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 .
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 1 be found allowable, claim 15 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-9, 11-16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pikul et al. US 2023/04082513.
Regarding claim 1, Pikul discloses a robot (fig. 2) comprising: an arm portion (fig. 2 arm connected to arm mount); an end effector at an end of the arm portion (fig. 2D), the end effector comprising a deformable sensor (fig. 2C sensor) comprising: an enclosure comprising a housing (fig. 2C sensor housing) and a deformable membrane (fig. 2C soft membrane), wherein the deformable membrane is transparent to a wavelength band in the infrared spectrum (para. 0040); a stereo depth sensor (abstract; claim 19 second light) that is disposed within the enclosure and is configured to view an underside of the deformable membrane (para. 0095-0098), and output a deformation region of the deformable membrane as a result of contact with an object, wherein the deformation region includes depth information (figs. 6-8); and an infrared sensor (abstract; claim 19 first light) that is disposed within the enclosure and is configured to view the object through the deformable membrane when the object contacts the deformable membrane and output a contact patch region corresponding with a region of the deformable membrane that contacts the object (abstract; claim 19 first light).
Regarding claim 2, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane further comprises a filter layer (para. 0040-0043; first layer filters visible light).
Regarding claim 5, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane is opaque or semi-opaque to radiation in the visible spectrum (para. 0041).
Regarding claim 6, Pikul discloses wherein the enclosure is filled with a medium (para. 0112).
Regarding claim 7, Pikul discloses wherein the housing comprises a conduit configured to provide cabling for power or signals to or from the deformable sensor (figs. 2C-2D ports and cabling).
Regarding claim 8, Pikul discloses a robot (fig. 2) comprising: at least one deformable sensor (fig. 2C sensor) comprising: one or more processors (para. 0113-0114; claim 10); an enclosure comprising a housing (fig. 2C sensor housing) and a deformable membrane (fig. 2C soft membrane), wherein the deformable membrane is transparent to a wavelength band in the infrared spectrum (para. 0040); a stereo depth sensor that is disposed within the enclosure (abstract; claim 19 second light); an infrared sensor (abstract; claim 19 first light) that is disposed within the enclosure and is configured to view an object through the deformable membrane when the object contacts the deformable membrane (abstract; claim 19 first light; para. 0040); and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (claims 10, 13, and 19-23; a non-transitory computer-readable medium is implied by the processors, computers, and methods of the claims): receive depth data from the stereo depth sensor of an underside of the deformable membrane and output a deformation region of the deformable membrane as a result of contact with the object, wherein the deformation region includes depth information (figs. 6-8); receive infrared data from the infrared sensor of the object through the deformable membrane and output a contact patch region corresponding with a region of the deformable membrane that contacts the object (figs. 6-8; para. 0040, abstract, claim 19 first light); and output the depth of the object using the depth information of the deformation region in a location of the deformable membrane that corresponds with the contact patch region (figs. 6-8).
Regarding claim 9, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane further comprises a filter layer (para. 0040-0043; first layer filters visible light).
Regarding claim 11, Pikul discloses wherein the depth of the object is determined by filtering the depth information that is outside of the contact patch region (figs. 6-8; abstract; claim 19).
Regarding claim 12, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane is opaque or semi-opaque to radiation in the visible spectrum (para. 0041).
Regarding claim 13, Pikul discloses wherein the enclosure is filled with a medium (para. 0112).
Regarding claim 14, Pikul discloses wherein the housing comprises a conduit configured to provide cabling for power or signals to or from the deformable sensor (figs. 2C-2D ports and cabling).
Regarding claim 15, Pikul discloses A robot (fig. 2) comprising: an arm portion (fig. 2 arm connected to arm mount); at least one deformable sensor positioned on the arm portion (fig. 2C sensor), the at least one deformable sensor comprising: an enclosure comprising a housing (fig. 2C sensor housing) and a deformable membrane (fig. 2C soft membrane), wherein the deformable membrane is transparent to a wavelength band in the infrared spectrum (para. 0040); a stereo depth sensor (abstract; claim 19 second light) that is disposed within the enclosure and is configured to view an underside of the deformable membrane (para. 0095-0098), and output a deformation region of the deformable membrane as a result of contact with an object, wherein the deformation region includes depth information (figs. 6-8); and an infrared sensor (abstract; claim 19 first light) that is disposed within the enclosure and is configured to view the object through the deformable membrane when the object contacts the deformable membrane and output a contact patch region corresponding with a region of the deformable membrane that contacts the object (abstract; claim 19 first light).
Regarding claim 16, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane further comprises a filter layer (para. 0040-0043; first layer filters visible light).
Regarding claim 19, Pikul discloses wherein the deformable membrane is opaque or semi-opaque to radiation in the visible spectrum (para. 0041).
Regarding claim 20, Pikul discloses wherein the enclosure is filled with a medium (para. 0112).
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.
Claims 3-4, 10, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pikul et al. US 2023/04082513.
Regarding claim 3, Pikul teaches the membranes bottom most layer being a filter (para. 0041) and an adjacent layer comprises a coating or a pattern (para. 0042).
Pikul does not specifically disclose the pattern layer and filter layer are integral. However, the fact that the parts are integral is not sufficient by itself to patentably distinguish over an otherwise old device unless there are new or unexpected result (MPEP 2144). Also, making the parts integral would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made because reducing number of parts would decrease the cost of the device and reduce the manufacturing cost and process.
Regarding claim 4, Pikul teaches wherein the filter layer is transparent to the wavelength band in the infrared spectrum (para. 0041).
Regarding claim 10, Pikul teaches the membranes bottom most layer being a filter (para. 0041) and an adjacent layer comprises a coating or a pattern (para. 0042).
Pikul does not specifically disclose the pattern layer and filter layer are integral. However, the fact that the parts are integral is not sufficient by itself to patentably distinguish over an otherwise old device unless there are new or unexpected result (MPEP 2144). Also, making the parts integral would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made because reducing number of parts would decrease the cost of the device and reduce the manufacturing cost and process.
Regarding claim 17, Pikul teaches the membranes bottom most layer being a filter (para. 0041) and an adjacent layer comprises a coating or a pattern (para. 0042).
Pikul does not specifically disclose the pattern layer and filter layer are integral. However, the fact that the parts are integral is not sufficient by itself to patentably distinguish over an otherwise old device unless there are new or unexpected result (MPEP 2144). Also, making the parts integral would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made because reducing number of parts would decrease the cost of the device and reduce the manufacturing cost and process.
Regarding claim 18, Pikul teaches wherein the filter layer is transparent to the wavelength band in the infrared spectrum (para. 0041).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Richard Toohey whose telephone number is (703)756-5818. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30am – 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uzma Alam can be reached on (571)272-2995. The fax number for the organization where this application or processing is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD O TOOHEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2884
/UZMA ALAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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