0069]-[0072]).
Regarding claim 13, Itagaki teaches wherein the effector restriction is capable of setting at least one of a restriction of speed as seen from the predetermined reference coordinates of the effector, a restriction of acceleration as seen from the predetermined reference coordinates of the effector, a restriction of angular speed as seen from the predetermined reference coordinates of the effector, a restriction of angular acceleration as seen from the predetermined reference coordinates of the effector, and a restriction of a value or a formula corresponding to an amount obtained by time-differentiating the position or the orientation three times or more (See at least: [0068] Next, details of parameter setting by the zone setting unit 242, the posture limit setting unit 243, the model setting unit 244, and the speed limit setting unit 245 will be described. The zone setting unit 242, the posture limit setting unit 243, the model setting unit 244, and the speed limit setting unit 245 may be configured to accept the parameter setting through a user interface (UI) screen. For example, the UI screen may be displayed on a display screen of the display unit 43 of the external input device 40, and an input to the UI screen may be accepted through the operation unit 44.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-15 are allowed.
Claims 11-12 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 Harry Oh whose telephone number is (571)270-5912. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 9:00-3:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abby Lin can be reached on (571) 270-3976. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HARRY Y OH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
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