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 .
Status of Claims and Application
This non-final rejection is in response to the election of invention received by the office on 05 September 2025. Claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 16, 17 & 18 are withdrawn as non-elected.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the invention of group I (claims 1-15) in the reply filed on 05 September 2025 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0235294 to Shapiro et al. (‘294 hereafter).
Regarding claim 1, ‘294 teaches a measuring device for aligning a blueprint coordinate system with a build level coordinate system of a working region of a generative manufacturing device arranged in a build level, the measuring device comprising a first sensor device configured to cover a first coverage region of the working region with a first measurement accuracy (Fig 1 items 110 and 112), a selection module configured to select at least one region of interest within the first coverage region (Fig 1 item 122), a second sensor device configured to cover the at least one selected region of interest with a second measurement accuracy, wherein the second measurement accuracy is higher than the first measurement accuracy (paragraph 0073), and an alignment module configured to determine at least one alignment of the blueprint coordinate system relative to the build level coordinate system, including an angle alignment and/or a translation alignment, based on the covered region of interest (paragraph 0197).
Regarding claim 2, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the alignment module is configured to determine the angle alignment of the blueprint coordinate system relative to the build level coordinate system based on at least one covered region, including the covered first coverage region and/or the covered region of interest, and to determine the translation alignment of the blueprint coordinate system relative to the build level coordinate system based on the covered region of interest (paragraph 0197).
Regarding claim 3, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the alignment module is configured to identify at least one location determination feature of at least one preform arranged in the working region, and to define a geometric location of the at least one location determination feature relative to at least one coordinate system, including the build level coordinate system and/or the blueprint coordinate system, and/or to align the blueprint coordinate system relative to the at least one location determination feature (paragraph 0083).
Regarding claim 4, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the first sensor device comprises an optical sensor device configured to record an optical image of the first coverage region (paragraph 0072).
Regarding claim 5, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the second sensor device is configured to activate a scanner device for moving an optical working beam of the generative manufacturing device in the working region, to detect signal values from electromagnetic radiation originating from an interaction region of the optical working beam in the working region in a location-dependent manner, wherein a respective signal value of the signal values is assigned to each location of the movement of the optical working beam in the working region, and to obtain an image of the working region from the signal values detected in the location-dependent manner (Fig 1 items 120 and paragraph 0083).
Regarding claim 6, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the second sensor device comprises a detection device arranged on an optical axis of the optical working beam and configured to detect a respective signal value in the location-dependent manner in that an output signal of the detection device is assigned in a time-dependent manner to a synchronous state of the scanner device, and/or comprises a thermal imaging camera arranged and configured to cover the working region, wherein the second sensor device is configured to detect a respective signal value in the location-dependent manner by recording a thermal image using the thermal imaging camera (paragraph 0083).
Regarding claim 7, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the selection module is configured to select the at least one region of interest automatically, and/or to provide a user interface that enables the selection of the at least one region of interest by a user of the measuring device (paragraph 0075).
Regarding claim 8, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the alignment module is configured to automatically determine the at least one alignment, including the angle alignment and/or the translation alignment, of the blueprint coordinate system relative to the build level coordinate system, and/or to provide a user interface that enables the determination of the at least one alignment, including the angle alignment and/or the translation alignment, of the blueprint coordinate system relative to the build level coordinate system by a user of the measuring device (paragraph 0197).
Regarding claim 13, ‘294 teaches the measuring device wherein the alignment module is configured to align a plurality of optical working beams of the manufacturing device relative to at least one coordinate system including the build level coordinate system and/or the blueprint coordinate system (paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 14, ‘294 teaches a manufacturing device for generatively manufacturing a component part from a powder material, the manufacturing device comprising: a beam device configured to generate at least one optical working beam to manufacture the component part generatively from a powder material (paragraph 0048, Fig 1 item 160), a working region arranged in a build level and configured to generatively manufacture the component part from the powder material in the working region (Fig 1 item 150), at least one scanner device configured to move the at least one optical working beam in the working region (Fig 1 item 160), a control device operationally connected to the at least one scanner device and configured to activate the at least one scanner device to move the at least one optical working beam in the working region (paragraph 0083), and a measuring device according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
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) 9-12 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘294 as applied to claims 1 or 15 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent 8,847,953 to Cho et al. (‘953 hereafter).
Regarding claim 9, ‘294 does not teach a representation module as claimed.
In the same field of endeavor, additive manufacturing, ‘953 teaches a measuring device comprising a representation module configured to calculate an overall representation of the region of interest in the first coverage region, by overlaying a first representation of the first coverage region with a second representation of the region of interest and/or offsetting the first representation of the first coverage region with the second representation of the region of interest to form the overall representation (Fig 8) for the benefit of monitoring progress of an in-build object. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘294 with those of ‘953 for the benefit of providing an interface to monitor in-build objects.
Regarding claim 10, ‘294 does not teach augmented reality. In the same field of endeavor, additive manufacturing, ‘953 teaches the measuring device wherein the representation module is configured to calculate an augmented reality (AR) representation of the working region such that in the AR representation, the overall representation is displayed in the working region, by overlaying the overall representation with the working region (C6L63-C7L9) for the benefit of monitoring progress of an in-build object. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘294 with those of ‘953 for the benefit of providing an interface to monitor in-build objects.
Regarding claim 11, ‘294 does not teach the representation module as claimed. In the same field of endeavor, additive manufacturing, ‘953 teaches the measuring device wherein the representation module is configured, in the overall representation, to display at least one coordinate system including the build level coordinate system and/or the blueprint coordinate system, and/or to display irradiation vectors for generative manufacturing of a component part in the working region (Fig 2 item 21-1) for the benefit of monitoring progress of an in-build object. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘294 with those of ‘953 for the benefit of providing an interface to monitor in-build objects.
Regarding claim 12, ‘294 does not teach the alignment module as claimed. In the same field of endeavor, additive manufacturing, ‘953 teaches the measuring device wherein the alignment module is configured to link location information along a coordinate extending perpendicular to the build level with at least one coordinate system including the build level coordinate system and/or the blueprint coordinate system (Fig 8, Fig 4) for the benefit of monitoring progress of an in-build object. It would have been obvious to one possessed of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘294 with those of ‘953 for the benefit of providing an interface to monitor in-build objects.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John P Robitaille whose telephone number is (571)270-7006. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-6:00PM.
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, Galen Hauth can be reached at (571) 270-5516. 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.
/JPR/Examiner, Art Unit 1743
/GALEN H HAUTH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1743