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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 6, it appears that “housing” should perhaps be “outer housing” to avoid confusion. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11, 13, 15-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pesce et al. (US 2010/0226476 A1).
With respect to claims 1 and 16, Pesce et al. disclose a method of steering for x-ray inspection of a sample, and an apparatus for steerable x-ray inspection of a sample, comprising: an outer housing (505) configured to be inserted into an interior of the sample via a flexible insertion member (510); an x-ray source (700) within the outer housing and configured to output source x-rays (515) into the sample; an x-ray detector (705) within the housing and configured to detect fluorescence x-rays (520) emitted from the sample upon excitation by the source x-rays; and a steering device coupled to an end of the insertion member (the insertion member comprises the steering device) and configured to adjust, selectively, a position of the flexible insertion member for steering the outer housing within the sample (paragraphs 0008+ & 0015-0023 & 0057+).
With respect to claims 3 and 18, Pesce et al. disclose wherein the steering device further includes a camera (725 & 730) configured to provide a view inside the sample for controlling adjustment of the position of the flexible insertion member (paragraphs 0013-0014 & 0017).
With respect to claims 4 and 19, Pesce et al. disclose wherein the camera is configured to provide the view to an operator via a wireless signal (paragraphs 0013-0014 & 0017).
With respect to claim 9, Pesce et al. disclose wherein the x-ray source is a radioactive x-ray source (paragraph 0058).
With respect to claim 11, Pesce et al. disclose wherein the x-ray source is an x-ray tube (paragraph 0058).
With respect to claims 13 and 20, Pesce et al. disclose a controller communicatively coupled to the x-ray detector, the controller configured to determine a presence of a set of materials contained within the sample based on the fluorescence x-rays, the set of materials including at least one material (paragraphs 0006+).
With respect to claim 15, Pesce et al. disclose wherein the controller is configured to display a camera image received from the steering device (paragraphs 0013-0014 & 0022-0023).
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 2, 5-8, 10, 12, 14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pesce et al. (US 2010/0226476 A1) as applied to claims 1, 9, 13, and 16 above.
With respect to claims 2 and 17, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the steering device includes a steerable cable. Pesce et al. disclose the steering device is an articulated head (510). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Pesce et al. to use a steerable cable, because the functionality would remain the same and would be a matter of design choice.
With respect to claims 5-6, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the insertion member includes markings at an outer surface indicating insertion depth of the outer housing within the sample; wherein the insertion member includes an electronic encoder indicating insertion depth of the outer housing within the sample. However, use of markings and/or an electronic encoder are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Pesce et al. to have the insertion member include markings at an outer surface indicating insertion depth of the outer housing within the sample and/or wherein the insertion member includes an electronic encoder indicating insertion depth of the outer housing within the sample, as a matter of design choice.
With respect to claims 7-8, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the outer housing has a diameter that is less than or equal to 0.75 inch; wherein the diameter is less than or equal to 0.5 inch. However, Pesce et al. are concerned with analyzing difficult to reach inside surfaces of small-diameter pipes and other small cavities, in corners and cramped quarter, etc. (paragraph 0007). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Pesce et al. to have the outer housing have a diameter that is less than or equal to 0.75 inch; wherein the diameter is less than or equal to 0.5 inch, to enable analyzing small-diameter pipes and other small cavities, as taught by Pesce et al.
With respect to claim 10, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the radioactive x-ray source is selected from the group consisting of Co-57, Cd-109, and combinations thereof. However, these are well known radioactive X-ray sources and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for Pesce et al. to use Co-57, Cd-109, and combinations thereof, as a matter of design choice, depending on the specific application being done.
With respect to claim 12, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the x-ray detector is selected from the group consisting of a silicon drift detector, a silicon photodiode, a cadmium telluride detector, a cadmium zinc telluride detector, and combinations thereof. However, these are well known x-ray detectors and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for Pesce et al. to use a silicon drift detector, a silicon photodiode, a cadmium telluride detector, a cadmium zinc telluride detector, and combinations thereof, as a matter of design choice, depending on the specific application being done.
With respect to claim 14, Pesce et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the set of materials includes lead. However, Pesce et al. disclose XRF analyzers are used to analyze metals (paragraph 0006). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Pesce et al. to have the set of materials include lead, as a matter of design choice and application.
Conclusion
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/JURIE YUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
July 29, 2025