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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 17, 2026 has been entered.
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, 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hovanec (US 2018/0236728).
Claim 1: Hovanec discloses a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object (abstract). The method includes a first step of continuously shaping a peeling layer on an entirety of a first area of a stage by ejecting a first shaping material (¶¶ 24-25, 50); a second step of shaping a shaped object by ejecting a second shaping material and stacking a shaping layer on the peeling layer to form the three-dimensional shaped object, an outer shell of the three-dimensional shaped object being configured with a plurality of straight lines and a plurality of corners in a plan view (figs. 1, 2A; ¶¶ 22, 24-28, 50); and a third step of shaping, on the peeling layer, a brim layer adjacent to and in contact with only each corner of the plurality of corners and directly adjacent parts of two straight lines of the plurality of straight lines sandwiching the each corner of the outer shell of a lowermost layer of the three-dimensional shaped object by ejecting a third shaping material, other parts except for the directly adjacent parts of the plurality of straight lines being without contacting the brim layer (extra material 182 is deposited along with the object and holds down the first lowermost layer of the object; ¶¶25-29, 44-45; fig. 1), wherein the peeling layer and the brim layer are layers configured to be separated from the three-dimensional shaped object shaped by the second step (¶¶ 4, 9, 47-49); when the three-dimensional shaped object whose length in a longitudinal direction is a first length is shaped in the second step, in the third step, the brim layer is a first size or the brim layer is shaped such that a contact strength between the brim layer and a corresponding corner of the plurality of corners is a first strength (¶¶ 22, 26, 28-29, 44-46); and when the shaped object whose length in the longitudinal direction is a second length larger than the first length is shaped in the second step, in the third step, the brim layer is shaped in a second size larger than the first size or the brim layer is shaped such that the contact strength between the brim layer and the corresponding corner of the plurality of corners is a second strength larger than the first strength (conditional limitation; no object of a second, larger longitudinal length is shaped).
Claim 5: Hovanec discloses when the lowermost layer of the three-dimensional shaped object shaped in the second step has a hollow shape, in the third step, the brim layer is not shaped at the outer shell on a side of the hollow shape (¶¶ 22, 26, 29, 35).
Claim 8: Hovanec discloses the contact strength is adjusted by a contact area between the brim layer and the corresponding corner of the plurality of corners (¶¶ 9, 28, 45-49).
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 1-2, 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hovanec (US 2018/0236728) in view of Sadusk (US 2014/0371895).
Claim 1: Hovanec discloses a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object (abstract). The method includes a first step of continuously shaping a peeling layer on an entirety of a first area of a stage by ejecting a first shaping material (¶¶ 24-25, 50); a second step of shaping a shaped object by ejecting a second shaping material and stacking a shaping layer on the peeling layer to form the three-dimensional shaped object, an outer shell of the three-dimensional shaped object being configured with a plurality of straight lines and a plurality of corners in a plan view (figs. 1, 2A; ¶¶ 22, 24-28, 50); and a third step of shaping, on the peeling layer, a brim layer adjacent to and in contact with only each corner of the plurality of corners and directly adjacent parts of two straight lines of the plurality of straight lines sandwiching the each corner of the outer shell of a lowermost layer of the three-dimensional shaped object by ejecting a third shaping material, other parts except for the directly adjacent parts of the plurality of straight lines being without contacting the brim layer (extra material 182 is deposited along with the object and holds down the first lowermost layer of the object; ¶¶25-29, 44-45; fig. 1), wherein the peeling layer and the brim layer are layers configured to be separated from the three-dimensional shaped object shaped by the second step (¶¶ 4, 9, 47-49); when the three-dimensional shaped object whose length in a longitudinal direction is a first length is shaped in the second step, in the third step, the brim layer is a first size or the brim layer is shaped such that a contact strength between the brim layer and a corresponding corner of the plurality of corners is a first strength (¶¶ 22, 26, 28-29, 44-46); and when the shaped object whose length in the longitudinal direction is a second length larger than the first length is shaped in the second step, in the third step, the brim layer is shaped in a second size larger than the first size or the brim layer is shaped such that the contact strength between the brim layer and the corresponding corner of the plurality of corners is a second strength larger than the first strength (conditional limitation; no object of a second, larger longitudinal length is shaped).
To whatever extent Hovanec is deemed not to describe the raft itself with sufficient specificity, Sadusk teaches a raft fabricated on the build platform by extruding thermoplastic build material and including a base layer deposited on the build platform, one or more intermediate layers, and a raft layer that supports the object and “can be easily and preferentially delaminated from an object after fabrication (¶¶ 135-143, 40-42). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have implemented the raft of Hovanec in accordance with the raft techniques of Sadusk, because Hovanec expressly identifies Sadusk’s publication as describing the creation of rafts for warp prevention and because doing so is no more than the use of a known raft structure, in the manner taught, for its established purposes of leveling, preventing warpage, and permitting separation of the finished object, with predictable results (Sadusk ¶¶ 3-4, 135, 142).
Claim 2: Hovanec and Sadusk discloses the first and second shaping materials are different, and the second and third materials are the same (Hovanec ¶¶ 24-25; Ssadusk ¶¶ 3, 37).
Claim 5: Hovanec discloses when the lowermost layer of the three-dimensional shaped object shaped in the second step has a hollow shape, in the third step, the brim layer is not shaped at the outer shell on a side of the hollow shape (¶¶ 22, 26, 29, 35).
Claim 8: Hovanec discloses the contact strength is adjusted by a contact area between the brim layer and the corresponding corner of the plurality of corners (¶¶ 9, 28, 45-49).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hovanec (US 2018/0236728) in view of Sadusk (US 2014/0371895), as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Keisuke (JP 2019/072943; paragraph references to attached English language translation).
Hovanec is silent as to in data representing a shape of the outer shell, drawing virtual normal lines having a predetermined length inward from a plurality of coordinates separated by a certain interval on an outline of the outer shell, and specifying the corner based on a distribution of intersection points at which the virtual normal lines intersect or a distribution of the virtual normal lines intersecting with each other. However, Keisuke discloses a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object wherein in data representing a shape of the outer shell, drawing virtual normal lines having a predetermined length inward from a plurality of coordinates separated by a certain interval on an outline of the outer shell, and specifying the corner based on a distribution of intersection points at which the virtual normal lines intersect or a distribution of the virtual normal lines intersecting with each other (¶¶ 80-83; fig. 8). As taught by Keisuke, in data representing a shape of the outer shell, drawing virtual normal lines having a predetermined length inward from a plurality of coordinates separated by a certain interval on an outline of the outer shell, and specifying the corner based on a distribution of intersection points at which the virtual normal lines intersect or a distribution of the virtual normal lines intersecting with each other allows for the occurrence of warpage to be suppressed (¶ 82). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have process data in Hovanec’s method as taught by Keisuke in order to reduce or suppress warpage.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARRY THROWER whose telephone number is (571)270-5517. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm MT M-F.
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/LARRY W THROWER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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