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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/22/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that “Nowhere does Kanehiro describe at least "monitor[ing] the geometric profile while the workpiece is being additively manufactured ... [and] mov[ing] at least one of the torch [] or the substrate [] in order to maintain the standoff distance between the torch and the workpiece while the workpiece is being additively manufactured," as in claims 1 and 42” (Page 12 of applicant’s remarks filed 01/22/2026). While KANEHIRO describes the object being measured as a “base material”, said base material is reasonably analogous to the workpiece of the applicant’s claims. Similar to the workpiece of the applicant, the base material is the object to which the processing is being performed (KANEHIRO Paragraph 77) and from which the distance from which is being detected (KANEHIRO Paragraph 88). Furthermore, said base material is placed a turntable including a table body 11 which is used to support and move the base material wherein said turntable (KANEHIRO Paragraph 30) and thus the table body can reasonably be interpreted as reading upon the applicant’s claimed substrate. Since the base material is the object on which the processing is being performed upon in a layer-by-layer fashion (KANEHIRO Paragraph 78) by melting a welding wire (KANEHIRO Paragraph 82), the base material of KANEHIRO can reasonably be interpreted as satisfying the limitation of the “workpiece” in the applicant’s claims. The applicant further teaches that standoff deviations can occur due to surface distortions and uneven workpiece height and surface distortions (Page 13 of applicant’s remarks filed 01/22/2026). KANEHIRO similarly teaches that the use of a CCD laser displacement meter is used to compensate for unevenness on the surface of a base material 2 (KANEHIRO Paragraph 94) as well as the distance to the base material (KANEHIRO Paragraph 88). As such KANEHIRO reasonably teaches a standoff control for a layer-by-layer processing system.
Claim Objections
Claim 43 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“substrate to additively manufacture a work piece on the substrate” should be “substrate to additive manufacture a workpiece on the substrate”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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(s) 1-3, 6-7, 9, 14-18, 21-22, 25-26, 29-30, 35, and 39-43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A).
Regarding claim 1, KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) teaches a directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system comprising:
a controller implementing logic (Paragraph 20, control means which controls the moving based on detection value of height measuring means),
a standoff distance measurement unit (Paragraph 20, height measuring means),
a substrate (Paragraph 29, turntable 3; Paragraph 30, turntable 3 comprises a table body 11 on which the base material 2 is placed),
a torch (Paragraph 33, plasma arc welding torch),
a feed unit (Paragraph 33, wire feeder 26),
a material (Paragraph 33, welding wire), and
a mover (Paragraph 20, moving means which moves the height measuring means and electrodes in the vertical direction relative to the base material),
wherein the logic causes the feed unit to output the material and the torch to output a plasma (Paragraph 75, welding condition control device 42 which controls wire feed speed and arc voltage) such that the plasma melts the material onto the substrate and a workpiece (base material 2 and layers added to it) is thereby additively manufactured on the substrate (Paragraph 80, welding wire is fed by wire feeders and melted by the plasma arc; Paragraph 78, multi-layer and build up welding is performed until a deposited metal having a desired composition is obtained),
wherein the workpiece has a geometric profile (Paragraph 88, height of the base material is detected; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected),
wherein the torch is vertically spaced apart from the workpiece such that a standoff distance is defined between the torch and the workpiece (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material), and
wherein the logic further causes the standoff distance measurement unit to monitor the geometric profile (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected by the CCD laser displacement gauge forward of the current position of the plasma welding torch such that the unevenness of the base material is detected in advance) while the workpiece is being additively manufactured such that the logic causes the mover to move at least one of the torch relatively closer to or farther away from the substrate or the substrate relatively closer to or farther away from the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance between the torch and the workpiece while the workpiece is being additively manufactured (Paragraphs 21 and 41, welding condition control unit controls the height of the plasma arc welding torch by controlling the up and down slide device to keep the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing; Paragraph 20, moving means moves the height measuring means in the vertical direction relative to the base material based on the information gathered by the height measuring means).
While the Office does not concede the point, the applicant may argue KANEHIRO does not explicitly teach that said the measurement and adjustment occurs while the workpiece is being processed. However, Nishi (US 5326955 A) teaches a standoff control method for a plasma arc processing apparatus wherein the target standoff is maintained while the processing is occurring. It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Nishi and had the monitoring and adjustment occur during the workpiece processing. This would have been done to maintain a constant standoff distance during processing (Column 2 Lines 42-52) since KANEHIRO also teaches of keeping the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing (KANEHIRO Paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 2, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the standoff distance measurement unit (Paragraph 35, height tracking mechanism 31 includes a CCD laser displacement means 40) includes a laser source and a camera (Paragraph 39, CCD laser displacement gauge 40 has an emitter that irradiates the upper surface of the base material with laser light and a receiver CCD) 1, wherein the logic causes the laser source to output a laser pattern onto the geometric profile such that reflections are generated, wherein the logic causes the camera to read the reflections (Paragraph 39, the receiver CCD detects the laser light reflected by the base material), wherein the standoff distance measurement unit monitors the geometric profile based on the reflections (Paragraph 41, welding condition control device controls height of the plasma arc torch based on the readings detected by the CCD; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected by the CCD laser displacement gauge forward of the current position of the plasma welding torch such that the unevenness of the base material is detected in advance).
Regarding claim 3, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the mover moves the torch relative to the substrate in order to maintain the standoff distance based on the standoff distance measurement unit monitoring the geometric profile (Paragraphs 21 and 41, welding condition control unit controls the height of the plasma arc welding torch by controlling the up and down slide device to keep the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected by the CCD laser displacement gauge forward of the current position of the plasma welding torch such that the unevenness of the base material is detected in advance).
Regarding claim 6, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the workpiece is a first workpiece (Paragraph 78, deposited metal is formed through multi-layer welding on the disk-shaped base metal 2), wherein the substrate is a second workpiece on which the first workpiece is additively manufactured (under BRI, the substrate could reasonably be interpreted as the second workpiece and the deposited metal being a first workpiece which is being additive manufactured on top of the second workpiece).
Regarding claim 7, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the substrate is not a workpiece (Paragraph 29, turntable 3 on which base material 2 is placed; Paragraph 30, turntable 3 comprises a table body 11 on which the base material 2 is placed), and the workpiece is separable from the workpiece after the workpiece is additively manufactured (Paragraph 29, turntable 3 on which base material 2 is placed; the base material 2 is placed onto the turntable and there is no indication that the base material would not be separable from said turntable after processing).
The Office further notes that the MEPE teaches that the use of one-piece construction instead of a separate structure would be merely a matter of obvious engineer choice. MPEP §2144.04.V.B. In this case, having the substrate being separatable from the workpiece would merely be a matter of obvious engineering choice.
Regarding claim 9, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the standoff distance is maintained based on at least one of a standoff set point accessed via the logic (Paragraph 89, calculated arc length is detected and matched with the target arc length pre-stored in the welding condition control device 42).
Regarding claim 14, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the logic acquires a set of measurements from the standoff distance measurement unit, wherein the set of measurements is associated with the workpiece (Paragraph 88, laser displacement meter 40 detects the distance from the base material 2 and outputs the detected value to a welding condition control device 42 as a height measurement value signal).
Regarding claim 15, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the standoff distance measurement unit scans at least one of the workpiece or the substrate, determines the standoff distance, and inputs the standoff distance to the logic on demand (Paragraph 88, laser displacement meter 40 detects the distance from the base material 2 and outputs the detected value to a welding condition control device 42 as a height measurement value signal).
Regarding claim 16, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 15.
Nishi further teaches:
the standoff distance measurement unit (standoff detector) scans at least one of the workpiece or the substrate (Column 7 Lines 51-58, voltage detectors 24 and 26 of the standoff detector obtains the voltage between the electrode and the workpiece) based on at least one of a time interval, a position, a resolution, or a filter (Column 7 Lines 51-58, voltage detectors perform the detection at predetermined intervals).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 17, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
the standoff distance measurement unit determines a feature of the workpiece, wherein the standoff distance is determined based on the feature (Paragraph 93, measurement of the CCD laser displacement gauge 40 determines the unevenness of the base material 2 before welding such that welding is detected in advance such as to adjust the standoff distance based on this detected unevenness).
Nishi further teaches:
the standoff distance measurement unit determines a feature of the workpiece (Paragraph 46, control device moves the laser displacement gauge to the vicinity of the processing position on the top surface of the workpiece), wherein the standoff distance is determined based on the feature (Paragraph 46, control device determines the distance between the position of the nozzle and the top surface of the workpiece based on the location of the top surface of the workpiece).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 17, wherein:
the feature is at least one of a shape of the workpiece (Paragraph 93, measurement of the CCD laser displacement gauge 40 determines the unevenness of the base material 2), a gap in the workpiece, or an angle of the workpiece.
Nishi further teaches:
the feature is at least one of a shape of the workpiece (Paragraph 46, control device moves the laser displacement gauge to the vicinity of the processing position on the top surface of the workpiece; Paragraph 27, measuring the melt diameter on the back-surface side of a through hole in the workpiece), a gap in the workpiece, or an angle of the workpiece.
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 21, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
Nishi further teaches:
the logic runs on a controller, wherein the controller runs a feedback control logic to maintain the standoff distance (Column 3 Lines 9-43, the plasma torch is continuously adjusted based on the amount of deviation of the actual distance of the plasma torch from the workpiece).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 22, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
Nishi further teaches:
the logic is programmed to avoid at least one of a vibration or a jerky movement of a positioning unit (Column 3 Lines 9-43, a deviation for the standoff position is set to avoid constant readjusting if the actual location is within the deviation of the standoff distance).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 25, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
the mover is at least one of a motor (Paragraphs 35-37, moving means 41 includes a motor for moving the slide of the CCD laser displacement meter and plasma arc welding torch 25), an engine, an actuator, a mechanical linkage, a gear mechanism, a pulley mechanism, a hydraulic mechanism, or a pneumatic mechanism.
Regarding claim 26, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
Nishi further teaches:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch (Column 9 Lines 14-24, control device 30 drives the lifting device 32 as to elevate the torch to restore the target standoff distance) in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the substrate is moving (Column 7 Lines 30-43, the standoff distance between the plasma torch and the workpiece is determined according to the relative speed of the workpiece).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 29, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
Nishi further teaches:
the controller is programmed to request the mover to vertically move the torch smoothly in order to minimize a vibration of the torch while the torch is vertically moving (Column 6 Line 56 – Column 7 Line 6, the lower or raising speed of the torch is raised in proportion to the deviation of the standoff distance from the desired standoff distance; Column 3 Lines 9-43, a predetermined range is set where the vertical distance will not adjust if the deviation is within that range to prevent constant readjustments).
It would be obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Because the controller constantly updates the speed of the torch instead of its position, this minimizes the vibrations in the torch as the amount of velocity change per interval is decreased to only the amount of deviation which occurred in the previous interval instead of changing the speed to a set speed from no speed and back again every interval.
Regarding claim 30, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
Nishi further teaches:
the controller is programmed to request the mover to vertically move the torch smoothly in order to minimize a sudden motion of the torch while the torch is moving along the vertical axis (Column 6 Line 56 – Column 7 Line 6, the lower or raising speed of the torch is raised in proportion to the deviation of the standoff distance from the desired standoff distance; Column 3 Lines 9-43, a predetermined range is set where the vertical distance will not adjust if the deviation is within that range to prevent constant readjustments).
It would be obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Because the controller constantly updates the speed of the torch instead of its position, this minimizes amount of sudden motion in the torch as the amount of velocity change per interval is decreased to only the amount of deviation which occurred in the previous interval instead of changing the speed to a set speed from no speed and back again every interval.
Regarding claim 35, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
Nishi further teaches:
the controller is programmed to dynamically adjust vertical movement of the torch based on an error type (Column 3 Lines 9-43, the speed at which the torch is moved from to the predetermined standoff position is determined by the amount of deviation from the standoff positioned that is detected).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 39, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on the substrate being at least one of longitudinally or laterally at least one of distorted, warped, or deformed (Paragraph 93, measurement of the CCD laser displacement gauge 40 determines the unevenness of the base material 2 before welding such that welding is detected in advance such as to adjust the standoff distance based on this detected unevenness).
Nishi further teaches:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on the substrate being at least one of longitudinally or laterally at least one of distorted, warped, or deformed (Column 7 Lines 51-58, the voltage detectors repeatedly obtain information and supply them to the standoff detector 34 when the plasma operation has commenced; Column 9 Lines 14-24, the control device 30 restores the plasma torch to the target standoff based on the information obtained by the detector).
The target standoff distance will be maintained between the torch and the workpiece based on the effect that a distortion of the substrate has on the standoff distance.
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 40, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on at least one of a feature of the workpiece, a joint of the workpiece, an intersection of the workpiece, an uneven height step (Paragraph 93, measurement of the CCD laser displacement gauge 40 determines the unevenness of the base material 2 before welding such that welding is detected in advance such as to adjust the standoff distance based on this detected unevenness), an uneven string surface (Paragraph 93), or at least one of a distortion, warping, or deformation of the substrate (Paragraph 93).
Nishi further teaches:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on at least one of a feature of the workpiece, a joint of the workpiece, an intersection of the workpiece, an uneven height step, an uneven string surface, or at least one of a distortion, warping, or deformation of the substrate (Column 7 Lines 51-58, the voltage detectors repeatedly obtain information and supply them to the standoff detector 34 when the plasma operation has commenced; Column 9 Lines 14-24, the control device 30 restores the plasma torch to the target standoff based on the information obtained by the detector).
The target standoff distance will be maintained between the torch and the workpiece based on the effect that a feature of the workpiece or distortion of the substrate has on the standoff distance.
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 41, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
Nishi further teaches:
a sensor monitoring the mover (Column 12 Lines 37-41, speed sensor 68),
wherein the logic is coupled to the sensor, wherein the logic controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on the sensor (Column 7 Lines 30-43, the standoff distance between the plasma torch and the workpiece is determined according to the relative speed of the workpiece).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 42, KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) teaches a method for additive manufacturing, the method comprising:
outputting a material (Paragraph 80, welding wire is fed by wire feeders and melted by the plasma arc);
outputting a plasma via a torch (Paragraph 75, welding condition control device 42 which controls wire feed speed and arc voltage);
melting the material via the plasma such that a workpiece is additively manufactured on a substrate (Paragraph 80, welding wire is fed by wire feeders and melted by the plasma arc; Paragraph 78, multi-layer and build up welding is performed until a deposited metal having a desired composition is obtained), wherein the workpiece has a geometric profile (Paragraph 88, height of the base material is detected; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected), wherein the torch is vertically spaced apart from the workpiece such that a standoff distance is defined between the torch and the workpiece (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material); and
monitoring the geometric profile while the workpiece is being additively manufactured (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected by the CCD laser displacement gauge forward of the current position of the plasma welding torch such that the unevenness of the base material is detected in advance) such that a mover can move at least one of the torch relatively closer to or farther away from the substrate or the substrate relatively closer to or farther away from the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance between the torch and the workpiece while the workpiece is being additively manufactured (Paragraphs 21 and 41, welding condition control unit controls the height of the plasma arc welding torch by controlling the up and down slide device to keep the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing; Paragraph 20, moving means moves the height measuring means in the vertical direction relative to the base material based on the information gathered by the height measuring means).
While the Office does not concede the point, the applicant may argue KANEHIRO does not explicitly teach that said the measurement and adjustment occurs while the workpiece is being processed. However, Nishi (US 5326955 A) teaches a standoff control method for a plasma arc processing apparatus wherein the target standoff is maintained while the processing is occurring. It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Nishi and had the monitoring and adjustment occur during the workpiece processing. This would have been done to maintain a constant standoff distance during processing (Column 2 Lines 42-52) since KANEHIRO also teaches of keeping the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing (KANEHIRO Paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 43, KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) teaches a directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system comprising:
a controller implementing logic (Paragraph 20, control means which controls the moving based on detection value of height measuring means),
a standoff distance measurement unit (Paragraph 20, height measuring means; Paragraph 35, height tracking mechanism 31 includes a CCD laser displacement meter) comprising a laser source and a camera (Paragraph 39, an emitter that irradiates the upper surface of the base material with laser light and a receiver CCD that detects the laser light reflected by the base material)2,
a substrate (Paragraph 29, turntable 3; Paragraph 30, turntable 3 comprises a table body 11 on which the base material 2 is placed),
a torch (Paragraph 33, plasma arc welding torch),
a feed unit (Paragraph 33, wire feeder 26),
a material (Paragraph 33, welding wire), and
a mover (Paragraph 20, moving means which moves the height measuring means and electrodes in the vertical direction relative to the base material),
wherein the logic causes the feed unit to output the material and the torch to output a plasma (Paragraph 75, welding condition control device 42 which controls wire feed speed and arc voltage) such that the plasma melts the material onto the substrate to additively manufacture a work piece (base material 2 and layers added to it) on the substrate (Paragraph 80, welding wire is fed by wire feeders and melted by the plasma arc; Paragraph 78, multi-layer and build up welding is performed until a deposited metal having a desired composition is obtained),
wherein the torch is vertically spaced apart from the workpiece such that a standoff distance is defined between the torch and the workpiece (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material) on the substrate (Paragraph 30, base material is on the table body 11),
wherein the logic further causes the laser source to output a laser pattern onto the geometric profile of the workpiece (Paragraph 20, a height measuring means measures a vertical direction between the torch relative to the base material; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected) such that reflections are generated and the standoff distance measurement unit to monitor changes to a geometric profile of the workpiece based on the reflections while the workpiece is being additively manufactured (Paragraph 39, a receiver CCD that detects the laser light reflected by the base material 2; Paragraph 41, welding condition control device controls height of the plasma arc torch based on the readings detected by the CCD; Paragraph 93, unevenness of the base material is detected by the CCD laser displacement gauge forward of the current position of the plasma welding torch such that the unevenness of the base material is detected in advance), and
wherein the logic causes the mover to move at least one of the torch relatively closer to or farther away from the substrate or the substrate relatively closer to or farther away from the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance between the torch and the workpiece while the workpiece is being additively manufactured (Paragraphs 21 and 41, welding condition control unit controls the height of the plasma arc welding torch by controlling the up and down slide device to keep the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing; Paragraph 20, moving means moves the height measuring means in the vertical direction relative to the base material based on the information gathered by the height measuring means).
While the Office does not concede the point, the applicant may argue KANEHIRO does not explicitly teach that said the measurement and adjustment occurs while the workpiece is being processed. However, Nishi (US 5326955 A) teaches a standoff control method for a plasma arc processing apparatus wherein the target standoff is maintained while the processing is occurring. It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Nishi and had the monitoring and adjustment occur during the workpiece processing. This would have been done to maintain a constant standoff distance during processing (Column 2 Lines 42-52) since KANEHIRO also teaches of keeping the calculated arc length at the target arc length such as to maintain the target arc length during the processing (KANEHIRO Paragraph 41).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of RIEMANN (US 20180072000 A1).
Regarding claim 5, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 3.
Nishi further teaches:
the mover torch relative to the substrate in order to maintain the standoff distance based on the standoff distance measurement unit monitoring the geometric profile (Column 9 Lines 14-24, the control device 30 restores the plasma torch to the target standoff based on the information obtained by the detector).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the mover moves the substrate relative to the torch
RIEMANN (US 20180072000 A1) teaches an additive manufacturing system, wherein:
the mover moves the substrate relative to the torch (Paragraph 50, build surface motion system 124 may control the position of a build surface upon which part layers 122 are manufactured).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with RIEMANN and used a surface motion system to move the substrate along with the movable torch. This would have been done so that a layered part model may include subsets of design layers that are parallel to each other, but no other subsets of design layers within the part model (RIEMANN Paragraph 82).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of SETODA (US 20180050417 A1).
Regarding claim 8, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to explicitly teach:
the geometric profile has a maximum height and a minimum height, wherein the standoff distance measurement unit monitors the geometric profile based on the maximum height and the minimum height.
SETODA (US 20180050417 A1) teaches a plasma welding method, wherein:
the geometric profile has a maximum height and a minimum height, wherein the standoff distance measurement unit monitors the geometric profile based on the maximum height and the minimum height (Paragraph 34, the maximum and minimum values of the plasma torch-work distance L1 are used to decide what the open circuit voltage of the plasma power source should be and thus would be measured).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with SETODA and determined the maximum and minimum value of the geometric profile of the workpiece. This would have been done to calculate the open circuit voltage of the plasma power source (SETODA Paragraph 34).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BULLER (US 20190291184 A1).
Regarding claim 10, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
a user interface enabled to override the logic regarding control of at least one of the standoff distance measurement unit, the substrate, the torch, the feed unit, or the mover.
BULLER (US 20190291184 A1) teaches an additive manufacturing process using plasma, comprising:
a user interface enabled to override the logic regarding control (Paragraph 268, an external engagement mechanism comprises an override mechanism comprising of one or more switches that are manually activated which would allow manual control of at least one component of the 3D printer) of at least one of the standoff distance measurement unit (Paragraph 268, turning off power supply to the 3D printer), the substrate (Paragraph 268, turning off power supply to the 3D printer), the torch (Paragraph 268, turning off power supply to the 3D printer), the feed unit (Paragraph 268, turning off power supply to the 3D printer), or the mover (Paragraph 268, turning off motion component).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with BULLER and included an override switch for the user to use. This would have been done to provide a safety mechanism to the additive manufacturing apparatus (Buller Paragraph 268).
Claims 11, 24, 27, and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of HUA (CN 105665702 A).
Regarding claim 11, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the standoff distance is maintained based on a standoff distance for a temperature measurement.
HUA (CN 105665702 A) teaches an 3D plasma printing method, wherein:
the standoff distance is maintained based on a standoff distance for a temperature measurement (Paragraph 33, the printing distance adjustment controller adjusts the distance between the outlet of the nozzle and the horizontal printing table by controlling the printing distance adjustment device according to the temperature information detected by the temperature detection unit).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Hua and adjust the distance between the plasma torch and the workpiece according to the temperature detected. This would be done to prevent the completed layer from melting again as well as low accuracy caused by too long printing distance (HUA Paragraph 54).
Regarding claim 24, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the logic is programmed to control at least one of an inert gas flow, a welding current, a temperature, a loading of the workpiece, an unloading of the workpiece, a loading of a wire spool, or an unloading of the wire spool.
HUA (CN 105665702 A) teaches an 3D plasma printing method, wherein:
the logic is programmed to control at least one of an inert gas flow (Paragraph 164, gas flow rate; Paragraph 113, working gas in inert), a welding current, a temperature (Paragraph 144, controlling the temperature of the next layer), a loading of the workpiece, an unloading of the workpiece, a loading of a wire spool, or an unloading of the wire spool.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Hua and have the logic control the gas flow and the temperature. This would have been done to perform quality control and ensure that the temperature of the next layer is not higher than 0.6 times the melting point of the material of the working layer of the molding surface (HUA Paragraph 33).
Regarding claim 27, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the material is being melted via the plasma.
HUA (CN 105665702 A) teaches an 3D plasma printing method, wherein:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the material is being melted via the plasma (Paragraph 158, the printing distance is controlled by the melting point of the material with a higher melting point resulting in a closer printing distance; Paragraph 54, a printing distance that is too close would result in the problem of a previous layer melting again).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Hua and adjust the distance between the plasma torch and the workpiece according to the material and how fast the material would be melted by the plasma. This would be done to prevent the completed layer from melting again as well as avoid low accuracy caused by too long printing distance (HUA Paragraph 54).
Regarding claim 34, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the material is being melted via the plasma.
HUA (CN 105665702 A) teaches an 3D plasma printing method, wherein:
the controller is programmed to limit vertical movement of the torch on a per workpiece basis (Paragraph 36, the data processing device firstly uses the pre-established database of material melting point and printing distance before printing; Paragraph 39, the printing distance adjustment controller adjusts the distance between the outlet of the nozzle and the horizontal printing table according to the detected by the temperature detection unit and the distance information detected by the distance detection unit so that the temperature of the upper surface of the next said molding layer that has been printed is controlled between 0.1 times and 0.6 times the melting point of the material of the working layer of the molding surface).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Hua and adjust the distance between the plasma torch and the workpiece according to the material and how fast the material would be melted by the plasma. This would be done to prevent the completed layer from melting again as well as avoid low accuracy caused by too long printing distance (HUA Paragraph 54).
Claims 12-13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vogtmeier (US 20210402704 A1).
Regarding claim 12, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the logic runs on a controller, wherein the logic reads a control input from a deposition specification and an input from a user interface, wherein the deposition specification and the input are associated with the workpiece.
Vogtmeier (US 20210402704 A1) teaches a system for additive manufacturing, wherein:
the logic runs on a controller (Paragraph 44, processor 22 control the assembly),
wherein the logic reads a control input from a deposition specification (Paragraphs 40-41, OEM provides an enhanced AMF file to the user which includes information and defined parameters specific to the part) and an input from a user interface (Paragraph 38, end user specifies the desired part to be additive manufactured), wherein the deposition specification and the input are associated with the workpiece (Paragraphs 38 and 40-41, the user selects which workpiece they want printed while the original equipment manufacturer provides the specific information on the part to be printed).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Vogtmeier and have a system where a user can select a part to be printed and the controller will provide the exact parameters. This would be done so that suppliers can license out printing files to end user who require specific components to minimize or eliminate shipping costs (Vogtmeier Paragraphs 5-6).
Regarding claim 13, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the logic runs on a controller,
wherein the logic controls the mover to enable a deposition and a measurement scan, wherein the deposition and the measurement scan are associated with the workpiece.
Vogtmeier (US 20210402704 A1) teaches a system for additive manufacturing, wherein:
the logic runs on a controller (Paragraph 44, processor 22 control the assembly),
wherein the logic controls the mover to enable a deposition and a measurement scan, wherein the deposition and the measurement scan are associated with the workpiece (Paragraph 45, sensor 200 may be used to verify a proper predetermined valid range for the critical feature or dimension of the printed element).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Vogtmeier and perform validation on the workpiece. This would have been done to verify the tolerance or dimension of a critical part of the workpiece absolutely necessary for proper operation (Vogtmeier Paragraph 45).
Regarding claim 20, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO fails to teach:
the logic runs on a controller, wherein the logic performs a validation of a set of measurements, a sampling of the set of measurements based on the validation to a preset spatial resolution, an availment of the set of measurements to a workpiece coordinate system based on a grid spacing.
Vogtmeier (US 20210402704 A1) teaches a system for additive manufacturing, wherein:
the logic runs on a controller (Paragraph 44, processor 22 control the assembly),
wherein the logic performs a validation of a set of measurements (Paragraph 45, sensor 200 may be used to verify a proper predetermined valid range for the critical feature or dimension), a sampling of the set of measurements based on the validation to a preset spatial resolution (Paragraph 45, critical parameter may be the spatial resolution of the printed part), an availment of the set of measurements to a workpiece coordinate system based on a grid spacing (Paragraph 45, critical feature printed having a fine pitch grid to verify a proper predetermined valid range for the critical feature or dimension).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Vogtmeier and perform validation on the workpiece. This would have been done to verify the tolerance or dimension of a critical part of the workpiece absolutely necessary for proper operation (Vogtmeier Paragraph 45).
Claims 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Craig (US 20150268099 A1).
Regarding claim 19, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 17.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the standoff distance measurement unit is at least one of calibrated or programmed to eliminate at least one of an optical aberration or eliminate a stray light disturbance.
Craig (US 20150268099 A1) teaches an additive manufacturing controller, wherein:
the standoff distance measurement unit (two-detector array system) is at least one of calibrated or programmed to eliminate at least one of an optical aberration or eliminate a stray light disturbance (Paragraph 30, the use of an achromatic lens 310 is used to limit the effects of chromatic and/or spherical aberration).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Craig and used an achromatic lens at the detector portion of the standoff distance measurement unit. This would have been done to eliminate optical aberration (Craig Paragraph 30).
Claims 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of STEMPFER (US 20170001253 A1) and HUANG (CN 106956435 A).
Regarding claim 23, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
wherein the feed unit is a wire feed unit having a feed speed, wherein the logic maintains the feed speed and in-turn computes a real-time DTCP position.
STEMPFER (US 20170001253 A1) teaches a method for building metallic objects by solid freeform fabrication, wherein:
the feed unit is a wire feed unit having a feed speed, wherein the logic maintains the feed speed (Paragraph 40, feed rate and position of the feed wire is controlled and regulated).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with STEMPFER and have the feed unit be a wire feeder with the logic maintaining the feed rate. The use of wires in additive manufacturing is known in the art and would be used for its standardized and predictable results and the logic would maintain the feed rate to ensure that the wire is being continuously heated and melted (STEMPFER Paragraph 40)
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the logic in-turn computes a real-time DTCP position
HUANG (CN 106956435 A) teaches a 3D printing system, wherein:
the logic in-turn computes a real-time DTCP position (Paragraph 7, a printing nozzle positioning unit connected to the printing control unit and transmits the current position information of the printing nozzle to the printing control unit)
See claim interpretation above for “DTCP”.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with STEMPFER and have the logic maintain the feed rate and compute a real-time DTCP position. This would have been to counteract inaccuracies in position due to wear and tear which occur when printing large objects (HUANG Paragraph 4).
Claims 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Taminger (US 20170297140 A1).
Regarding claim 28, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
the torch includes a central tip portion (Figure 2, torch has a central tip portion at opening),
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach that the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the material is being fed such that a droplet resulting from the material being melted meets the workpiece before the drop is positioned underneath the central tip portion.
Taminger (US 20170297140 A1) teaches an additive manufacturing method wherein the wire feed rate is synchronized with the measured height to maintain a constant height across the entire layer (Paragraph 93). During the process, drops of molten material are formed (Paragraph 77). It would thus be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify KANEHIRO so that the controller controls the mover to vertically move the torch in order to maintain the standoff distance based on how fast the material is being fed such that a droplet resulting from the material being melted meets the workpiece before the drop is positioned underneath the central tip portion, as discovering an optimal value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art as stated by MPEP 2144.05(II).
Claims 31-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of TAKADA (JP 2008212954 A).
Regarding claim 31, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
Nishi further teaches:
when the plasma processing is completed, the torch is raised (Column 10 Lines 33-40)
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the controller is programmed to request the mover to vertically move the torch in order to avoid a collision with an object engaging the substrate, wherein the object is other than the workpiece.
TAKADA (JP 2008212954 A) teaches an energy beam processing apparatus, wherein:
the controller is programmed to request the mover to vertically move the torch in order to avoid a collision with an object engaging the substrate, wherein the object is other than the workpiece (Paragraph 55, control unit 19 determines whether or not the processing head 23 and workpiece clamps collide with each other when the processing head moves and uses this information to avoid a collision; Paragraph 45, the control unit 19 stops the laser machining when it enters any of the regions containing workpiece clamps).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with TAKADA and have the processing head avoid colliding with the clamps of the workpiece. This is because the use of clamps is useful in energy beam processing as the workpiece may be displaced by movement of the processing table or the workpiece may be warped due to temperature rise (TAKADA Paragraph 2) and collisions between the machining head and the workpiece clamp causes damage to the machining head and the workpiece clamp (TAKADA Paragraph 3).
While TAKADA does not teach that the laser processing head is a plasma torch, the use of lasers and plasma torches are known in the art to be substitutable with predictable results as evidenced by Figures 4 and 7 of LARSEN (US 20160318130 A1).
Regarding claim 32, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 31.
TAKADA further teaches:
wherein the object is a clamp clamping the substrate (Paragraph 55, control unit 19 determines whether or not the processing head 23 and workpiece clamps collide with each other when the processing head moves and uses this information to avoid a collision).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 31.
Claims 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gardiner (US 20170225445 A1).
Regarding claim 33, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the controller is programmed to limit vertical movement of the torch on a per bead basis.
Gardiner (US 20170225445 A1) teaches a method for fabricating an object using an additive manufacturing process, wherein:
the controller is programmed to limit vertical movement of the torch on a per bead basis (Paragraph 52, the distance between the deposition head and the base surface 12; Paragraph 53, the nozzle is kept at a constant separation for each individual bead).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with Gardiner and control the standoff distance for each individual bead. This would have been done to control the thickness of the bead while maintaining the width of the bead (Gardiner Paragraph 52) to allow for non-uniform thickness beads of material to be fabricated (Gardiner Paragraph 40).
The Office further notes that controlling or adjusting the shapes of beads by changing the height of a nozzle from a workpiece is known in the art as evidenced by Leibig (US 20190168446 A1).
Claims 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CHAOYANG (CN 109029453 A).
Regarding claim 36, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
the standoff distance measurement unit generates a plurality of readings, wherein the controller is programmed to receive the readings from the standoff distance measurement unit (Paragraph 88, laser displacement meter 40 detects the distance from the base material 2 and outputs the detected value to a welding condition control device 42 as a height measurement value signal).
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
wherein the controller is programmed to validate the readings before the controller requests the mover to vertically move the torch.
CHAOYANG (CN 109029453 A) teaches an additive manufacturing method, wherein:
wherein the controller is programmed to validate the readings before the controller requests the mover to vertically move the torch (Paragraphs 74-80; the terminal verifies after adjusting the plasma torch to the optimal position and then adjusts the spatial attitude information if the position is not optimal).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with CHAOYANG and verify if the torch is at the predetermined offset and then readjust the offset distance if it is not. This would have been done to ensure that the actual offset distance of the nozzle is equal to the predetermined offset distance (CHAOYANG Paragraph 53).
Claims 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of VIGDAL (US 20180043455 A1).
Regarding claim 37, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein:
wherein the workpiece generates a reflection from the plasma (at least some of the light generated by the plasma hitting the workpiece would be reflected),
the standoff distance measurement unit generates a plurality of readings (Paragraph 88, laser displacement meter 40 detects the distance from the base material 2 and outputs the detected value to a welding condition control device 42 as a height measurement value signal).
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
wherein the controller is programmed to apply at least one of a high dynamic range (HDR) or a pre-filtering technique to the readings in order to reduce at least one of the reflection or a stray light resulting from at least one of the workpiece or the plasma.
VIGDAL (US 20180043455 A1) teaches a wire arc accuracy adjustment system, wherein:
wherein the controller is programmed to apply at least one of a high dynamic range (HDR) or a pre-filtering technique to the readings in order to reduce at least one of the reflection or a stray light resulting from at least one of the workpiece or the plasma (Paragraphs 95-96, a high dynamic range CMOS camera is used as a detector to obtain images of the plasma arc and a filter is placed at the front of the camera wherein the filter is selected specific to the heat source of the welding torch)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with VIGDAL and used a high dynamic range CMOS camera is used as a detector and a filter is placed in front of said camera to obtain images of the plasma arc. This would have been done to allow for improved contrast visualization of the image (VIGDAL Paragraph 95).
Claims 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANEHIRO (JP 2009241142 A) in view of Nishi (US 5326955 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LARSEN (US 20160318130 A1) and NISHINO (US 20170266727 A1).
Regarding claim 38, KANEHIRO as modified teaches the directed energy deposition additive manufacturing system of claim 1.
KANEHIRO as modified fails to teach:
the torch is a first torch, and further comprising a torch that preheats the substrate
wherein the second torch is positioned between the standoff distance measurement unit and the first torch.
LARSEN (US 20160318130 A1) teaches a method of plasma arc solid freeform fabrication, wherein:
the torch is a first torch, and further comprising a torch that preheats the substrate (Paragraph 37, a separately controlled first PTA-torch to preheat the base material and a second PTO-torch to melt the metallic material),
the second torch 8 which preheats the substrate is located between the first torch 12 and the substrate 1 (Figure 3)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with LARSEN and have a second torch preheat the substrate. This would have been done such that the base material is receptive to molten drops of melted metal wire at which the melted metallic material is to be deposited (LARSEN Paragraph 23).
KANEHIRO modified with LARSEN fails to teach:
wherein the second torch is positioned between the standoff distance measurement unit and the first torch.
NISHINO (US 20170266727 A1) teaches an additive manufacturing apparatus, wherein:
wherein the second laser is positioned between the standoff distance measurement unit and the first laser (Figure 3, illuminating device 55 and camera 56 of measurement unit 51 are located outside of laser beam L2 and L3).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KANEHIRO with NISHINO and placed the illuminating device and detector on the outside of the two energy beams. This would have been done so that the illuminating device and detector do not interfere with the process of the two energy beams.
While Nishino does not teach that the first and second lasers are plasma torches, the use of lasers and plasma torches are known in the art to be substitutable with predictable results as evidenced by Figures 4 and 7 of LARSEN (US 20160318130 A1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANKLIN JEFFERSON WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7782. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM (E.S.T).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/F.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
1 The Office further notes that using a laser source along with a CCD camera for performing laser triangulation measurements to detect distance measurements is well known in the art as evidenced by Blessing (US 20130286073 A1).
2 The Office further notes that using a laser source along with a CCD camera for performing laser triangulation measurements to detect distance measurements is well known in the art as evidenced by Blessing (US 20130286073 A1).