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
Claims 7 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 7, “Half-Heusler” should read --half-Heusler-- and “Skutterudites” should read --skutterudites--. In claim 8, “according to,” should read --according to claim 1,--. Appropriate correction is required. Suitable corrections should also be made in the specification.
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 1-9 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
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) 1-7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (CN106384780A) in view of Wang (CN103199188A).
Yan discloses the claimed invention as follows (refer to Fig. 9, Example 1, and [0043]1; limitations not disclosed by Yan are crossed out, below):
Claim 1. A method for manufacturing a thermoelectric structure comprising the following steps:
a) providing (see [0011], [0012], [0089] and [0090]) a substrate (1), covered completely or locally with a metal layer (2),
b) forming (see [0013] and [0091]) a thermoelectric element (for claims 1-5 and 7-9: 5, 6; for claim 6: 5 with 6, 7 and the not shown upper ceramic substrate; see [0015] and [0017]) made from a thermoelectric material on the metal layer, by additive manufacturing (“selective laser melting” in [0014]; see [0091], preferably by selective laser sintering or by powder bed laser fusion,
Claim 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric element (5, 6) is a pin, having a base and a height. See Figs. 9(B) and 9(C).
Claim 3. The method according to claim 1,
Claim 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal layer has a surface area greater than the surface area of the base of the pin. See Figs. 9(A) and 9(B).
Claim 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in step a), the metal layer locally covers the substrate so as to form a plurality of islands and in that a thermoelectric element or a plurality of thermoelectric elements are deposited on each island during step b). Compare Figs. 9(A) and 9(B).
Claim 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric element is a part in the form of a comb delimiting a base (7, Fig. 9(D) together with the upper ceramic layer) and a plurality of arms (a P and an N element attached to a corresponding 2), substantially parallel to each other, extending substantially orthogonally from the base, the plurality of arms having a first end and a second end, the first end (upper end) being connected to the base, and the second end of the plurality of arms being in contact with the metal layer.
Claim 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric material is selected from Si, SiGe, Bi2Te3, Half-Heusler and Skutterudites. See the half-Heusler ZrNiSn in [0026].
Claim 8.
Claim 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal layer is made from a material selected from Al, Ti, Cu, Au and Ni. See [0025] and [0090].
Yan does not disclose removing the substrate.
Wang discloses a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric structure, wherein the thermoelectric structure is built layer-by-layer on a substrate 15. If a substrate 15 is electrically non-conductive and thermally conductive, and can serve as a rigid outer shell 5, it is not removed. However, if “the substrate cannot be used as a rigid outer shell 5, the bottom substrate 15 needs to be removed to expose the prepared bottom conductive connection layer 12 (Fig. 25)”, and a suitable substrate is attached (see [0039]).
Yan discloses the substrate being a ceramic substrate, which remains part of the device, in the same manner as the rigid shell 5 of Wang. See “ceramic insulating substrates” in [0017]; see “ceramic plate” in [0089]. In view of the teachings of Wang, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found obvious an alternative process in which the substrate is not suitable for use in the final product and is, therefore, removed after the thermoelectric structure is manufactured, to allow attachment of a suitable substrate. Replacing one known technique with an alternative known technique is deemed to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 3, Wan discloses forming a barrier layer 14 on a metal layer 12, serving to prevent diffusion between the thermoelectric material and the metal layer 12 (see [0018]). In Fig. 10, it can be seen the barrier layer 14 has the same width as the corresponding thermoelectric arm. Nickel metal is a suitable material (see [0171]).
In view of the teachings of Wan, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to form a barrier layer prior to forming the thermoelectric element, the barrier layer having the same surface area as the bottom surface of the thermoelectric layer, to prevent diffusion between the thermoelectric material and the metal layer 2. For this claim, the claimed metal layer is the barrier layer, not metal layer 2.
Claim 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan in view of Wang, further in view of Scott (US2011/0241947A1).
Yan discloses the electrode material (i.e., metal layer) can be Ti (see [0025]).
Scott teaches (see [0005]) “[t]ypical additive manufacturing apparatuses build components onto a rigid metallic plate or substrate from which the component can be removed or, alternatively, which can be incorporated into the final component.” Scott further teaches (see [0006]) “ [t]he rigid substrate must be made of a material to which the build material (i.e. the material used to build the desired component) will weld or adhere during processing. Very often the substrate needs to be of a similar material or the same material as the build material.” Scott mentions a titanium build plate for use in a selective laser melting apparatus (see [0006]).
In view of the further teachings of Scott, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to perform the process of Yan with titanium powder for the metal layer, using a selective laser melting apparatus having a titanium build plate, as the claimed substrate, as a matter of using a known selective laser sintering technique, with predictable results. The thermoelectric structure would then be removed from the build plate, as discussed by Scott, and a suitable rigid plate would be attached as discussed above with respect to Wang.
Conclusion
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
1 Note all references to paragraphs are based on the paragraph numbers in the machine translation
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