DETAILED ACTION
In Reply filed on 01/05/2026, claims 1-9 and 16-20 are pending. No claim is currently amended. No claim is newly added. Claims 10-15 are canceled. Claims 1-9 and 16-20 are considered in this 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/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-9 and 16-20) in the reply filed on 01/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-4, 5, 9, and 17-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2-4 and 17-19 should be corrected to “wherein infusing the carbon-based material[[s]] comprises” (line 1).
Claims 5 and 20 should be corrected to “receiving the sensor data” (line 3).
Claim 9 should be corrected to “the carbonized cementitious material” (line 9).
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-9 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 16 recite the limitation “the data” in line 10 and line 11, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The limitation would be interpreted as “data.”
Claims 2-9 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being dependent from claim 1 and claim 16, respectively.
Claims 4 and 19 recite the limitation “modifying amounts of the carbon-based material” in line 2. It is unclear whether the limitation requires the carbon-based material is at least more than one (i.e., plurality) as a corresponding amount is presented as a plural form. For the purpose of examination, the limitation would be interpreted as “modifying an amount of the carbon-based material.”
Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-9, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reusch (US 20240165850 A1) in view of Ford (US 20220268039 A1) and Gong (US 20210380494 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Reusch teaches a method comprising:
receiving sensor data representing one or more ambient parameters in an environment in which cementitious material is deposited to form a three-dimensional (“3D”) additively manufactured structure ([0033-0034]: the control system can be communicatively coupled to one or more environmental sensors such as a thermometer, humidity sensor, viscosity sensor, wind sensor, pressure sensor, concrete moisture sensor, or others, and this can allow the control system to adjust the composition of the cementitious material to respond to changes in environmental conditions, or measured properties of the cementitious material such as viscosity, pressure, moisture content, or others; fig. 2);
mixing one or more materials to form the cementitious material based on the sensor data ([0033-0034]: the apparatus for additive manufacturing can include a control system that can automatically adjust properties of the cementitious material by changing the amounts of individual ingredients that are mixed to make the cementitious material, and properties of the cementitious material can be changed to form portions of a 3D printed structure with different properties than other portions, or the properties of the cementitious material can be adjusted to adapt to changing environmental conditions; fig. 2);
[infusing carbon-based material into the cementitious material to form carbonized cementitious material]; and
implementing a nozzle unit to deposit the [carbonized] cementitious material [based on the data representing spatial dimensions of the 3D additively manufactured structure] ([0026]: the printhead can include a nozzle that deposits a ribbon of wet cementitious material with a particular width and layer thickness, depending on the size of the nozzle and the rate at which the cementitious material flows through the nozzle; figs. 2, 4).
Reusch does not specifically teach the bracketed limitation(s) as presented above, but
Ford and Gong teach the limitation(s) as follows:
Ford teaches methods and apparatus for 3D printing using an extrudable build material such as a cement mixture (abstract, [0067], fig. 1). The apparatus includes a printing assembly 100 and a control apparatus that implement the printing assembly to deposit cementitious material based on the data representing spatial dimensions of the 3D additively manufactured structure (claim 1: a model file of a build structure to be printed, specifying a 3D representation of the building structure; claim 13).
In the same field of endeavor of 3D printing a building structure using a cementitious material, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing invention to modify the 3D printing method of Reusch to implement depositing a material based on 3D model file stored in a memory device and processible by a control processor as taught by Ford in order to obtain known results or a reasonable expectation of successful results of building a desired 3D structure automatically with improved accuracy, reduced labor time, and minimized human interpretation error.
Gong teaches a process for the preparation of a wet carbonated concrete mixture to capture of CO2 within the concrete (abstract, claim 1, [0002], fig. 1). Gong teaches infusing carbon-based material into the cementitious material to form carbonized cementitious material, and the carbonized cement material is used in work site (claim 1, figs. 1-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the cementitious material of modified Reusch to be carbonized by injecting of carbon-based material such as a CO2-containing material and adding of at least one CO2-sequestering material as taught by Gong in order to obtain known results or a reasonable expectation of successful results for forming a carbonized cement with increased captured amount of CO2 so as to increase early strength and hardness of a cement structure with improved durability and to help to offset emissions generated during cement product (Gong: derived from [0002-0005]).
Upon the modification, modified Reusch also teaches the claimed method would be performed by a program instruction (e.g., software) stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., memory) (Reusch: [0062, 0080, 0118], fig. 2; Fong: claim 1, figs. 3-4, 6; Gong: [0052, 0152], fig. 5).
Regarding claims 2 and 17, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 or 16 wherein infusing the carbon-based materials comprises: injecting carbon dioxide into the cementitious material (Gong: claim 1: a CO2-containing water comprising a CO2 gas bubbles).
Regarding claims 3 and 18, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 or 16 wherein infusing the carbon-based materials comprises: introducing carbon-reactive elements into the cementitious material to promote carbon mineralization (Gong: claim 1: at least one CO2-sequestering chemical that releases species which are ready to be carbonated via the CO2-containing water, thereby increasing the captured amount of CO2 in the wet carbonated concrete mixture).
Regarding claims 4 and 19, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 or 16 wherein infusing the carbon-based materials comprises: modifying amounts of the carbon-based material into the cementitious material as a function of the sensor data (Reusch: [0033-0034]; Gong: [0123]: the mixing conditions comprise at least one of a mixing temperature, a mixing time, a water to cementitious material weight ratio, an admixture to cementitious material weight ratio, and any other characteristic that is controllable to ensure that the wet concrete mixture is workable). Here, it is obvious that upon the modification as applied to claim 1, the amount of the carbon-based material would be adjusted based on the data measured from the environmental sensors (Reusch: [0033-0034]) to ensure the carbonized cementitious material is controllable and workable according to the environmental condition (Gong: [0123]).
Regarding claims 5 and 20, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 or 16 wherein receiving the sensor data representing one or more ambient parameters comprises: receiving sensor data representing temperature, humidity, and displacement vectors indicative of wind (Reusch: [0033-0034]: environmental sensors such as a thermometer, humidity sensor, viscosity sensor, wind sensor, and pressure sensor); and adjusting formation of the carbonized cementitious material based on the sensor data (Reusch: [0033-0034]; Gong: [0123]). Here, it is obvious that upon the modification as applied to claim 1, the amount of the carbon-based material would be adjusted based on the data measured from the environmental sensors (Reusch: [0033-0034]) to ensure the carbonized cementitious material is controllable and workable according to the environmental condition (Gong: [0123]).
Regarding claim 6, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 wherein mixing the one or more materials to form the cementitious material based on the sensor data comprises: combining the cementitious material with one or more admixtures (Reusch: [0103-0104]; [0035-0037]: a supply of dry cement powder 702, a supply of dry mineral filler 706, a supply of curing accelerator 712, a supply of water 716, wherein each of the supplies having an individually controllable outlet controlled by a control system 6510; fig. 2).
Regarding claim 8, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 wherein mixing the one or more materials to form the cementitious material based on the sensor data comprises: combining the cementitious material at or adjacent to a base mixer unit (Reusch: [0031]: a batch mixer including a dry pre-mixer and a water distribution mixer 726, figs. 1-2).
Regarding claim 9, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1 wherein implementing the nozzle unit to deposit the carbonized cementitious material based on the data representing spatial dimensions of the 3D additively manufactured structure comprises: receiving a data file including data identifying a print path over which the nozzle unit deposits the material (Ford: [0004, 0013, 0083]: controllers perform a slice method that breaks the model file into individual printer-readable instructions for each layer (e.g., G-code/M-code), and each instruction defines a toolpath for the printer head (e.g., a printer assembly) to print the respective layer of the structure; fig. 5).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reusch (US 20240165850 A1), Ford (US 20220268039 A1), and Gong (US 20210380494 A1) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Schubart (US 20200307017 A1).
Regarding claim 7, modified Reusch teaches the method of claim 1, but does not specifically teach that wherein mixing the one or more materials to form the cementitious material based on the sensor data comprises: combining the cementitious material at or adjacent to the nozzle unit.
Schubart teaches a printhead for an additive manufacturing system including a hopper, an outlet, a mixing shaft, and a drive shaft (abstract, figs. 1-4). The printhead operates to mix ingredients therein and deliver a slurry material to make a concrete or cement material ([0057, 0078], figs. 1-4).
In the same field of endeavor of 3D printing a building structure using a cementitious material, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing invention to modify the mixing of ingredients of modified Reusch to be performed by a known printhead mixer as taught by Schubart in order to obtain known results or a reasonable expectation of successful results of depositing a mixed slurry (i.e., cementitious material) immediately after addition of additives so as to allow the slurry material to rapidly harden and set after placement, improving buildability against pumpability required for easy pumping if the slurry is pre-mixed and transferred to the printhead.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Garcia Munoz (WO 2023156686 A1) teaches an intelligent 3D printing and additive manufacturing construction system (abstract, fig. 1).
Lim (US 20250114969 A1) teaches a printhead for 3D printing of concrete (abstract, fig. 1).
McGee (US 20230256649 A1) teaches an automated robotic printing device for 3D printing of an engineered cementitious composite structure (abstract, fig. 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to INJA SONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1605. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. 8 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao (Sam) Zhao can be reached at (571)270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/INJA SONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1744