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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 08/20/2025 has been entered. As directed by the amendment: Claims 1 and 10 are amended. Claims 12 – 13 are newly added. Claims 1 – 13 are currently pending. Applicant's arguments regarding the Final Rejection on 11/24/2025 have been fully considered (please see "Response to Arguments" section) and the following Non-Final Rejection is made herein.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 – 2 and 10 – 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Miura et al. (US 2011/0284508 A1, recited in the Final Rejection), hereinafter "Miura", in view of Sylvester et al. (US 4112775 A, recited in the Final Rejection) and hereinafter "Sylvester".
Regarding claim 1, Miura discloses a weld inspection device that inspects a weld (a welding system 30 comprising a real-time inspection device (0041 - 0042 and see FIG. 1) that inspects a weld joint for example, two flat plates, butted welded together, (0047), the weld inspection device comprising:
a first laser irradiation device that irradiates the weld of an inspection target with a generation laser exciting an ultrasonic wave inside the inspection target (a transmission optical mechanism 9 that transmits, during or after welding operation, a transmission laser light Li to a weld inspection target Pi, so as to generate a transmission ultrasonic wave U inside the weld inspection target, (0043 – 0044 , annotated FIG.1 and see claim 1)), the inspection target including two base materials jointed by the weld (the inspection target includes two portion of base material 2 joined by the weld W, please see annotated FIG. 1);
a second laser irradiation device that irradiates a predetermined position on the inspection target where the ultrasonic wave is to be detected with detection laser for detecting the ultrasonic wave (a reception optical mechanism 10 that transmits, during or after welding operation, a reception laser light to a predetermined irradiation point Pd on the inspection target where the ultrasonic wave U is detected with the reception laser, (0043 - 0044, 0058 - 0059 and please annotated see FIG.1)), the ultrasonic wave passing through the weld and being reflected by a base material lower surface of the inspection target (the ultrasonic wave U passing through the weld W and when it reaches an improperly welded part or bottom surface of the object to be welded, the propagation path changes due to reflection, (0058) *Note -FIG.1 only shows the ultrasonic wave U reflected in the weld W, however, ¶ 0058 discloses that the ultrasonic wave U could also pass through the weld and be reflected by the base object of the inspection target), the second laser irradiation device irradiating one of the two base materials (the reception optical mechanism 10 irradiating the second (right) portion of the base material 2, please see annotated FIG1);
a laser interferometer that measures interference of reflected light of the detection laser (an interferometer 6 that performs interference measurement of the scattered/reflected laser light of a detection laser, (0043, annotated FIG. and see claim 1)); and
a controller that determines existence of an internal defect of the weld based on a measurement result of the laser interferometer (a data recording/analysis mechanism 7 that measures and analyzes an ultrasonic signal obtained by the interferometer and determines presence/absence of the welding defect, (0043, 0063, FIG.1 and see claim 1)),
wherein the first laser irradiation device includes a scanning mechanism that scans an irradiation position of the generation laser in a direction intersecting a welding direction (a drive system 11 of transmission optical mechanism 9 includes moving/scanning the transmission laser in a direction, y-direction, perpendicular (intersecting) to the welding direction, (0095 and see FIG. 14)),
wherein a starting position of the scanning mechanism is a first one of the two base materials and an ending position of the scanning mechanism is a second one of the two base materials such that the scanning mechanism traverses the weld in the direction intersecting the welding direction (the scanning mechanism 11 moves the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi (not the ultrasonic wave U as argues in the remarks) on the objects 2 to be welded and the direction of the movement of irradiation point Pi can be in the X-direction , parallel to the welding direction or in the Y-direction , intersecting the welding direction in the inspection region of a two-dimensional cross-section 17 (0051, 0093 – 0095 and please see FIG.15), clearly, inspection area 17 shown in FIG.15 covered by the scanning mechanism 11 starts at the first portion of the base material 2 to be welded and ends at the second portion 2 of the base material to be welded traversing weld W in a direction intersecting the weddinging direction ). Further, Miura already discloses the scanning mechanism 11 moves the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi (NOT the ultrasonic wave) on the objects 2 intersecting the welding direction, (0093 – 0095) and the selection starting point and ending point for the movement of the irradiation laser of inspection Pi is considered a preferred process conducted by the claimed device. Note here-Miura already discloses all the structures of the claimed weld inspection device, and the manner in which the inspection is conducted (starting point, ending point) is not given patentable weight as a device claim covers what a device is, not what a device does, "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus", MPEP 2114. II.
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Miura does not explicitly teach that the weld Joint W is of a lap fillet joint.
However, Sylvester that relates fillet weld inspection system (see FIG.1), also teaches application of ultrasonic beam to detect defects in a lap fillet joint 56 lap welding plate 53 to plate 54, (3:28 - 44).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed intervention, to modify the weld joint W inspected by the weld inspection device of Miura to be a lap fillet joint as it is known to use ultrasonic waves to detect defects in a lap fillet joint as taught in Sylvester. Further, It has been considered that "inclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims.", MPEP 2115. In this case, the claimed structure is "a weld inspection device" and the fact that the "weld inspection device" is inspecting or working upon a lap fillet joint, a butt weld join or a corner joint is does not impart patentability to the claim. Device, apparatus and system claims are patentable for what they structurally entail not for the material or article they work upon.
Regarding claim 2, Miura in view of Sylvester teaches the weld inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the controller determines that the internal defect is generated in the weld when an attenuation degree of intensity of the ultrasonic wave detected with the detection laser and the laser interferometer exceeds a threshold (the data recording/analysis mechanism 7 determines the welding defect based on analysis result of the ultrasonic signal exceeds a threshold value, Miura (0063 and 0068 - 0070) and processing the ultrasonic wave from the interferometer to determine the intensity of the detected ultrasonic wave and evaluating weld defect based on the determined intensity, Miura (0126 - 0127)).
Regarding claim 10, Miura discloses a weld inspection method for inspecting a weld , the weld inspection method comprising:
Irradiating, with a first laser irradiation device, the weld of an inspection target after welding with generation laser exciting an ultrasonic wave inside the inspection target (irradiating, with a transmission optical mechanism 9, during or after welding operation, a transmission laser light Li to a weld inspection target Pi, so as to generate a transmission ultrasonic wave U inside the weld inspection target, (0043 annotated FIG.1 and see claim 1)), the inspection target including two base materials jointed by the weld (the inspection target includes two portion of base material 2 joined by the weld W, please see annotated FIG. 1);
Irradiating, with a second laser irradiation device, a predetermined position on the inspection target where the ultrasonic wave is to be detected with detection laser for detecting the ultrasonic wave (irradiating, with a reception optical mechanism 10, that transmits, during or after welding operation, a reception laser light to a predetermined irradiation point Pd on the inspection target where the ultrasonic wave U is detected with the reception laser, (0043 - 0044, 0058 - 0059 and please annotated see FIG. 1)), the ultrasonic wave passing through the weld and being reflected by a base material lower surface of the inspection target (the ultrasonic wave U passing through the weld W and when it reaches an improperly welded part or bottom surface of the object to be welded, the propagation path changes due to reflection, (0058)), the second laser irradiation device irradiating one of the two base materials (the reception optical mechanism 10 irradiating the second (right) portion of the base material 2, please see annotated FIG1);
measuring, with a laser interferometer, interference of reflected light of the detection laser (performing interference measurement, with an interferometer 6, of the scattered/reflected laser light, (0044, FIG.1 and see claim 18); and
determining, with a controller, an existence of an internal defect of the weld based on a measurement result of the laser interferometer (determining, with a data recording/analysis mechanism 7, presence/absence of the welding defect based on the data analysis of the measurement of the interferometer, (0063 and FIG.1)),
wherein irradiating the weld of the inspection target further includes scanning an irradiation position of the generation laser in a direction intersecting a welding direction (irradiating the weld of the inspection target further includes moving/scanning, with a drive system 11, the transmission laser in a direction, y-direction, perpendicular (intersecting) to the welding direction, (0095 and see FIG. 14)),
wherein a starting position of the irradiation position is a first one of the two base materials and an ending position of the irradiation position is a second one of the two base materials such that the scanning traverses the weld in the direction intersecting the welding direction (the scanning mechanism 11 moves the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi (not the ultrasonic wave U as argues in the remarks) on the objects 2 to be welded and the direction of the movement of irradiation point Pi can be in the X-direction , parallel to the welding direction or in the Y-direction , intersecting the welding direction in the inspection region of a two-dimensional cross-section 17 (0051, 0093 – 0095 and please see FIG.15), clearly, inspection area 17 shown in FIG.15 covered by the scanning mechanism 11 starts at the first portion of the base material 2 to be welded and ends at the second portion 2 of the base material to be welded intersecting the welding direction. Further, as shown in FIG.5 and FIG.6, the irradiation point Pi is located on one side of the welded part W (see FIG.5) and the irradiation point Pi is shown traversing into the weld W (see FIG.6), (0075 – 0076)).
Miura does not explicitly teach that the is weld Joint W is of a lap fillet joint.
However, Sylvester that relates fillet weld inspection systems (see FIG.1), also teaches application ultrasonic beam to detect defects in a lap fillet joint 56 lap welding plate 53 to plate 54, (3:28 - 44).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed intervention, to modify the inspection method of Miura that inspects defect in a butt weld joint W to be inspecting a lap fillet joint as it is known to use ultrasonic wave detection method to detect defects in a lap fillet joint as taught in Sylvester.
Regarding claim 11, Miura in view of Sylvester teaches the weld inspection method according to claim 10, wherein determining the existence of the internal defect of the weld based on the measurement result of the laser interferometer further includes determining that the internal defect is generated in the weld when an attenuation degree of intensity of the ultrasonic wave detected with the detection laser and the laser interferometer exceeds a threshold (determining the existence of the internal defect of the weld based on the measurement result of the laser interferometer further includes determining the welding defect based on analysis of the reflected ultrasonic signal data exceeds a threshold value, Miura (0063 and 0068 - 0070) and processing the ultrasonic wave from the interferometer to determine the intensity of the detected ultrasonic wave and evaluating weld defect based on the determined intensity, Miura (0126 - 0127)).
Regarding claim 12, Miura in view of Sylvester teaches the weld inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the scanning mechanism traverses the weld in the direction intersecting the welding direction such that the generation laser from the first laser irradiation device is irradiated at multiple points on the weld of the inspection target (the scanning mechanism 11 moves the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi on the objects 2 to be welded and the direction of the movement of irradiation point Pi can be in the Y-direction , intersecting the welding direction in the inspection region of a two-dimensional cross-section 17, Miura (0051, 0093 – 0095 and please see FIG.15), moving the irradiation point Pi along the base objects 2 to be welded naturally covers multiple inspection points/targets Pi).
Regarding claim 13, Miura in view of Sylvester teaches the weld inspection method according to claim 10, wherein the scanning traverses the weld in the direction intersecting the welding direction such that the generation laser from the first laser irradiation device is irradiated at multiple points on the weld of the inspection target (the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi on the objects 2 to be welded is moved in the Y-direction , intersecting the welding direction in the inspection region of a two-dimensional cross-section 17 traversing the weld, Miura (0051, 0093 – 0095 and please see FIG.15), moving the irradiation point Pi along the base objects 2 to be welded naturally covers multiple inspection points/targets Pi).
Claim(s) 3 – 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri et al. (US 20220410322 A1, recited in the Final Rejection and foreign priority date Mar.5, 2020) and hereinafter "Mohri".
Regarding claim 3, Miura in view of Sylvester teach a welding system (welding system 30, annotated FIG.1) comprising:
an arc welding device including a welding torch (a welding mechanism 1 that performs, e.g. metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, inert gas arc welding, MAG welding, CO2 arc welding, Miura (0047 - 0048 and FIG.1 1) thus, including a welding torch); a weld inspection device according to claim 1 to inspect the weld of the lap fillet joint formed by the arc welding device (a real-time weld inspection device according to claim 1, (see Miura's annotated FIG.1 and Sylvester (3:28 - 44), and
the first and second laser irradiation devices are disposed behind the welding torch in the welding direction (the drivers (11, 12) for the transmission and reception optical mechanisms (9, 10) are designed to move together with the welding mechanism 1 in the welding direction behind the welding mechanism 1, Miura (0047, 0121 and see FIGS. 1 - 2)).
Miura in view of Sylvester do not explicitly discuss a welding robot, wherein the welding torch and the first and second laser irradiation devices of the weld inspection device are mounted on a manipulator of the welding robot.
However, Mohri that relates to a bead appearance inspection device and a bead appearance inspection system (0002), also teaches welding robot MC1 inspection device or sensor 4 mounted on the manipulator 200 of the welding robot, (0042 - 0046, see FIG.2 and FIG.6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to include a welding robot, wherein the welding torch and the first and second laser irradiation devices of the inspection devices that move behind the welding torch in the welding direction of Miura to be mounted on the manipulator of the welding robot as such arrangement is commonly known in the robotic welding art, as taught in Mohri.
Regarding claim 4, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, wherein the welding robot includes a controller that controls the manipulator (robot control device 2 controls the manipulator 200 of the welding robot, Mohri (0042 and see FIG.6), and
the controller controls the manipulator such that the first and second laser irradiation devices are positioned behind the welding torch in the welding direction during welding by the arc welding device (the robot control device 2 controls the manipulator 2 that has the inspection devices mounted on the manipulator, Mohri (0042 and see FIG.6), the transmission and reception optical mechanisms (9, 10) are designed to move together with the welding mechanism 1 in the welding direction behind the welding mechanism 1, Miura (0047, 0121 and see FIGS. 1 - 2)).
Regarding claim 5, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, wherein
the welding robot includes a controller that controls the arc welding device and the manipulator (robot control device 2 controls the welding torch 400 and manipulator 200 of the welding robot, Mohri (0046 and see FIG.6), and
the controller stops welding by the arc welding device and operation of the manipulator when the internal defect of the weld is detected by the weld inspection device (when determining that a welding defect is detected the inspection result is transmitted to the robot control device 2 to execute a repair welding program, Mohri (0041) Thus, the defective welding is stopped).
Regarding claim 6, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, wherein
the welding robot includes a controller that controls the arc welding device and the manipulator (robot control device 2 controls the arc welding torch 400 and manipulator 200 of the welding robot, Mohri (0045 0046 and see FIG.6),
the controller executes at least one of first processing and second processing when the internal defect of the weld is detected by the weld inspection device (the robot control device 2 processor 21 implements functions of a main welding program creation unit 23, a calculation unit 24, the robot control unit 25, and the power supply control unit 26, Mohri (0057 and see FIGS. 2 and 6),
the first processing includes processing of changing a welding condition of the arc welding device (the power supply control unit 26 drives the power supply device 500 based on the main welding program generated by the main welding program creation unit 23 that includes various parameters such as a welding current, a welding voltage, Mohri (0059 and 0062)), and
the second processing includes processing of controlling the manipulator such that a welding speed is decreased as compared with a case where the internal defect is not detected (the robot control unit 25 drives the manipulator 200 of the welding robot MC1 during the bead appearance inspection such that an operation range of the welding robot MC1 defined by the main welding program is targeted, Mohri (0061)).
Regarding claim 7, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, further comprising:
an adjustment mechanism that adjusts at least one of a position and an angle of the second laser irradiation device on the manipulator (drive mechanism 12 of the reception optical mechanism 10 for moving the position of the reception laser light irradiation point, Miura (0051 and see FIG. 1); and
a deformation measurement device that measures deformation of an inspection object at the predetermined position due to welding (the reception optical mechanism 10 scans reception laser light irradiation point of the object to be welded and the reflected light is analyzed to determine welding defect, Miura (0051, 0060, 0063) *note- the "deformation measurement device" is interpreted to mean laser line scanner that is used to measure weld defect ), the deformation measurement device being mounted on the manipulator (inspection device 4 mounted on the manipulator 200 of the welding robot, Mohri (0042 0046, see FIG.2 and FIG.6),
wherein the adjustment mechanism adjusts at least one of the position and the angle based on a measurement result of the deformation measurement device such that a relative positional relationship between the predetermined position and the second laser irradiation dev ice becomes a predetermined relationship (the drive mechanism 12 adjusts the position of the reception optical mechanism 10 in relation to transmission optical mechanism 9 and the welded object to an optimal value to reduce sensitivity, Miura (0107-0109)).
Regarding claim 8, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, further comprising a surface treatment device that removes an oxide film formed on a surface of the inspection target by welding by the arc welding device ahead of the predetermined position in the welding direction (grinding mechanism 14a to the reception laser light irradiation point Pd prevents the surface of the object 2 to be welded from being oxidized, Miura (0081)).
Regarding claim 9, Miura in view of Sylvester in further view of Mohri teaches the welding system according to claim 3, wherein the first laser irradiation device includes a plurality of pulsed laser irradiation devices each of which irradiates the weld with generation pulsed laser, and the plurality of pulsed laser irradiation devices emit the pulsed laser such that laser irradiation timings are shifted from each other (the transmission laser light source 4 employees a plurality of pulsed wave laser light sources and the number of components and conditions required for measuring ultrasonic waves is increased as needed, Miura (0050)).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 03/24/2026, see Remarks page 6 – 9, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant amended the independent claims 1 and 10 to recite that the scanning mechanism moves the irradiation position to start at a first one of the two base materials and ends at a position on a second one of the two base materials such that it traverses the weld in the direction intersecting the welding direction. Applicant argues, Miura may teach that the ultrasonic wave traverses the weld but fails short of teaching the scanning mechanism traversing the weld intersecting the in the welding direction.
The examiner respectfully disagrees, As stated in the current rejection, the examiner submits that Miura clearly recites the scanning mechanism 11 moves the position of the irradiation laser light irradiation point Pi (not the ultrasonic wave U) on the objects 2 to be welded in the direction intersecting the welding direction (Y-axis) traversing the weld in the inspection region of 17 (please see FIG.15).
Regarding newly added claims 12 and 13, As stated in the current rejection, the examiner submits that moving the irradiation point Pi along the base objects 2 to be welded naturally covers multiple inspection points/targets Pi.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DILNESSA B BELAY whose telephone number is (571)272-3136. The examiner can normally be reached M-F approx. 8:00 am - 5:30 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Crabb can be reached at (571)270-5095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DILNESSA B BELAY/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/JOHN J NORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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