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
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) 1-4, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar et al. (US 2020/0019649) (hereinafter Kumar) in view of De Zaeytijd et al. (US 2021/0165928) (hereinafter Zaeytijd).
Regarding claim 1, Kumar teaches a computer-implemented method for designing a 3D modeled object by interaction of a user with a feature-based CAD system, the 3D modeled object representing a mechanical structure, the mechanical structure including structural members, the mechanical structure further including a plurality of corners, each corner further comprising a plurality of structural members of the model being connected together at the corner (fig. 5, corners 56 and 57), the method automatically inserting a connection element to a topologically similar corner comprising the steps of:
receiving a parametric feature list of the plurality of corners (ph. [0121], “The method may thus in examples give users a parametric list of all corners created in the design”) ;
receiving a selection of a first corner of the plurality of corners (ph. [0130], “A corner feature of 3D modeled object 40 may then be selected by the user for edition by graphical selection (e.g. clicking with mouse cursor 39 thereon) of the corresponding element of feature list 62”);
identifying a second corner in the model topologically similar to the first corner (ph. [0129], “This feature list representation may be displayed upon user request. Feature list 62 may for example be restricted to a type of corners. In the examples of the figures, 3D modeled object 40 only comprises complex corners, and all corners are represented by a textual graphical item of the type “Complex N” where N is an index indicating the rank of each complex corner in the chronological order of their creations.”);
collecting reference data for a first connection element at the first corner (ph. [0126], “or example, if structural member feature 47 was initially created, then when structural member features 48 and 48′ are later created, the system may recognize that a respective extremity of each of structural member features 48 and 48′ is being positioned at a location (vertex 49) where an extremity of structural member feature 47 is already positioned. The system may automatically generate and store data describing such information. Such information can then be based upon to create a corresponding corner feature located at vertex 49 and of the complex type (since it connects three structural members 47, 48 and 48′).”);
While Kumar teaches “automatic replication of a user edition of a corner feature to one or more other corner features” (ph. [0014]), Kumar does not explicitly teach copying the first connection element reference data to the second corner. However Zaeytijd teaches:
copying the first connection element reference data to the second corner (fig. 3A detailed volume 300; fig. 8, candidate base set of the corner joint of detailed volume 300 having a first connection element bolt 902, which is copied/replicated as in fig. 12A; ph. [0134], “the replication (300′, 300″, 300′″, 300″″) of the detail volume (300) of FIG. 8.”);
orienting the copied first connection element reference data to the second corner (ph. [0075]-[0077], “The detail volume is automatically mapped onto the candidate base set via a transformation… Preferably, the transformation comprises a translation, a rotation, a reflection, a point inversion, a scaling and/or a skewing. The detail volume is replicated, or replicating of the detail volume is suggested to a user, in the target CAD model, according to the validated mapping of the detail volume, to replace the originally present corresponding volume near the corresponding candidate base solids.”);
creating a second connection element identical to the first connection element (fig. 8, the bolts are identical, e.g. the top bolt 902 in the snippet below can be the first connection element and the bottom bolt 902 can be the second connection element identical to the first);
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and applying the second connection element to the second corner (fig. 3A detailed volume 300; fig. 8, candidate base set of the corner joint of detailed volume 300 having a second connection element bolt 902, which is copied/replicated as in fig. 12A; ph. [0134], “the replication (300′, 300″, 300′″, 300″″) of the detail volume (300) of FIG. 8.”; ph. [0012], “The detail volume encompasses the detail, i.e. the joint and the bolts, and thereby also the through-holes. Via replication of the entire content of the detail volume, which replaces the corresponding volume at the target location, the through-holes are replicated as well.”). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify Kumar in the manner taught by Zaeytijd to allow users to save time by easily copying and pasting entire joint structures in a CAD model.
Regarding claim 2, the Kumar/Zaeytijd combination teaches the method of claim 1. Zaeytijd further teaches the step of receiving a user selection of the first connection element at the first corner (ph. [0056], “Preferably, user input is received via at least one user input device indicative of a selection of said one or more reference base solids. Zero, one or more detail objects in the reference CAD model are obtained. Preferably, user input is received via at least one user input device indicative of a selection of zero, one or more detail objects. A user may individually select detail objects and/or reference base solids with a computer mouse. A user may, additionally or alternatively, simultaneously select multiple detail objects and/or reference base solids with a computer mouse. For example, a CAD model may comprise multiple beams connected via a joint and bolts. Via prior selection of the beams as reference base solids and subsequent selection of the joint as detail object, the bolts may automatically be identified as relevant detail objects.”).
Regarding claim 3, the Kumar/Zaeytijd combination teaches the method of claim 1. Zaeytijd further teaches the first corner and the second corner are identical except for a relative orientation of the corner-members, further comprising the step of computing a rigid body transformation between the first corner and the second corner (ph. [0083], “ In case several beams in the reference base set are similar, relative geometric properties, such as angles between longitudinal axes of the beams, may additionally be used to establish the one-to-one correspondence. A point and direction is determined for each reference beam, which may be performed before, after or during establishing the one-to-one correspondence. For beams, this is preferably a point on a longitudinal axis, such as a longitudinal central, symmetry or inertial axis, and the longitudinal direction. A first partial transformation is then computed mapping the point and direction of a first reference beam onto the longitudinal axis of the corresponding first candidate beam.”).
Regarding claim 4, the Kumar/Zaeytijd combination teaches the method of claim 1. Zaeytijd further teaches the step of applying the rigid body transformation to the first connection element to produce a reference for the second connection element (ph. [0083], “ In case several beams in the reference base set are similar, relative geometric properties, such as angles between longitudinal axes of the beams, may additionally be used to establish the one-to-one correspondence. A point and direction is determined for each reference beam, which may be performed before, after or during establishing the one-to-one correspondence. For beams, this is preferably a point on a longitudinal axis, such as a longitudinal central, symmetry or inertial axis, and the longitudinal direction. A first partial transformation is then computed mapping the point and direction of a first reference beam onto the longitudinal axis of the corresponding first candidate beam.”; ph. [0121], “an example of a joint (303, 304) comprising a connection element (304) and a foot (303). The connection element (304) connects two angled beams (320, 321) and the foot (303).; ph. [0135], “the replication (1000′, 1000″, 1000′″, 1000″″) of the detail volume (1000) of FIG. 9).
Regarding claim 7, the Kumar/Zaeytijd combination teaches the method of claim 1. Kumar further teaches providing an indication of the second corner via a graphical user interface of the CAD system (ph. [0129], “the corner features may be represented as a feature list 62 in panel 42, each corner feature being designated by a textual description.”); and providing a graphical representation of the second connection element at the second corner (ph. [0058], “ upon the user selecting a feature in the feature list, the system may automatically modify the displaying S20 and highlight the corresponding portion of the graphical representation of the mechanical structure corresponding to the selected feature. For example, when the user selects one or more structural member features, the system may automatically highlight the one or more corresponding structural members, and/or when the user selects one or more corner features, the system may automatically highlight the one or more corresponding corners”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Banadyha et al. (US 2023/0104333) taches copying and pasting 3D features in a CAD design.
Guidi et al. (US 2021/0073431) teaches feature replication in a CAD model.
Rorato et al. (US 2018/0181682) teaches replica selection of geometric features in a CAD design.
Divekar (US 2015/0186555) teaches adding features to 3D modeled objects.
Keustermans et al. (US 2019/0147666) teaches a mirrored rigid transformation to model crowns in teeth.
Wiening et al. (US 2016/0078150) teaches feature cloning based on geometric search.
Kumar et al. (US 2017/0169135) teaches replication of components through geometric element matching.
Patrick et al. (US 2015/0302114) teaches duplicate pattern of assembly components in CAD models.
Mattson et al. (US 2015/0278400) teaches hybrid variational solving in CAD models.
Rajkumar et al. (US Pat. 6,844,877) teaches automated mirroring of components in 3D modeling.
Owada et al., “Copy-Paste Synthesis of 3D Geometry with Repetitive Patterns” teaches copying and pasting of geometric objects in CAD modeling.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN W WATHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5570. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5:30pm.
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BRIAN W. WATHEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2151
/BRIAN W WATHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2151
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