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 .
Claims 1-4 and 6-10 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oftedal (US2019/201978A1).
Re: 1, Oftedal teaches of an extruder for 3D printing (material melting device 10 for FFF-printer for 3D printing, [0001]) comprising a ceramic nozzle (head part can be of ceramic material, [0034]), wherein the ceramic nozzle has a skirt (see hot part 30), and a plurality of skirt heatinq elements (heating elements 46 [0085]) is provided on an underside of the skirt (see Figs. 3 and 9). The placement of the heating element in Oftedal is placed through the entirety of the skirt element and it would have been obvious for of ordinary skill in the art to recognize this as an obvious equivalent to the claimed underside of the skirt which is an adjacent location as the heater is goes through the entire skirt structure from top to bottom.
Re: 2 (upon 1), further comprisinq a nozzle heatinq element integrally formed with the ceramic nozzle. (these are adjacent elements, can be made integral, would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have made a modification of Oftedal)
It is further noted that Oftedal teaches of support elements 79 that can be made from ceramic materials, see Figs. 6a-6b and 7, [0098], includes tube shape, see element 79, and bushing element 43 can also be made from ceramic material [0087].
Re: 6 (upon 1), wherein each of the plurality of skirt heating elements is in a planar arrangement on the underside of the skirt, and each of the plurality of skirt heating elements is located in a separate circular sector of the skirt. (see arrangement of the heaters in the circular portion of the skirt in Oftedal, see Figs. 1-3 and 9).
Re: 8 (upon 1), further comprising a ceramic down tube attached to the ceramic nozzle, wherein the down tube is formed from a low thermally conductive ceramic. (see in Oftedal regarding tubes made from ceramic, see 79, and also bushing 43 that can be seen as the down tube that is attached to the ceramic nozzle.)
Claim(s) 3-4 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oftedal as applied to claims 1-2 above, and further in view of Gellert (US 2007/0148279 A1).
Re: 3 (upon 2), wherein the nozzle heating element comprises: a metallic slurry screen printed onto the ceramic nozzle; and a ceramic material covering the metallic slurry, wherein the ceramic material is subsequently sintered.
Re: 4 (upon 1), further comprisinq a low thermally conductive ceramic sleeve covering the ceramic nozzle. (see teaching of bushing 43 that would surround a portion of the nozzle 32, both teachings of ceramic in Oftedal.)
Oftedal doesn't disclose the features such as the heating element is formed by screen printing a metallic slurry onto the nozzle, covering the nozzle heating element with a ceramic material and then sintering the nozzle; the nozzle is covered by a low thermally conductive ceramic sleeve; the nozzle comprises a skirt including a plurality of skirt heating elements in a planar arrangement on the underside of the skirt, located in a separate circular sector of the skirt; the skirt heating elements are individually controllable; and a ceramic down tube attached to the nozzle, the down tube is formed from a low thermally conductive ceramic, defined in claims 3-4 and 6-8.
However, Gellert discloses the features defined in claims 3-4 and 6-8. Gellert discloses a ceramic nozzle including an integrally formed nozzle heating element (paras [0009], [0017]) for an extruder; the heating element is formed by screen printing (para [0020]) a metallic slurry onto the nozzle, covering the nozzle heating element with a ceramic material and then sintering the nozzle (para [0020]); the nozzle is covered by a low thermally conductive ceramic sleeve; the nozzle comprises a skirt including a plurality of skirt heating elements in a planar arrangement on the underside of the skirt, located in a separate circular sector of the skirt (paras [0029], [0055], [0059]); the skirt heating elements are individually controllable (paras [0019], [0057], [0067], [0071], claims 1 and 9); and a ceramic down tube attached to the nozzle, the down tube is formed from a low thermally conductive ceramic (paras [0017], [0019]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the ceramic nozzle structure of Oftedal with the manner of constructing the ceramic materials upon the nozzle as taught by the Gellert reference as a known manner such construction. As per KSR, MPEP 2143, wherein, this being one method of construction for ceramic structures known as taught by the Gellert reference that can be utilized in forming the ceramic nozzle structure of the Oftedal reference.
Re: 9 (upon 6), further comprising a low thermally conductive cover surrounding the ceramic nozzle, wherein the low thermally conductive cover is formed as a series of alternating walls and voids. (See Figure 1a of Gellert, with the void between the alternating walls, the void providing space for the heater H. see also Fig. 8 of alternating layers/walls with voids (that provides space for the heaters 80, see [0050].)
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oftedal as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Smith (US5288219A).
Re: 7 (upon 6), wherein each of the plurality of skirt heating elements is individually controllable. Smith does not specifically teach of the elements being individual controllable.
See teaching by Smith, see Col. 2, line to Col. 3, line 5, regarding extrusion and the control zones via heaters that allows for local temperature variation. Which one skilled in the art would recognize in the Oftedal reference for controlling the individual heating elements as desired for accommodating local temperature variation as taught by Smith.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oftedal as applied to claims 6 and 9 above, and further in view of Sachs (US 2019/0118258 A1) and Xiao (US 2021/0245438 A1).
Re: 10 (upon 9), wherein the low thermally conductive cover comprises passageways in fluid communication with the underside of the skirt and means of extracting fumes through a first subset of the passageways, and means for introducing inert gas into a second subset of the passageways.
The claimed invention differs in cover/sleeve having alternating walls and voids to for passageways to extract fume and introducing inert gas to cool and stiffen the dispensed material or to ensure dispensed material doesn't oxidise, see Sachs paras [0077], [0160]), wherein Sachs, there is both an inlet for gas and at the outlet a vacuum source applied to ensure the expelling of the material from the nozzle, and of the teaching of administering of gas at the nozzle outlet, see [0161]. Further, Xiao teaches of an arrangement for 3D printing comprising a ceramic nozzle, wherein the ceramic nozzle (see [0012], and nozzle 110) has a “skirt” (see material manifold with material manifold shield 108, [0012] and shield gas manifold 118), and the skirt having a heating element (see direct current source 124 and annular filament 114), and wherein, the gas inlet for argon, and manifold can be ceramic.
It would have been obvious for on one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modified the nozzle structure of Oftedal with the additional skirt features regarding the passageways in communication for introducing inert gas and further a vacuum source that is applied to the nozzle outlet region as taught by Sachs and Xiao in order to provide known conditions to the nozzle outlet of a 3D printing device. As per KSR, MPEP 2143, wherein, this being an application of a known method at the nozzle outlet as taught by the Sachs and Xiao references that can be utilized at the nozzle and skirt features of the Oftedal reference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892 form.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL S LUK whose telephone number is (571)272-1134. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 to 5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao S 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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/EMMANUEL S LUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744