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 .
Claims 1-3 are currently pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
The following references are cited in the disclosure, but are not presented in a proper information disclosure statement, and a copy of these references have not been provided:
On page 2, paragraph 5 & 6, “Metals Handbook, 1983”; it is unclear what reference this citation is referring to.
On page 2, paragraph 7, “Machado, 1996”; it is unclear what reference this citation is referring to.
On page 3, paragraph 9, “Wu (1968)”; it is unclear what reference this citation is referring to.
On page 3, paragraph 11, & page 4, paragraph 14, “BR 1020160042321”.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In the “Description of the drawings”, under “FIG. 5” on page 7, in the phrase “geometries of the contact faces are planned or special” it is unclear what the term “planned” is supposed to mean in the context of the “contact faces”, or if it is in error for the term “planed”, meaning a flat surface.
In Paragraph 28, pg. 8, the last line should be revised as follows:
-- not have totally flat contact surfaces (5) and/or special contact geometry
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 appears to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical errors and inconsistent terminology. The claim should be revised to conform with current U.S. practice.
In Claim 1, the preamble should be revised as:
-- A process for spot welding with additional material consisting of: --;
In Claim 2, the preamble should be revised as follows:
-- The process [[Process]] for spot welding with additional material[[,]] according to claim 1 --;
Claim 2 recites “the addition of material”, which is believed to be in error for:
--the deposition [[addition]] of material--, to match the language of claim 1;
In Claim 3, the preamble should be revised as follows:
-- The process [[Process]] for spot welding with additional material[[,]] according to claim 1 --.
Claim 3, line 2, recites “characterized by the fact that”, which should be shortened to: --wherein--;
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The claims 1-3 are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors.
Claim 1 recites the following limitations that lack antecedent basis in the claim, rendering the claim indefinite:
“the deposition of material”;
“the place corresponding to welding”;
“the inner face”;
“the sheets”.
Claim 2 “optionally the addition of material can be effected by any additive manufacturing process”. This renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear whether the limitations after the term “optionally” in the claim is actually requiring the “any additive manufacturing process” or not, since no other alternatives to the “additive manufacturing process” for the “addition of material” are otherwise recited. It is unclear whether the “additive manufacturing process” is meant to be one of the “any welding processes” of claim 1 (i.e. exemplary claim language, see MPEP 2173.05(d)), or is meant to supplant the “any welding processes” (i.e. is an alternative to the “welding processes” of claim 1). It is unclear what is meant to be encompassed by the claim.
Claim 3 recites “the base material to be welded”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schroth (US 2019/0076953 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1, Schroth discloses a process for spot welding with addition material 24 (a “projection” that can be formed as a deposit of copper material 42, Para. 0035, Fig. 5) consisting of making the deposition of material 42 in the place corresponding to welding (Fig. 5, 7 & 9, Para. 0032, 0035),
on the inner face 18 (“first faying surface”) of one of the sheets 10 (“copper workpiece”, Para. 0035, Fig. 5),
with any welding processes (Para. 0035, “Several procedures are available for depositing the copper material 42 onto the first copper workpiece 10 as the projection 24 including the cold metal transfer process that employs oscillating wire arc welding as disclosed in US2016/0008911, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As another example, the copper material 42 may be deposited using vacuum ball tack welding”),
before spot welding (the deposition of the material 42 renders the workpieces/sheets “resistance spot weldable” with electrodes 64, 68, and the spot welding steps are performed after the formation of the projection 24 by the deposition of material, Para. 0037-46, Fig. 7 & 9).
Regarding claim 2, Schroth discloses the process for spot welding with addition material, according to claim 1, characterized by optionally the addition of material can be effected by any additive manufacturing processes (since the limitation is preceded by the term “optionally”, the limitation is interpreted as not required; see rejection under 112(b) above).
Regarding claim 3, Schroth discloses the process for spot welding with additional material, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the area, thickness and composition of the material deposited on one of the sheets are specified in accordance with the base material to be welded (Para. 0035, the material is selected to be copper, either unalloyed or high-copper alloy forms, and “may assume any of a wide variety of shapes and contours” to provide the projection 24 on the copper workpiece 10 to enable the subsequent resistance spot welding steps; Para. 0035, Schroth US 2016/0008911 A1 incorporated by reference in its entirety discusses considerations for the projection 38 thickness H and diameter D on the basis of the material of the workpieces to be welded, which affects the area of the material deposited, see Fig. 7 & Para. 0032 of the incorporated reference; Para. 0037).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Albrecht (US 2015/0021815 A1, US 10875116 B2) teaches depositing a material to bond two components using an additive manufacturing process.
Perry (US 2017/0297137 A1) teaches a spot welding process that involves depositing a material on an inner face of a sheet to be welded, using a brazing technique.
Wang (US 2002/0166843 A1) teaches a spot welding process including forming a projection onto one of the sheets as an indentation.
Schroth (US 10036083 B2) is the patent of the cited reference Schroth US 20160008911 A1.
Schroth (US 20160008912 A1) teaches a spot welding process including using an interface “reaction material” between the sheets to be welded.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAIN CHAU whose telephone number is (571)272-9444. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am-6pm PST.
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/ALAIN CHAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741