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 .
1.Claims 25-44 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.
Claim 25, line 4, it is unclear exactly what constitutes the “downskin region” of the layer and its relationship to the “volume region” of the layer as set forth at line 6 of the claim. It would appear that the term “downskin” would encompass a number of regions in an article being built up that would also be termed “volume”—ie, regions within the article. Also, at line 5, exactly what does “covering” mean with respect to the set of first irradiation vectors and the downskin region? Does this mean that the first irradiation vectors are limited to only the downskin region and not what would be termed a volume region? It would appear that extending one of the first irradiation vectors into the volume region would also depend on exactly how the irradiation is being applied to the layer being produced. Ie, if applied from the top, it would appear that all the first irradiation vectors would pass through the volume region, whereas if applied from below, such might not be the case. As claim 25 stands, it is unclear exactly how the irradiation vectors are being applied to the layer and the exact relationship between the downskin and volume regions. Also, what is the difference between the instant irradiation vectors and the irradiation parameters assigned to the vectors?
2.The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Maurer et al irradiates different regions of an article being additively manufactured to arrive at a different powder density. Werner is the US equivalent to EP 3,640,007.
3.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATHIEU D VARGOT whose telephone number is (571)272-1211. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 9 to 6.
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/MATHIEU D VARGOT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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