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 .
Priority
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.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Takayoshi (JP2007061843) in view of Yoshiaki (JPH0768396) and Naoyuki (JP2012076105). An English machine translation of Takayoshi (JP2007061843) in view of Yoshiaki (JPH0768396) and Naoyuki (JP2012076105) was provided by the applicant with the IDS submitted on 2/2/2023 and 2/28/2023.
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Takayoshi teaches a laser processing head (Fig 1, laser processing apparatus 10, 0023) configured to process a workpiece object W, 0023) using processing laser light that is invisible (0010, claim 1, invisible light), the laser processing head, comprising: an optical component (mixing mirror 14, 0025) that splits the processing laser light (laser light L, 0024), which is emitted from a processing laser light source (laser light source 11, 0024), into first split light and second split light (laser beam L2, 0025) and aligns an optical axis of viewing laser light with an optical axis of the first split light (laser light L1, 0025), the viewing laser light being visible and being emitted from a viewing laser light source (visible light source 21, guide light Lg, 0028); a scanner that scans (optical scanning mechanism 15, 0026) the first split light (L1) and the viewing laser light (Lg) to the workpiece; a light receiving portion that detects an intensity (light receiving element 23, 0029) of the second split light (L2); a first shutter disposed close (shutter member 32, 0031) to the processing laser light source and the optical component to shift between a closed position at which the first shutter blocks the processing laser light and an open position at which the first shutter allows transmission of the processing laser light (0031); a second shutter disposed closer to (shutter member 33, 0032) the workpiece (W) than the optical component (14) to shift between a closed position at which the second shutter blocks the first split light and the viewing laser light and an open position at which the second shutter allows transmission of the first split light and the viewing laser light (0032).
With respect to the limitations of claim 6, Takayoshi teaches a laser processing device (Fig 1, laser processing apparatus 10, 0023) configured to process a workpiece (object W, 0023) using processing laser light that is invisible (0010, claim 1, invisible light), the laser processing device, comprising: a processing laser light source (laser light source 11, 0024) that emits the processing laser light (laser light L, 0024); a viewing laser light source that emits viewing laser light that is visible (visible light source 21, guide light Lg, 0028): an optical component (mixing mirror 14, 0025) that splits the processing laser light into first split light (laser light L1, 0025) and second split light (laser beam L2, 0025) and aligns an optical axis of the viewing laser light with an optical axis of the first split light (L1): a scanner (optical scanning mechanism 15, 0026) that scans the first split light (L1) and the viewing laser light (Lg) to the workpiece: a light receiving portion that detects an intensity (light receiving element 23, 0029) of the second split light (L2): a first shutter disposed close (shutter member 32, 0031) to the processing laser light source and the optical component to shift between a closed position at which the first shutter blocks the processing laser light and an open position at which the first shutter allows transmission of the processing laser light (0031); a second shutter disposed closer to (shutter member 33, 0032) the workpiece (W) than the optical component (14) to shift between a closed position at which the second shutter blocks the first split light and the viewing laser light and an open position at which the second shutter allows transmission of the first split light and the viewing laser light (0032).
Takayoshi discloses the claimed invention except for the first shutter disposed closer to the processing laser light source than the optical component; and a focal length adjuster that adjusts a focal length of the first split light and a focal length of the viewing laser light, the second shutter is disposed between the optical component and the focal length adjuster; a first opening-closing sensor that detects an open-closed state of the first shutter; and a second opening-closing sensor that detects an open-closed state of the second shutter, the second shutter is disposed between the optical component and the focal length adjuster, the first opening-closing sensor includes a first closing sensor that detects that the first shutter is located in the closed position and a first opening sensor that detects that the first shutter is located in the open position, and the second opening-closing sensor includes a second closing sensor that detects that the second shutter is located in the closed position and a second opening sensor that detects that the second shutter is located in the open position.
However, Yoshiaki discloses the first shutter (Fig 7, shutter 115, 0004) disposed closer to the processing laser light source (laser oscillator 101, 0004) than the optical component (bending mirror 108, 0002); and a focal length adjuster (Fig 1, convex lens 5, position adjustment device 7, condenser lens 9, position adjustment device 11, 0014) that adjusts a focal length (Figs 1, 3, 0019-0021) of the first split light and a focal length of the viewing laser light (Takayoshi, L1, lg), the second shutter is disposed between the optical component (Takayoshi, 14, 33) and the focal length adjuster is known in the art. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to adapt the laser processing head and device of Takayoshi having first and second shutters silent to locating the first shutter closer to the laser oscillator and a focal length adjuster with the first shutter disposed closer to the processing laser light source than the optical component; and a focal length adjuster that adjusts a focal length of the first split light and a focal length of the viewing laser light, wherein the second shutter is disposed between the optical component and the focal length adjuster of Yoshiaki for the purpose of locating the first shutter in a known location that allows for light from the laser light source to be quickly and effectively blocked and providing a known focal length adjustment configuration that allows a beam energy density to be varied base on the type of laser processing to be performed (0018), thereby improving the overall versatility of the device.
Additionally, Naoyuki discloses the shudder includes an opening-closing sensor that detects an open-closed state of the shutter (Figs 1-3, shutter 22, opening/closing operation detection sensor 33, 34, 0033); the opening-closing sensor includes a first closing sensor that detects that the shutter is located in the closed position and a first opening sensor that detects that the shutter is located in the open position (opening/closing operation detection sensor 33, 34, 0034-0036) is known in the art. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the invention to adapt the laser processing head and device of Takayoshi having first and second shutters silent to shudder open-closed state sensors with the shudder includes an opening-closing sensor that detects an open-closed state of the shutter; the opening-closing sensor includes a first closing sensor that detects that the shutter is located in the closed position and a first opening sensor that detects that the shutter is located in the open position of Naoyuki for the purpose of providing a known shudder position detection configuration that allows the controller to determine an open or closed position of the shudder, thereby improving the overall versatility of the device.
With respect to the limitations of claims 2 and 7, Takayoshi in view of Yoshiaki discloses the focal length adjuster includes a first lens and a second lens disposed on an optical axis of the first lens, and the focal length adjuster adjusts a distance between the first lens and the second lens to adjust a focal length of the first split light that transmits through the first lens and the second lens (Yoshiaki, Figs 1, 3, convex lens 5, position adjustment device 7, condenser lens 9, position adjustment device 11, 0014).
With respect to the limitations of claims 3 and 8, Takayoshi in view of Yoshiaki discloses the claimed invention except for the focal length adjuster is disposed between the optical component and the scanner. However, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made the focal length adjuster is disposed between the optical component and the scanner, since it has been held that a mere rearrangement of an element without modification of the operation of the device involves only routine skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.04).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN S TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7745. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday [8:00-4:00].
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/THIEN S TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 11/17/2025