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 § 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 1-25 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 5 recites “the scope”, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1, line 10; claim 22, line 6 recites the phrase “substantially” which is a relative term and renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Does “substantially spanning” mean that a coverage are of 50, 60, 80, 90 % is required?
Claim 4, line 5; claim 7, line 8; claim 8, line 9; claim 14, line 5; claim 25, lines 5, 8 recites the phrase “and/or” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if the limitations following the phrase “and/or” are required in the claims. It is suggested to change to either “and” or “or”.
Claim 7, line 5 recites the phrase “in particular” and renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 9-13 and 15-24 are also rejected because they are dependent upon claims 1 and 22.
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 1-5, 7-15, 20-23 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Krol (DE 102018125731) in view of Unrath (WO2017/044646). Krol (US 2021/0354372) is being used as an English language equivalent for Krol (DE 102018125731). Unrath (US 2019/0001442) is being used as an English language equivalent for Unrath (WO2017/044646).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Krol teaches a method for displacing an energy beam along an irradiation path formed by a sequence of beam positions (title, abstract) and provided to solidify a powder material (0013, the raw material can be in the form of, for example, powder) in a powder layer (Fig 1, first layer 5 of raw material, 0060) within a work region (support 1, 0060) of a manufacturing device, the method comprising the steps of: radiating the energy beam onto the powder material in order to form a layer of a component part (workpiece 3, laser beam source 9, laser beam 7, 0060, 0062, this (uppermost) layer 5 is selectively irradiated by a laser beam 7 in such a manner that the raw material bonds together at the irradiated points and is accordingly consolidated) within the scope of an additive manufacturing method; and displacing the energy beam within the work region by overlaying an optical deflection of the energy beam using a deflection device (electro-optic deflector 13, 0063; 0067, electro-acoustic deflector) and a mechanical deflection of the energy beam using a scanner device (scan unit 15, 0069),
- the mechanical deflection is configured to position the energy beam at a plurality of irradiation positions arranged within the work region and substantially spanning the work region (Fig 3, scan unit 15, linear advance 21, 0078)
- the optical deflection is configured to deflect the energy beam around each of the irradiation positions within a beam region onto at least one beam position of the sequence of beam positions (Fig 3, electro-optic deflector 13, zigzag movement 25, 0078), the optical deflection and the mechanical deflection are changed simultaneously or successively in order to scan the sequence of beam positions using the energy beam (0073, during the advance 21 in the y-direction with the aid of the scan unit 15, the electro-optic deflector 13 carries out a significantly more rapid change of position of the laser beam 7 from one melt pool 19 to the other melt pool 19).
Krol discloses the claimed invention except but is silent to the energy beam is a continuous energy beam.
However, Unrath discloses the energy beam is a continuous energy beam (0046, 0265) 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 displacing an energy beam along an irradiation path of Krol having an energy beam silent to a continuous energy beam with the energy beam is a continuous energy beam of Unrath for the purpose of using a known laser beam configuration that is suitable for laser processing of various workpiece materials and can be employed whenever appropriate (0046), thereby improving the overall versatility of the device.
With respect to the limitations of claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20 and 21, Krol teaches the deflection device and the scanner device (13, 15) are controlled (control unit 17, 0063, 0073) such that changing the optical deflection and changing the mechanical deflection are implemented simultaneously (0073) in such a way that the sequence of beam positions is scanned in a target speed range about a specified speed (0045, Fig 6, 0092, maximum acceleration or speed);
the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that a change in the optical deflection of the energy beam at least partially compensates a change in the mechanical deflection of the energy beam in a direction transversely to the irradiation path, so that the irradiation path deviates from a sequence of irradiation positions set by means of the scanner device (0035-0037, compensating for a tracking error of the first deflection unit, Fig 6, 0058);
the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that a change in the optical deflection of the energy beam and a change in the mechanical deflection of the energy beam at least partially compensate one another in at least one first direction and/or a change in the optical deflection of the energy beam and a change in the mechanical deflection of the energy beam add in at least one second direction (0035-0037, compensating for a tracking error of the first deflection unit, Fig 6, 0088-0096);
the irradiation path comprises a curvature segment (Fig 3, contour 23, 0078) and the deflection device and the scanner device (13, 15) are controlled such that the energy beam is displaced continuously along the curvature segment (0078);
the irradiation path comprises two irradiation path segments which together form an irradiation path corner (Fig 4, shows center path with two segments that form a 90 degree corner) and the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that the energy beam is displaced continuously along each of the irradiation path segments (0078), wherein in particular - the energy beam is displaced in a direction of the irradiation path corner along at least one of the two irradiation path segments, - changing the mechanical deflection is implemented continuously, and/or - the mechanical deflection brings about a sequence of irradiation positions set by means of the scanner device, which are arranged on a curved scanning path;
the irradiation path comprises two irradiation path segments, each comprising a subsequence of beam positions and together form an irradiation path corner (Fig 4, shows center path with two segments that form a 90 degree corner) and the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that the energy beam is alternately displaced to at least one beam position of the subsequence of a first of the irradiation path segments and to at least one beam position of the subsequence of a second of the irradiation path segments (0080, 0081), and - changing the mechanical deflection is implemented continuously (0078), and/or the mechanical deflection brings about a sequence of irradiation positions set by means of the scanner device arranged on a curved scanning path (Figs 3, 4, shows curved scanning path), and - the displacement between the subsequences by way of the optical deflection is implemented abruptly;
the scanner device traverses a sequence of irradiation positions with an unchanging scanning speed (Fig 6, jumping motion 64 at maximum acceleration or speed in the direction of point K2);
the irradiation path comprises a subsequence of beam positions located within an associated beam region of the deflection device in the case of a mechanical deflection that has been fixed within the work region at an irradiation position, and the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that the subsequence is scanned by changing only the optical deflection during a fixed mechanical deflection (Fig 3, linear advance 21, zigzag movement 25, 0078);
the subsequence of beam positions forms a line-up of parallel scanning vectors a length of each of the scanning vectors being less than or equal to an extent of the beam region of the deflection device in a direction of the respective scanning vector (Fig 4, shows parallel scanning direction, Fig 6, parallel Vektor #1, #2, #3)
the irradiation path comprises a plurality of subsequences of beam positions located within a beam region of the deflection device in the case of a mechanical deflection that has been fixed within the work region at a respective irradiation position belonging to a subsequence, and the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that - each of the plurality of subsequences is scanned solely by changing the optical deflection, with the mechanical deflection being fixed (Fig 3, linear advance 21, zigzag movement 25, 0078); and - between the scanning of two subsequences of the plurality of subsequences, the mechanical deflection is changed from one irradiation position to another irradiation position (where additional processing areas of the workpiece require further mechanical deflection);
the irradiation path further comprises a subsequence of beam positions adopted by changing the mechanical deflection in the case of a fixed or varying optical deflection (where additional processing areas of the workpiece require further mechanical deflection);
the deflection device and the scanner device are controlled such that a speed at which a sequence of spatially adjacent beam positions is scanned is independent of whether one of the beam positions of the sequence of spatially adjacent beam positions is adopted by changing the optical deflection and/or by changing the mechanical deflection (Fig 4, Fig 6, Vektor #1, #2, #3);
the deflection device comprises an optical material in a passage region provided for receiving the energy beam, the material having optical properties adjusted to bring about the optical deflection (0016, electro-optic deflector, acousto-optic deflector; 0067, 0068).
the deflection device is controlled such that at least one beam position is skipped when scanning the sequence of beam positions (Fig 4, portions 29, 0081), the skipped beam position being scanned at a subsequent time;
further including applying a voltage to the optical material to set a refractive index or a refractive index gradient, radiating the energy beam onto the passage region, deflecting the energy beam on the basis of the set refractive index or refractive index gradient, guiding the deflected energy beam to a first of the beam positions, and changing the optical deflection of the energy beam by changing the applied voltage (electro-optic deflector 13, 0063, 0064).
With respect to the limitations of claim 22, Krol teaches a manufacturing device for additive manufacturing of a component part from a powder material (0013, the raw material can be in the form of, for example, powder) provided within a work region (Fig 1, first layer 5 of raw material, 0060), the manufacturing device comprising: a beam producing device (Fig 1, laser beam source 9, 0062) configured to produce an energy beam (laser beam 7, 0062) for irradiating the powder material, a scanner device (scan unit 15, 0069) configured to mechanically deflect the energy beam at a plurality of irradiation positions, with the irradiation positions substantially spanning the work region (Fig 3, scan unit 15, linear advance 21, 0078), a deflection device (electro-optic deflector 13, 0063) configured to optically deflect the energy beam within a beam region around each of the irradiation positions onto at least one beam position of the sequence of beam positions (Fig 3, electro-optic deflector 13, zigzag movement 25, 0078), and a control device (control unit 17, 0063, 0073) operatively connected to the scanner device and the deflection device and configured to control the deflection device and the scanner device (0073) such that the optical deflecting and the mechanical deflecting are changed simultaneously or successively in order to scan an irradiation path formed by a sequence of the beam positions by way of the energy beam, with the irradiation path being provided for solidifying the powder material in a powder layer within the work region (0073, during the advance 21 in the y-direction with the aid of the scan unit 15, the electro-optic deflector 13 carries out a significantly more rapid change of position of the laser beam 7 from one melt pool 19 to the other melt pool 19).
Krol discloses the claimed invention except but is silent to the energy beam is a continuous energy beam.
However, Unrath discloses the energy beam is a continuous energy beam (0046, 0265) 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 manufacturing device for additive manufacture of Krol having an energy beam silent to a continuous energy beam with the energy beam is a continuous energy beam of Unrath for the purpose of using a known laser beam source configuration that is suitable for laser processing of various workpiece materials and can be employed whenever appropriate (0046), thereby improving the overall versatility of the device.
With respect to the limitations of claims 23 and 25, Krol teaches the deflection device (electro-optic deflector 13) is configured to abruptly displace the energy beam to a plurality of discrete beam positions (see figures 3, 4, 6);
the control device (control unit 17) is configured to control the scanner device (scan unit 15) and the deflection device (electro-optic deflector 13) the scanner device comprises at least one scanner that is displaceable (0069) relative to the work region, the deflection device comprises at least one electro-optic deflector and/or acousto-optic deflector (0063, 0067), the deflection device comprises at least one acoustic-optic deflector with an optical material for producing acoustic waves in the optical material (0016, acousto-optic deflector), and/or the beam producing device is in the form of a continuous wave laser.
Claims 6 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Krol (DE 102018125731) in view of Unrath (WO2017/044646) as applied to claim 1, further in view of AAPA (Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art, US 2023/0173609).
With respect to the limitations of claim 6, Krol in view Unrath discloses the claimed invention except for the displacement of the energy beam along the irradiation path is split by way of a frequency splitter between the deflection of the scanner device and the deflection of the deflection device. However, in the printed publication of the application (US 2023/0173609), the applicant admits that the displacement of the energy beam along the irradiation path is split by way of a frequency splitter between the deflection of the scanner device and the deflection of the deflection device is known in the prior art (0034). 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 displacing an energy beam along an irradiation path of Krol having a scanner and deflection device silent to a frequency splitter with the displacement of the energy beam along the irradiation path is split by way of a frequency splitter between the deflection of the scanner device and the deflection of the deflection device of AAPA for the purpose of providing a known frequency splitter configuration for splitting displacements among deflections of a sluggish and dynamic axis, whereby the split of the irradiation path can be implemented during the method and hence is independent of an earlier plan of the split (0034), thereby improving the overall efficiency of the method.
Claim 24 is similarly rejected as set forth in the rejection of claim 6 above.
Claims 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Krol (DE 102018125731) in view of Unrath (WO2017/044646) as evidenced by Riechel (WO 2019/236616). Riechel (US 2021/0362277) is being used as an English language equivalent for Riechel (WO 2019/236616).
With respect to the limitations of claims 16, 17, 18 and 19, Krol teaches the deflection device is an acousto-optic deflector (0067, 0068) which operates in accordance with the principles of the claims as evidenced by Riechel and further including - exciting an acoustic wave with an acoustic wavelength in the optical material for the purposes of forming an acousto-optic diffraction grating, radiating the energy beam onto the passage region, diffracting a majority of the energy beam into a first order of diffraction at a diffraction angle at the acousto-optic diffraction grating, guiding the diffracted energy beam to a first of the beam positions, and changing the optical deflection of the energy beam by changing the acoustic wavelength (as evidenced by Riechel, 0057-0061);
changing the acoustic wavelength changes the diffraction angle of the first order of diffraction in such a way that the diffracted energy beam is guided to a second of the beam positions (as evidenced by Riechel, 0057-0061);
the acoustic wavelength is changed incrementally about a wavelength change such that the energy beam successively introduces energy at beam positions of the irradiation path, with energy being introduced simultaneously at two beam positions during a transition time, within which two acoustic wavelengths are present in the passage region (as evidenced by Riechel, 0057-0061);
the wavelength change brings about a change in the diffraction angle such that spatially adjacent beam positions of the irradiation path are spatially spaced apart (as evidenced by Riechel, 0057-0061).
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 11/6/2025