DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the communications filed on 9/26/2023.
The Examiner notes claims 1-9 are currently pending and have been examined; claim 9 has been withdrawn, see below for details.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 9 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention 2 of the Requirement for Restriction/Election filed on 2/11/2026, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/13/2026.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEGENMAJER et al. (US 20230286110) in view of KANDA (WO 2020067536 A1), hereinafter Legenmajer and Kanda, respectively.
Regarding claim 1. Legenmajer discloses an injection method of injecting an injection medium to a workpiece with gas [Fig 1-2; ¶8; the method is of controlling the blasting system (i.e. injecting of an injection medium to a workpiece with gas], the injection method comprising:
acquiring an injection state of the injection medium with respect to the workpiece [Fig 1-2; ¶10 & ¶13; The method acquires the control data which includes data relating to the blasting material (i.e. injection material)]; and
injecting … the injection medium to the workpiece while controlling supplying of the gas on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium [Fig 3-4; ¶39; Table 2:RowA; the blasting material is injected.
Legenmajer may not explicitly disclose injecting intermittently the injection medium.
However Kanda discloses a blasting system [¶2 & ¶7 of the translation] that has an intermittent injection of the injection medium [Fig 3; & ¶10 of the translation; only one recess (31) is in the supply pipe (51) so the injection medium (3) is injected intermittently].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the injecting of injection material as disclosed by Legenmajer to have the injection material intermittently injected as taught by Kanda for the purpose of spraying a quantitative amount of injection material at a time to more finely control the injection process [Kanda: ¶7 & ¶10 of the translation].
Regarding claim 2. Legenmajer as modified teaches the injection method according to claim 1, wherein the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting at least one of a flow rate and a pressure of the gas to be supplied on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium [Legenmajer: ¶39; the flow rate and pressure of the gas can be adjusted].
Claim(s) 3-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Legenmajer in view of Kanda further in view of Nervi et al. (US 20140330525), hereinafter Nervi
Regarding claim 3-4. Legenmajer as modified teaches the injection method according to claim 1, wherein: .. and the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium [Kanda: ¶42 of the translation; the rotation of recesses (31) on the roller (30) can be controlled to adjust the amount of injection material supplied per unit of time which would be adjusted per the monitoring and control system taught by Legenmajer].
Legenmajer as modified may not explicitly disclose wherein: the acquiring further acquires a residual stress value requested for the workpiece; and the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium and the residual stress value.
However Nervi teaches a injection system which acquires a residual stress value requested for the workpiece [¶16, ¶147; the injection system can have pre-programed model of how the workpiece is to be processed to achieve a desired residual stress value]; and the injecting includes injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium and the residual stress value [¶16 & ¶147; the injection system can be adjusted in terms of intensity and time to achieve the desired residual stress in a workpiece].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the injection method as taught by Legenmajer to have acquiring further include acquires a residual stress value requested for the workpiece; and the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium and the residual stress value as taught by Nervi for the purpose of accurately controlling the induced residual stresses and to reduce or eliminate distortion in the workpiece [Nervi: ¶147].
4. Legenmajer as modified teaches the injection method according to claim 2, wherein: the acquiring further acquires a residual stress value requested for the workpiece; and the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium and the residual stress value.
Regarding claim 5-8. Legenmajer as modified teaches the injection method according to claim 1, wherein: the acquiring further acquires front surface information relating to a front surface state requested for the workpiece; and the injecting includes intermittently injecting the injection medium to the workpiece while adjusting an injection time interval in injection of the injection medium per time on a basis of the injection state of the injection medium and the front surface information.
[Claims 5-8 claim “front surface information relating to a front surface state requested for the work piece” instead of claiming “a residual stress value requested for the workpiece.” However when measuring residual stresses after processing with shot peening, which is the Applicant’s invention as well as Nervi’s, the stresses are formed in the front surface or surface that was peened. The stresses in the surface are determined by measuring the front surface of the workpiece that was processed (Nervi: Fig 3-6; ¶69-¶71). Therefore claims 5-8 are rejected for the same reasons as claims 3-4].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AARON R MCCONNELL whose telephone number is (303)297-4608. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 0700-1600 MST [0900-1800 EST] 2nd Friday 0700-1500 MST [0900-1700 EST].
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/AARON R MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/BRIAN D KELLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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