DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 and 14-16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 1-3, --the-- should be added before “light from” in respective lines 3, 2, and 3.
In claim 14, “the back” should be changed to --the opposite-- in line 8.
In claim 15, “an amplitude and a phase” should be changed to --the amplitude and the phase-- in lines 3-4.
In claim 16, “an amplitude and a phase” should be changed to --the amplitude and the phase-- in line 3.
Appropriate correction 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.
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, 7, 9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0050566 to Nilsson et al [hereinafter Nilsson] in view of JP2017078624A to Mitsuta et al [hereinafter Mitsuta] (see the attached translation).
Referring to claim 1, Nilsson discloses an interface information identification device (figure 1; paragraphs 8, 10-12, 19, 20, 36) comprising:
a light source (10) configured to emit light to heat a planar sample (40), the sample (40) including a first layer (2) and a second layer (1) overlapping the first layer (2) (paragraphs 10, 36) to provide homogenized heating of the surface of the first layer (paragraph 10);
a detecting unit (20) configured to detect, at an opposite side of the sample (40) from the light source (10), a temperature distribution on a surface of the second layer (1) of the sample (40) (paragraph 11); and
an identifying unit (30) configured to identify information (cavities) about an interface (3) between the first layer (2) and the second layer (1) of the sample (40) based on the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit (20) (paragraphs 8, 12).
Nilsson does not disclose an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from the light source to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light, wherein the detecting unit is at an opposite side from the irradiating unit.
However, Mitsuta discloses (figure 18; paragraph 23) a thermal testing device for inspecting a sample (10), wherein the device uses an irradiating unit (112) configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from a light source (113) to irradiate an entire surface (figure 18) of a first side of the sample (10) with the light, wherein a detecting unit (103) is at an opposite side of the sample (10) from the irradiating unit (112) in order to achieve uniform heating.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Nilsson with an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from the light source to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light, wherein the detecting unit is at an opposite side from the irradiating unit, as suggested by Mitsuta, in order to achieve uniform heating of the entire sample to obtain more actuate interface information.
Referring to claim 7, Nilsson in view of Mitsuta disclose a device having all of the limitations of claim 7, as stated above with respect to claim 1, wherein Nilsson discloses that the detecting unit (20) is configured to detect a temperature distribution at a center of the surface of the second layer (1) of the sample (figure 1), but does not disclose excluding edges of the surface.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nilsson in view of Mitsuta such that the detecting unit excludes the edges of the surface in order to detect a particular part of the surface that is desirable to a user; and since the particular detecting area of the surface to be detected claimed by applicant, i.e., a center without the edges of the surface, is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice, or design, because the particular area claimed by applicant is considered to one of numerous areas that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to provide a temperature distribution as already suggested by Nilsson.
Referring to claim 9, Nilsson in view of Mitsuta disclose a device having all of the limitations of claim 9, as stated above with respect to claim 1, wherein Nilsson discloses a displaying unit (display screen) configured to display the information about the interface identified by the identifying unit as a distribution at the interface (figure 4; paragraph 8).
Referring to claim 12, Nilsson discloses an interface information identification method (figure 1; paragraphs 8, 10-12, 19, 20, 36) comprising:
emitting light (using 10) to heat a planar sample (40), the sample (40) including a first layer (2) and a second layer (1) overlapping the first layer (2) (paragraphs 10, 36) to provide homogenized heating of the surface of the first layer (paragraph 10);
detecting (using 20) a temperature distribution on a surface of the second layer (1) of the sample (40) (paragraph 11); and
identifying (using 30) information (cavities) about an interface (3) between the first layer (2) and the second layer (1) of the sample (40) based on the detected temperature distribution (paragraphs 8, 12).
Nilsson does not disclose homogenizing an intensity distribution of the emitted light to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light.
However, Mitsuta discloses (figure 18; paragraph 23) a thermal testing device for inspecting a sample (10), wherein the device uses an irradiating unit (112) configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from a light source (113) to irradiate an entire surface (figure 18) of a first side of the sample (10) with the light, wherein a detecting unit (103) is at an opposite side of the sample (10) from the irradiating unit (112) in order to achieve uniform heating.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Nilsson with an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of the emitted light to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light, as suggested by Mitsuta, in order to achieve uniform heating of the entire sample to obtain more actuate interface information.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson in view of Mitsuta and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0080415 to Baba et al [hereinafter Baba].
Referring to claim 13, Nilsson discloses a method (figure 1; paragraphs 8, 10-12, 19, 20, 36) comprising:
emitting light (using 10) to heat a planar sample (40), the sample (40) including a first layer (2) and a second layer (1) overlapping the first layer (2) (paragraphs 10, 36) to provide homogenized heating of the surface of the first layer (paragraph 10);
detecting (using 20) a temperature distribution on a surface of the second layer (1) of the sample (40) (paragraph 11); and
identifying (using 30) information (cavities) about an interface (3) between the first layer (2) and the second layer (1) of the sample (40) based on the detected temperature distribution (paragraphs 8, 12).
Nilsson does not disclose homogenizing an intensity distribution of the emitted light to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the method.
However, Mitsuta discloses (figure 18; paragraph 23) a thermal testing device for inspecting a sample (10), wherein the device uses an irradiating unit (112) configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from a light source (113) to irradiate an entire surface (figure 18) of a first side of the sample (10) with the light, wherein a detecting unit (103) is at an opposite side of the sample (10) from the irradiating unit (112) in order to achieve uniform heating.
Furthermore, Baba discloses a thermal testing device for testing a sample that uses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the testing of the sample (claim 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Nilsson with an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of the emitted light to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light, as suggested by Mitsuta, in order to achieve uniform heating of the entire sample to obtain more actuate interface information.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Nilsson in view of Mitsuta with a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the method, as suggested by Baba, in order to provide computerized identification of the interface information.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson in view of Mitsuta and JP2020190443 to Nagano et al [hereinafter Nagano] (see the attached translation).
Referring to claim 14, Nilsson discloses a device (figure 1; paragraphs 8, 10-12, 19, 20, 36) comprising:
a light source (10) (paragraphs 10, 36) to provide homogenized heating of a surface of a first layer (2) of a planar sample (40) (paragraph 10);
a detecting unit (20) configured to detect, at an opposite side of the sample (40) from the light source (10), a temperature distribution on a back side (opposite surface 1) of the sample (40) (paragraph 11); and
an identifying unit (30) configure to identify information about an internal condition (cavities) of the sample based on the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit (paragraphs 8, 12).
Nilsson does not disclose an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light emitted from the light source toward a planar sample to irradiate an entire surface of the sample with the light, wherein the detecting unit is at an opposite side of the sample from the irradiating unit; and the identifying unit being configured to identify information about the internal condition of the sample based on an amplitude and a phase lag of the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit.
However, Mitsuta discloses (figure 18; paragraph 23) a thermal testing device for inspecting a sample (10), wherein the device uses an irradiating unit (112) configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of light from a light source (113) to irradiate an entire surface (figure 18) of a first side of the sample (10) with the light; wherein a detecting unit (103) is at an opposite side of the sample (10) from the irradiating unit (112) in order to achieve uniform heating.
Furthermore, Nagano discloses (figure 2; paragraph 19) a thermal testing device for testing a sample that identifies information about an internal condition of a sample based on an amplitude and a phase lag of a temperature distribution detected by a detecting unit in order to obtain a property of the sample.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Nilsson with an irradiating unit configured to homogenize an intensity distribution of the emitted light to irradiate an entire surface of the first layer of the sample with the light, as suggested by Mitsuta, in order to achieve uniform heating of the entire sample to obtain more actuate interface information.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nilsson such that the identifying unit is configured to identify information about the internal condition of the sample based on an amplitude and a phase lag of the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit, a suggested by Nagano, in order to obtain a property of the sample.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-6, 8, 10, 11, 15, and 16 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, and amended to overcome the objections set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the following in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims:
An interface information identification device, wherein the irradiating unit includes a guide body configured to guide light from the light source toward the sample while spreading the light to make an irradiation area of the light reaching the sample larger than the sample (claim 2); comprising an opening body between the sample and the detecting unit, the opening body including an opening allowing for passage therethrough of infrared rays that go from the surface of the second layer of the sample toward the detecting unit (claim 5); wherein the information about the interface includes information about an interface thermal resistance (claim 8); wherein the identifying unit is configured to output, based on the identified information about the interface between the first layer and the second layer, information about an interface thermal resistance between the first layer and the adhesive layer (claim 10); and wherein the identifying unit is configured to identify information about fatigue of the sample based on the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit (claim 11).
An internal information identification device; wherein the identifying unit is configured to identify information about a through-plane thermal diffusivity of the sample based on at least one of an amplitude and a phase lag of the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit (claim 15); and wherein the identifying unit is configured to identify information about fatigue inside the sample based on an amplitude and a phase lag of the temperature distribution detected by the detecting unit (claim 16).
Conclusion
The references made of record by the examiner and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure by disclosing a thermally testing an interface of a sample, but do not disclose the allowable subject matter stated above.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIRELLYS JAGAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2247. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Friday 8-6.
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/MIRELLYS JAGAN/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
3/7/26