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
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 3, after “acquired by” it appears that “a” should be inserted. Appropriate correction is required.
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 11-12, 21, and 25 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.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "a second force" in line 3. However, there is no prior “force” or “first force”. It appears that claim 11 should depend on claim 10 and has been treated as such.
Claim 12 is rejected by virtue of its dependency on rejected claim 11.
Claim 21 recites the limitation "the second distance threshold" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 25 recites the limitation "the actual first position" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stahl et al. (US 2020/0185119 A1).
With respect to claim 27, Stahl et al. disclose a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) (Fig. 5 - 500), comprising: a plurality of leaves (510) configured to shape a radiation field (Fig. 8A - 830); and a plurality of driving assemblies (530) each of which is configured to drive one of the plurality of leaves to a desired target position for shaping the radiation field (paragraph 0111 - “For example, each leaf may be actuated by its corresponding pneumatic cylinder.”), wherein a driving assembly associated with a leaf includes: a pneumatic actuator (paragraph 0098) configured to drive the leaf toward a desired first position; and a piezoelectric actuator (paragraph 0098) configured to stop the leaf in response to a determination that the leaf arrives at the desired first position (paragraphs 0094+).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-10, 13-17, and 24 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Prior art discloses a multi-leaf collimator (MLC), comprising: a plurality of leaves configured to shape a radiation field; and a plurality of driving assemblies each of which is configured to drive one of the plurality of leaves to a desired target position for shaping the radiation field, wherein a driving assembly associated with a leaf includes: a driving component configured to drive the leaf toward a desired first position and a braking component configured to stop the leaf
However, the prior art fails to disclose a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) comprising: a driving component configured to drive the leaf toward a desired first position with a speed exceeding a speed threshold exceeding 100 millimeters per second; and a braking component configured to stop the leaf within a time period in response to a determination that the leaf arrives at the desired first position, the time period of the braking component for stopping the leaf is less than a time threshold, as claimed in claim 1. Claims 2-4, 6-10, and 13-16 are allowed by virtue of their dependency on claim 1.
Prior art discloses a method implemented on a computing device having at least one processor and at least one computer-readable storage medium for driving one of a plurality of leaves in a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) to shape a radiation field, each of the plurality of leaves being associated with a driving assembly configured to drive one of the plurality of leaves to a desired target position for shaping the radiation field, the method comprising: causing a driving component of the driving assembly to drive the leaf toward a desired first position determining, based on measurement data associated with an actual position of the leaf acquired by a position detection apparatus, whether the leaf arrives at the desired first position; and causing a braking component of the driving assembly to stop the leaf
However, the prior art fails to disclose a method implemented on a computing device having at least one processor and at least one computer-readable storage medium for driving one of a plurality of leaves in a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) to shape a radiation field, each of the plurality of leaves being associated with a driving assembly configured to drive one of the plurality of leaves to a desired target position for shaping the radiation field, the method comprising: causing a driving component of the driving assembly to drive the leaf toward a desired first position with a speed exceeding a speed threshold exceeding 100 millimeters per second; and causing a braking component of the driving assembly to stop the leaf within a time period in response to a determination that the leaf arrives at the desired first position, wherein the time period of the braking component for stopping the leaf is less than a time threshold, as claimed in claim 17. Claim 24 is allowed by virtue of its dependency on claim 17.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JURIE YUN whose telephone number is (571)272-2497. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 am - 7:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David J Makiya can be reached at 571 272-2273. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JURIE YUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
December 11, 2025