DETAILED ACTION1. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s preliminary amendments filed 11/27/23 and 6/21/24. 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 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. 4. 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 and 14 – 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being
anticipated by Aoyama et al. (JPWO2016186203, hereinafter Aoyama).
Regarding claim 1, Aoyama discloses an apparatus comprising a test sheet 10, a substrate layer (base) 1 containing a polymeric material; and a stress luminescent layer 3 formed on the substrate layer, the stress luminescent layer containing a stress luminescent material, wherein the substrate layer is thicker than the stress luminescent layer (See Fig. 1, See Pg. 2, Para. 9).
Regarding claim 14, an adhesive layer 6 is provided for adhering the test sheet to the target object, wherein the substrate layer 1 is formed on the adhesive layer (See Fig. 10, See Pg. 18, Para. 6).
Regarding claim 15, an antistatic layer (brittle layer) 8 is formed between the adhesive layer 6 and the substrate layer 1 via a second substrate 1b (See Fig. 11, See Pg. 19, Para. 11).
Regarding claim 16, the adhesive layer is made of a removable adhesive (See Pg. 18, Paras. 6 – 9).
Regarding claim 17, the stress luminescent layer has a thickness of 10 um or less (See Pg. 10, Para. 5).
Regarding claim 18, the antistatic layer 8 is provided, the substrate layer 1 is formed on the antistatic layer, the substrate layer contains a polymeric material; and the stress luminescent layer 3 is formed on the substrate layer, the stress luminescent layer containing a stress luminescent material (See Fig. 1, See Pg. 2, Para. 9).
Regarding claim 19, the adhesive layer 6 adheres the test sheet to a target object, wherein the substrate layer is formed on the antistatic layer (See Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 20, the antistatic layer 8 is formed between the adhesive layer and the substrate layer via the second substrate 1b (See Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 21, the adhesive layer is made of a removable adhesive (See Pg. 18, Paras. 6 – 9).
Regarding claim 22, the stress luminescent layer has a thickness of 10 um or less (See Pg. 10, Para. 5).
Regarding claim 23, the test sheet is irradiated and adhered to the target object with excitation light, the test sheet comprises a substrate layer 1 containing a polymeric material, and a stress luminescent layer 3 formed on the substrate layer, the stress luminescent layer containing a stress luminescent material; a captured image of the test sheet is acquired and a luminous intensity of the test sheet is identified from the captured image (See Pg. 2, Para. 16, Pg. 5, Para. 5, Pg. 7, Para. 6 and Pg. 54, Para. 9).
Regarding claim 24, the substrate layer 1 is thicker than the stress luminescent layer 3 (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 25, the test sheet comprises an antistatic layer 8 disposed on an opposite side of the substrate layer 1 opposite to a side on which the stress luminescent layer 3 is formed (See Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 26, the test sheet comprises an adhesive layer 6 disposed on an opposite side of the substrate layer 1 opposite to a side on which the stress luminescent layer 3 is formed (See Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 27, the adhesive layer is made of a removable adhesive (See Pg. 18, Paras. 6 – 9).
Regarding claim 28, the stress luminescent layer has a thickness of 10 um or less (See Pg. 10, Para. 5).
Regarding claim 29, a plurality of test sheets is cut out from the same sheet, and the plurality of test sheets is adhered to a respective plurality of locations on the target object (See Figs. 44 and 46, See Pg. 18, Para. 9 and Pg. 54, Paras. 10 – 12).6. Claims 1, 14, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Naito et al. (JP6006066, hereinafter Naito). Regarding claim 1, Naito discloses an apparatus comprising a test sheet 1, a substrate layer 2 containing a polymeric material; and a stress luminescent layer 3 formed on the substrate layer, the stress luminescent layer containing a stress luminescent material, wherein the substrate layer is thicker than the stress luminescent layer (See Fig. 1, See Pg. 2, Para. 5).
Regarding claim 14, an adhesive layer is provided for adhering the test sheet to a target object, wherein the substrate layer is formed on the adhesive layer (See Pg. 29, Para. 2).
Regarding claim 16, the adhesive layer is made of a removable adhesive (See Pg. 29, Para. 2).
Regarding claim 17, the stress luminescent layer has a thickness of 10 um or less (See Pg. 7, Para. 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant's disclosure. 8. Kanamaru (12,442,737) discloses a stress measuring method, stress measuring apparatus, and computer readable non-transitory storage medium. Yokoi (11,704,786) discloses a stress luminescent measurement method and stress luminescence measurement device. Yokoi et al. (2021/0356400) disclose a stress luminescence measurement device and stress luminescence measurement method. Raghavan et al. (2013/0082191) disclose a stress sensitive material and methods for using same. Hubner et al. (6,943,869) disclose a method and apparatus for measuring strain using a luminescent photoelastic coating. Ifju et al. (6,327,030) disclose a system, method, and coating for strain analysis.9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OCTAVIA HOLLINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-2176. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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/OCTAVIA HOLLINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 11/25/25