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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 11 and 15-17 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Small et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 20180281067, from hereinafter “Small”).
In regards to claim 1 An irradiation device (Fig. 6, laser source 602 situated to generate a laser processing beam 604 ) for an additive manufacturing machine (paragraph [0042], “In representative examples, the target 626 includes a powder material, such as a material suitable for selective laser sintering or another additive manufacturing process, etc.”) for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects (paragraph [0039], “The laser processing beam 604 is directed to a 2D or 3D galvanometric laser scanner 618 that typically includes one or more galvanometer scan mirrors 620a, 620b that are situated to rotate about respective scan mirror rotation axes 622a, 622b to change direction of the laser processing beam 604 as incident on a laser scan optic 624.”), the irradiation device comprising: a beam generation device configured to provide an energy beam travelling on a nominal beam path trajectory (paragraph [0039], “The laser processing beam 604 is typically a high power continuous, quasi-continuous, or pulsed beam.” ), the nominal beam path trajectory coinciding with an optical axis of the energy beam, (paragraph [0039], “the laser processing beam 604 is emitted and propagates along an optical axis 615 that can correspond to a chief ray of the laser processing beam 604”.); an optical modulator (paragraph [0043], “A beam splitter 654 or other suitable wavelength-dependent beam-directing optic can be situated in the path of the laser processing beam 604 to receive and direct the reflected fiducial portion 652 (e.g., through reflection, refraction, transmission, a combination, etc.)”) comprising a reflective optic downstream from the beam generating device (galvanic scan mirror 620a and rotation axis 622a), the optical modulator configured to actuate the reflective optic to modify a position of the energy beam from the nominal beam path trajectory (see annotated Fig. 6); and an optical scanner (laser scanner 618, with galvanic scan mirror 620b and rotation axis 622b) disposed downstream from the optical modulator (see annotated Fig. 6), the optical scanner configured to translate the nominal beam path trajectory along a build plane of the additive manufacturing machine (paragraph [0040], “the intended beam positions associated with the pattern command file 636 can correspond to actual beam positions on the target 626 within a predetermined lateral tolerance and/or z-tolerance (i.e., including into or out of the plane of the target 626)” and also paragraph [0044], ”In some examples of the laser system 600, the target 626 can include a build plate base 662 that is lowered with a z-stage 664 with a z-stage control 666 of the controller 630. A layer of powder material is provided above the build plate base 662 and a pushing bar 668 can be used to flatten the surface of the powder material and remove excess material so that the top of the powder layer corresponds with a predetermined plane for a focus of the laser processing beam 604 at the target 626.”).
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In regards to claim 11, Small discloses a focusing lens assembly upstream of the optical scanner (FIG. 6 as reproduced above, please see component 604 that is a lens).
In regards to claim 15, Small discloses A method of additively manufacturing a three-dimensional object, the method comprising: generating an energy beam having a nominal beam path trajectory from a beam generation device (paragraphs [0039] and [0043]); modifying a position of the energy beam from the nominal beam path trajectory using an optical modulator (paragraph [0040], “The laser controller 630 typically includes at least one processor 632 and one or more memories 634 configured with instructions, such as a pattern command file 636, executable by the at least one processor 632 to control beam initiation, termination, power level, repetition rate, modulation, and/or other characteristics of the laser processing beam 604 as received by the target 626 and to control beam scan position in the field of view 628”); and translating the nominal beam path trajectory along a build plane of an additive manufacturing machine using an optical scanner downstream from the optical modulator (paragraph [0039], “The laser scan optic 624 or one or more other optics of the laser scanner 618 can be translated along the axis 615 to provide a z-focus adjustment. The laser processing beam 604 is then directed to a selected position on a laser processing target 626 based on a deflection of the optical axis 615 with the galvanometer scan mirrors 620a, 620b, and z-position with the other optics of the laser scanner 618.”).
In regards to claim 16, Small teaches determining a tracking error of the energy beam (paragraph [0021], See Figure 4 for a flowchart of an example method of fiducial calibration and dynamic tracking, paragraph [0034] and paragraph [0045], “The optical detector 678 can be coupled to the laser controller 630 and a fiducial error detection routine 682 can form an interlock with operation of the laser source 602, can indicate a misalignment exists, or that the fiducial calibrator 638 has accrued a decrease in fiducial accuracy, by way of example.”); and modifying the position of the energy beam using the optical modulator based on the tracking error (In addition to can mirrors 620a and 620b, see paragraph [0039], “In representative examples, a focus in the z-direction is typically more tolerant of errors than XY positions because a depth of focus provided by the laser scanner 618 is typically many tens of microns. Thus, after an initial calibration, there is typically a reduced need for periodic z-calibration.”, paragraph [0044], “the scan mirrors 620a, 620b are directed to predetermined positions associated with the optical fiducials 650a-650d, and the optical detector 656 detects the position of the optical fiducials 650a-650d in the field of view 658 at each position. Based on the detected positions, a positional error can be determined, and the error correction table 637 can be updated, typically using one or more interpolation/extrapolation techniques, to determine suitable correction values for other scan positions in the field of view 628.”, and paragraph [0045], “The optical detector 678 can be coupled to the laser controller 630 and a fiducial error detection routine 682 can form an interlock with operation of the laser source 602, can indicate a misalignment exists, or that the fiducial calibrator 638 has accrued a decrease in fiducial accuracy, by way of example.”).
In regards to claim 17, Small teaches adjusting power of the beam energy based on a distance of a beam spot away from the nominal beam path trajectory (paragraph 0034 “a modulation rate of a fiducial optical intensity or a selected fiducial shape can be associated with an initiation of or to change to a predetermined optical power or beam characteristic”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10, 12-14 and 18-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In regards to claims 2-8, the “Small” reference as cited above is using a scanner for the optical modulator and as such, none of step response times, amplitudes, or undulation of beam energy are discussed in the small reference. As it pertains to claim 12, though “Small” does teach a controller, the controller of small does not teach actuate[ing] the reflective optic based on [a] tracking error. Furthermore, in regards to claims 13, “Small” fails to teach a plurality of flex joints….and a plurality of actuator elements.
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The “Small” reference, as cited above, fails to teach the plurality of flex joints and actuator elements as required by independent claim 18.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICOLE M IPPOLITO whose telephone number is (571)270-7449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:00am-4:00pm Mountain Time.
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/NICOLE M IPPOLITO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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