DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
This application contains claims directed to the following patentably distinct species of the claimed invention:
Embodiment for cleaning consumables of a welding torch based on camera sensor signal.
Embodiment for cleaning consumables of a welding torch based on gas pressure sensor or a gas flow sensor signals.
Embodiment for cleaning consumables of a welding torch based on ferrous proximity switch or an inductive proximity sensor signals.
Embodiment for cleaning consumables of a welding torch based on contact sensor signals.
Because these inventions are independent or distinct, and each invention (e.g., Embodiment A) requires mutually exclusive characteristic not required for other inventions (e.g. Embodiment B, C or D), as disclosed by the specification, there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply: (i) the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification; (ii) the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art due to their recognized divergent subject matter; and/ or (iii) the inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries). The species and corresponding sub-species are independent or distinct because claims to the different species recite the mutually exclusive characteristics of such species. In addition, these species are not obvious variants of each other based on the current record.
Applicant is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 to elect a single disclosed species for prosecution on the merits to which the claims shall be restricted if no generic claim is finally held to be allowable. Currently, claim 1 is generic.
Applicant is advised that a reply to this requirement must include an identification of the species that is elected consonant with this requirement (e.g. Embodiment A,), and a listing of all claims readable thereon, including any claims subsequently added. An argument that a claim is allowable or that all claims are generic is considered nonresponsive unless accompanied by an election.
Upon the allowance of a generic claim, applicant will be entitled to consideration of claims to additional species which are written in dependent form or otherwise include all the limitations of an allowed generic claim as provided by 37 CFR 1.141. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which are readable upon the elected species. MPEP § 809.02(a).
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the species are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the species to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancellation of claim to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be amended in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(b) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. Any amendment of inventorship must be accompanied by a request under 37 CFR 1.48(b) and by fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Telephonic Interview
During a telephonic interview with applicant’s representative, Mathew Rudd, on October 28, 2025, a provisional election was made, without traverse, to prosecute elected Embodiment A. Claims 1-9 and 17-20 had been identified to read on the elected Species. In view of the elected Embodiment A, claims 10-16 are withdrawn from consideration.
Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-2, 4-5, 9 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boong ( KR 10-2114639 B1 – Machine Translation).
Regarding claim 1, Boong discloses welding system for cleaning welding electrode of an arc welding device (par. 12 and 23) comprising:
one or more sensors (e.g., camera 70) configured to monitor one or more conditions of the one or more consumables of the welding torch (e.g., the camera configured to capture image(s) of the welding electrode of an arc welding device (1) (par. 12, 30 and 21 and Figure 1)); and
control circuitry (e.g., control unit 90 – Figure 5) configured to:
receive feedback corresponding to the one or more conditions of the one or more consumables from the one or more sensors (e.g., control unit 90 processes captured imaged from the camera (par. 30));
compare the feedback to one or more thresholds corresponding to the one or more conditions (e.g., control unit 90 compares the image captured by the camera (70) with a stored normal external image information to determine whether the captured image(s) is abnormal (par. 33)); and
command the system to perform a cleaning operation on the one or more consumables based on the comparison (e.g., the control unit controls the cleaning unit (80) to clean the nozzle body (10), welding electrode (20), and nozzle cover part (50) if the image is determined to be abnormal (par. 33) and Figures 5 and 4(a)-4(b)).
Regarding claim 2, Boong discloses welding system for cleaning welding electrode of an arc welding device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to command the system to perform or a spatter removal process on the one or more consumables of the welding torch (e.g., separates spotter from the nozzle body (10), welding electrode (20) and nozzle cover (50) (par. 31) via brush (81) (par. 31 and Figure 4(a)-4(b))).
Regarding claim 4. Boong discloses welding system for cleaning welding electrode of an arc welding device, further comprising a memory configured to store values obtained by the one or more sensors and reference values for the one or more sensors (e.g., control unit configured to store (i) normal image information on the normal welding state of the electrode (20) (par. 33) and (ii) captured imaged from the camera (par. 30) for comparison process (par. 33)).
Regarding claim 5. Boong discloses welding system for cleaning welding electrode of an arc welding device, wherein the one or more sensors comprises a camera configured to obtain one or more images (e.g., the camera configured to capture image(s) of the welding electrode (par. 12 and 30)), and the comparison comprises comparing values obtained from the one or more images of the one or more consumables to threshold values (e.g., control unit 90 compares the image(s) captured by the camera (70) with a stored normal external image information (par. 33))).
Regarding claim 9, Boong disclose welding system for cleaning welding electrode of an arc welding device, wherein the one or more sensors is a camera (e.g., camera 70) configured to obtain one or more reference images (e.g., the camera configured to capture images of the welding electrode of an arc welding device (1) (par. 12, 30 and 37 and Figure 1)), and the comparison comprises comparing one or more subsequent images of the one or more consumables to the one or more reference images to determine whether the one or more thresholds have been violated (e.g., control unit 90 compares the image(s) captured by the camera (70) with a stored normal external image information to determine whether the captured image(s) is abnormal (par. 33)).
Regarding claim 17, Boong discloses welding system comprising:
a welding torch including one or more welding consumables (e.g., an arc welding device (1) comprising a welding electrode (par. 8 and 23 and Figure 1) )
one or more sensors (e.g., camera 70) configured to monitor one or more conditions of the one or more consumables (e.g., the camera configured to capture image(s) of the welding electrode of an arc welding device (1) (par. 12, 30 and 21 and Figure 1));
a cleaning system (e.g., cleaning unit (80) (par. 33)) configured to perform a cleaning operation on the one or more welding consumables (e.g., cleaning unit (80) configured to clean welding electrode (20) (par. 33))
control circuitry (e.g., control unit 90 – Figure 5) configured to:
receive feedback corresponding to the one or more conditions from the one or more sensors (e.g., control unit 90 processes captured imaged from the camera (par. 30));
compare the feedback to one or more thresholds corresponding to the one or more conditions (e.g., control unit 90 compares the image captured by the camera (70) with a stored normal external image information (par. 33)); and
command the cleaning system (e.g., the cleaning unit (80)) to perform a cleaning operation on the one or more consumables based on the comparison (e.g., the control unit controls the cleaning unit (80) to clean the nozzle body (10), welding electrode (20), and nozzle cover part (50) (par. 33) and Figures 5 and 4(a)-4(b) based on comparison performed by the control unit (par. 33)).
Regarding claim 18, Boong disclose welding system, wherein the cleaning operation comprises e.g., the control unit controls the cleaning unit (80) to clean the welding electrode (20) (par. 33) and Figures 5 and 4(a)-4(b) ) by separating spotter from the welding electrode (20) (par. 31) via brush (81) (par. 31 and Figure 4(a)-4(b))).
Regarding claim 19, Boong disclose arc welding system comprising:
a welding torch including one or more welding consumables (e.g., an arc welding device (1) comprising a welding electrode (par. 8 and 23 and Figure 1) )
one or more sensors (e.g., camera 70) configured to monitor one or more conditions of the one or more consumables (e.g., the camera configured to capture image of the welding electrode of an arc welding device (1) (par. 12, 30 and 21 and Figure 1));
a cleaning system (e.g., cleaning unit (80) (par. 33)) configured to perform a cleaning operation on the one or more welding consumables (e.g., cleaning unit (80) configured to clean welding electrode (20) (par. 33))
control circuitry (e.g., control unit 90 – Figure 5) configured to:
receive feedback corresponding to the one or more conditions from the one or more sensors (e.g., control unit 90 processes captured imaged from the camera (par. 30));
compare the feedback to one or more thresholds corresponding to the one or more conditions (e.g., control unit 90 compares the image captured by the camera (70) with a stored normal external image information (par. 33)); and
command the cleaning system (e.g., the cleaning unit (80)) to perform a cleaning operation on the one or more consumables based on the comparison (e.g., the control unit controls the cleaning unit (80) to clean the nozzle body (10), welding electrode (20), and nozzle cover part (50) (par. 33) and Figures 5 and 4(a)-4(b) based on comparison performed by the control unit (par. 33)).
Regarding claim 20, Boong disclose arc welding system further configured to command the cleaning system to perform the cleaning operation on the one or more welding consumables (e.g., the control unit controls the cleaning unit (80) to clean the welding electrode (20)( par. 33 and Figures 5 and 4(a)-4(b) )).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boong ( KR 10-2114639 B1 – Machine Translation) in view of Rice et al. (WO 2004103632 A1).
Regarding claim 3. Boong failed to specifically disclose wherein the control circuitry is further configured to command the system to perform a reaming process followed by an anti-spatter application on the one or more consumables.
However, Rice et al. teach a welding torch microcontroller configured to perform reaming process for excessive spatter deposit inside the nozzle and to spray the nozzle with anti-spatter fluid on the welding torch nozzle / component (abstract; page 4, lines 1-3; page 13, lines 12-16 and page 17, lines 18-21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the control unit of the arc welding device taught by Boong , such that the control unit is configured to perform reaming process for excessive spatter deposit inside the nozzle and to spray the nozzle with anti-spatter fluid on the welding torch nozzle / component, in view of Wang et al., with reasonable expectation of success, since doing so would have achieved the benefit of providing (i) maintenance of a welding torch and diagnostic information / feedback to a user (page 6, lines 14-17).
Claims 6-8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boong ( KR 10-2114639 B1 – Machine Translation) in view of Wang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2018/0140197 A1).
Regarding 6-7, Boong failed to specifically disclose (i) wherein the camera is further configured to obtain the one or more images at a predetermined frequency or based on a triggering event (claim 6) and (ii) wherein the predetermined frequency is configured to be modified based on an observed collection rate (claim 7).
However, Wang et al. teach a camera attached to a robot arm (par. 44) and configured to capture image of a subject / object at a first frame frequency (par. 19- 20) and switch the frame frequency from the first frame frequency to a second frame frequency (par. 19-20 and 53) based on a trigger event (par. 52).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the camera of the arc welding device taught by Boong , such that the camera is configured to capture image of a welding electrode / subject at a first frame frequency and switch the frame frequency from the first frame frequency to a second frame frequency based on a trigger event, in view of Wang et al., with reasonable expectation of success, since doing so would have achieved the benefit of increasing an amount of light collected in each frame (par. 20), allowing better detection of faint signal at the location of interest while viewing the welding electrode / subject from multiple angles or orientations and adapting in real-time the imaging quality and imaging function in response to motion (par. 8).
Regarding claim 8, the claim limitations recited features on alternative form of rejected claim 6; therefore, Boong in view of Wang et al., invention still read on the claimed combination alternative form.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jorge O. Peche whose telephone number is (571)270-1339. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khoi H. Tran can be reached on 571 272 6919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jorge O Peche/Examiner, Art Unit 3656
/SPENCER D PATTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3656