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 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 1-6, 8-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa et al. (9,932,259), hereinafter Hasegawa, in view of Boeker et al. (2018/0186678), hereinafter Boeker.
Regarding claim 1, Hasegawa teaches a method for separating glass sheets substantially as claimed except for the limitations in the bolded texts, comprising:
providing a glass sheet with a thickness of at most 300 μm and two opposite edges, the glass sheet having beads that are thickened areas extending along the two opposing edges;
irradiating the glass sheet is irradiated with a laser beam (5a) of an ultra-short pulse laser, the laser beam having a wavelength for which glass of the glass sheet is transparent and an intensity inside the glass sheet that leaves a filamentary damage along a laser path through the glass sheet;
moving, during the irradiating step, the laser beam and the glass sheet relative to one another in a separation path so that, due to pulses of the laser beam, the filamentary damage comprises a plurality of damages next to one another along the separation path; and
applying, during the irradiating and moving steps, a tensile stress 20 on a least one surface of the glass sheet at the plurality of damages in a direction transverse to the separation path so that the glass sheet separates along the separation path,
wherein the step of moving comprises moving so that the separation path is perpendicular to the beads.
See Figs. 11-12.
Regarding the limitation “two opposite edges, the glass sheet having beads that are thickened areas extending along the two opposing edges”, it is a natural process that when the glass ribbon is drawn off from a nozzle opened downward. The beads are generated at the edges of the ribbon due to soft glass, which is still hot tending to contract after being drawn off from the nozzle. See para. [0048] of the Specification. The ribbon in Hasegawa is manufactured in the same way and thus has a beads at two edges of the ribbon.
Regarding the limitation “two opposite edges, the glass sheet having beads that are thickened areas extending along the two opposing edges”, since the ribbons naturally has the beads at its edges, the cut line runs between the two edges, the separation path is perpendicular to the beads.
Hasegawa does not teach what type of laser is used for cutting the glass sheets.
Boeker teaches using an ultra-short pulse laser for cutting thin transparent glass sheets. See para. [0005].
Hasegawa cuts thin glass sheets.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use an ultra-short pulse laser as taught by Boeker for cutting the thin glass sheets in Hasegawa.
Regarding claim 2, Boeker teaches filament damage caused by the ultra-short pulse laser.
Regarding claim 3, Hasegawa teaches applying a tensile stress by a body 20 transverse the separation path. See Figs. 11-12.
Regarding claim 4, Hasegawa teaches placing the glass sheet on a rod 20. See Fig. 12.
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Hasegawa teaches hot forming a continuous glass ribbon (G) and separating the glass sheet from the ribbon. See Figs. 1, 11, and 12.
Regarding claims 8-10, Hasegawa teaches the invention substantially as claimed except for the tensile stress in the range of 75-750 MPa.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to provide the tensile stress in Hasegawa in the range of 75-750 MPa since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claims 11-12, Hasegawa teaches the invention substantially as claimed except for the tensile stress at least 75 MPa and1/2-2/3 of the mean breaking stress.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to provide the tensile stress in Hasegawa in at least 75 MPa and1/2-2/3 of the mean breaking stress since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 13, two opposite edges (at line 5x) of the glass sheet are best seen in Fig. 11 in Hasegawa.
Regarding claim 14, since the laser device is an ultra-short pulse laser which generate a laser beam during a time interval, a start point is spaced from all edges of the glass sheet.
Regarding claim 15, Hasegawa teaches a beam profile 5x in Fig. 11.
Regarding claim 16, the glass sheet is separated from a thickened portion (Gx) is best seen in Fig. 12 in Hasegawa.
Regarding claim 18. Hasegawa teaches an apparatus for separating a glass sheet substantially as claimed except for the limitations in the bolded texts, comprising:
an ultrashort pulse laser (5a) configured to irradiate the glass sheet with a pulsed laser beam, wherein the ultrashort pulse laser generates the pulsed laser beam with a wavelength for which glass of the glass sheet is transparent so that the laser beam traverses the glass sheet;
a focusing optics (inherent in a laser device) configured to focus the laser beam so that a light intensity of the laser beam inside the glass sheet is sufficient to leave filamentary damages along a laser path through the glass sheet;
a moving device 4 configured to generate relative movement between the laser beam and the glass sheet such that the pulses of the laser beam insert the filamentary damages next to one another along a separation path on the glass sheet in such a way that the separation path does not cross beads that are thickened areas of the glass sheet extending along two opposing edges;
a tensile stress 20 inducing device configured to exerting a tensile stress on the glass sheet during the insertion of the filamentary damages and in a direction transverse to the separation path so as to separate the glass sheet along the separation path.
See Figs. 1, 11, and 12.
Regarding the limitation “beads that are thickened areas of the glass sheet extending along two opposing edges”, it is a natural process that when the glass ribbon is drawn off from a nozzle opened downward. The beads are generated at the edges of the ribbon due to soft glass, which is still hot tending to contract after being drawn off from the nozzle. See para. [0048] of the Specification. The ribbon in Hasegawa is manufactured in the same way and thus has a beads at two edges of the ribbon.
Regarding the limitation “the separation path does not cross beads that are thickened areas of the glass sheet extending along two opposing edges”, since the final product has a square shape or a rectangular shape and the beads are bad sections on the ribbon, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to make the separation path not crossing the two beads at the edges of the ribbon to exclude the bad section of the glass from the final product.
Hasegawa does not teach what type of laser is used for cutting the glass sheets.
Boeker teaches using an ultra-short pulse laser for cutting thin glass sheets. See para. [0005].
Hasegawa cuts thin glass sheets.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use an ultra-short pulse laser as taught by Boeker for cutting the thin glass sheets in Hasegawa.
It is noted that a laser device inherently has a focusing optics for concentrating the laser beam.
Regarding claim 19, Hasegawa teaches a tensile stress 20 in Fig. 12.
Regarding claim 20, a laser beam profile (5x) is best seen in Fig. 11 in Hasegawa.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 11/10/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1 and the limitations “beads that are thickened areas of the glass sheet extending along two opposing edges” and “two opposite edges, the glass sheet having beads that are thickened areas extending along the two opposing edges”, it is a natural process that when the glass ribbon is drawn off from a nozzle opened downward. The beads are generated at the edges of the ribbon due to soft glass, which is still hot tending to contract after being drawn off from the nozzle. See para. [0048] of the Specification. The ribbon in Hasegawa is manufactured in the same way and thus has a beads at two edges of the ribbon. Since the final product has a square shape or a rectangular shape and the beads are bad sections on the ribbon, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to make the separation path not crossing the two beads at the edges of the ribbon to exclude the bad section of the glass from the final product.
Regarding claim 18 and the limitation “the separation path does not cross beads that are thickened areas of the glass sheet extending along two opposing edges”, the glass ribbon comes out of the nozzle having a bead at its edges. It is a natural process. Since the final product has a square shape or a rectangular shape and the beads are bad sections on the ribbon, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to make the separation path not crossing the two beads at the edges of the ribbon to exclude the bad section of the glass from the final product.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHONG H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4510. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-5.
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/PHONG H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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