DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dayong et al. (CN110641083A).
Regarding claims 1, 11, Dayong discloses A vehicle comprising a core structure panel comprising: a first laminate skin (1) (fig 1); a second laminate skin (3) (fig 1); a core (2,4, 5) between the first laminate skin and the second laminate skin (fig 1); and a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure adhered to a portion of the core (page 3, fig 1).
Regarding claim 2, Dayong further discloses that a foam adhesive adheres the TPMS structure to the portion (page 3, fig 1).
Regarding claim 3, Dayong further discloses that a lattice of the TPMS structure is a sheet based TPMS (page 7).
Regarding claim 12, Dayong further discloses that the TPMS structure comprises metal or a polymer material produced by an additive manufacturing machine (fig 1, page 3, product by process).
Regarding claim 13, Dayong further discloses a foam adhesive adheres the TPMS structure to the portion (page 8).
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 4-7 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dayong et al. (CN110641083A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hundley et al. (US 11,148,375)
Regarding claims 4-6 and 14-15, Dayong is silent regarding the fact that the TPMS structure is a component of a repair patch for a portion of the core structure panel with one or more inconsistencies.
Hundley teaches a structure (200) that is a component of a repair patch (200) for a portion of the core structure panel (13) with one or more inconsistencies (figs 5a-e).
(Claim 5) Hundley further teaches that the repair patch includes a ply of adhesive film coupled to the second laminate skin, the TPMS structure, a foam adhesive coupled to the TPMS structure, an adhesive film, a plurality of repair plies corresponding to the first laminate skin, one or more extra repair plies, a sanding ply, or combinations thereof (col 5 lines 47-61, figs 5a-e).
(Claim 6) Hundley further teaches a filler ply to fill a gap between a surface of the structure and the first skin (figs 5a-e).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Dayong and Hundley before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Dayong to include a repair patch as taught by Hundley in order to help repair a damaged section of a core (abstract).
Regarding claim 7, Dayong further discloses a first curing process is used to adhere the TPMS structure to the first laminate skin via the ply of adhesive film and to adhere the TPMS structure to the portion via the foam adhesive (page 8, fig 1).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dayong et al. (CN110641083A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Muir (US 20170225428A1)
Regarding claims 8-10, Dayong is silent regarding the fact that the TPMS structure has a density gradient.
Muir teaches that the structure has a density gradient ([0050]-[0053]).
(Claim 9) Muir further teaches that the structure has a first density near the first laminate skin, a second density near the second laminate skin, and wherein density decreases from the first density and the second density toward a center of the structure ([0050]-[0053]).
(Claim 10) Muir further teaches that the structure has a first density near the first laminate skin, a second density near the second laminate skin that is less than the first density, and wherein density decreases from the first density to the second density across the structure ([0050]-[0053]).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Dayong and Muir before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Dayong to include a structure with a density gradient as taught by Muir in order to achieve different mechanical properties ([0050]).
Claims 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ondrejas et al. (US 4855182) and Dayong et al. (CN110641083A).
Regarding claim 16, 19, Ondrejas discloses a method comprising: forming an opening (5) in a core structure panel (2) (figs 1-2, abstract), the opening extending through a first laminate skin (3) and at least partially through a core (2) of the core structure panel (fig 1); positioning a core plug (9) in the opening (fig 1), wherein the core plug comprises a structure (9) to replace the core removed during formation of the opening (figs 1-2,abstract); adhering the structure to the core adjacent to the opening (figs 1-2); and repairing the first laminate skin (figs 1-2, abstract).
Ondrejas is silent regarding the fact that the core plug comprises triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) (abstract, page 5).
Dayong teaches that the core plug comprises triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) (abstract, page 3).
(Claim 19) Dayong further discloses curing a foam adhesive between the TPMS structure and the core (abstract, page 5).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Dayong and Ondrejas before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Ondrejas to include a core plug that comprises triply periodic minimal surface as taught by Dayong in order to improve the mechanical properties of the structure (abstract).
Regarding claim 18, Ondrejas further discloses said forming the opening includes removing a portion of the core structure panel with one or more inconsistencies (figs 1-2, abstract).
Regarding claim 20, Ondrejas further discloses repairing a portion of a second laminate skin with one or more inconsistencies (abstract, figs 1-2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17 is 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.
Conclusion
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/DANY E AKAKPO/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
01/26/2026
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