DETAILED ACTION
In Response to Election filed on 10/24/2025, claims 1-11 are pending. Claims 5-11 are withdrawn based on the restriction requirement. Claims 1-4 are considered in the current 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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I and Species A in the reply filed on 10/24/2025 is acknowledged. Although the Applicant elected with traverse, the Applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, thus, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 5-11 and Figures 8-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/24/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/11/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The Applicant is reminded that apparatus claims are not limited by the function they perform, as per MPEP §2114. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. As the apparatus of the prior art and the claimed apparatus are patentably indistinguishable in terms of structure, the apparatus of the prior art is reasonably expected to be able to perform the claimed functionalities. Furthermore, Applicant is reminded that apparatus claims are not limited by the material worked upon as per MPEP §2115).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN101489765 (“Johannes et al” hereinafter Johannes), machine translation provided, in view of CN112519209 (Ji), machine translation provided.
Regarding Claim 1, Johannes teaches a stereo lithography apparatus (Figure 1) comprising:
a modeling tank (Figure 1, reservoir 2) that retains a photo-curable resin (page 3, lines 55-59), and in which a light transmission portion is provided on a bottom surface of the modeling tank (Figure 1 and page 4, line 15, the structure shaper 6 may include a window transparent to the radiation rays 15);
a light irradiation unit (Figure 1, coagulation device 9) that irradiates light for curing the photo-curable resin through the light transmission portion (page 4, lines 11-15);
a platform (Figure 1, carrier plate 20) that is disposed opposite the light transmission portion (Figure 1) and that is provided so as to be capable of being raised and lowered with respect to the modeling tank (page 4,m lines 19-22);
bulkheads forms an airtight space in cooperation with the platform (Figure 1 and page 4, lines 39-40, the substantially airtight boundary of the decompression chamber 39 41 includes a boundary 40 that connects the carrier plate 20 to the side wall of the reservoir 2);
a raising and lowering control unit (Figure 1, carrier plate actuator 21) that raises and lowers the platform and the bulkheads (page 4, lines 19-20 and lines 39-43; as the platform is raises and lowers, the flexible boundary 40 also raises and lowers), and that forms a photo-curable resin layer having a predetermined thickness between the light transmission portion and both a bottom surface of each of the bulkheads and a lower surface of the airtight space (page 1, lines 22-31); and
an irradiation control unit (Figure 1, controller 60 and page 6, lines 8-10) that forms a cured layer by irradiating the photo-curable resin layer from the light irradiation unit with the light corresponding to a cross-sectional shape of a target modeling object at a predetermined height position (page 4, lines 5-15).
Johannes fails to teach bulkheads each of which is formed in a cylindrical shape.
However, Ji teaches bulkheads each of which is formed in a cylindrical shape (Figure 1, cylinder sleeve 2). Ji further teaches when moving, the cylinder sleeve is directly or indirectly sealed with the light-transmitting part when the cylinder sleeve is in the printing position, the cylinder sleeve, the light-transmitting part, and the forming platform form the working cavity, and the cylinder liner moves away from the light-transmitting part (page 1, lines 49-51).
Johannes and Ji are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both are in the same field of vat polymerization with a light transmissive plate and an adjustable printing volume. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modified the apparatus of Johannes such that it discloses all of the above discussed limitations as taught by Ji to directly or indirectly sealed the printing volume to improve the convenience of taking a printed model for a pressurizable printing device (page 1, lines 37-38 and lines 49-51).
Regarding Claim 2, the modified Johannes teaches the stereo lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the bulkheads allows the platform to be raised and lowered (Johannes, page 4, lines 19-20 and lines 39-43; as the platform is raises and lowers, the flexible boundary 40 also raises and lowers), and is disposed on an outer side of the platform by way of an airtight member (Figure 1, the flexible boundary 40 are located on the outer side of the carrier plate 20).
Regarding Claim 3, the modified Johannes teaches the stereo lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the raising and lowering control unit (Johannes, Figure 1, carrier plate actuator 21 and the controller 60 is also communicatively connected to the carrier board actuator 21 via a line 62 for controlling the operation of the carrier board actuator 21, page 6, lines 7-8) relatively lowers each of the bulkheads by an amount corresponding to the predetermined thickness with respect to the platform every time formation of the cured layer has been completed (page 1, lines 22-31).
Regarding Claim 4, the modified Johannes teaches the stereo lithography apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the raising and lowering control unit temporarily raises the platform and the bulkheads up to a position above the photo-curable resin (Johannes, page 1, lines 22-31 and page 4, lines 17-25).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINWEN (Cindy) YE whose telephone number is (571)272-3010. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 17:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Susan Leong can be reached at (571) 270-1487. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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XINWEN (CINDY) YE
Examiner
Art Unit 1754
/SUSAN D LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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