DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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)(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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wakasugi et al. DE 10 2020 102 272.
Wakasugi discloses:
Claim 1- a turning portion including a rotatable main spindle (30, 32); and a main body portion (23) supporting the turning portion turnably around a pivot shaft (21) inclined (axis D) with respect to an axis line of the main spindle (axis R), the main body portion including a motor (25) that turnably drives the turning portion and a reducer (26, 242), wherein in a turning position of the turning portion where the axis line of the main spindle faces downward in a vertical direction (see figure 1), a lowermost surface of the main body portion is located above a lowermost surface of the turning portion (deducible from Figs. 1 and 2), and the motor is arranged in the main body portion below an axis line of the pivot shaft (see fig. 2).
Claim 2- wherein the reducer includes an input shaft (25a, or 243) to which a rotation of the motor is transmitted and an output shaft (21a) that is coaxially arranged with the axis line of the pivot shaft (21) and transmits a rotation of the input shaft to the pivot shaft (the device performs this function), the input shaft (243) is perpendicular to the output shaft (21a, see fig. 2), and the motor (25) is arranged in the main body portion in a posture where a motor shaft is parallel to the input shaft (Fig. 2).
Claim 3- wherein an outer surface of the main body portion on an opposite side from a support side of the turning portion is formed in the vertical direction (see vertical surface of 20 mounted to 13).
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 (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 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakasugi et al. DE 10 2020 102 272 in view of Jung US 2014/0300065 A1.
Wakasugi discloses all of the claimed subject matter as described above. Wakasugi does not disclose a cable guide portion that guides wiring and/or piping disposed in the turning portion is arranged on an extension of the axis line of the pivot shaft and on a plane perpendicular to the axis line of the pivot shaft, and the cable guide portion includes a cable guide into which the wiring and/or piping having flexibility are inserted and a guide housing portion that houses the cable guide, and the guide housing portion is arranged at a position where a center in an up-down direction of the guide housing portion is shifted upward with respect to the axis line of the pivot shaft when viewed in an axis line direction of the pivot shaft.
Jung teaches a cable guide portion (24, 17) that guides wiring and/or piping (16) disposed in the turning portion is arranged on an extension of the axis line of the pivot shaft (see figures 4 and 5) and on a plane perpendicular to the axis line of the pivot shaft (see figures 4 and 5), and the cable guide portion includes a cable guide (17) into which the wiring and/or piping having flexibility are inserted and a guide housing portion (24) that houses the cable guide, and the guide housing portion is arranged at a position where a center in an up-down direction of the guide housing portion is shifted upward with respect to the axis line of the pivot shaft when viewed in an axis line direction of the pivot shaft (see orientation of figure 4 the lower right direction being equivalent to upward) for the purpose of reduced tangling and neatly containing cables while allowing a full range of motion thus improving the flexibility and degrees of freedom of the machine.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wakasugi and provide a cable guide portion that guides wiring and/or piping disposed in the turning portion is arranged on an extension of the axis line of the pivot shaft and on a plane perpendicular to the axis line of the pivot shaft, and the cable guide portion includes a cable guide into which the wiring and/or piping having flexibility are inserted and a guide housing portion that houses the cable guide, and the guide housing portion is arranged at a position where a center in an up-down direction of the guide housing portion is shifted upward with respect to the axis line of the pivot shaft when viewed in an axis line direction of the pivot shaft, as taught by Jung, for the purpose of reduced tangling and neatly containing cables while allowing a full range of motion thus improving the flexibility and degrees of freedom of the machine.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakasugi et al. DE 10 2020 102 272 in view of Bouraoui US 2020/0254541.
Wakasugi discloses all of the claimed subject matter as described above. Wakasugi does not disclose a coupling portion that couples the main body portion rotatably around a second pivot shaft in the vertical direction on an upper side of the main body portion.
Bouraoui teaches a coupling portion (14, 16) that couples the main body portion (16) rotatably around a second pivot shaft in the vertical direction on an upper side of the main body portion (see rotation about axis C in Figures 8a, 8b, 8c) for the purpose of additional degrees of freedom.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wakasugi and provide a coupling portion that couples the main body portion rotatably around a second pivot shaft in the vertical direction on an upper side of the main body portion, as taught by Bouraoui, for the purpose of additional degrees of freedom.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 3,828,649 A discloses a similar device.
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TERENCE BOES
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3618
/TERENCE BOES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618