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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending, of which claims 1, 14, and 20 are independent claims.
Priority
As a Continuation Patent Application, Applicant’s claim for the priority benefit of US Patent Application No. 16/691,429 11/21/2019 PAT 11,537,097; US Patent Application No. 15/334,095 10/25/2016 PAT 10,520,915; PCT/US2016/017900 02/12/2016, US Provisional Application No. 62/222,756 filed on 09/23/2015, US Provisional Application No. 62/222,757 filed on 09/23/2015, US Provisional Application No. 62/222,758 filed on 09/23/2015, US Provisional Application No. 62/115,562 filed on 02/12/2015, and US Provisional Application No. 62/115,571 filed on 02/12/2015 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 20, 2023 have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The Specification is objected to because on Paragraph [0124] of the published Specification, the description refers to FIG. 6. However, the elements being described in this paragraph and subsequent paragraphs of the Specification are related to FIG. 8. Appropriate correction of Paragraph [0124] of the published Specification is respectfully requested.
Claim Objections
The following claims are objected to for lack of antecedent support or for redundancies. The Examiner recommends the following changes:
Claim 1, line 9, replace “a material” with “the material”.
Claim 1, line 12, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 1, line 15, insert “the” before “determining”.
Claim 1, line 19, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 5, line 7, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 5, line 10, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 13, line 2, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 13, line 4, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 14, line 10, insert “the” before “determining”.
Claim 14, line 14, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 18, line 8, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 18, line 11, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Claim 20, line 9, insert “the” before “determining”.
Claim 20, line 13, insert “the” before “electromagnetic”.
Appropriate correction is respectfully requested.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter, which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 2, 4-7, 12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 2, this claim recites in lines 5 and 6 that “…the computing system is configured to use the indicator to obtain the target settings from a network connected computing system. Claim 2 depends from independent claim 1. However, independent claim 1 recites in lines 11 and 12 that “based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material”. If the target settings are determined based on the image of the watermark, how is it possible for the target settings of claim 2 to be from a network connected computing system? The Office is unable to properly examine claim 2 in light of the conflicting recitations of this claim with respect to those of independent claim 1. Appropriate correction through claim amendment is respectfully requested.
Regarding claim 4, this claim recites in lines 5 and 6 that “…the at least one processor such that computing system machine is configured to determine the target settings based on the set of characteristics of the material.” Claim 4 depends from independent claim 1. However, there is no mention in the Specification of a computing system machine. Rather, as described in Paragraphs [0127] and [0128] of the published Specification, the CNC machine determines the target settings or, as construed, the particular settings. As a result, for purposes of examination, the “computing system machine” is construed as “the CNC machine”. Appropriate correction through claim amendment is respectfully requested.
Regarding claim 5, this claim recites in lines 4-5 “that the computing system is configured to determine the target settings based on the image of the watermark…” Claim 5 depends from claim 4. However, originally claim 4 recites that “computing system machine” was determining the target settings. So is the “computing system machine” of claim 4 the same as the “computing system” of claim 5? If such is the case, as explained with respect to the rejection of claim 4, it is recommended that claim 5 be also amended to replace “the computing system” with “the CNC machine”, which will also be in accord with the written description of the Specification. For purposes of examination, “the computing system” is construed as “the CNC machine”.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected in view of their dependencies to a rejected base claim.
Regarding claim 12, this claim recites in lines 5 and 6 “…that the computing system is configure to read the information indicating the target settings from the image of the watermark.” Claim 12 depends from independent claim 1. Independent claim 1, lines 11 and 12, recites “…based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material…”. Is the reading of the information indicating the target settings from the image further defining the determination of the target settings performed in independent claim 1? If such is the case, the Office respectfully recommends that claim 12 be amended to properly indicate that the determination of the target settings is performed by reading the target settings from the image. Appropriate correction through claim amendment is respectfully requested.
Regarding claim 15, this claim recites in lines 5 and 6 that “…cause the computing system to use the indicator to obtain the target settings from a network connected computing system. Claim 15 depends from independent claim 14. However, independent claim 15 recites in lines 6 and 7 that “based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material”. If the target settings are determined based on the image of the watermark, how is it possible for the target settings of claim 15 to be from a network connected computing system? The Office is unable to properly examine claim 15 in light of the conflicting recitations of this claim with respect to those of independent claim 14. Appropriate correction through claim amendment is respectfully requested.
Allowable Subject Matter and Relevant Prior Art cited by Examiner
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is cited to establish the level of skill in the applicant’s art and those arts considered reasonably pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure. See MPEP 707.05(c).
Independent claim 1
US Patent Publication No. 2017/0129180 A1 to Coates et al. (“Coates”) teaches:
A computing system comprising: Coates: Paragraph [0234] (“FIG. 1 shows partial cross section and perspective view of a machine 1 in accordance with an aspect of the invention in which the machine arranged to carry out removal and addition of material on a work piece 2. The work piece 2 is located in a work station which is in a chamber 4. The machine has a first device 6 arranged to remove material from the work piece.”)
at least one processor; Coates: Paragraph [0060] (“Calibration routines may be carried out using detectors located in the chamber. Such routines may be arranged to monitor the or each processing head and/or the work-piece. Desirably wireless communication is enabled between the processing heads and a controller in the machine.”)
at least one computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine configured to deliver electromagnetic energy to a material disposed within an interior portion of the CNC machine; Coates: Paragraph [0069] (“A deposition head comprising an electrode providing energy to a work piece and a media feed wherein the head comprises means for generating integral electromagnetic field arranged to bend an arc between the electrode and the work piece.”) Coates: Paragraph [0071] (“According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a machine arranged to carry out removal and addition of material on a work piece located in a work station having at least one device arranged to process the work piece, the device being arranged to be moveable in at least two axes and wherein the work piece is processed in a sealable chamber.”)
at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing system is configured to: Coates: Paragraph [0112] (“According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a machine readable medium containing instructions which when read by a computer cause that computer to perform the method of the at least one of the aspects of the invention.”)
Coates does not expressly teach “capture, via at least one camera mounted to an interior surface of the CNC machine, an image of a watermark positioned on a material disposed within an interior portion of the CNC machine; based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material; determine that current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings; based on determining that the current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings, update the current settings to be used by the CNC machine to match the target settings; and cause the CNC machine to use the updated settings to execute a set of machine instructions to deliver electromagnetic energy to the material and thereby effect one or more changes to the material.” However, US Patent Publication No. 2008/0314878 A1 to Cai et al. (“Cai”) describes an apparatus and method for controlling a machining system. Cai teaches:
capture, via at least one camera mounted to an interior surface of the CNC machine, … a material disposed within an interior portion of the CNC machine; Cai: Paragraph [0021] (“Further, the laser net-shape machining system 10 includes an optical unit 24 configured to capture an image of the object 22 based upon radiation generated from the melt pool 14.”) Cai: Paragraph [0022] (“In addition, an image processing unit 26 is employed to process the image captured by the optical unit 24 and to obtain real-time estimation of parameters associated with the manufacture or repair of the object 22. Examples of such parameters include a melt pool width, a deposition height of the melt pool 14, a length of melt pool 14, a temperature of the melt pool 14 and so forth.”) Cai: Paragraph [0023] (“In this exemplary embodiment, the optical unit 24 includes a first imaging camera 28 configured to capture a first image of the object 22 for monitoring the width of the melt pool 14. In addition, the optical unit 24 includes a second imaging camera 30 configured to capture a second image of the object 22 for monitoring the deposition height of the melt pool 14.”) Cai: Paragraph [0024] (“Moreover, the laser net-shape machining system 10 includes a process model 38 that is configured to establish target values for the parameters associated with the manufacture or repair of the object 22 based upon process parameters for the machining system 10. Examples of process parameters include a laser power, a traverse velocity, a powder material feed rate, and so forth. The laser net-shape machining system 10 also includes a controller 40 that is configured to control the process parameters of the laser net-shape machining system 10 based upon the estimated and target values of the parameters associated with the manufacture or repair of the object 22.”)
However, Coates and Cai do not teach or suggest “…an image of a watermark positioned on a material disposed within an interior portion of the CNC machine; based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material; determine that current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings; based on determining that the current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings, update the current settings to be used by the CNC machine to match the target settings; and cause the CNC machine to use the updated settings to execute a set of machine instructions to deliver electromagnetic energy to the material and thereby effect one or more changes to the material.” However, US Patent No. 6,459,951 B1 to Griffith et al. (“Griffith”) describes
… determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material; Griffith: Column 9, lines 18-46 (“FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of a simple LENS system with imaging-based feedback control. The object here is simply to provide a continued smooth operation, rather than introduce the additional complexities of a system which can grow a complete component from a detailed description of a component. The steps appearing in the flow chart in FIG. 4 are summarized below: 1. The desired conditions under which growth is wanted to proceed is defined by setting target intrinsic parameters and initial control values for the direct laser fabrication process; 2. The growth process is begun; 3. The controllable parameters of the direct laser fabrication apparatus are adjusted to match the initial control values by the scheduler; 4. Imaging data is obtained from the imaging feedback equipment; 5. The current intrinsic parameters are extracted from said imaging data by an image analyzer; 6. A feedback corrector generates new control values based on a feedback control process which compares the current intrinsic parameters with the target intrinsic parameters; and, 7. The new control values are substituted for the initial control values, and the process loops back to step 3 until the desired growth operation is terminated.”)
determine that current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings; Griffith: Column 9, lines 18-46 [As described above.] [The current intrinsic parameters reads on “current settings” and the target intrinsic parameters reads on “the target settings”.]
based on determining that the current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings, update the current settings to be used by the CNC machine to match the target settings; and Griffith: Column 9, lines 18-46 [As described above.] [The comparison performed by the feedback control process reads on “based on determining that the current settings to be used by the CNC machine do not match the target settings”.]
cause the CNC machine to use the updated settings to execute a set of machine instructions to deliver electromagnetic energy to the material and thereby effect one or more changes to the material. Griffith: Column 9, lines 18-46 [As described above.] [The new control values based on the feedback control process reads on “updated settings”.]
However, the combination of Coates, Cai, and Griffith and additional teaching of the prior art of record, do not expressly teach or suggest “capture…an image of a watermark positioned on a material disposed within an interior portion of the CNC machine; based on the image of the watermark, determine target settings to be used by the CNC machine when delivering electromagnetic energy to the material”.
Claims 2-13 are dependent claims of claim 1. Independent claim 1 is allowable, and therefore, provided that the indefiniteness rejection to claims 2, 4-7, and 12 are overcome, claims 2-13 would be allowable.
Claim 14
Independent claim 14 includes similar limitations and reasons for allowance as independent claim 1.
Claims 15-19 are dependent claims of independent claim 14. Independent claim 14 is allowable, and therefore, claims 15-19 are allowable, provided that the indefiniteness rejection of claim 15 is overcome.
Claim 20
Independent claim 20 includes similar limitations and reasons for allowance as independent claim 1.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Publication No. 2014/0123458 A1 to Fearon et al. (“Fearon”) describes in Paragraph [0004] (“Before processing it is necessary to establish the position of the FPD sheet 150 on the machine 110. For this reason a plurality of fiducial marks 154 are provided. As shown, these may be in the form of an X in each corner of the FPD sheet 150. A camera mounted on the tool holder 120 (either in place of or as well as the tool 122, for instance provided as part of the tool) is driven around so as to find the fiducial marks 154 and take a photo of them. The control system 130 uses these fiducial marks to establish the position of the FPD sheet 150 on the machine and to adjust offsets to its program to correct for misalignment. Once the initial position has been found the position of the tool 122 relative to the FPD sheet 150 is tracked using the information from the readheads 126.”) Fearon describes in Paragraph [0082] (“However, the fact that the FPD sheet 250 is rotationally offset and the angle of rotational offset can be determined by the outputs of the first 226 and second 228 readheads. Indeed, as shown in FIG. 7, due to the rotational offset the first and second 228 readheads will be at different points along the lengths of the first 254 and second 256 scales, and that difference can be used to determine the angle of rotational offset .theta. (e.g. the angle between a line 260 extending perpendicularly between the longitudinal sides of the FPD sheet 250 and a line 262 extending perpendicularly between the first 226 and second 228 readheads as shown in FIG. 7). The position of the FPD sheet 250 could then be adjusted to reduce or eliminate the rotational offset and/or the control system 230 can determine and read the offset, calculate any positional error and compensate for the rotational offset during the processing operation.”)
US Patent Publication No. 2022/0262593 A1 to Fischione et al. describes a system 500 may include a camera 66 and a light source 67 to capture light reflected from the sample surface. Periodically during the milling process, the sample 1 may be illuminated by light source 67. Images are subsequently acquired by camera 66 and sent to the control unit 69. The camera 66 may include various powered objectives for higher or lower resolution imaging. Patterns revealed during delayering may be recognized by image recognition software installed on the control unit 69 for both feature identification and to confirm or adjust the milling process parameters. In addition, the light source 67 may be used to reveal vertical spacing differences between two layers. As milling progresses, interference fringes are developed and correspond to the depth of the milled area. Light reflection and the creation of interference fringes is a very sensitive method for establishing the nonplanarity of the sample surface, even when nonplanarity is on the order of a few nanometers. In an ideal situation, only one interference ring will appear on the image, indicating a very small depth variation between the sample center and its periphery. Increasing quantities of rings correspond to larger depth variations.
US Patent Publication No. 2017/0046605 A1 to Asthana et al. describes a machine-readable watermark may embed a reusable watermark identifier, information that augments the image, and/or other information. The barcode may be embedded with a group identifier related to the machine-readable watermark. A payload associated with the machine-readable watermark may be accessed based on the reusable watermark identifier encoded in the machine-readable watermark and the group identifier encoded in the barcode. The payload may comprise, for example, the information to augment the image. By using a combination of reusable watermark identifier and group identifier to access a payload, the cost of obtaining watermark identifiers may be reduced by reusing an obtained watermark identifier in conjunction with a plurality of different group identifiers to access respective payloads.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALICIA M. CHOI whose telephone number is (571)272-1473. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 7:30 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Fennema can be reached on 571-272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALICIA M. CHOI/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117