Non-Final Rejection
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to pending claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6-9, 14-15, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (CN 104513994 A) in view of Hayakawa (US 20010054637 A1), Lane (US 20210092854 A1), and Fukumoto (US 5580471 A).
Claim 1. Zhou discloses a reflow melting system (laser device 300 for melting a tin layer, abstract) for reflow melting a metal coating (tin plating layer, abstract) on an electrical contact area of a terminal (tin layer is used as a contact interface for a terminal, par. 5), comprising:
a laser head (laser device 300, Fig. 3) for emitting laser light onto the metal coating on the terminal to heat and melt the metal coating (laser device emits a plurality of laser beams which irradiate the tin layer, par. 40);
a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and the manipulator for automatically adjusting at least one working parameter of the laser head
Zhou does not explicitly disclose a manipulator on which the laser head is mounted, a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and a first image sensor mounted on the manipulator or the laser head, moving synchronously with the laser head; capturing an image of the melting metal coating in real time;
the remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and the manipulator for automatically adjusting at least one working parameter of the laser head and at least one operating program of the manipulator and automatically adjusting a heating pattern during melting according to an image captured by the first.
Hayakawa discloses laser soldering a printed board (par. 22) wherein
a laser head (soldering head 13 which contains the optics for the laser beam, par. 23, Fig. 1) for emitting laser light onto the metal coating on the terminal to heat and melt the metal coating (soldering head projects the laser beam at the connector pin);
a manipulator on which the laser head is mounted (soldering head is mounted on the robot 12, Fig. 1);
a first image sensor mounted on the manipulator or the laser head, moving synchronously with the laser head, capturing an image of the melting metal coating in real time (camera 19 is mounted on the soldering head to capture the image of the object being soldered, par. 24; since the camera is attached to the soldering head, it moves synchronously with the head);
a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and the manipulator for
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou to incorporate the teachings of Hayakawa and have the laser be mounted on a robot arm and . Doing so would have the benefit of having five degrees of freedom to manipulate the positioning of the soldering head to solder the printed board (par. 22, Hayakawa).
Zhou in view of Hayakawa does not explicitly disclose automatically adjusting said one working parameter of the laser head and at least one operating program of the manipulator and automatically adjusting the heating pattern according to the image captured by the first.
Lane discloses a reel-to-reel laser scanner for forming circuitry (par. 11) wherein the vision system tracks the circuitry pattern and make calculations and send data to the laser scanners to make corrections/calibration on the fly (par. 228 and 249-251), wherein the corrections and calibration involve aligning the laser to the correct locations which involve moving the laser ablation module along a z-direction (par. 211).
Fukumoto discloses a reflow soldering operation with lasers wherein images are taken of the material during and after treatment (col 6, lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa to incorporate the teachings of Lane and Fukumoto and automatically adjust the laser head parameters, program, and pattern during melting. Doing so would have the benefit of adjusting the laser scanner to make corrections/calibrations (par. 228 and 249, Lane) and generate an accurate position of the irradiated sample during melting which can be used for correction (col 6, lines 1-5, Fukumoto).
Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose a second image sensor capturing an image of the melted metal coating;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto and duplicate the first image sensor to have a second image sensor to capture an image of the metal coating since it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentably significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B). Doing so would have the benefit of increasing image resolution and provide users with more data on the irradiated area to help adjust the laser scanners.
Claim 3. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 1, further comprising a laser controller communicated with the laser head for controlling the laser head (control device 15 controls the laser, par. 25, Hayakawa).
Claim 6. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 3, wherein the remote control terminal communicates with the manipulator and the laser controller for setting working parameters of the laser head (control device 15 controls the laser, par. 25, Hayakawa) and the operating parameters (laser power can be controlled to increase the thickness of the intermetallic compound, par. 47) and programs of the manipulator (laser device 300 can be translated across the conductive base, par. 52).
Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not explicitly state that the microprocessor sends the laser head programs of the manipulator.
Zhou discloses translating the laser head (par. 52) and the importance of the irradiating speed in affecting the depth of the melt (par. 48).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Zhou and use the processor to set programs for the manipulator. Doing so would have the benefit of setting a predetermined conveying speed to control the thickness of the strip formed by melting (par. 48, Zhou).
Claim 7. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 1, wherein
the remote control terminal adjusting the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator in real time according to the image captured by the first image sensor, so as to optimize the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator and improve the melting effect of the metal coating.
Lane further discloses a reel-to-reel laser scanner for forming circuitry (par. 11) comprising
the remote control terminal adjusting the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator in real time according to the image captured by the first image sensor (the vision system tracks the circuitry pattern and make calculations and send data to the laser scanners to make corrections/calibration, par. 228 and 249), so as to optimize the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator and improve the melting effect of the metal coating (the vision system tracks the circuitry pattern and make calculations and send data to the laser scanners to make corrections/calibration, par. 228 and 249).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Lane and have a camera to track the circuitry pattern. Doing so would have the benefit of adjusting the laser scanner to make corrections/calibrations (par. 228 and 249, Lane).
Claim 8. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 7, wherein the remote control terminal adjusting the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator in real time according to the image captured by the second image sensor, so as to optimize the working parameters of the laser head and the operating parameters of the manipulator and improve the melting effect of the metal coating.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto and duplicate the function of first image sensor for the second image sensor to capture an image of the metal coating to adjust the laser head and operating parameters based on the image capture by the second image sensor since it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentably significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B). Doing so would have the benefit of increasing image resolution and provide users with more data on the irradiated area to help adjust the laser scanners.
Claim 9. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 1, further comprising a negative pressure dust washing device for removing a vaporized coating metal by suction, so as to prevent the vaporized coating metal from cooling and condensing on the surface of the molten metal coating again.
Lane further discloses a reel-to-reel laser scanner for forming circuitry (par. 11) wherein suction nozzles to suck out the metal foil that is turned into plasma during the irradiation process (par. 210).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Lane and include a suction device. Doing so would have the benefit of removing the plasma from the machine (par. 210, Lane).
Claim 14. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 1, wherein the laser head includes a first laser head emitting light on a first side of the terminal, and a second laser head emitting laser light on a second side of the terminal, opposite the first side, for melting metal coatings formed on the first and second sides of the terminal (laser device 300 has multiple laser heads that irradiate multiple lines, Fig. 3).
Claim 15. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 1, further comprising a feeding device (conveying device 30, Fig. 3) for conveying a terminal strip including a plurality of the terminals (conveying device 30 moves the conductive substrate 110 with a plurality of electroplated tin layer that are used for terminals, par. 47), including:
a recovery reel (conveying device 30, Fig. 6) on which the terminal strip with the metal coating that has been melted and recrystallized is wound (irradiated strip is wound up by the conveying device, Fig. 6), the recovery reel rotates at a predetermined speed to pull the terminal strip to move from the feeding reel to the recovery reel (conveying device 30 moves at a predetermined speed, par. 37);
Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose two pressing rollers respectively located at the feeding reel and the recovery reel for pressing the terminal strip on the feeding reel and the recovery reel.
Lane discloses a reel-to-reel laser scanner for forming circuitry (par. 11) wherein a feeding reel on which the terminal strip without forming the metal coating is wound (reel-to-reel that feeds the metal foil, par. 201, Fig. 7, Lane);
two pressing rollers respectively located at the feeding reel and the recovery reel for pressing the terminal strip on the feeding reel and the recovery reel (press roller by 201, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Lane and have rollers by the feeding reel to add a plastic laminate to the reel to provide structural support (Fig. 6, par. 202 and 214).
The combined prior art does not explicitly teach having a press roller by the recovery reel, however it would been obvious to also include a press roller by the recover reel in order to help maintain pressure on the laminate as it is being reeled together.
Claim 24. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 1, wherein the laser head includes a flight or path tracking function (position of the soldering head and object is displayed on the monitor screen, par. 38; where it is understood that if the positions are known then they must have been tracked, Hayakawa).
7. Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Kawakami (US 20110278267 A1).
Claim 4. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 3, further comprising a laser power box electrically connected with the laser head for supplying power to the laser head.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the laser source would require a power supply connected to it. For example, Kawakami discloses a roll to roll processing system with a laser scriber wherein the laser has a power source 51 (par. 73).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Kawakami and have a power supply connected to the laser source for the purpose of powering the laser.
Claim 5. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Kawakami does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 4, wherein the laser controller, the laser power box and the laser head are integrated and installed on the manipulator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Kawakami and integrate the laser controller, power supply, and head onto the gantry since it has been held that the mere integration of parts has no patentably significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965), MPEP 2144.04(V)(B).
10. Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Unrath (US 20190001442 A1).
Claim 10. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 9, further comprising a blowing protection device for spraying a compressed gas on the metal coating to remove dust on the metal coating.
Unrath discloses a laser processing apparatus wherein the irradiation generates dust and vapor (par. 304) wherein an air knife is used to blow compressed air at the worksurface the remove the dust and vapor particles (par. 304).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Unrath and use an air knife to remove dust generated during the melting process for the purpose of dislodging any settled vapor or debris (par. 304, Unrath).
Claim 11. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Unrath discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 10, wherein the compressed gas is compressed air (compressed air-powered air knife, par. 304, Unrath) or compressed inert gas.
11. Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zediker (US 20160067827 A1).
Claim 12. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose the reflow melting system according to claim 1, further comprising a laser cooling device for cooling a laser pump in the laser head.
Zediker discloses a laser processing apparatus wherein the laser pump is cooled through active air cooling (par. 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Zediker and actively cool the laser pump with air to prevent it from overheating during operation.
Claim 13. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Zediker discloses the reflow melting system according to claim 12, wherein the laser cooling device is a water cooling device, an air cooling device (active air cooling, par. 26, Zediker) or a water air mixed cooling device.
Claim(s) 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (CN 104513994 A) in view of Hayakawa (US 20010054637 A1), Lane (US 20210092854 A1), Fukumoto (US 5580471 A), and Milne (US 10702952 B2)
Claim 21. Zhou discloses a reflow melting system (laser device 300 for melting a tin layer, abstract), adapted to reflow melting metal coatings on a first surface (tin plating layer, abstract) and a
a first laser head (ser device 300, Fig. 3),
a remote control terminal in communication with the first
Zhou does not explicitly disclose a manipulator on which the laser head is mounted, a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and a first image sensor mounted on the manipulator or the laser head, moving synchronously with the laser head; capturing an image of the melting metal coating in real time;
a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and the manipulator for automatically adjusting at least one working parameter of the laser head and at least one operating program of the manipulator and automatically adjusting a heating pattern according to an image captured by the first.
Hayakawa discloses laser soldering a printed board (par. 22) wherein
a laser head (soldering head 13 which contains the optics for the laser beam, par. 23, Fig. 1) for emitting laser light onto the metal coating on the terminal to heat and melt the metal coating (soldering head projects the laser beam at the connector pin);
a manipulator on which the laser head is mounted (soldering head is mounted on the robot 12, Fig. 1);
a first image sensor mounted on the manipulator or the laser head, moving synchronously with the laser head, capturing an image of the melting metal coating in real time (camera 19 is mounted on the soldering head to capture the image of the object being soldered, par. 24; since the camera is attached to the soldering head, it moves synchronously with the head);
a remote control terminal in communication with the laser head and the manipulator for
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou to incorporate the teachings of Hayakawa and have the laser be mounted on a robot arm. Doing so would have the benefit of having five degrees of freedom to manipulate the positioning of the soldering head to solder the printed board (par. 22, Hayakawa).
Zhou in view of Hayakawa does not explicitly disclose automatically adjusting said one working parameter of the laser head and at least one operating program of the manipulator and automatically adjusting the heating pattern according to the image captured by the first.
Lane discloses a reel-to-reel laser scanner for forming circuitry (par. 11) wherein the vision system tracks the circuitry pattern and make calculations and send data to the laser scanners to make corrections/calibration on the fly (par. 228 and 249-251), wherein the corrections and calibration involve aligning the laser to the correct locations which involve moving the laser ablation module along a z-direction (par. 211).
Fukumoto discloses a reflow soldering operation with lasers wherein images are taken of the material during and after treatment (col 6, lines 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa to incorporate the teachings of Lane and Fukumoto and automatically adjust the laser head parameters, program, and pattern during melting. Doing so would have the benefit of adjusting the laser scanner to make corrections/calibrations (par. 228 and 249, Lane) and generate an accurate position of the irradiated sample during melting which can be used for correction (col 6, lines 1-5, Fukumoto).
Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose a second image sensor capturing an image of the melted metal coating;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto and duplicate the first image sensor to have a second image sensor to capture an image of the metal coating since it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentably significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B). Doing so would have the benefit of increasing image resolution and provide users with more data on the irradiated area to help adjust the laser scanners.
Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto does not disclose
a second laser head, mounted on a second manipulator and disposed on a second surface side of the terminal, opposite the first surface side, the second laser head emitting laser light to form a melted metal coating on the second surface of the terminal, opposite the first surface of the terminal;
a third image sensor mounted on the second manipulator or the second laser head, moving synchronously with the second laser head, capturing an image of the melting metal coating on the second surface of the terminal in real time;
a fourth image sensor capturing an image of the melted metal coating on the second surface of the terminal; and
a remote control terminal in communication with the second laser heads and second manipulators, the remote control terminal adjusting at least one working parameter of the laser heads and at least one operating program of the manipulators, according to an image captured by the image sensors, and optimizing the melting effect of the metal coating.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto and duplicate the first laser head, manipulator, and first and second image sensor since it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentably significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B). Doing so would have the benefit of increasing image resolution and provide users with more data on the irradiated area to help adjust the laser scanners.
The combined prior art does not disclose the laser heads irradiating surfaces that are opposite to each toher.
Milne discloses laser scribing an electronic component wherein there are two laser beams opposite to each other, irradiating a first and second surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, and Fukumoto to incorporate the teachings of Milne and take the second laser head, manipulator, and sensors and operate on the surface opposite of the first surface. Doing so would have benefit of forming patterns on both sides of the electronic component, reducing manufacturing time.
Claim 22. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Milne disclose the reflow melting system of claim 21, wherein the first and second image sensors are disposed on the first surface side of the terminal (combined prior art result in the first and second image sensors on the first surface side).
Claim 23. Zhou in view of Hayakawa, Lane, Fukumoto, and Milne disclose the reflow melting system of claim 21, wherein the third and fourth image sensors are disposed on the second surface side of the terminal (combined prior art result in the third and fourth image sensors on the first surface side).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIMPSON A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6422. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5.
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/SIMPSON A CHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/ELIZABETH M KERR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761