DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP 23170989, filed on May 2, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 2, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
4. Claims 12-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MUELLER (DE 4001981 A1; MUELLER, H. et al.; cited in IDS Filed May 2, 2023, full translation attached to this office action - hereinafter "MUELLER") in view of ETTELT (US 20220196387 A1; ETTELT, D. - hereinafter "ETTELT").
In regard to claim 12, MUELLER teaches: coordinate measuring machine [coordinate measurement device, abstract], comprising:
a measuring arm [measuring arm 5]
the measuring arm having a support structure [comprised of vertical column 3, cross slide 4, and boom/arm 5, see Fig. 1], wherein the support structure comprises a fastening section [carriage 2] for fastening the measuring arm on a moveable slide of the coordinate measuring machine [slide of guide bed 1, shown in Fig. 1]
the measuring arm having a measuring head for acquiring measured values on a component to be measured [sensing head 7, abstract], wherein the measuring head is mounted on the support structure [mounted via sensing head holder 6, abstract, Figs. 1-2],
wherein the support structure comprises an auxiliary mass damper for oscillation damping [additional mass/weight 8/18/108 has motion damper, abstract]
wherein the support structure comprises bar elements [vertical column 3, boom/arm 5, sensing head holder 6 are bars], which are connected to one another at the ends [Figs. 1-2 show arm 5 and sensing head holder 6 connected at their ends, arm 5 could extend in the Y axis until it is connected at its distal end (away from sensing head holder 6)], and the longitudinal axes thereof enclose an angle in relation to one another [Fig. 1 shows that vertical column 3 and boom/arm 5 are at a 90 degree angle to one another], and having three linear axes for translation displacement of the measuring arm relative to the workpiece [Fig. 1 shows translation in the X, Y, and Z axes].
Although MUELLER teaches that the damping mass can be retrofitted onto known coordinate measuring machines [page 2 paras. 6-7 describes retrofitting the invention, page 3 paras. 5-13 describe using known coordinate measuring machines], MUELLER is not explicit that the coordinate measuring machine utilizes a turntable for accommodating a workpiece that has an axis of rotation for rotating the workpiece.
However, utilizing a turntable (or rotary table) to accommodate a workpiece, and turning said workpiece about an axis is well-known in the art, as taught by ETTELT {para. [0076] describes utilizing a rotary table with a coordinate measurement machine to rotate a workpiece}.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used ETTELT’s rotary table with MUELLER’s coordinate measuring device in order to better angularly position a workpiece to be measured and increase a measurement versatility, as taught by ETTELT {para. [0076]}, and because MUELLER’s damping mass is designed to retrofit known coordinate measurement machines in order to better reduce vibration amplitudes of known devices {page 2 paras. 6-7 and page 3 paras. 5-13}.
In regard to claims 13-22, MUELLER further teaches:
[claim 13] that the measuring head is fastened on the auxiliary mass damper of the support structure [Fig. 2 shows the sensing head 7 and sensing head holder 6 are mounted to the mass 8];
[claim 14] that the bar elements enclose a right angle in relation to one another [Fig. 1 shows that vertical column 3, boom/arm 5, and sensing head holder 6 are at a 90 degree angle to one another], wherein the support structure has precisely two bar elements or precisely three bar elements [Fig. 1 shows the three bar elements vertical column 3, arm 5, and sensing head holder 6];
[claim 15] that the auxiliary mass damper is fastened on an end section of a bar element of the support structure [Fig. 2 shows the mass 8 is fastened at the end of arm 5];
[claim 16] that the auxiliary mass damper is arranged between the end section of the bar element and the measuring head [Fig. 2 shows the mass 8 between arm 5 and sensing head holder 6];
[claim 17] that three bar elements are provided [Fig. 1 shows the three bar elements vertical column 3, arm 5, and sensing head holder 6], which form a U-shaped arrangement [Fig. 1 shows a U shape (underneath arm 5 and between sensing head holder 6 and vertical column 3], that the fastening section is formed on a first freely projecting end section of the U-shaped arrangement [carriage 2 is at the distal end of vertical column 3, vertical column 3 projects away from the carriage 2; see Fig. 1], and that the measuring head is arranged on a second freely projecting end section of the U-shaped arrangement [sensing head 7 is attached to the end of sensing head holder 6, see Fig. 1];
[claim 18] that the auxiliary mass damper is active in two spatial directions orthogonal to one another [claim 2 - spring bar elements 9/19 (9a-b/9a-d) guide the mass 8/18 in both directions (X, Z) transverse to the longitudinal direction (Y)] or the auxiliary mass damper is active in three spatial directions orthogonal to one another, a first linear axis of the three linear axes is configured for the translational displacement of the measuring arm in a first spatial direction [Y axis], a second linear axis of the three linear axes is configured for the translational displacement of the measuring arm in a second spatial direction [X axis], and a third linear axis of the three linear axes is configured for the translational displacement of the measuring arm in a third spatial direction [Z axis], wherein the first, the second, and the third spatial directions [X, Y, and Z direction] are each oriented orthogonal [Fig. 1] to one another and the first, second, and third spatial directions are oriented colinear to the three spatial directions, which are orthogonal to one another, of the activity of the auxiliary mass damper [X,Y, and Z directions correspond to the X, Y, and Z axes];
[claim 19] that the auxiliary mass damper comprises a housing [housing 12/22/112], at least one mass element [mass 8/18/108], which is fastened on the housing using springs [spring 27/107, spring bars 9a-b/19a-d/; see Figs. 2, 4-5, and 8], is arranged inside the housing [Figs. 2, 4-5, and 8], and the auxiliary mass damper is filled with an oil [page 4 para. 3 describes filling the narrow gap 11/21/111 of the housing 12/22/112 with a viscous liquid such as silicone oil];
[claim 20] that the springs are arranged on sides of the mass element facing away from one another [Figs. 2, 5, and 8 show that springs 9a-b/19a-b/109a-b are on opposite sides of the mass 8/18/108], two or more springs are provided per spatial direction [Fig. 4 shows spring bars 19a-d, thus at least 4 for two-directional support] and the springs are arranged in a parallel circuit [Figs. 4-5 show the spring bars are parallel to each other];
[claim 21] that the auxiliary mass damper has a first rigidity and/or first damping in a first damping direction [X direction, claims 2 and 9], the auxiliary mass damper has a second rigidity and/or a second damping in a second damping direction [Z direction, claims 2 and 9] and the first rigidity is different from the second rigidity and/or the first damping is different from the second damping [claim 9 states "the rigidity (spring constant) of the suspension of the additional mass ( 8 ; 18 ) with respect to the two spatial directions ( X , Z ) is different"]; and
[claim 22] that the first rigidity has been defined in consideration of a first eigenmode determined on the undamped measuring arm [natural resonant frequency, X direction; page 3 para. 14 - page 4 para. 4, page 5 paras. 2-4] and the second rigidity has been defined in consideration of a second eigenmode determined on the undamped measuring arm [natural resonant frequency, Z direction; page 3 para. 14 - page 4 para. 4, page 5 paras. 2-4].
Conclusion
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Said.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL QUINN whose telephone number is (571)272-2690. The examiner can normally be reached T-R 07:00-19:00, F 07:00-11:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOHN BREENE can be reached at (571)272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL M QUINN/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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