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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12, 14, 15 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nolen, et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0103198 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nolen discloses a target carrier assembly for transferring a target to and from an irradiation position of an irradiation system, the target carrier comprising:
A housing including at least a collimator compartment (Paragraph 0016, collimator module) and a target compartment (target module), the collimator compartment and the target compartment divided by a vacuum window foil (paragraph 0037, “thin titanium ‘window’”), wherein the collimator compartment is attached to a cyclotron beam line in the irradiation position (paragraph 0036), and wherein the target compartment is in fluid communication with a cooling fluid supply (42) and a cooling fluid return line (44) in the irradiation position;
A target (34) secured within the target component and cooled by a cooling fluid from the cooling fluid supply line; and
A collimator (12) removably mounted (via quick connect flange 52) within the collimator compartment and disposed to direct a particle beam from the cyclotron beam line to irradiate the target, wherein the collimator includes an entry diameter and an exit diameter, and wherein the collimator is in thermal contact with the collimator compartment (Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 2, Nolen discloses a backing spacer (38) for securing the target in place in the target compartment, allowing cooling fluid to pass behind the target.
Regarding claim 3, Nolen discloses wherein the housing extends from a beam entry side to an opposed side, and wherein the backing spacer is positioned between the target and the opposite side (Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 5, Nolen discloses a fluid housing (fluid channel 24) adjacent to the collimator compartment, wherein a fluid of the fluid housing enters the fluid housing through a channel coupled to the cooling fluid supply line (paragraph 0041).
Regarding claim 7, Nolen discloses wherein the cooling fluid flows around the target in the target compartment and cools the target as the target is irradiated by the particle beam (claim 4).
Regarding claim 8, Nolen discloses wherein at least one of the housing, the collimator compartment, the target compartment, and the collimator include aluminum (paragraph 0040).
Regarding claim 9, Nolen discloses wherein the collimator has a beam entry diameter and a beam exit diameter, the beam entry diameter being greater than the beam exit diameter to define a narrowing channel (Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 10, Nolen discloses wherein the collimator has a curved inner surface (the collimator channel is conical in shape, so it has a circular (i.e. curved) cross-section.
Regarding claim 12, Nolen discloses wherein the collimator includes an outer surface, the outer surface extending linearly and radially inward from a beam entry side of the collimator toward the vacuum window foil (Fig. 1A).
Claims 14, 15, 17-20 are drawn to the method of using the apparatus of claims 1-3 and 7, and the same rejections apply mutatis mutandis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 11, 13, 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 4, the prior art fails to teach wherein the target component includes at least one additional target, each additional target absorbing radiation from the particle beam after the particle beam exits the previous target. Regarding claims 6 and 16, the prior art fails to teach a plurality of fins thermally coupled to the collimator compartment, wherein each of the plurality of fins is configured to increase a contact area between the collimator and the fluid to facilitate heat exchange between the collimator and the cooling fluid. Regarding claim 11, the prior art fails to teach wherein the inner surface of the collimator is curved such that an incidence angle between the particle beam and the inner surface of the collimator at a beam entry of the collimator is greater than an incidence angle between the particle beam and the inner surface of the collimator at a beam exit of the collimator. Regarding claim 13, the prior art fails to teach wherein at least one of the vacuum window foil and the target are selectively removable when the target carrier assembly is within a hot cell of the irradiation system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL P MASKELL whose telephone number is (571)270-3210. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10A-6P.
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/MICHAEL MASKELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
13 June 2026
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