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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 11-20 in the reply filed on 02/16/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 11-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Peters (US 2015/0151376).
Regarding claim 11, Peters discloses a method of droplet transfer in an arc welding process to reduce spatter and excessive heat input, the method comprising:
a. initiating a short clearing routine (“pinch current phase 120’” [0081], see figure 10) to transfer a current molten metal droplet from an end of a consumable welding electrode to a work piece (short turns to arc phase depositing material by pinch transition including wire feed direction “When a short is detected or predicted at point X, the wire feed speed is reduced and then the feed direction is reversed until the wire feed speed reaches a predetermined value of -a. However, unlike the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9 in which the wire feed is only reversed during approximately the pinch current phase, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 10, the wire feed speed is reversed during approximately the pinch current phase 120' and peak current phase 130'. Once the peak current phase 130' is terminated (point Y), the wire feed speed is increased to the predetermined speed of the arcing phase.” [0082]),
where the short clearing routine includes changing a feed direction of the consumable welding electrode from toward a work piece to away from the work piece (as disclosed above [0082]), and changing an electrical polarity of a welding current from electrode positive to electrode negative in response to the feed direction changing to away from the work piece (polarity changes in response to short detection that changes feed direction as disclosed above [0082] “As seen in FIG. 10, after a short is detected or predicted at point X, the welding current is reduced from the background current level 111 to zero and then polarity is switched to generate a reduced background current level of 112'.” [0081], see figure 10 providing negative current A around the pinch 120’);
b. detecting an arc between the consumable welding electrode and the work piece after the transfer (when in state of non-short detection, see above [0081]);
c. initiating a post short routine (130’ after pinch 120’) that includes creating a next molten metal droplet at the end of the consumable welding electrode during the electrode negative electrical polarity (during arcing phase heat is generated “the welding waveform resumes a background current 111 at positive polarity. During the background current phase, heat-increasing current pulses 150 can be initiated as discussed above to further heat the weld puddle.” [0081] see figure 10 showing 130’ in reverse wire feed post pinch and transiting to forward wire feed thereat/after while current is negative), and changing the feed direction of the consumable welding electrode from away from the work piece to toward the work piece (as described to figure 10 above, see [0081-0082]);
d. initiating an arc routine that includes changing the electrical polarity of the welding current from electrode negative to electrode positive in response to the feed direction changing to toward the work piece (see figure 10 showing electrode positive transition after post short 130’ until detection of next short at X, “As seen in FIG. 10, the consumable electrode 840 is fed at a predetermined speed 1000 during the arcing phase of the waveform. When a short is detected or predicted at point X,” [0082]); and
e. detecting a short circuit between the work piece and the next molten metal droplet (short detection at X of figure 10, as disclosed above [0082]).
Regarding claim 12, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses further comprising repeating steps a.through e., where the next molten metal droplet becomes the current molten metal droplet in step a (process shown in figure 10 is a repeated process “The cycle of the electric welding waveform with the at least one heat-increasing current pulse may be repeated until the arc welding process is completed.” (abstract)).
Regarding claim 13, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses wherein the welding current is linearly ramped during at least a portion of the short clearing routine (as shown in figure 10).
Regarding claim 14, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses wherein an amount of time spent in the post short routine compared to an amount of time spent in the arc routine is user adjustable to provide for droplet size adjustment and heat control (phases anticipated to vary for heat control “After the peak current phase 130, the waveform 100 enters the tail-out current phase 140. During the tail-out current phase 140, the current level of the waveform 100 monotonically (e.g., exponentially) decreases toward the background current level 111 providing the decreasing tail-out current level 141. The current of the waveform 100 inputs heat into the weld. The tail-out current phase 140 acts as a coarse heat control phase for the waveform 100 whereas the background current phase 110 acts as a fine heat control phase for the waveform 100. However, in certain arc welding applications, it may be desirable to provide additional heat input control.” [0046]).
Regarding claim 15, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses wherein the arc routine includes a peak current phase (130’), followed by a tail-out current phase (between 130’ and 111, see figure 10), followed by a background current phase (111).
Regarding claim 16, Peters discloses the method of claim 15, Peters further discloses wherein the background current phase is pulsed (150) to add heat to a weld pool on the work piece and to push the current molten metal droplet toward the weld pool (current pulsed “For example, in some embodiments, the reduced background current level, the pinch current level, and the peak current level are at an opposite polarity from that of background current level 111 and heat-increasing current pulses 150” [0081]).
Regarding claim 17, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses wherein the consumable welding electrode includes a single welding wire (as shown in figure 1b, “FIG. 1B illustrates the various stages (A-E) of the arc welding process over the cycle 101 using the electric welding waveform of FIG. 1A, showing the relationship between a welding electrode 191 and a metal workpiece 199.” [0041]).
Parallel duel dual
Regarding claim 20, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters further discloses wherein changing the electrical polarity of the welding current is based on at least one of a speed or a change of speed of the consumable welding electrode upon the feed direction of the consumable welding electrode changing (electrode power supply adjusts speed during/in relation to current changes “In some embodiments, the feed speed is reduced below a background speed set during the background current portions, with the feed speed reduction occurring during at least a portion of at least one of the second current level, the pinch current portion and the peak current pulse portion. In some embodiments, the feed direction is reversed during at least a portion of at least one of the second current level, the pinch current portion and the peak current pulse portion. In some embodiments, the welding waveform is an AC welding waveform. In some embodiments, the peak current phase and the pinch current phase are at a first polarity and the background current level is at a second polarity that is opposite the first polarity” [0028], co-adjustment based changes between feed speed and electrode power supply changes “a welding system can include a power supply that generates an output current waveform and provides the output current waveform to an electrode” [0027]- “and the controller controls the wire feeder such that at least one of a feed speed and a feed direction of the electrode are manipulated while controlling the power supply.” [0027]).
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.
Claims 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peters in view of Albright (US 2020/0156171).
Regarding claim 18, Peters discloses the method of claim 11, Peters is silent regarding wherein the consumable welding electrode includes two parallel welding wires.
However Albright teaches wherein the consumable welding electrode includes two parallel welding wires (two parallel electrodes “Of course, the channels 710, 711 and 712 should be sized appropriately for the size of electrodes to be used, and the separation portion 720 should be shaped so as to not scar or scratch the electrodes. As shown in FIG. 7, the exit channels 711 and 712 are angled relative to each other, however, as shown in FIG. 2, these channels can also be oriented parallel to each other.” [0050]).
The advantage of wherein the consumable welding electrode includes two parallel welding wires, is to enhance ability to created varied alloys “This can be advantageous when a single consumable of the type desired does not have desirable weld properties. For example, some consumables for specialized welding provide the desired weld chemistry but are extremely difficult to use and have difficulty providing a satisfactory weld. However, embodiments of the present invention can allow for the use of two consumables that are easier to weld with to be combined to create the desired weld chemistry. Embodiments of the present invention can be used to create an alloy/deposit chemistry that is not otherwise commercially available, or otherwise very expensive to manufacture.” [0076] .
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Peters and Albright before him or her, to modify the single wire electrode having single droplet system of Peters to include the Tandem parallel wire electrode having single droplet of Albright because parallel wires with a single droplet enhance the ability to create alloy welds during a welding operation.
Regarding claim 19, Peters as modified teaches the method of claim 18, Peters as already modified teaches wherein, during the post short routine, the next molten metal droplet is created as a bridged droplet between the two parallel welding wires (as already modifying Albright teaches a bridge droplet between the parallel wire electrodes “in some applications, the desired deposit could be unavailable due to the lack of appropriate consumable chemistry, but could be reached by mixing two standard alloy wires, mixed within the bridged droplet and deposited as a single droplet.” [0076], see bridged “droplet” between electrodes E1/E2 in figures C).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Spencer H Kirkwood whose telephone number is (469)295-9113. The examiner can normally be reached 12:00 am - 9:00 pm Eastern.
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/Spencer H. Kirkwood/ Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/STEVEN W CRABB/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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