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 .
This is a response to U.S. Patent Application No. 18/576,934 filed on 01/05/2024 in which Claims 1 – 22 were presented for examination. In a preliminary amendment filed on 01/05/2024, applicant canceled Claims 1 – 22 and added Claims 23 – 42. Accordingly, Claims 23 – 42 remain pending for examination.
Status of the Claims
Claims 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 36, 37 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and Claims 25, 28 – 32, 35, 38 and 40 – 42.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/05/2024 have been entered and considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 33, 34 and 36 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 33, 34 and 36 recite the term “and/or”, which is selective language, the examiner suggests using either the “and” term or the “or” term, otherwise the claim should be worded in a more clearer fashion to claim both terms.
For purpose of this examination, the examiner is selecting the “or” term from this selective language.
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 23, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 36, 37 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ersa GmbH “Real added value with assistance systems”, EPP Europe, May 1, 2018, pages 34 – 36 (hereinafter, Ersa) (cited in IDS dated 01/05/2024).
Regarding Claim 23, Ersa teaches a process for generating a program for applying flux to, or for soldering components onto, an electronics board, the program comprising manufacturing settings (Ersa in page 34 , first column, teaches Ersa CAD assistant 4, for soldering program generation for selective soldering) and the process comprising:
obtaining an image of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column teaches data processing – using data or image files. The CAD assistant 4 offers the user possibilities to create a soldering program. There is the possibility of scanning-in images of the PCB. In this case, a 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator);
determining board properties from the image of the board, the board properties comprising one or more locations of at least one soldering spot on the board, wherein the at least one soldering spot comprises an aperture through which a part of an electronic component extends or is extendable, to be soldered to the board (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CNC sequence contains all the position data, route parameters and process parameters necessary for reliable and high-quality THT soldering joints. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that the 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches in take advantage of your data, that on the basis of the ODB++ data of the assembly, the CAD assistant 4 supplies further information on the components to be used, the drill holes and the individual layers of the PCB. If there are already components on the soldered side of the assembly, they may not come into contact with the soldering wave. The solder pots have to avoid and detour around this area during positioning); and
determining the manufacturing settings based upon the determined board properties (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CAD assistant 4 offers an auto-routing function, which allows the software to independently calculate the fastest soldering program for an assembly, i.e., the software suggests the ideal route for the flux and soldering program. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that if there are already components on the soldered side of the assembly, they may not come into contact with the soldering wave. The solder pots have to avoid and detour around this area during positioning. Ersa in page 36, first column, further teaches that the auto-routing algorithm is designed to calculate the fastest path).
Regarding Claim 24, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the board properties further comprise at least one cross-sectional dimension of the aperture (Ersa in page 34, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. This means that the exact free space around the solder joints is known at every spot on the board).
Regarding Claim 26, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the manufacturing settings comprise settings relating to at least one of the application of flux or the application of solder (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CAD assistant 4 offers an auto-routing function, which allows the software to independently calculate the fastest soldering program for an assembly, i.e., the software suggests the ideal route for the flux and soldering program. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that if there are already components on the soldered side of the assembly, they may not come into contact with the soldering wave. The solder pots have to avoid and detour around this area during positioning. Ersa in page 36, first column, further teaches that the auto-routing algorithm is designed to calculate the fastest path).
Regarding Claim 27, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the determining of manufacturing settings comprises using an information repository to provide the manufacturing settings corresponding to the board properties, wherein the information repository contains properties of at least one of a plurality of flux materials or a plurality of solder materials corresponding to different board properties (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CNC sequence contains all the position data, route parameters and process parameters necessary for reliable and high-quality THT soldering joints. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that the 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches in take advantage of your data, that components and the relevant process parameters are stored in a database, so that the pre-defined process parameters from familiar components can be automatically transferred to new assemblies. Where necessary, these can be individually adapted by the operator. The option is also available of “marrying” components with flux and soldering parameters and storing these permanently in the database. Ersa in page 36, first column, further teaches that for saving all the data on the soldering plant, the Ersasoft 5 platform uses a common database system).
Regarding Claim 33, Ersa teaches a method of generating programs for applying flux to, and/or for soldering components onto, first and second electronics boards (Ersa in page 34 , first column teaches Ersa CAD assistant 4, for soldering program generation for selective soldering), the method comprising:
applying the process of claim 23 to generate an individual program for at least one of applying flux to the first electronics board or soldering components onto the first electronics board (See the above rejection of claim 23) ; and
applying the process of claim 23 to generate an individual program for applying flux for at least one of applying flux to the first electronics board or soldering components onto the second electronics board (See the above rejection of Claim 23, furthermore, Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part list placement data and exact measurements. Ersa in page 35, second paragraph, further teaches that templates offer the process engineer a fast start in program creation with the CAD Assistant 4. In the program, Ersa has stored templates for different nozzle sizes and operation modes which can be used for the creation of soldering programs. Pre-defined templates can be individually adapted, re-defined if necessary, and saved for future use. When changing the parameters of the templates, the process engineer has enormous flexibility and adapts the order of the process steps to his requirements by drag & drop. Completed templates can simply be transferred from one machine to another by the export and import function).
Regarding Claim 34, Ersa teaches a method of generating programs for applying flux to, and/or for soldering components onto, a plurality of electronics boards, the method comprising applying the process of claim 23 to generate an individual program for at least one of applying flux to the plurality of electronics boards or soldering components onto the plurality of electronics boards (See the above rejection of Claim 23, furthermore, Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part list placement data and exact measurements. Ersa in page 35, second paragraph, further teaches that templates offer the process engineer a fast start in program creation with the CAD Assistant 4. In the program, Ersa has stored templates for different nozzle sizes and operation modes which can be used for the creation of soldering programs. Pre-defined templates can be individually adapted, re-defined if necessary, and saved for future use. When changing the parameters of the templates, the process engineer has enormous flexibility and adapts the order of the process steps to his requirements by drag & drop. Completed templates can simply be transferred from one machine to another by the export and import function).
Regarding Claim 36, Ersa teaches a process for generating a program for applying flux to, and/or for soldering components onto, each of a plurality of electronics boards (Ersa in page 34 , first column, teaches Ersa CAD assistant 4, for soldering program generation for selective soldering), the program comprising manufacturing settings and the process comprising:
obtaining an image of each board (Ersa in page 35, first column teaches data processing – using data or image files. The CAD assistant 4 offers the user possibilities to create a soldering program. There is the possibility of scanning-in images of the PCB. In this case, a 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator);
determining board properties for each board from the image of the respective board, the board properties comprising a location or locations of at least one soldering spot on the respective board, wherein the at least one soldering spot comprises an aperture through which a part of an electronic component extends or is extendable, to be soldered to the respective board (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CNC sequence contains all the position data, route parameters and process parameters necessary for reliable and high-quality THT soldering joints. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that the 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches in take advantage of your data, that on the basis of the ODB++ data of the assembly, the CAD assistant 4 supplies further information on the components to be used, the drill holes and the individual layers of the PCB. If there are already components on the soldered side of the assembly, they may not come into contact with the soldering wave. The solder pots have to avoid and detour around this area during positioning. Ersa in page 35, second paragraph, further teaches that templates offer the process engineer a fast start in program creation with the CAD Assistant 4. In the program, Ersa has stored templates for different nozzle sizes and operation modes which can be used for the creation of soldering programs. Pre-defined templates can be individually adapted, re-defined if necessary, and saved for future use. When changing the parameters of the templates, the process engineer has enormous flexibility and adapts the order of the process steps to his requirements by drag & drop. Completed templates can simply be transferred from one machine to another by the export and import function); and
determining the manufacturing settings based upon the determined board properties (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CAD assistant 4 offers an auto-routing function, which allows the software to independently calculate the fastest soldering program for an assembly, i.e., the software suggests the ideal route for the flux and soldering program. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that if there are already components on the soldered side of the assembly, they may not come into contact with the soldering wave. The solder pots have to avoid and detour around this area during positioning. Ersa in page 36, first column, further teaches that the auto-routing algorithm is designed to calculate the fastest path).
Regarding Claim 37, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 36. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the board properties further comprise at least one cross-sectional dimension of the aperture (Ersa in page 34, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. This means that the exact free space around the solder joints is known at every spot on the board).
Regarding Claim 39, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 36. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the determining of the manufacturing settings comprises using an information repository to provide the manufacturing settings corresponding to the board properties, wherein the information repository contains properties of one or more of a plurality of flux materials or a plurality of solder materials corresponding to different board properties (Ersa in page 34, second column, teaches that the CNC sequence contains all the position data, route parameters and process parameters necessary for reliable and high-quality THT soldering joints. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches that the 2D image is projected onto the screen, then cross-referenced and provided with the necessary process parameters by the operator. Ersa in page 35, first column, further teaches in take advantage of your data, that components and the relevant process parameters are stored in a database, so that the pre-defined process parameters from familiar components can be automatically transferred to new assemblies. Where necessary, these can be individually adapted by the operator. The option is also available of “marrying” components with flux and soldering parameters and storing these permanently in the database. Ersa in page 36, first column, further teaches that for saving all the data on the soldering plant, the Ersasoft 5 platform uses a common database system).
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 25, 28 – 32, 38 and 40 – 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ersa in view of Tombs et al. (US 2015/0273634) (hereinafter, Tombs).
Regarding Claim 25, Ersa teaches the imitations contained in parent Claim 24.
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose wherein the at least one cross-sectional dimension is a diameter.
Tombs in par 0002, teaches that in selective soldering applications, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are handled on or within a soldering apparatus for soldering components onto the PCBs. Tombs in par 0045 – 0048, further teaches that the contact area is magnified to assist the observation of the contact area. Preferably the soldering nozzle has an internal diameter of less than 4 mm. More preferably it has an internal diameter of less than 2 mm. Diameter typically applies to round outlet diameters, although the outlets may be non-round, whereby instead of a diameter, it is the largest diametrical dimension that should be less than 4 mm or preferably less than 2 mm. An image of the contact area is captured by a camera. It is preferred that the solder is arranged to contact the sheet of material for no more than 4 seconds before the flow of solder is brought out of contact with the surface. This is to avoid excessive heating of the sheet of material. Due to this short contact period, the image is usually the observed record of the contact area, with the parameters being determined from that image.
Tombs in par 0128 and Fig. 2, further teaches that the parameters visible just on the left of the frozen image in figure 2 provide the location and size of the inner and outer reference circles. The reference circles, as explained above, represent a target value for the solder contact area, and we can clearly see that the measured solder contact area is off target in so far as its X and Y location is concerned. The size of the contact area, however, is within accepted tolerances, despite it being offset.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa to obtain in Ersa parameters such as diameter of the area as disclosed in Tombs. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve and optimize the precision and accuracy of the soldering operations (see Tombs’ par 0001).
Regarding Claim 28, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23. Ersa further teaches:
further comprising:
determining the thermal mass of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results); and
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose using the thermal mass and the manufacturing settings to generate machine settings, the machine settings comprising at least one of: a preheat temperature profile for the board; a flux application route; a flux application speed; a flux application amount; a flux application temperature; a flux application flow rate; a solder application route; a solder application height; a solder application temperature; a drag speed of the board; a debridging gas flow rate; or solder nozzle dimensions.
Tombs in par 0013, teaches that rapid and accurate application of the solder is particularly desired where electronic components tends to be smaller. This is since smaller components typically heat up quicker and it is often damaging to overheat the components. Such demands can lead to the provision of smaller nozzles, e.g. since they offer a smaller heat mass. Other phenomena, more or less transient, can also affect the precision and accuracy of selective soldering operations, such as “dewetting”, “freezing”, “jetting” and “bobbling”. “Freezing” is the result of a complete or partial obstruction of the soldering nozzle, or due to the molten solder cooling within the flow-path, and it is usually manifested as a solidification of the solder flow due to a drop in the temperature of the molten solder at the nozzle's outlet, or within the bubble upon contact with the component/PCB. It is thus typically a result of a rapid temperature drop in the solder within the bubble (such as due to a temperature difference between the termination and the solder bubble). Preheating typically assists in minimizing the occurrence of this phenomenon, and other approaches are also known, such as increasing solder flow rates or nozzle sizes, or by providing optimized nozzle designs for small nozzle applications, such as vented nozzles.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa to preheat the board of Ersa as disclosed in Tombs. The motivation for doing so would have been to prevent freezing during the soldering process (See Tombs’ par 0019).
Regarding Claim 29, Ersa in view of Tombs teaches the limitations contained in patent Claim 28. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the determining of the thermal mass of the board comprises automatically obtaining technical information from a technical drawing or 3D model of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results).
Regarding Claim 30, Ersa in view of Tombs teaches the limitations contained in patent Claim 28. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the technical information includes one or more of: the thermal mass, dimensions of copper layers, number of copper layers, a board thickness, or dimensions of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results).
Regarding Claim 31, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23. Ersa further teaches:
wherein the at least one soldering spot is at least two soldering spots (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. This means that the exact free space around the solder joints is known at every spot on the board),
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose and the determined board properties further comprise a distance between the apertures of the at least two soldering spots.
Ersa teaches in page 35, first column, teaches data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. This means that the exact free space around the solder joints is known at every spot on the board.
Tombs in par 0011, teaches The process of soldering components onto a PCB with such soldering apparatuses is generally very quick, as the hot, liquid solder almost instantaneously joins the component to the PCB and to the circuit track of the PCB. Once the solder is applied, the soldering nozzle is then usually moved relative to the PCB, usually downwardly in the z direction and then in an X-Y plane (that is a horizontal direction, and typically parallel to the plane of the PCB). This is so that it can reach either the next spot or area to be soldered or a holding/stowage position.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa to determine the distance between soldering spots. The motivation for doing so would have been to effectively move the soldering nozzle to the next spot or area to be soldered (See Tombs’ par 0011).
Regarding Claim 32, Ersa teaches the limitations contained in parent Claim 23.
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose further comprising comparing the board properties to expected board properties to determine if the difference between the board properties and the expected board properties are within a predetermined tolerance.
Tombs in par 0037 – 0038, teaches that a measured parameter is one or more of a size or length, e.g. the splash-length or splash-width or splash-diameter, a position of the splash relative to a predetermined marker, or a shape of the splash. Having measured the parameter, that parameter can be compared against a stored value, or a desired value, or threshold values, whereby deviations therefrom can be detected or determined.
Tombs in par 0121 – 0124, and Fig. 1, teaches a calibration routine for improving the performance of selective soldering operations. The user initially selects a target location, i.e. a target soldering spot on the board that requires scrutiny by using the system, for example because non optimal soldering has been detected at that location. A target size of solder contact area is associated by the user with the target location. These parameters could alternatively be stored in the program that controls the system. The target size of solder contact area is the desired or target parameter. The user then “runs a test”, i.e. asks the system to bring the soldering nozzle in the selected target location and by means of the camera the system can detect, acquire, measure, analyze, etc. . . . , as required, raw data. By a comparison between the target size of solder contact area, and its target location, and the actual location and size of the solder contact area, the user can determine whether adjustment is required. If adjustment is required, the software will be able to determine it based on the acquired data, or the user can manually make the adjustment using the video feed and the fixed markers.
Therefore, it will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa, to compare the measured parameters of Ersa against a target parameters as disclosed in Tombs. The motivation for doing so would have been to detect if a deviation exceeds a given threshold, thus determining if adjustment are necessary (See Tombs par 0039).
Regarding Claim 38, Ersa teaches the imitations contained in parent Claim 37.
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose wherein the at least one cross-sectional dimension is a diameter.
Tombs in par 0002, teaches that in selective soldering applications, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are handled on or within a soldering apparatus for soldering components onto the PCBs. Tombs in par 0045 – 0048, further teaches that the contact area is magnified to assist the observation of the contact area. Preferably the soldering nozzle has an internal diameter of less than 4 mm. More preferably it has an internal diameter of less than 2 mm. Diameter typically applies to round outlet diameters, although the outlets may be non-round, whereby instead of a diameter, it is the largest diametrical dimension that should be less than 4 mm or preferably less than 2 mm. An image of the contact area is captured by a camera. It is preferred that the solder is arranged to contact the sheet of material for no more than 4 seconds before the flow of solder is brought out of contact with the surface. This is to avoid excessive heating of the sheet of material. Due to this short contact period, the image is usually the observed record of the contact area, with the parameters being determined from that image.
Tombs in par 0128 and Fig. 2, further teaches that the parameters visible just on the left of the frozen image in figure 2 provide the location and size of the inner and outer reference circles. The reference circles, as explained above, represent a target value for the solder contact area, and we can clearly see that the measured solder contact area is off target in so far as its X and Y location is concerned. The size of the contact area, however, is within accepted tolerances, despite it being offset.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa to obtain in Ersa parameters such as diameter of the area as disclosed in Tombs. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve and optimize the precision and accuracy of the soldering operations (see Tombs’ par 0001).
Regarding Claim 40, Ersa teaches the imitations contained in parent Claim 36.
Ersa further teaches:
further comprising:
determining the thermal mass of each board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results);
However, Ersa does not specifically disclose using the thermal mass and the manufacturing settings to generate machine settings, the machine settings comprising at least one of: a preheat temperature profile for the board; a flux application route; a flux application speed; a flux application amount; a flux application temperature; a flux application flow rate; a solder application route; a solder application height; a solder application temperature; a drag speed of the board; a debridging gas flow rate; or solder nozzle dimensions.
Tombs in par 0013, teaches that rapid and accurate application of the solder is particularly desired where electronic components tends to be smaller. This is since smaller components typically heat up quicker and it is often damaging to overheat the components. Such demands can lead to the provision of smaller nozzles, e.g. since they offer a smaller heat mass. Other phenomena, more or less transient, can also affect the precision and accuracy of selective soldering operations, such as “dewetting”, “freezing”, “jetting” and “bobbling”. “Freezing” is the result of a complete or partial obstruction of the soldering nozzle, or due to the molten solder cooling within the flow-path, and it is usually manifested as a solidification of the solder flow due to a drop in the temperature of the molten solder at the nozzle's outlet, or within the bubble upon contact with the component/PCB. It is thus typically a result of a rapid temperature drop in the solder within the bubble (such as due to a temperature difference between the termination and the solder bubble). Preheating typically assists in minimizing the occurrence of this phenomenon, and other approaches are also known, such as increasing solder flow rates or nozzle sizes, or by providing optimized nozzle designs for small nozzle applications, such as vented nozzles.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Tombs with the teachings as in Ersa to preheat the board of Ersa as disclosed in Tombs. The motivation for doing so would have been to prevent freezing during the soldering process (See Tombs’ par 0019).
Regarding Claim 41, Ersa teaches the imitations contained in parent Claim 40.
Ersa further teaches:
wherein the determining of the thermal mass of the board comprises automatically obtaining technical information from a technical drawing or 3D model of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results).
Regarding Claim 42, Ersa teaches the imitations contained in parent Claim 41.
Ersa further teaches:
wherein the technical information includes at least one of the thermal mass, dimensions of copper layers, number of copper layers, a board thickness, or dimensions of the board (Ersa in page 35, first column, teaches that the import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data includes information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling holes, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. The use of CAD data such as ODB++ offers the process engineer enormous benefits in programming. Such information as heat capacity, drilling data, etc. is of central significance for optimum soldering results).
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OYAMA et al. (US 2019/0354090) (hereinafter, Oyama) in view of Ersa.
Regarding Claim 35, Oyama teaches a method of maintaining a soldering machine (See Oyama’s par 0033), the method comprising logging the determined properties or settings of the process of claims 23 (See the above rejection of Claim 23), and predicting a lifecycle of at least one of the soldering machine or a lifecycle of components of the soldering machine based on the logged properties or settings (Oyama in par 0032 – 0033, teaches that during execution of a production process, when an error requiring the operator's maintenance is detected in component mounter 5 and component mounter 5 is stopped, the production devices upstream from component mounter 5 are subsequently stopped by the stagnation of the conveyance of board 90. It is assumed that the cause for the above-described maintenance is a shortage of components in component supply device 20, a defect in a supplied component, an operation defect of mounting head 33, a solder defect on board 90, or the like. Further, the cause for maintenance can be identified from detection results of various sensors in component mounter 5 and the results of image processing using part camera 41 and board camera 42. Further, the cause for maintenance can be specified together with component mounter 5 on which the target component is mounted, for example, based on the inspection result from appearance inspection device 6 and function inspection device 8. Further, manufacturing management device 80 may determine that maintenance is required in accordance with an execution time for maintenance planned in advance for the purpose of preventing an occurrence of an error or the like. Oyama in par 0074, further teaches that in a case where maintenance level is lower than a threshold (S12: No), manufacturing management device 80 sets a maintenance schedule (S21). Here, in a case where maintenance level is lower than the threshold, the necessity for immediately executing the maintenance is low. Therefore, the timing at which the production process is suspended can be appropriately set in a certain period. Therefore, manufacturing management device 80 sets the maintenance schedule based on the extent of progress of the production plan.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the teachings as in Oyama with the teachings as in Ersa to determine if maintenance is required based on the obtained properties in Ersa. The motivation for doing so would have been to effectively determine if maintenance is require (See Oyama’s Abstract).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARIEL MERCADO VARGAS whose telephone number is (571)270-1701. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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, Scott Baderman can be reached at 571-272-3644. 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.
/ARIEL MERCADO-VARGAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118