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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sachiko et al. (JP 2018-202533).
Regarding claim 1, Sachiko teaches a coated cutting tool having alternating layers of nitrides of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si, B; and Y (¶ 13). Sachiko teaches exemplary layer compositions for the alternating layers including Ti0.5Al0.5N and Cr0.95Si0.05N (¶ 33; Table 1, Ex. 7). Sachiko teaches the thickness of the TiAlN layer is 80 nm, and the thickness of the CrSiN layer is 100 nm, which gives a thickness ratio of 0.8 (Table 1, Ex. 7). The total thickness of the alternating layers is 2 μm (Table 1, Ex. 7).
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sachiko et al. (JP 2018-202533).
Regarding claim 1, Sachiko teaches a coated cutting tool having three alternating layers of nitrides of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si, B; and Y (¶ 13). The ratio between the two elements chosen necessarily is between 0 and 1. Sachiko teaches exemplary layer compositions for the alternating layers such as TiAlN and CrSiN (¶ 33), including Ti0.5Al0.5N and Cr0.95Si0.05N (¶ 33; Table 1, Ex. 7). The thickness of each layer is between 1 and 110 nm (¶ 16), and total thickness of the alternating layers is between 0.5 and 10 μm. A thickness ratio between layers therefore ranges from 0.01-110. The prior art ranges overlap the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 2, Sachiko teaches an intermediate layer 6 present adjacent to the alternating layers and therefore can be considered part of it (¶ 50). The intermediate layer comprises a nitride of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si; C, N, O, or B (¶ 50), with an exemplary composition including TiAlSiN (¶ 51). It is necessarily the case that the relative ratios of Al, Ti, and Si are between 0 and 1. The thickness of this layer is between 0.1 and 5 μm (¶ 53). This overlaps the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claims 3-4, Sachiko teaches a coated cutting tool having three alternating layers of nitrides of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si, B; and Y (¶ 13). The ratio between the at least two elements chosen necessarily is between 0 and 1. Sachiko teaches exemplary layer compositions for the alternating layers such as CrSiN (¶ 33) and TiAlSiN (¶ 67). The thickness of each layer is between 1 and 110 nm (¶ 16). A thickness ratio between layers therefore ranges from 0.01-110, and in the examples, the ratio of thicknesses between layers ranges between about 0.7 – 1.4 (see Table 1). The prior art ranges overlap the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 5, Sachiko teaches an intermediate layer 6 present adjacent to the alternating layers and therefore can be considered part of it (¶ 50). The intermediate layer comprises a nitride of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si; C, N, O, or B (¶ 50), with an exemplary composition including TiAlSiN (¶ 51). It is necessarily the case that the relative ratios of Al, Ti, and Si are between 0 and 1. The thickness of this layer is between 0.1 and 5 μm (¶ 53). This overlaps the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa (JP 2001-328008) in view of Sachiko et al. (JP 2018-202533).
Regarding claim 1, Ishikawa teaches a cutting tool having an alternating laminate structure of A and B layers (¶ 6). Layer A comprises (CraSi1-a)(NxB1-x) where 0.5 ≤ a < 1.0 and 0.5 ≤ x ≤ 1.0 (¶ 7). This overlaps the claimed composition where Cr1-c corresponds to 0.6-0.99 for Cr. Layer B comprises a (TiAl)N (¶ 6) where all examples are Ti0.5Al0.5N (se Table 1). The thickness of the entire film is 4 μm (¶ 17). However, Ishikawa does not expressly teach the thickness of the individual layers.
Sachiko teaches a coated cutting tool having alternating layers of nitrides of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si, B; and Y (¶ 13). Sachiko teaches exemplary layer compositions including TiAlN and CrSiN (¶ 33). Sachiko teaches the thickness of these layers should be between 1 and 110 nm to prevent lattice strain and diffusion resulting in a mixed layer (¶ 16), and a total thickness of the layers should be between 0.5 and 10 μm to maximize wear and fracture resistance while preventing defect formation (¶ 17). Sachiko also teaches an example where the thickness ratio of a TiAlN layer to CrSiN layer is 0.8 (see Table 1, Ex. 7). It would have been obvious at the effective time of filing for the claimed invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to follow the teachings of Sachiko with respect to the thicknesses of the layers in Ishikawa because Sachiko’s teachings regarding layer thickness result in high fracture resistance and other benefits (see ¶¶ 16-17). The ranges of the prior art combination overlap the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 2, Ishikawa does not expressly teach an additional layer of Al1-d-eTidM3eN. Sachiko teaches an intermediate layer 6 present adjacent to the alternating layers and therefore can be considered part of it (¶ 50). The intermediate layer comprises a nitride of at least two elements chosen from Groups 4, 5, or 6; Al; Si; C, N, O, or B (¶ 50), with an exemplary composition including TiAlSiN (¶ 51). It is necessarily the case that the relative ratios of Al, Ti, and Si are between 0 and 1. The thickness of this layer is between 0.1 and 5 μm (¶ 53). This overlaps the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. It would have been obvious at the effective time of filing for the claimed invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to include the intermediate layer of Sachiko in the layer structure of Ishikawa because this layer provides abrasion resistance and adhesiveness (¶ 53).
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiroyuki et al. (JP 2007-063650).
Regarding claim 1, Hiroyuki teaches a cutting tool (¶ 10) having an alternating laminate structure of TiAlN (the claimed A sublayer) and CrBN+TiAlN (the claimed B sublayer) layers (¶ 5). Hiroyuki teaches the TiAlN layer has a Ti to Al ratio of 2:8 to 6:4 (¶ 20), which corresponds to Ti having a ratio fraction of 0.2 to 0.6 and Al having a ratio fraction of 0.4-0.8. Hiroyuki teaches the CrBN layer has a Cr:B ratio of 75:25 to 95:5 (¶ 24), which corresponds to Cr having a ratio fraction of 0.75-0.95 and B having a ratio fraction of 0.05-0.25. The thickness of the TiAlN layers is 160-2000 nm, while the thickness of the CrBN layers is 10-1000 nm (¶ 20). A thickness ratio between layers therefore ranges from 0.16-200. The total thickness of the alternating layers is 2-10 μm (¶ 19). The prior art ranges overlap the claimed ranges, creating a prima facie case of obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Conclusion
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/XIAOBEI WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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