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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 09/21/2023.
Claims 1-15 are pending, where claims 1, 10 and 13 are independent.
This application claims the priority benefit of the international application no. PCT/US2021/024346 filed on 09/21/2021 incorporated herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/20/2023 and 09/05/2025 has been filed after the filing date of the application. The submission is in-compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Multiple filed related applications
Applicants have filed multiple related applications. To date, some of the related applications are stand pending, yet to be examined. There are plurality of co-pending related Applications and double patenting is proper. See MPEP 804 and 1490 (VI) D:
Specification objections (Title)
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: POWDER RECLAMATION OF A THREE- DIMENSIONAL MANUFACTURING SYSTEM BASED ON ESTIMATED VOXEL POWDER DEGRADATION. MPEP 606.01
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.
Claims 1, 10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception an abstract idea without significantly more.
Independent claim(s) recite(s) a judicial exception: The claim(s) recite(s) “estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder based on the estimated powder degradation”, as explained in detail below.
Claim 1: Ineligible
Step 1: The claim recites a series of steps and, therefore, is a process. Thus, the claim is directed to the same as a process, which is a statutory category of invention (Step 1: Yes).
Next, the claims are analyzed to determine directed to a judicial exception.
Under MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2), whether the claim recites:
any judicial exceptions, including certain groupings of abstract ideas (i.e., mathematical concepts, certain methods of organizing human activity such as a fundamental economic practice, or mental processes) ("Step 2A, Prong One"); and
additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application ("Step 2A, Prong Two").
Step 2A, Prong One: Claim 1 recites a judicial exception with the step of “estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder based on the estimated powder degradation”, as explained in detail below.
The limitations "estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder based on the estimated powder degradation” is further a mathematical concept of mathematic calculations, and/or certain methods of organizing human activity such as commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations). See MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2), subsection III.
This steps, as drafted, is a process that under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers (Mathematical concepts: mathematical relationships, mathematical formulas or equations, mathematical calculations) of patent eligibility grouping. Thus, the claim recites in a group of a mathematical concepts.
Therefore, claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea of a judicial exception (Step 2A Prong one: Yes).
Step 2A Prong two: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claim recites the additional elements of “estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder” based on data and its simulation functions that do not add meaningful limitations sufficient amount to significantly more (“inventive concept”) than the judicial exception, that merely further limiting the scope of abstract ideas or stating merely technical environment of these abstract ideas. The additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application and the claim is directed to the judicial exception.
Next, the claim as a whole is analyzed to determine whether any element, or combination of elements, is sufficient to ensure the claim amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Step 2B: In addition to the steps that describe the abstract idea of “estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder”, the claim recites the additional limitation of estimation and determining powder reclamation. This additional element taken individually represents a general-purpose data estimation and reformation, as evidence discussed in the background [paragraph 0001] “additive manufacturing is a technique to form three-dimensional (3D) objects by adding material - include melting a filament to form each layer of the 3D object (e.g., fused filament fabrication), curing a resin to form each layer of the 3D object (e.g., stereolithography), sintering, melting, or binding powder to form each layer of the 3D object (e.g., selective laser sintering or melting, multijet fusion, metal jet fusion, etc.)” and Fig.5]. The additional elements data manipulation is mainly based on mathematical relationship that are not sufficient amount to significantly more (“inventive concept”) than the judicial exception. As such, the claim is directed to a judicial exception. Accordingly, the claim is ineligible for patenting. (Step 2B: No)
Further, the limitations are not structured (incomplete story) to any specific goal and utility of the invention rather it is reciting “estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder”, thereby the claims set forth inoperative and/or “lack of utility” for the claimed invention (i.e., why it would be useful and what is the specific goal). See MPEP 2107.
As to independent Claims 10 and 13, reciting similar subject matter as claim 1 for similar and rational reasons as those outlined above, likewise do not amount to significantly more than the above noted abstract idea, which does not rise to a level of significantly more than the abstract idea, and are accordingly not eligible under 35 USC 101. See MPEP 2106.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng, et al. USPGPub No. 2022/0083712 A1 (same content in WO 2020/246993 A1 cited in IDS) in view of Mamrak, et al. USPGPub No. 20200254691 A1.
As to claim 1, Zeng discloses 1. A method, comprising: estimating powder degradation for voxels of a three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing build based on a simulation; and [determining a quantity of reclamation powder] based on the estimated powder degradation (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printing additive manufacturing, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides estimating powder degradation for voxels - based on a simulation; and determining a quantity of reclamation powder based on the estimated powder degradation).
However, Mamrak discloses determining a quantity of reclamation powder (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining quantity of reclamation powder).
Zeng and Mamrak are analogous arts from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities and both contain 3D additive manufacturing.
Therefore, at the time the invention was made, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above functionalities determining quantity of reclamation powder, as taught by Zeng, and incorporating powder reclamation system collecting misdirected additive powder for improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning, as taught by Mamrak.
As to claim 2, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining perimeter voxels around an object of the 3D manufacturing build; and scaling the perimeter voxels based on a reclamation calibration value to produce scaled perimeter voxels; (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printing additive manufacturing, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. obviously provides determining perimeter voxels around an object of the 3D manufacturing build; and scaling the perimeter voxels based on a reclamation calibration value to produce scaled perimeter voxels); and
determining cleaning compensated reclamation voxels based on the scaled perimeter voxels, wherein the quantity of reclamation powder is determined based on the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining cleaning compensated reclamation voxels based on the scaled perimeter voxels - quantity of reclamation powder determined based on the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels).
As to claim 3, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 2, wherein determining the perimeter voxels comprises:
binarizing a set of voxels to determine binary voxels including object voxels and non-object voxels; dilating the object voxels to produce expanded voxels; and
performing an exclusive or (XOR) operation with the expanded voxels and the binary voxels to produce the perimeter voxels (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printing additive manufacturing, voxels, 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, voxel-level, sub-voxel proportion obviously provides binarizing set of voxels to determine binary voxels including object voxels and non-object voxels; dilating the object voxels to produce expanded voxels; and performing an exclusive or (XOR) operation with the expanded voxels and the binary voxels to produce the perimeter voxels).
As to claim 4, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 3, wherein determining the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels comprises performing an OR operation with the scaled perimeter voxels and the binary voxels to produce the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels comprises performing an OR operation with the scaled perimeter voxels and the binary voxels to produce the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels).
As to claim 5, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining free powder voxels; performing an AND operation with the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels and the free powder voxels to produce reclaimable voxels (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining free powder voxels; performing an AND operation with the cleaning compensated reclamation voxels and the free powder voxels to produce reclaimable voxels).
As to claim 6, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 5, wherein determining the free powder voxels comprises performing a flood fill of the 3D manufacturing build (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining the free powder voxels comprises performing a flood fill of the 3D manufacturing build).
As to claim 7, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 1, wherein determining the quantity of reclamation powder comprises determining a mass of the reclamation powder corresponding to reclamation voxels (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining the quantity of reclamation powder comprises determining a mass of the reclamation powder corresponding to reclamation voxels).
As to claim 8, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an aggregate quality level of the voxels based on the estimated powder degradation (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printing additive manufacturing, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides determining an aggregate quality level of the voxels based on the estimated powder degradation).
As to claim 9, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a mass of fresh powder to produce a powder blend with a target quality level (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printing additive manufacturing, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides determining a mass of fresh powder to produce a powder blend with a target quality level).
As to the independent claims 10 and 13, the claims recite similar limitations as the independent claim 1 and rejected using same rational as stated above.
As to claim 11, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is to instruct a printer to print the isolation mesh in the 3D manufacturing build (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printer, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides instruct a printer to print the isolation mesh in the 3D manufacturing build).
As to claim 12, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is to determine a quantity of fresh powder to achieve a target quality level (Mamrak [0002-11] “powder dispenser - powder reclamation system includes a vacuum pump for generating a vacuum and a vacuum duct extending from the vacuum pump to a suction inlet, the suction inlet being positioned for collecting misdirected additive powder dispensed during the refill process - improved powder refilling - powder refill, reclamation, and cleaning system reduces loss of powder during a refill operation and maintains a clean operating environment” [0029-83] [abstract] see Fig. 1-10, powder dispenser, powder reclamation system, collecting misdirected additive powder, improved powder refilling, reclamation and cleaning obviously provides determining the quantity of reclamation powder comprises determining a mass of the reclamation powder corresponding to reclamation voxels).
As to claim 14, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the code to cause the processor to determine the refresh ratio comprises code to cause the processor to determine the refresh ratio based on reclaimable voxels and quality metrics (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printer, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides determine the refresh ratio comprises code to cause the processor to determine the refresh ratio based on reclaimable voxels and quality metrics).
As to claim 15, the combination of Zeng and Mamrak disclose all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination further discloses The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising code to cause the processor to determine the reclaimable voxels based on cleaning compensated reclamation voxels (Zeng [0008-65] “3D printing additive manufacturing - thermal procedure of voxels that include an object affect the manufacturing quality (e.g., functional quality) of the object - simulations (e.g., finite element analysis (FEA)) - utilize high-quality meshing - 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file, object shape data, orientation data, size data, position data, geometry data, etc. - plastics (e.g., polymers) utilized - powder-based and driven by powder fusion - utilized for voxel-level thermal modulation, sub-voxel proportion of a voxel occupied by an object - value is number, code, or expression indicates quantity - visualizations of simulation results - show a correspondence between a manufactured object and build volume temperature - with sub-voxel features, a relatively large 2 mm voxel size capture build geometry and fine features - simulation reflects manufacturing - enable graceful degradation in simulation accuracy as a function of simulated voxel” [abstract], see Fig. 1-6, 3D printer, voxels, simulations, object quality, powder-based, voxel-level, enable degradation in simulation accuracy, sub-voxel proportion object, quantity obviously provides determine the reclaimable voxels based on cleaning compensated reclamation voxels).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2141.02 VI. PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, i.e., as a whole and 2123.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record:
Crear, et al. USPGPub No. 2017/0232552 A1 discloses a reclamation system for a metal powder for an additive manufacturing system and applied to a reactive metal powder.
Schalk, et al. USPGPub No. 2022/0266520 A1 discloses a build material recovery system for a three-dimensional (3D) printer include a selective solidification device to create a 3D object using build material, a build processing device to separate the 3D object from unfused build material, a material separating and conditioning device to condition the unfused build material, and a material storage device to store the conditioned build material.
Daniels, et al. USPGPub No. 2020/0307095 A1 discloses a method for reclaiming unused powder in a composite-based additive manufacturing for excess polymer removal during the process.
Wang, et al. USPGPub No. 2003/0016857 A1 discloses a method for determining the dispersibility grade of particulate material by means of an image processing technique that employs machine vision for grading the dispersibility of particulate material.
Liu, et al. USPGPub No. 2020/0089826 A1 discloses a method for optimization and/or performance prediction of material systems and applications of integrated process-structure-property modeling frameworks.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Md Azad whose telephone @(571)272-0553 or email: md.azad@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on (571)272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Md Azad/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119