DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
1. Previous rejection is withdrawn in view of the Applicant’s amendment filed on 02/18/2026.
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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki, US-PGPUB 2021/0229182 (hereinafter Yamasaki) (cited by the Applicant) in view of Zhang et al., “Topology optimization parallel-computing framework based on the inherent strain method for support structure design in laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing,” Int J. Mech Mater Des (2020) (hereinafter Zhang)
Regarding Claim 1. Yamasaki discloses a deformation prediction method for an additively manufactured object that is built by repeatedly depositing a weld bead layer of a next layer on a weld bead layer formed by a weld bead obtained by melting and solidifying a filler material (Fig. 1, welding robot, deformation amount calculation; Abstract, additively manufactured, Paragraphs [0002]-[0003]), the deformation prediction method comprising the steps of:
dividing a shape of the additively manufactured object into a plurality of blocks (Figs. 6-7); calculating deformation amount and deformation direction of each block before and after forming the weld bead by parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method (Paragraph [0062], [0087] deformation amount determination via inherent strain method), setting at least one block group composed of blocks to be joined together among the plurality of blocks (Fig. 7); and calculating deformation of an entirety of the block group by adding the deformation amount of each block composing the block group according to the deformation direction of the block (Paragraph [0064], deformation in radial direction; Figs. 8-12; Paragraphs [0066]-[0070]), and correcting a shape plan of the additively manufactured object based on the calculated deformation and building the additively manufacture object by additive manufacturing according to the corrected shaping plan (Fig 4, Paragraph [0065])
Yamasaki does not disclose parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method
Zhang discloses parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method (Title, Abstract; Section 1, page 899, left column, parallel computing based on inherent strain method; Section 2, describing the inherent strain method; Section 3.2, Parallel-computing implementation; Section 6, Conclusion; and the other sections 4-5, results)
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Zhang in Yamasaki and use parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method, so as to perform fast and efficient additive manufacturing.
Regarding Claim 2. Yamasaki discloses in the step of dividing into plurality of blocks, the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided by using the weld bead as a unit (Figs. 6-12)
Regarding Claim 3. Yamasaki discloses in the step of dividing into plurality of blocks, the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided by using a deposit body of a plurality of the weld beads as a unit (Figs. 6-12)
Regarding Claim 4. Yamasaki discloses blocks having the same welding condition among the plurality of blocks are set in the same block group (Figs. 6-12)
Regarding Claim 5. Yamasaki discloses when the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided into a plurality of the block groups, deformation of the additively manufactured object is predicted by adding the deformation amounts of the plurality of block groups according to the deformation directions of the block groups (Paragraph [0064], deformation in radial direction; Figs. 8-12; Paragraphs [0066]-[0070])
Regarding Claim 6. Yamasaki discloses when the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided into a plurality of the block groups, deformation of the additively manufactured object is predicted by adding the deformation amounts of the plurality of block groups according to the deformation directions of the block groups (Paragraph [0064], deformation in radial direction; Figs. 8-12; Paragraphs [0066]-[0070])
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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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chin et al., US-PGPUB 2021/0223757 (hereinafter Chin) in view of Zhang, “Topology optimization parallel-computing framework based on the inherent strain method for support structure design in laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing,” Int J. Mech Mater Des (2020)
Regarding Claim 1. Chin discloses deformation prediction method for an additively manufactured object that is built by depositing weld bead layer formed by weld bead obtained by melting and solidifying a filler material (Abstract, additive manufacturing and deformation; Paragraphs [0002]-[0003], variety of metals; Fig. 1), comprising:
dividing a shape of the additively manufactured object into a plurality of blocks (Fig. 5, divide into segments; Figs. 4, 6, segmented);
calculating deformation amount and deformation direction of each block by parallel processing (Fig. 5, calculate predicted deformation of segment), setting at least one block group composed of blocks to be joined together among the plurality of blocks, and calculating deformation of an entirety of the block group by adding the deformation amount of each block composing the block group according to the deformation direction of the block (Fig. 6, modeled deformation of the object, with deformations from each segment; Paragraphs [0004]-[0007]; (Paragraphs [0086]-[0094], deformation of the part. Furthermore, calculating the deformation of the entirety of the block group merely requires routine skill in the art, since it amounts to simple adding of the determined deformation of each segment), and correcting a shape plan of the additively manufactured object based on the calculated deformation and building the additively manufacture object by additive manufacturing according to the corrected shaping plan (Fig. 5; Paragraph [0083])
Chin does not disclose calculating deformation amount and deformation direction of each block before and after forming the weld bead by parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method
Zhang discloses parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method (Title, Abstract; Section 1, page 899, left column, parallel computing based on inherent strain method; Section 2, describing the inherent strain method; Section 3.2, Parallel-computing implementation; Section 6, Conclusion; and the other sections 4-5, results)
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Zhang in Chin and use parallel processing of a plurality of threads based on the inherent strain method, so as to perform fast and efficient additive manufacturing.
Regarding Claim 2. Chin discloses in the step of dividing into plurality of blocks, the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided by using the weld bead as a unit (Paragraphs [0002]-[0003])
Regarding Claim 3. Chin discloses the step of dividing into plurality of blocks, the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided by using a deposit body of a plurality of the weld beads as a unit (Paragraphs [0002]-[0003])
Regarding Claim 4. Chin discloses blocks having the same welding condition among the plurality of blocks are set in the same block group (Paragraphs [0006]-[0007], sintering that is same for the object)
Regarding Claim 5. Chin discloses the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided into a plurality of the block groups, deformation of the additively manufactured object is predicted by adding the deformation amounts of the plurality of block groups according to the deformation directions of the block groups (Fig. 6, deformation of all the segments; Paragraph [0094], deformation of the part).
Regarding Claim 6. Chin discloses when the shape of the additively manufactured object is divided into a plurality of the block groups, deformation of the additively manufactured object is predicted by adding the deformation amounts of the plurality of block groups according to the deformation directions of the block groups (Fig. 6, deformation of all the segments; Paragraph [0094], deformation of the part).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
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/HYUN D PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857