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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claim(s) 4-5, in the reply filed on 07/28/2026 is acknowledged.
2. Claim(s) 1 AND 4-15 will be examined. Claim(s) 2-3 are withdrawn.
Proposed EXAMINER’S AMENDMENT
A proposed examiner’s amendment for claims 1 and 13, to put the application in condition for allowance, appears below.
1. (proposed examiner’s amendment) A cryogenic system, comprising:
an ion trap device configured to be mounted on a trap socket;
a magnetic radiation shield of a superconducting material surrounding an ion trap region of the ion trap device, wherein the magnetic radiation shield forms part of the ion trap device and/or the trap socket; and
a magnet enclosed by the magnetic radiation shield; and
wherein the magnetic radiation shield is formed, at least in a region, by a plurality of shield layers having laterally offset openings in adjacent shield layers, the openings forming a passage for electrical transmission, optical transmission, and/or thermal transmission.
13. proposed (examiner’s amendment) A method of shielding an ion trap device from magnetic radiation, the method comprising:
mounting an ion trap device on a trap socket;
providing a magnetic radiation shield of a superconducting material surrounding an ion trap region of the ion trap device, wherein the magnetic radiation shield forms part of the ion trap device and/or the trap socket;
providing a magnet, wherein the magnet is enclosed by the magnetic radiation shield; and
cooling the ion trap device below a temperature at which the superconducting material becomes superconductive; and
wherein the magnetic radiation shield is formed, at least in a region, by a plurality of shield layers having laterally offset openings in adjacent shield layers, the openings forming a passage for electrical transmission, optical transmission, and/or thermal transmission.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4-5 and 10-12 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Concerning claim 4, the search did not find or make obvious the cryogenic system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic radiation shield forms part of the trap socket, encloses a first portion of the trap socket, and excludes a second portion of the trap socket.
Concerning claim 5, the search did not find or make obvious the cryogenic system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic radiation shield forms part of the trap socket and does not form part of the ion trap device.
Concerning claim 10, the search did not find or make obvious the cryogenic system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic radiation shield is formed, at least in a region, by a plurality of shield layers having laterally offset openings in adjacent shield layers, the openings forming a passage for electrical transmission. .
Concerning claim 11, the search did not find or make obvious the cryogenic system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic radiation shield is formed, at least in a region, by a plurality of shield layers having laterally offset openings in adjacent shield layers, the openings forming a passage for optical transmission. .
Concerning claim 12, the search did not find or make obvious the cryogenic system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic radiation shield is formed, at least in a region, by a plurality of shield layers having laterally offset openings in adjacent shield layers, the openings forming a passage for thermal transmission. .
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.
2. Claim(s) 1, 6-9, and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over VERDU GALIANA (US 20140332680 A1) in view of HUGHS (US 10103463 B1).
Regarding claim 1, VERDU GALIANA discloses a cryogenic system (fig. 16, 24, 23, 1), comprising:
an ion trap device (figs. 2-3, 16 and 24-25; 1) configured to be mounted on
a magnetic radiation shield (figs. 24-25; 35) [0137] of a superconducting material (35) surrounding [0137] an ion trap region (of 14, 31) of the ion trap device (1, 14, 31), wherein the magnetic radiation shield (35) forms part of the ion trap device (1) [0137]
a magnet (magnetic elements 14, 15, 31, 32, 33, 34) enclosed by [0137 Note “case a)”] the magnetic radiation shield (35) [0137-0138] [0129].
(figs. 2-3, ion trap 1 with magnetic elements/high temperature superconducting magnets/wires 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; base 4)
(fig. 16; mass spectrometer 23 comprises ion trap 1 located in a cryogenic vacuum chamber 24);
(figs. 24-25; ion trap “magnetic elements” 14, 31, enclosed in superconducting box 35)
[0058-0063]
[0067]
[0069]
[0102]
[0129]
[0137-0138].
But VERDU GALIANA fails to explicitly disclose an ion trap device configured to be mounted on a trap socket.
HUGHS, however, discloses use of a socket (figs. 1-2; 106) for mounting ion trap (120) thereto (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA applications) to combine/modify the invention of VERDU GALIANA, with an ion trap mounted on a trap socket., as taught by HUGHS, use as a substitution of one known ion trap support structure (i.e. a socket) for another to obtain predictable results of interfacing the ion trap with external control and monitoring systems (abstract).
Regarding claim 13, VERDU GALIANA discloses a method of shielding an ion trap device (figs. 2-3, 16 and 24; 1) from magnetic radiation, the method comprising:
mounting an ion trap device (figs. 2-3, 16 and 24-25; 1) on a
providing a magnetic radiation shield (figs. 24-25, 35) [0137] of a superconducting material (35) surrounding [0137] an ion trap region (of 14, 31) of the ion trap device (1, 14, 31) , wherein the magnetic radiation shield (35) forms part of the ion trap device (1) [0137]
providing a magnet (magnetic elements 14, 15, 31, 32, 33, 34), wherein the magnet is enclosed by [0137 Note “case a)”] the magnetic radiation shield (35) [0137-0138]; and
cooling (fig. 16; via a cryogenic vacuum chamber 24) the ion trap device (1) below a temperature at which the superconducting material becomes superconductive [0102] [0129].
(figs. 2-3, ion trap 1 with magnetic elements/high temperature superconducting magnets/wires 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; base 4)
(fig. 16; mass spectrometer 23 comprises ion trap 1 located in a cryogenic vacuum chamber 24);
(figs. 24-25; ion trap “magnetic elements” 14, 31, enclosed in superconducting box 35)
[0058-0063]
[0067]
[0069]
[0102]
[0129]
[0137-0138].
But VERDU GALIANA fails to explicitly disclose an ion trap device configured to be mounted on a trap socket.
HUGHS, however, discloses use of a socket (figs. 1-2; 106) for mounting ion trap (120) thereto (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA applications) to combine/modify the invention of VERDU GALIANA, with an ion trap mounted on a trap socket., as taught by HUGHS, use as a substitution of one known ion trap support structure (i.e. a socket) for another to obtain predictable results of interfacing the ion trap with external control and monitoring systems (abstract).
Regarding claim 6, VERDU GALIANA discloses that the magnetic radiation shield (figs. 24-25, 35) is at least partly formed as a layer (of 35) disposed on a support mount (4)
But VERDU GALIANA fails to explicitly disclose an ion trap device configured to be mounted on a trap socket.
HUGHS, however, discloses use of a socket (figs. 1-2; 106) for mounting ion trap (120) thereto (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA applications) to combine/modify the invention of VERDU GALIANA, with an ion trap mounted on a trap socket., as taught by HUGHS, use as a substitution of one known ion trap support structure (i.e. a socket) for another to obtain predictable results of interfacing the ion trap with external control and monitoring systems (abstract).
Regarding claim 7, VERDU GALIANA discloses that the magnet (14) [0137] comprises an electrical coil (fig. 24, 14, 31) [0129]
[0137-0138].
Regarding claim 8, VERDU GALIANA discloses that electronic circuitry configured to drive the ion trap device (1) , wherein the electronic circuitry (fig. 16; 25, 26, 27, 26) [0102] is external to the magnetic radiation shield (fig. 16; of 1) (figs. 24-25; 35) .
Regarding claim 9, VERDU GALIANA discloses wherein an opening [0103] (fig. 25) in the magnetic radiation shield (figs. 24-25, 35) forms a passage for electrical transmission (fig. 25, 14, 31 shown passing through/into shield 35) or a passage for optical transmission (implied in [0060] [0103])
Regarding claim 14, VERDU GALIANA discloses activating the magnet (14 in 1) after cooling the ion trap device (1) below the temperature [0102]
(fig. 16; mass spectrometer 23 comprises ion trap 1 located in a cryogenic vacuum chamber 24).
2. Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over VERDU GALIANA (US 20140332680 A1) in view of HUGHS (US 10103463 B1); hereinafter “the combined references”, as applied to claim 13 above, and further in light of SUITS et al. (US 20070221862 A1).
Regarding claim 15, VERDU GALIANA discloses providing an ion in the ion trap device (1) ; trapping the ion in the ion trap device by applying electrical signals to trap electrodes (of 1, 14, 31, 5, 6 ,3, 15, 17) [0058] , of the ion trap device (1);
But the combined references fail to disclose processing the ion with laser light.
SUITS, however, discloses an ion trap that fragments trapped ions via processing the ion with laser light (reference’s claim 17).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine/modify the invention of the combined references, with processing the ion with laser light, as taught by SUITS, to further fragment a trapped ion for further analysis [0011].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Andrew Smyth whose telephone number is 571-270-1746. The examiner can normally be reached between 9:00AM - 6:00PM; Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Georgia Epps can be reached on (571) 272-2328. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW SMYTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
Prosecution Insights