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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/16/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Claim 6 has been cancelled rendering the 112d rejection moot.
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 10/16/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5, 7, and 10-17 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US20170324947A1 by Bruce et al. (hereinafter "Bruce"; newly cited) and CN218396577U by Wang (newly cited; translation provided).
In particular, the examiner agrees that Su (US20200132541A1) and Meng (US20090244910A1) do not teach at least wherein all of the heat exchanger is positioned outside of the body (see remarks page 6) in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 1.
Additionally, the examiner respectfully draws attention to CN 105953060 B by Liu (cited in the IDS and conclusion of NOA mailed 4/11/2025). Although Liu is not relied upon in this rejection, the examiner notes that Liu appears to teach a heat exchanger, where all of the heat exchanger is attached to the outside of a body using brackets (at least Fig. 1; abstract).
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites “in which a sensor is negatively affected” in line 12 which should read “in which the at least one sensor is negatively affected” in order to clearly have antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 7, and 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20170324947A1 by Bruce et al. (hereinafter "Bruce"; newly cited) in view of CN218396577U by Wang (newly cited; translation provided)..
Regarding claim 1, Bruce teaches a sensing device for a metrology system (Fig. 7A-D; any one of scanners 806a-c; [0079]), the sensing device having a measurement region (measurement region may be defined as the space inside enclosure 810; [0079]) and comprising:
a body (scanners 806a-c have a body as shown in more detail Fig. 3 as scanhead 308; [0053]), the body comprising:
at least one light source ([0081] scanners may include light source) arranged to emit a light onto a workpiece ([0079] object 804);
at least one sensor arranged to receive light from the light source after it has been reflected by the workpiece ([0081] scanners may include a camera; further described in reference to Fig. 8A [0088] “cameras 902, 904, and 906 may be configured to capture an image of the object with the light pattern projected thereon”; thus an image of the object contains reflected light); and
a heat exchanger (cooling system: exhaust fan 814, exhaust pipe 816, and air ducts 812a-c) including an inlet and an outlet for exchanging heat between the measurement region and an outside of the measurement region (air duct 812 has an inlet at the scanner and an outlet to exhaust pipe 816; [0080] “The cooling system may include a plurality of air ducts 812 a-c within the enclosure 810 that are coupled to respective scanners 806 a-c. The air ducts 812 a-c are each coupled to an exhaust fan 814 that is positioned outside of the enclosure 810 and is configured to cause heat generated by the scanners 806 a-c to be removed from the enclosure 810. The air ducts 812 a-c may merge into an exhaust pipe 816 that couples to the exhaust fan 814.”), wherein the heat exchanger is attached to an outside of the body and is arranged to transfer heat from the body into the heat exchanger and from the heat exchanger to the outside of the measurement region ([0081] “air ducts 812 a-c may be coupled to the scanners 806 a-c through respective seals”; “scanners 806 a-c may also include respective fans that couple to the air ducts 812 a-c and cool the scanners 806 a-c”; Fig. 7A-D; It could considered that the heat exchanger is attached to the outside of the body since it is not shown or described to be inside the scanners 806; however, additional teaching is provided below),
wherein all of the heat exchanger is positioned outside of the body ([0081] ; Fig. 7A-D ; it could be considered that the cooling system or heat exchanger is outside the body of the scanner; however, additional teaching is provided below) and
wherein the measurement region is a region surrounding the sensing device in which a sensor is negatively affected by temperature changes ([0079] measurement region in the enclosure heats up due to the scanners and a cooling system is used in order to lower the heat; [0085] temperature threshold).
Additionally, Bruce teaches in some examples the scanners may be configured to be rigidly mounted, and the mount may include a machined scanhead comprising aluminum material which may provide or act as a heat sink for the machine vision cameras or other components of the scanner. The scanner attaches to the scanner frame via an aluminum bar which further may carry heat away from the scanner ([0093]).
However, even if Bruce does not explicitly teach wherein the heat exchanger is attached to an outside of the body and is arranged to transfer heat from the body into the heat exchanger and from the heat exchanger to the outside of the measurement region, wherein all of the heat exchanger is positioned outside of the body, the heat exchanger of Bruce (or cooling system) still transfers heat from the entire scanner, which includes the body, thus is effectively performing the same function.
Further, Wang can be relied upon to teach these limitations. Wang and Bruce are considered to be analogous to the present invention as they are in the same field of sensor cooling systems.
Wang teaches a cooling protector for a welding sensor where a heat exchanger is attached to an outside of the sensor body in order to transfer heat away from the sensor body ([0018] a hollow water-cooled sticking plate on the side wall of the welding sensor, and uses the circulating water of the cold water tank to continuously cool the sensor shell so that the temperature of the welding sensor can be kept at a low level during operation). Also, Wang teaches wherein all of the heat exchanger is positioned outside of the body (Fig. 1 and 2 sensor shell 1 with all other components outside the shell or body). Although Wang teaches a water cooling system, the same technique of cooling the outside of a body could be applied using other fluid cooling techniques.
Thus, it would have been well known to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach all of the heat exchanger to the outside of a sensor in order to transfer heat from the body into the heat exchanger. Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Bruce to include wherein the heat exchanger is attached to an outside of the body and is arranged to transfer heat from the body into the heat exchanger and from the heat exchanger to the outside of the measurement region, wherein all of the heat exchanger is positioned outside of the body as suggested by Wang in order to ensure a good working temperature environment for internal components of the sensor ([0007]).
Regarding claim 2, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 1, and Bruce further teaches wherein the heat exchanger is a fluid heat exchanger ([0080] cooling system uses air).
Regarding claim 3, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 2, and Bruce further teaches wherein the fluid is air ([0080] cooling system uses air).
Regarding claim 4, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 3, and Bruce further teaches comprising a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the measurement region of the sensing device ([0085] "a sensor may be coupled to each respective scanner 806 a-c that is configured to determine a temperature of the scanner; scanner is in measurement region").
Regarding claim 5, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 4, and Bruce further teaches comprising a heat sink ([0093] the aluminum material may provide or act as a heat sink for the machine vision cameras or other components of the scanner; thus the sensing device or scanner comprises a heat sink). Further, Wang teaches a heat sink (Fig. 1a heat dissipation plate 9; [0037])
Regarding claim 7, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 1, and although Bruce does not explicitly teach wherein the heat exchanger is attached to the body via brackets of the sensing device, Bruce does appear to show mounting brackets for scanner 806c in Fig. 7C. Also, Bruce teaches the scanners may be attached to a scanner frame via an aluminum bar which further may carry heat away from the scanner ([0093]).
Further, Wang does address this limitation.
Wang teaches wherein the heat exchanger is attached to the body via brackets of the sensing device ([009]; [0029] In order to facilitate the installation of the hollow water-cooling plate 3, an extension edge for installing the hollow water-cooling plate 3 on the sensor housing 1 can be provided on the side of the hollow water-cooling plate 3 (refer to Figure 1 for the structure). )
It would have been well known to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use brackets to attach components. Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Bruce to include wherein the heat exchanger is attached to the body via brackets of the sensing device as suggested by Wang in order to securely mount the heat exchanger and ensure good contact for optimal heat transfer.
Regarding claim 10, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the sensing device according to claim 1, and Bruce further teaches a metrology system for inspection of a three-dimensional workpiece (at least Fig. 7A; system 800; [0079]), comprising:
an enclosure (enclosure 810; [0079]), comprising:
at least one sensing device according to claim 1 (scanners 806a-c; [0079]), wherein the heat exchanger of the sensing device is arranged to exchange heat between an inside the enclosure and an outside of the enclosure ([0080]-[0081] exhaust 814 pulls hot air out of the enclosure 810) .
Regarding claim 11, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the metrology system according to claim 10, and Bruce further teaches comprising at least two sensing devices according to claim 1 ([0079] scanner 806a and 806b).
Regarding claim 12, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the metrology system according to claim 11, and Bruce further teaches comprising a temperature sensor for each sensing device, located inside of the enclosure ([0085] a sensor may be coupled to each respective scanner 806 a-c that is configured to determine a temperature of the scanner).
Regarding claim 13, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the metrology system according to claim 12, and although Bruce does not explicitly teach further comprising a temperature detector for sensing a temperature of the metrology system inside of the enclosure, Bruce does teach sensors to determine the temperatures of sensors ([0085]) which are inside the enclosure ([0079]). Further, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) MPEP 2144.04 VI. The temperatures sensors have a well-known, predictable function and it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include an additional temperature sensor to use as a temperature detector for sensing a temperature of the metrology system inside of the enclosure in order to maintain the operating temperature of the system ([0085]).
Regarding claim 14, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the metrology system according to claim 10, and Bruce further teaches a method for improving the performance of a metrology system according to claim 10, wherein the method comprises:
exchanging heat between a measurement region of a sensing device inside of the enclosure, and an outside of the enclosure ([0080]-[0081]).
Regarding claim 15, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the method of claim 14, and further teaches wherein the method further comprises, prior to the exchanging:
detecting a temperature in the measurement region ([0085] determine a temperature of the scanner ); and
determining that the temperature deviates from a desired temperature ([0085] "scanners 806 a-c may have operating temperatures in the range of 60-90 degrees"; "exhaust fan 814 may be configured to activate when a temperature is within such operating temperature range so as to maintain the operating temperature").
Regarding claim 16, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the method of claim 15, and further teaches wherein the heat exchanging is performed constantly when the light source is active ([0085] "cooling system may be always on to cool the scanners 806 a-c, or always on during scanning"; [0081] "light sources of the scanners 806 a-c that generate a majority of heat in the scanner").
Regarding claim 17, Bruce modified by Wang teaches the method of claim 16, and further teaches wherein the determining is further based on a temperature detected by a temperature sensor of the metrology system ([0085] "a sensor may be coupled to each respective scanner 806 a-c that is configured to determine a temperature").
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITLYN E KIDWELL whose telephone number is (703)756-1719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.
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/KAITLYN E KIDWELL/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/TARIFUR R CHOWDHURY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877