DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the amendment filed on 12/8/2025.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1, 4, 5, 7-9, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cogswell et al. (U.S. Patent 5,066,536) in view of Matsen et al. ‘8329 (EP 2508329), Matsen et al. ‘6402 (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0196402), and optionally further Matsen et al. ‘1402 (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0231402).
Regarding claims 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, and 15, Cogswell (Abstract and Column 2, lines 11-38 and Column 3, line 66 to Column 4, line 4 and Column 5, lines 57-65 and Column 7, lines 1-2 and Examples 10-12) discloses a formation method, comprising: arranging a honeycomb core (and regarding claim 8 wherein the honeycomb core comprises a metal material such as titanium honeycomb and regarding claim 9 wherein the honeycomb core comprises a non-metal material such as aramide honeycomb structure and regarding claim 12 cleaning the honeycomb core prior to arranging the honeycomb core in the stack), a thermoplastic film (adherent layer of a second thermoformable polymer) and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin (fiber-reinforced layer of a first thermoformable polymer and fiber wherein the second thermoformable polymer has a melting point or glass transition below the first thermoformable polymer) in a stack with the thermoplastic film between the honeycomb core and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin, the thermoplastic film comprising a thermoplastic material (and regarding claim 4 wherein the thermoplastic material is a thermoplastic resin; and the thermoplastic film consists essentially of the thermoplastic resin and regarding claim 15 wherein the thermoplastic material comprises at least one of polyamide (PA), polyethersulfone (PES), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), etc.); and heating to melt the thermoplastic film and bond the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material (and regarding claim 5) wherein, when the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin is bonded to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material, the thermoplastic material is melted to adhere the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the honeycomb core.
Regarding claims 16, 18, and 19, Cogswell teaches a formation method, comprising: arranging a thermoplastic film (adherent layer of a second thermoformable polymer) on a cellular core (and regarding claim 19 wherein the cellular core comprises a metal material such as titanium honeycomb structure having cells), the thermoplastic film comprising thermoplastic material, the cellular core including a plurality of cavities and a plurality of sidewalls, each of the plurality of cavities extending vertically through the cellular core, and each laterally adjacent pair of the plurality of cavities separated by a respective one of the plurality of sidewalls (as known to one of ordinary skill in the art as a honeycomb structure or alternatively, in the event it is somehow considered a honeycomb structure is not necessarily a cellular core, the cellular core including a plurality of cavities and a plurality of sidewalls, each of the plurality of cavities extending vertically through the cellular core, and each laterally adjacent pair of the plurality of cavities separated by a respective one of the plurality of sidewalls the following rejection is made wherein it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the honeycomb structure taught by Cogswell is a cellular core, the cellular core including a plurality of cavities and a plurality of sidewalls, each of the plurality of cavities extending vertically through the cellular core, and each laterally adjacent pair of the plurality of cavities separated by a respective one of the plurality of sidewalls as is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art as a conventional and predictable honeycomb structure and including as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 see 140 of Figure 2 and paragraph 0047 and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 see 34 of Figure 2 and paragraph 0026); arranging a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin (fiber-reinforced layer of a first thermoformable polymer and fiber wherein the second thermoformable polymer has a melting point or glass transition below the first thermoformable polymer) on the thermoplastic film with the thermoplastic film between the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin and the cellular core; and bonding the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the plurality of sidewalls using the thermoplastic material by heating the thermoplastic film to melt the thermoplastic material and (regarding claim 18) wherein the thermoplastic material adheres the plurality of sidewalls (defining the honeycomb core) to the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin.
As to the limitations in claim 1 of “arranging a metal conductor on the stack with the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the thermoplastic film and the metal conductor” and “induction heating the metal conductor to provide a heated metal conductor; and conduction heating the thermoplastic film through the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin using the heated metal conductor to melt the thermoplastic film and bond the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material”, the limitations in claim 16 of “arranging a plate on the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin with the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the plate and the thermoplastic film” and “bonding the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the plurality of sidewalls using the thermoplastic material, the bonding including heating the plate using an induction coil to provide a heated plate, and heating the thermoplastic film to melt the thermoplastic material using the heated plate”, and claim 7, Cogswell teaches heating the thermoplastic film to melt the thermoplastic film and bond (consolidate see Examples 10-12) the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material in an autoclave, induction heating, etc. (Column 5, lines 57-65) without expressly detailing each procedure. Conventional consolidation of thermoplastic composite layup (24) in an autoclave and induction heating and including rapid heating comprises placing the layup in vacuum bagging (26), placing the layup on a rigid support (9), arranging a metal conductor/plate (20) over the layup, evacuating the vacuum bagging, induction heating the metal conductor/plate to provide a heated metal conductor/plate, and conduction heating the thermoplastic composite layup including heating the metal conductor/plate using an induction coil (14) to provide a heated metal conductor/plate, and heating the thermoplastic composite layup using the heated metal conductor/plate as taught by Matsen ‘8329 (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0001, 0009, 0011, and 0013) and wherein it is known such layups specifically comprise a honeycomb core and fiber-reinforced plies heated through conduction using an inductively heated conductor/plate as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 (Figure 2 and Paragraphs 0045, 0047, 0051, 0064, and 0065) and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 (Figure 3 and Paragraphs 0006, 0026, and 0029) and including specifically for thermoplastic. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention heating to melt the thermoplastic film and bond the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material using autoclave, induction heating, etc. as taught by Cogswell comprise placing the stack in vacuum bagging, placing the stack on a rigid support (i.e. regarding claim 7 supporting the stack on a rigid support during the induction heating and the conduction heating), arranging a metal conductor/plate over the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin of the stack with the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the thermoplastic film and the metal conductor/plate, evacuating the vacuum bagging, induction heating the metal conductor/plate to provide a heated metal conductor/plate, and conduction heating the thermoplastic film through the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin using the heated metal conductor/plate to melt the thermoplastic film and bond the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin to the plurality of sidewalls of the honeycomb core with/using the thermoplastic material, the bonding including heating the metal conductor/plate using an induction coil to provide a heated metal conductor/plate, and heating the thermoplastic film to melt the thermoplastic material using the heated metal conductor/plate as is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art as conventional and predictable consolidation of thermoplastic composite layup in an autoclave with induction heating and including rapid heating as evidenced by Matsen ‘8329 and Matsen ‘6402 and optionally further Matsen ‘1402.
As to the limitation in claim 1 of “arranging a metal conductor on the stack” and “biasing the metal conductor towards the honeycomb core using a vacuum bag, the metal conductor arranged between the vacuum bag and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin” and in claim 16 of “arranging a plate on the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin” and “vacuum bagging the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin and the plate to preload a stack of the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the plate and a rigid support supporting the cellular core”, Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 do not expressly teach vacuum bagging the metal conductor/plate in addition to the stack. Matsen ‘8329 teaches in an exemplary application the metal conductor/plate disposed above and out of contact with the vacuum bagging (Paragraph 0013). Matsen ‘8329 does not teach way from vacuum bagging the metal conductor/plate in addition to the stack, and including Matsen ‘8329 teaches in the exemplary application a second/lower metal conductor/plate (21) is vacuum bagged and on a lower surface of the layup. It is known in similar formation methods in the art the bagging cover only the stack or the stack and the heat conductor(s)/plate(s) (inductively heated heating blankets) arranged on the fiber-reinforced plies and the vacuum bagging sealed on the upper surface of the rigid support as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 (Paragraph 0076). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention vacuum bagging the stack as taught by Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 further includes vacuum bagging the metal conductor/plate and the bagging sealed on the upper surface of the rigid support (i.e. arranging the metal conductor/plate on the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin of the stack and biasing the metal conductor/plate towards the honeycomb core using the vacuum bag, the metal conductor/plate arranged between the vacuum bag and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin by including vacuum bagging the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin and the conductor/plate to preload the stack of the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the conductor/plate and the rigid support supporting the cellular core) as a simple substitution of one known vacuum bagging technique known in the art for another to yield predictable results as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 and including to directly conduct heat to the stack.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cogswell, Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 as applied to claims 1, 4, 5, 7-9, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19 above, and further in view of Horigome et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0035018).
Regarding claim 6, Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 above teach all of the limitations in claim 6 except for a specific teaching of a pair of fillets formed by the thermoplastic material extends along and contacts opposing sides of the sidewall when the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin is bonded to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material. It is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art when using a molten resin film (7 or 7’) to bond a honeycomb core (1 or 1’) and skin (5 or 5’) the molten resin flows out under the heating and pressing to form a pair of fillets (X or X’) formed by the resin extends along and contacts opposing sides of the sidewall (and including increasing the adhesive surface area between the core and skin) as taught by Horigome (Figures 3 and 4 and Paragraphs 0048 and 0049). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the formation method taught by Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 and including the honeycomb core includes a sidewall results in a pair of fillets formed by the thermoplastic material extends along and contacts opposing sides of the sidewall when the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin is bonded to the honeycomb core with the thermoplastic material as is the conventional and predictable result of the heating and pressing (and including to increase the adhesive surface area) as evidenced by Horigome.
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cogswell, Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 as applied to claims 1, 4, 5, 7-9, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19 above, and further in view of Weir (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0079989).
Regarding claims 13 and 14, Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 above teach all of the limitations in claims 13 and 14 except for a specific teaching of cleaning the thermoplastic film prior to arranging the thermoplastic film in the stack and cleaning the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin prior to arranging the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin in the stack. Cogswell teaches cleaning the honeycomb core prior to arranging the honeycomb core in the stack. It is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to clean plastic films and composite prior to bonding to other plastic films, composite, honeycomb, etc. to remove contamination such as oil, grease, metallic or plastic particles as evidenced by Weir (Paragraphs 0002, 0022, and 0043). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the formation method taught by Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 further comprise cleaning the thermoplastic film prior to arranging the thermoplastic film in the stack and cleaning the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin prior to arranging the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin in the stack as it is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to clean prior to lamination to remove contamination such as oil, grease, metallic or plastic particles as evidenced by Weir.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims are allowed for the reasons set forth in paragraph 9 of the Office action mailed 9/8/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/8/2025 have been fully considered.
The claims as amended 12/8/2025 are fully addressed above.
Applicants argue, “Paragraph [0017] of Matsen ‘8329 discloses “enclosing hood facesheet 20 is disposed above and out of contact with the bagging 26 which enclosed the thermoplastic composite part 24.” Notably, FIG. 1A of Matsen ‘8329 illustrates the bagging 26 surrounding the outermost layer the alleged fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin (element 24).”.
This argument is not persuasive wherein Matsen ‘8329 teaches in an exemplary application the metal conductor/plate disposed above and out of contact with the vacuum bagging (Paragraph 0013). Matsen ‘8329 does not teach way from vacuum bagging the metal conductor/plate in addition to the stack, and including Matsen ‘8329 teaches in the exemplary application a second/lower metal conductor/plate (21) is vacuum bagged and on a lower surface of the layup. It is known in similar formation methods in the art the bagging cover only the stack or the stack and the heat conductor(s)/plate(s) (inductively heated heating blankets) as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 (Paragraph 0076) so that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention vacuum bagging the stack as taught by Cogswell as modified by Matsen ‘8329, Matsen ‘6402, and optionally further Matsen ‘1402 further includes vacuum bagging the metal conductor/plate (i.e. arranging the metal conductor/plate on the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin of the stack and biasing the metal conductor/plate towards the honeycomb core using the vacuum bag, the metal conductor/plate arranged between the vacuum bag and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin by including vacuum bagging the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin and the conductor/plate to preload the stack of the cellular core, the thermoplastic film, and the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin between the conductor/plate and the rigid support supporting the cellular core) as a simple substitution of one known vacuum bagging technique known in the art for another to yield predictable results as evidenced by Matsen ‘6402 and including to directly conduct heat to the stack.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JOHN L GOFF II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746