DETAILED 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 Status
Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Regarding claims 18-20, are rejected under 35 USC 101 for being directed to nonstatutory limitation “A computer program or computer program product”. Although the claim gives a particular instance of “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” but that instance does not preclude “a computer program or computer program product” from including other instances of potentially nonstatutory computer program. When a claim covers both statutory and nonstatutory elements, a rejection under 35 USC 101 is proper. The Examiner suggests amending the claim in concordance with the OG notice (2/23/2010) to “A ”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites the limitation "the quality" in line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claims 2-20, are also rejected because they depend on claim 1.
Regarding claim 14, the claim recites the limitation "OPC -UA” in line 2. The limitation is indefinite because the it is unclear what the abbreviation represents.
In addition, the limitation “it” in line 3 is indefinite because it is unclear what the limitation is referring to.
Regarding claims 16 -20, the limitation “it” in the last line is indefinite because it is unclear what the limitation is referring to.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 11 and 13-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bitzer (Pub. No.: US 2022/0161955 A1) in view of Liu (Pub. No.: US 2017/0188971 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bitzer teaches a method for automatically monitoring a joining process for connecting a plurality of overlapping substrates to one another to form a composite product under pressure application by a pressing device (Abstract, Fig. 4A-4B, para [0045], “The result of the sealing operation according to step (a) is largely determined by process parameters including a sealing pressure, a sealing duration, and a sealing temperature. For these process parameters, appropriate nominal values are usually preset as a function of the pairing of the material of the formed part with that of the lidding film and as a function of the requirements on the seam.”. A method and device 2 for joining/sealing blister packs 30 and lidding film 32 and to perform inspection of the join/seal.), wherein the method comprises:
acquiring measurement data, which represent respective measurement values of a measurement variable for different working positions (Fig. 5, Fig. 6, segments 42a-42h) assumed by the pressing device during the application of pressure, which variable indicates a pressing force acting on the substrates during the respective working position or a variable which is dependent thereon (Fig. 7a, step b, and para [0045], “The result of the sealing operation according to step (a) is largely determined by process parameters including a sealing pressure, a sealing duration, and a sealing temperature. For these process parameters, appropriate nominal values are usually preset as a function of the pairing of the material of the formed part with that of the lidding film and as a function of the requirements on the seam.”, para [0046], “The sealing pressure is preferably between 0.1 and 1 N/mm.sup.2, more preferably between 0.3 and 0.6 N/mm.sup.2. The sealing duration is preferably between 0.4 and 1.5 sec, more preferably between 0.8 and 1.2 sec. The sealing temperature is preferably between 150 and 250° C., more preferably between 180 and 230° C.” and para [0088], “The method further comprises step (b) of detecting, by means of the sealing device 2, a parameter P, which is characteristic of a sealing quality of the seam 40, in each segment 28a-h of the plurality of segments 28 around the seam 40. For each of the plurality of segments 28, the parameter P may be, for example, an electrical resistance R of the associated heating and/or sensor element 22, 24, a temperature T of the associated heating and/or sensor element 22, 24 or of the corresponding segment 28a-h, or a power demand E of the segment 28a-h during the sealing according to step (a). The power demand but also the other parameters P, as described above, provide data on the sealing quality of the seam 40. To detect the parameter P, operating data of the plurality of heating elements 22 and/or of the plurality of sensor elements 24 can be used. The parameter P can be detected by means of the plurality of heating elements 22 and/or the plurality of sensor elements 24 and the control unit 12. It is particularly preferred in step (b) that an actual value P.sub.actual of the parameter P be detected.”. The sealing device 2 acquires measurements (i.e., pressure, duration, temperature, resistance, power and others) for each segment 42a-42h along the sealing contour.);
extract therefrom a plurality of different features, which each individually and/or jointly represent at least one characteristic property of a course of the measurement variable represented by the measurement data as a function of the working positions of the pressing device or of a variable corresponding to the working positions (Fig. 7a, step b, the sealing device extracts pressure, duration, resistance R, temperature T and power E for each segment along the sealing contour.);
determining an evaluation indicator, defined as a measure of the quality of the joining process depending on the extracted features (para [0052]-[0054], “If the parameter characteristic of the sealing quality of the seam is the resistance of a first heating element of the plurality of heating elements and if this value lies, for example, above or below a nominal value or deviates by more than a predefined threshold from the resistance (i.e. comparison value) of a second heating element or of several heating elements of the plurality of heating elements, it can be concluded from this that there is a defect in the first heating element.”. The pressure, duration, resistance R, temperature T and power E are evaluation indicators that define the quality of the joining/sealing process);
evaluating the joining process based on a juxtaposition of the determined evaluation indicator with a defined evaluation reference, by generating an evaluation result resulting from the juxtaposition (Fig. 7C. step c, para [0089], “Step (c) of the method comprises detecting a problem with the sealing operation according to step (a), in particular a problem with the seam 40 or with the sealing device 2, based on the parameter P detected in each segment 28a-h of the plurality of segments 28 according to step (b).” and Para [0045]-[0046]. The sealing device compares the actual parameter P that comprises of parameters R, T, E and /or pressure and duration, with the nominal parameter P and the associated deviation to determine the join/seal quality); and
controlling the pressing device and/or further treating, in particular further processing, rejecting or marking, of the composite product produced by means of the joining process depending on the evaluation result (Fig. 7C, steps e1 or e2, para [0094], “ According to the embodiment of FIG. 7c, packages 30 of the first category K1, for example, may be packaged in an outer packaging (step (e1)), whereas packages 30 of the second category K2 and possibly of the third category K3 may be ejected from the process (step (e2)) and subjected separately to further processing or destroyed.”. The device proceeds to packing or rejecting the sealed product based on the quality of the join/seal).
Bitzer fails to expressly teach the sealing device performs evaluating the acquired measurement data in order to extract features.
However, in the same field of signal processing, Liu teaches a noise filter that is configured to remove noise from the sensor signals. See Fig. 2, and para [0055], “For example, the ECG authentication apparatus filters the ECG signal using a band pass filter configured to pass a predefined frequency band. A characteristic of a passing frequency band of the band pass filter is determined in a process of training a neural network model used for extracting a semantic feature of the ECG. Through filtering, noise included in the ECG signal is removed or an ECG signal corresponding to a frequency band of interest is acquired from the ECG signal.”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bitzer’s sealing device with a noise filter to reduce signal noise and to improve inspection accuracy.
Regarding claim 2, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the features is selected from the following list of variables or is defined as a variable that is dependent on at least one variable from the list:
- an extreme value of the course of the measurement variable corresponding to a maximum pressing force;
- an indicator that characterizes a working position at which the extreme value occurred (Fig. 6 and para [0089], “Step (c) of the method comprises detecting a problem with the sealing operation according to step (a), in particular a problem with the seam 40 or with the sealing device 2, based on the parameter P detected in each segment 28a-h of the plurality of segments 28 according to step (b). A problem with the seam 40 can, for example, be caused by the contaminant 44 on the sealing surface (see FIG. 6). A problem with the sealing device 2 can be, for example, caused by a defective heating element 22.”. The sealing device determines the segment 42h of a plurality of segments 42a-42h is contaminated with contaminant 44 based on the actual parameter P deviates from the nominal.);
- a pre-loading force (VSP) to which the arrangement of the overlapping substrates was subjected by the pressing device before the application of pressure carried out to join the substrates with an increased pressing force was introduced;
- a post-loading force (NSP) to which the arrangement of the then already joined substrates was subjected by the pressing device after the application of pressure to join the substrates with a pressing force which is increased with respect thereto;
- a difference or a ratio of pre-loading force (VSP) and post-loading force (NSP);
- an indicator which characterizes a working position at which, starting from the pre- loading force (VSP), the application of force for joining the substrates, carried out with an increased pressing force, started or increasingly exceeded a first predetermined force threshold;
- an indicator which characterizes a working position in which, after the application of pressure for joining the substrates carried out with an increased pressing force, the post-loading force (NSP) began or the preceding application of pressure exceeded a second predetermined force threshold in a decreasing manner;
- an integral of the measurement variable determined over its course.
Regarding claim 4, Liu in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement data are subjected to a preprocessing to improve the data quality, and the extraction of at least one of the features occurs from the measurement data prepared during the preprocessing (Fig. 2, and para [0055], the signals are filtered before extraction).
Regarding claim 5, Liu in the combination teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the preprocessing comprises filtering the measurement data to reduce or eliminate high-frequency interference (para [0055], “Through filtering, noise included in the ECG signal is removed or an ECG signal corresponding to a frequency band of interest is acquired from the ECG signal.”).
Regarding claim 6, Liu in the combination teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the preprocessing comprises transforming the measurement data such that the transformed measurement data continue to represent the measurement variable as a function of the working positions of the pressing device or the variable corresponding to the working positions (Fig. 2, and para [0055], the filter transforms a noisy signal to a less noise signal), but are independent of the speed of the application of pressure applied by the pressing device (The sealing pressure and/or electrical resistance is independent of the speed.).
Regarding claim 11, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the juxtaposition of the determined evaluation indicator with a defined evaluation reference comprises a comparison of the determined evaluation indicator with at least one predetermined evaluation threshold serving as an evaluation reference (Fig. 7A, step c, the actual parameter P is compared with a predetermined nominal parameter P).
Regarding claim 13, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the control of the pressing device for each joining process takes place as a function of the respective assigned evaluation result stored in the data structure or database (Fig. 7C, the sealing device controls to packing or ejecting the sealed product based on the result of the sealing quality.).
Regarding claim 14, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation results are transmitted to a controller of the pressing device using a communication based on the OPC-UA information model in order to enable and/or cause it to control the pressing device depending on the evaluation result (Fig. 7c, the sealing device includes a control unit 12 to command packing or ejecting the sealed product based on the result of the sealing quality).
Regarding claim 15, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein a sealing machine is used as the pressing device to combine two or more of the substrates into a blister pack (para [0051], “In some embodiments, a sealing machine, in particular a plate sealing machine, is used as the pressing device to join two or more of the substrates into a blister pack. Such a blister pack can be configured in particular for packaging tablet-shaped pharmaceutical products, food supplements or cosmetic products. Especially with blister packs,”).
Regarding claim 16, Bitzer in the combination teaches a data processing system for automatically monitoring a joining process, wherein the data processing system has at least one processor platform and a memory coupled thereto, in which instructions are stored which, when executed on the processor platform (para [0050], “The sealing device preferably comprises a control unit, and step (c) is carried out by means of the control unit. The control unit, furthermore, can comprise a memory unit for storing the process parameters, for example, and for storing the predetermined nominal value of the parameter characteristic of the sealing quality of the seam. In one embodiment, step (c) may therefore comprise the step of retrieving the predetermined nominal value of the parameter from the memory unit.”), cause it to carry out the method according to claim 1 (See rejection for claim 1 above.).
Regarding claim 17, Bitzer in the combination teaches a system for carrying out and automatically monitoring a joining process for connecting a plurality of overlapping substrates to one another to form a composite product under pressure by application of pressure by a pressing device (para [0045], “The result of the sealing operation according to step (a) is largely determined by process parameters including a sealing pressure, a sealing duration, and a sealing temperature. For these process parameters, appropriate nominal values are usually preset as a function of the pairing of the material of the formed part with that of the lidding film and as a function of the requirements on the seam.”), wherein the system comprises the pressing device including a controller therefor and the data processing system according to claim 16, which is configured to communicate evaluation results for the joining process determined by it in accordance with the method to the controller (Fig. 7a – 7c, the sealing device determines to pack or reject the sealing product based on the seal quality).
Regarding claim 18, Bitzer in the combination teaches a computer program or computer program product, in particular a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (para [0050], “The sealing device preferably comprises a control unit, and step (c) is carried out by means of the control unit. The control unit, furthermore, can comprise a memory unit for storing the process parameters, for example, and for storing the predetermined nominal value of the parameter characteristic of the sealing quality of the seam. In one embodiment, step (c) may therefore comprise the step of retrieving the predetermined nominal value of the parameter from the memory unit.”. The sealing device includes a control unit and a memory that stores instructions to perform the disclosed inspection method), with respective instructions which, when executed on a data processing system cause it to perform a method according to claim 1 (See rejection for claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 19, recites a computer readable storage medium to perform the method of claim 2.
Claims 3 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bitzer (Pub. No.: US 2022/0161955 A1) in view of Liu (Pub. No.: US 2017/0188971 A1) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Marsden (Pat. No.: 4,893,505).
Regarding claim 3, Bitzer in the combination teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein sensor data are acquired as the measurement data (para [0045] – [0046], parameter includes sealing pressure).
Bitzer fails to teach wherein the sensor data were or are acquired on the basis of measurements with at least one of the following sensor types: load cell, strain gauge, accelerometer.
However, in the same field of pressure sensing, Marsden teaches a strain gauge is used to measure pressure. Col. 8 line 38 -45, “In actual practice, pressure sensor 166 can be a strain gauge type pressure transducer 166a,”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bitzer’s sealing device with a strain gauge to accurately measure sealing pressure.
Regarding claim 20, recites a computer readable storage medium to perform the method of claim 3.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHEN Y WU whose telephone number is (571)272-5711. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10AM-6PM, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at 571-272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHEN Y WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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