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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 15-24 in the reply filed on 6/4/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-14 and 25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/4/2026.
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 15-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Milshtein et al. (US 2018/0154442 A1, hereinafter “Milshtein”).
Regarding claim 15, Milshtein teaches three-dimensional printing methods which utilize one or more detectors that may be used to detect characteristics of the 3D object in real-time during its formation (Milshtein, Abstract). Milshtein teaches depositing a layer of pre-transformed material, e.g., powder, in an enclosure, heating at least a portion of the material bed by an energy sources, i.e., tiling energy flux, and measuring the temperature and/or the shape of the transformed fraction within the heated area of the tile, including the depth, to control the energy irradiated at a particular portion (Milshtein, [0131], [0137], [0142], and [0247]). Milshtein further teaches, moving the irradiating energy may include moving one or more steps in the forward direction, wherein the steps may be tiles, e.g., overlapping or non-overlapping tiles (Milshtein, [0247]). Milshtein teaches the energy flux may heat a portion of a 3D object, where the energy flux may irradiate a target surface for a period of time, i.e., dwell time, in which the energy density of the energy flux may vary by controlling the temperature and/or measurements of the melt pool based on height measurements (Milshtein, [0107]).
The method of making the 3D objects of Milshtein corresponds to a method of additively manufacturing a build piece of claim 15. Depositing a powder layer of Milshtein corresponds to depositing a layer of powder material in a powder bed of claim 15. Measuring the temperature and/or shape of the heated area of a tile corresponds to obtaining information of the layer of powder material, the information including a plurality of tiles of the layer and a tile energy profile associated with each of the tiles of claim 15.
Controlling the energy flux during a dwell time at the different tiles, i.e., steps, of Milshtein corresponds to controlling a beam shaping component to adjust a beam energy profile associated with a laser beam to correspond to a tile energy profile of a first tile of the plurality of tiles to obtain a first beam energy profile, applying a pulse of the laser beam with the first beam energy profile to the first tile to fuse a portion of the build piece corresponding to the first tile, controlling the beam shaping component to adjust a beam energy profile associated with the laser beam to correspond to a tile energy profile of a second tile of the plurality of tiles to obtain a second beam energy profile, wherein the second beam energy profile is different than the first beam energy profile, and applying the pulse of the laser beam with the second beam energy profile to the second tile to fuse a portion of the build piece corresponding to the second tile of claim 15.
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Milshtein teaches the energy flux may irradiate a target surface for a period of time, i.e., dwell time, in which the energy density of the energy flux may vary by controlling the temperature and/or measurements of the melt pool based on height measurements (Milshtein, [0107]). The height measurements of the melt pool of Milshtein corresponds to wherein the tile energy profile comprises one or more parameters of claim 16 and wherein the one or more parameters include one or more of at least a length, a width, a depth, a power density, or a time of claim 17.
Regarding claims 18 and 24, Milshtein teaches the control of the energy comprises altering the energy profile of the energy beam and/or flux respectively, where the control may comprise altering a property comprising the power, power per unit area, cross section, energy profile, focus, scanning speed, pulse frequency, or dwell time (Milshtein, [0138]). Controlling the energy based on different properties of Milshtein corresponds to wherein the first beam energy profile and the second beam energy profile have different power densities over time of claim 18. Controlling the energy based on the scanning speed of Milshtein corresponds to further comprising determining a beam speed of the laser beam to be applied to each of the plurality of tiles of claim 24.
Regarding claim 19, Milshtein further teaches, moving the irradiating energy may include moving one or more steps in the forward direction, wherein the steps may be tiles, e.g., overlapping or non-overlapping tiles (Milshtein, [0247]), which corresponds to wherein a portion of the first tile and a portion of the second tile overlap of claim 19.
Regarding claim 20, Milshtein further teaches, moving the irradiating energy may include moving one or more steps in the forward direction, wherein the steps may be tiles, e.g., overlapping or non-overlapping tiles, wherein moving the irradiating energy can include moving one or more steps selected from (i) moving in a forward direction to form a first forward path, (ii) irradiating to at least partially overlap the first forward path in a backwards direction to form a backwards path, and (iii) irradiating to at least partially overlap the backwards path in a forward direction. Operations (i) to (iii) can be conducted sequentially (Milshtein, [0247]). The order of the forward steps of Milshtein corresponds to further comprising determining a processing order of each of the plurality of tiles of claim 20.
Regarding claim 21, Milshtein teaches the system can comprise an energy profile alteration device that evens out any irregularities in the energy flux profile, where the energy profile alteration device may comprise an energy flux profile shaper, e.g., beam shaper, that may create a certain shape to the energy flux profile (Milshtein, [0123]). The beam shaper of Milshtein corresponds to further comprising determining a shape of the laser beam to be applied to each of the plurality of tiles of claim 21.
Regarding claim 22, Milshtein teaches the transformation of the heated tile may be monitored, e.g., monitoring of the heat and/or FLS of the transformed fraction within the heated area, may be used to control one or more parameters of the energy source, energy flux, second energy source, and/or second scanning energy beam (Milshtein, [0137]). The monitoring of both the tiles and the 3D object in order to control the parameters of the energy source of Milshtein corresponds to wherein the tile energy profile associated with each of the plurality of tiles includes an energy profile based on a geometry of the build piece of claim 22.
Regarding claim 23, Milshtein teaches at least one sensor can be operatively coupled to a control system, in which the sensor can be a metrology sensor which comprises a measurement sensor, for measuring height, length, width, angle, and/or volume, of the tile (Milshtein, [0249]), which corresponds to further comprising determining a size of each of the plurality of tiles of claim 23.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIELLE CARDA whose telephone number is (571)270-1240. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-4:00 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sally Merkling can be reached at (571) 272-6297. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DANIELLE M. CARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1738
Prosecution Insights