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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
The claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claims 1 and 6 combines the description of the apparatus with the description of a method for using the apparatus, thus violating second paragraph of 35 USC 112 (see MPEP 2173.05(p)). The purpose of that paragraph is to require patentee to provide others with notice of boundaries of protection provided by patent, since manufacturer or seller, at time of making or selling the apparatus set forth in claim, would have no indication whether it might later be sued for contributory infringement if apparatus is used in accordance with claimed method, and since claim is thus not sufficiently precise that possibility of infringement may be determined with reasonable degree of certainty.
The claim is directed to neither a “process” nor a “machine”, but rather embraces or overlaps two different statutory classes of invention set forth in 35 U.S.C. 101 which is drafted so as to set forth the classes of invention in the alternative only (see MPEP 2173.05(p)).
Claims 2-5 and 7-13 are also rejected because they are dependent upon claims 1 and 6.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 3 recites “the object’s overall shape”, line 13 recites “the selected layer”; Claim 6, line 3 recites “the object’s overall shape”, line 17 recites “the contents”; Claim 7, line 11 recites “the first layer”, line 13 recites “the second layer”, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-5, 8-13 are also rejected as being dependent upon claims 1 and 7.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bastian (US 2018/0229448).
With respect to the limitations of claim 14, Bastian teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig 6, storage device 630, 0144) comprising: at least one first computer program code segment which, when executed by a computer processor (processor 610, 0144), obtains an original ordered list of discrete deposit instructions, each discrete deposit instruction comprising location information for a voxel space to receive a deposit of material to form a layer of an object (Fig 4, steps 402, 403, 404, 0086-0090) in a non-continuous deposition additive manufacturing system; and at least one second computer program code segment which, when executed by a computer processor, rearranges the order of at least two deposit instructions in the original ordered list resulting in a rearranged ordered list (0003, the three-dimensional modelling system can determine a print path that skips between non-adjacent cells or infill structures to allow a recently deposited fill line to cool before deposition of a neighboring fill line that is adjacent to the recently deposited fill line), for all pairings of two consecutive deposit instructions in the rearranged ordered list, a percentage of pairings that are non- contacting pairings is within at least one range selected from the group of ranges consisting of: 50% to 100% 0003, skipping non-adjacent cells or infill structures results in a 50% non-contacting consecutive pairing), 60% to 100%, 70% to 100%, 80% to 100%, 90% to 100%, 95% to 100%, 97% to 100%, 99% to 100% and 99.9% to 100%.
With respect to the limitations of claim 15, Bastian teaches each pairing of two consecutive deposit instructions consists of a first deposit instruction corresponding to a first voxel space and a second deposit instruction corresponding to a second voxel space (Figs 1A, 1B, multiple skins 101a, multiple perimeters 101b), and a non- contacting pairing occurs when the first voxel space and second voxel space do not intersect (0003).
Claims 16-19 are also rejected as being dependent upon claim 14.
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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Gore (US 5,257,657) in view of Bastian (US 2018/0229448) as evidenced by Eller (US 2019/0217545).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Gore teaches an additive manufacturing system for forming a three-dimensional object by successively depositing layers of at least one feedstock material within a build space (title, abstract, Figs 5-7), the layers being shaped according to a digital data model describing the object's overall shape (Fig 1, CAD system 210, desired object 212, Col 8), a method comprising:
obtaining information that identifies a set of voxel spaces to be filled to form a layer of the object in accordance with the digital data model (Col 8, Lines 4-25), each voxel space is uniquely associated with a nominal location within the build space and wherein a vicinity for each voxel space is defined by a boundary radius 'R' extending from the nominal location for the voxel space (each voxel of Gore has a nominal location with boundary radius tolerance as evidenced by Eller, 0096, a tolerable deviation in an actual position of the printing plane from a target position of the printing plane is defined);
preparing an ordered list of deposit instructions, each comprising a location coordinate set that specifies a nominal location within the build space corresponding to one of the voxel spaces in the set (Col 8, Lines 7-12; coordinate positions are fed into CAM system 214 which converts them into a sequence of movements of servomechanisms 204 and 206 that determine the relative positions of ejection head 20 and surface 26 and thereby the placement of droplets 24);
forming the selected layer of the object according to the ordered list by, for each successive deposit instruction listed in order: from the ordered list, selecting a first deposit instruction comprising a first location coordinate set (CAD system, CAM system, Col 8); moving a depositing component (ejector head 20, Col 3; servomechanism 204, Col 8) of the additive manufacturing system to a first nominal location of the first voxel space as specified by the first location coordinate set; with the depositing component remaining within a first vicinity of the first nominal location, performing a first deposit action to discharge a first unitary mass of feedstock material from the depositing component to occupy the first voxel space (Figs 1, 2A, 2B, droplets 46, Col 3, Lines 50-60);
from the ordered list, selecting, as a second deposit instruction, a next consecutive deposit instruction following the first instruction (CAD system, CAM system, Col 8), the second deposit instruction comprising a second location coordinate set describing a second nominal location of a second voxel space; moving the depositing component (20, 204) of the additive manufacturing system to the second nominal location in the build space as specified by the second location coordinate set; and with the depositing component remaining within a second vicinity of the second nominal location, performing a second deposit action to discharge a second unitary mass of feedstock material to occupy the second voxel space (Figs 1, 2A, 2B, multiple additional droplets 46, Col 3, Lines 50-60).
Gore discloses the claimed invention except for the preparing of the ordered list comprises arranging the order of deposit instructions to reduce instances of the second voxel space adjoining the first voxel space.
However, Bastian discloses the preparing of the ordered list comprises arranging the order of deposit instructions to reduce instances of the second voxel space adjoining the first voxel space (0003, the three-dimensional modelling system can determine a print path that skips between non-adjacent cells or infill structures to allow a recently deposited fill line to cool before deposition of a neighboring fill line that is adjacent to the recently deposited fill line) 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 method for setting and depositing voxels silent to non-adjoining voxels with the preparing of the ordered list comprises arranging the order of deposit instructions to reduce instances of the second voxel space adjoining the first voxel space of Bastian for the purpose of determine a print path that skips between non-adjacent cells or infill structures to allow a recently deposited fill line to cool before deposition of a neighboring fill line that is adjacent to the recently deposited fill line (0003).
With respect to the limitations of claims 3 and 4, Gore in view of Bastian discloses a non-contacting consecutive pairing exists when the second voxel space does not intersect with the first voxel space and wherein, in preparing the ordered list, an ordering of deposit instructions is obtained that achieves a percentage of non- contacting consecutive pairings from among all consecutive pairings in the ordered list, the percentage being within at least one range selected from the group of ranges consisting of: 50% to 100% (Bastian, 0003, skipping non-adjacent cells or infill structures results in a 50% non-contacting consecutive pairing), 60% to 100%, 70% to 100%, 80% to 90%, 80% to 95%, 80% to 100%, 90% to 100%,95% to 100%, 97% to 100%, 99% to 100% and 99.9% to 100%.
a non-contacting consecutive pairing exists when the second vicinity does not intersect with the first vicinity and wherein, in preparing the ordered list, an ordering of deposit instructions is obtained that achieves a percentage of non-contacting consecutive pairings from among all consecutive pairings in the ordered list, the percentage being within at least one range selected from the group of ranges consisting of: 50% to 100% (Bastian, 0003, skipping non-adjacent cells or infill structures results in a 50% non-contacting consecutive pairing), 60% to 100%, 70% to 100%, 80% to 90%, 80% to 95%, 80% to 100%, 90% to 100%,95% to 100%, 97% to 100%, 99% to 100% and 99.9% to 100%.
With respect to the limitations of claim 6, Gore teaches an additive manufacturing system for forming a three-dimensional object by successively depositing layers of at least one feedstock material within a build space (title, abstract, Figs 5-7), each of the layers being shaped according to a digital data model describing the object's overall shape (Fig 1, CAD system 210, desired object 212, Col 8), a method comprising:
for each of a first layer and an adjacent second layer for forming the object (Figs 5, 6, beads 92, 94, 170, Cols 6-7), obtaining information that specifies a set of voxel spaces to be filled to form the layer in accordance with the digital data model (Col 8, Lines 4-25), each voxel space is uniquely associated with a nominal location within the build space and wherein a vicinity around each voxel space is defined by a boundary radius 'R' extending from the nominal location for the voxel space (each voxel of Gore has a nominal location with boundary radius tolerance as evidenced by Eller, 0096, a tolerable deviation in an actual position of the printing plane from a target position of the printing plane is defined);
based on a first set of voxel spaces to be filled to form the first layer, creating a first ordered list of deposit instructions, each deposit instruction comprising a location coordinate set describing the nominal location of one of said voxel spaces in the first set (Col 8, Lines 7-12; coordinate positions are fed into CAM system 214 which converts them into a sequence of movements of servomechanisms 204 and 206 that determine the relative positions of ejection head 20 and surface 26 and thereby the placement of droplets 24);
based on a second set of voxel spaces to be filled to form the second layer, creating a second ordered list of deposit instructions, each deposit instruction comprising a location coordinate set describing the nominal location of one of said voxel spaces in the second set (CAD system, CAM system, Col 8);
constructing the object based on the contents of the first and second sorted lists by, for each successive instruction in the ordered lists (CAD system, CAM system, Col 8), performing a depositing action at a voxel space by directing at least one depositing component of the additive manufacturing system to move to a location (ejector head 20, Col 3; servomechanism 204, Col 8) specified by the location coordinates in the instruction and then outputting, from the depositing component, a unitary mass of feedstock material to occupy the voxel space corresponding to the location specified (Figs 1, 2A, 2B, droplets 46, Col 3, Lines 50-60);
the first ordered list comprises: a first deposit instruction for a filling a first voxel space for forming the first layer; a second deposit instruction, immediately following the first instruction, for a filling a second voxel space for forming the first layer (Figs 1, 2, shows multiple deposits filling first and second voxel space).
Gore discloses the claimed invention except for the second voxel space does not contact the first voxel space; a third deposit instruction, subsequent to the second deposit instruction, for a filling a third voxel space for forming the first layer wherein the third voxel space contacts the first voxel space; and a set comprising a quantity of zero or more intervening deposit instructions between the second and third deposit instructions, in which the corresponding voxel spaces do not contact the first voxel space; and wherein the second ordered list comprises a fourth deposit instruction for a filling at least one fourth voxel space for forming the second layer, wherein the fourth voxel space contacts the first voxel space.
However, Bastian discloses the second voxel space does not contact the first voxel space; a third deposit instruction, subsequent to the second deposit instruction, for a filling a third voxel space for forming the first layer wherein the third voxel space contacts the first voxel space; and a set comprising a quantity of zero or more intervening deposit instructions between the second and third deposit instructions, in which the corresponding voxel spaces do not contact the first voxel space; and wherein the second ordered list comprises a fourth deposit instruction for a filling at least one fourth voxel space for forming the second layer, wherein the fourth voxel space contacts the first voxel space (0003, the three-dimensional modelling system can determine a print path that skips between non-adjacent cells or infill structures to allow a recently deposited fill line to cool before deposition of a neighboring fill line that is adjacent to the recently deposited fill line) 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 method for setting and depositing voxels silent to non-adjoining voxels with recited voxel positioning of Bastian for the purpose of determine a print path that skips between non-adjacent cells or infill structures to allow a recently deposited fill line to cool before deposition of a neighboring fill line that is adjacent to the recently deposited fill line (0003).
With respect to the limitations of claims 7, 12 and 13, Gore in view of Bastian discloses further comprising, by the additive manufacturing system acting in accordance with the first and second ordered lists: performing a depositing action at the first voxel space according to the first deposit instruction; performing a depositing action at the second voxel space according to the second deposit instruction; performing a depositing action at a voxel space for each deposit instruction in the set of intervening deposit instructions; performing a depositing action at the third voxel space according to the third deposit instruction (Gore, Figs 1, 2, shows multiple voxel deposits); completing construction of the first layer by performing all depositing actions specified by deposit instructions in the first ordered list subsequent to the third deposit instruction (Gore, Figs 5, 6, beads 92, 94, 170, Cols 6-7); and in constructing at least part of the second layer, performing a depositing action at the fourth voxel space according to the fourth deposit instruction in the second ordered list (Gore, Figs 5, 6, beads 92, 94, 170, Cols 6-7);
deposit instructions in the first ordered list are arranged so that, for all pairings of consecutively ordered deposit instructions in the first ordered list, a percentage of pairings wherein the respective voxel spaces do not intersect is within at least one range selected from the group of ranges consisting of: 50% to 100% (Bastian, 0003, skipping non-adjacent cells or infill structures results in a 50% non-contacting consecutive pairing), 60% to 100%, 70% to 100%, 80% to 90%, 80% to 95%, 80% to 100%, 90% to 100%,95% to 100%, 97% to 100%, 99% to 100% and 99.9% to 100%;
each instance of the first deposit instruction and the second deposit instructions within the ordered list constitute a non-contacting consecutive pairing and wherein a percentage of non-contacting consecutive pairings from among all consecutive pairings in the ordered list is within at least one range selected from the group of ranges consisting of: 50% to 100% (Bastian, 0003, skipping non-adjacent cells or infill structures results in a 50% non-contacting consecutive pairing), 60% to 100%, 70% to 100%, 80% to 90%, 80% to 95%, 80% to 100%, 90% to 100%,95% to 100%, 97% to 100%, 99% to 100% and 99.9% to 100%.
Claims 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 16-19 are also rejected to as being dependent upon claims 1, 6 and 14.
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 1/12/2026