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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because “in Figure 1, parts number 200-1 and 200-2 are indicating the same feature and parts number 200-3 and 200-4 are indicating the same feature”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “referred-to to” in line 14 of page 6. 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.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-16, 19-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ochiai et al US 10210858 B2 in view of Altemir (US 5684276 A).
Regarding claim 1, Ochiai discloses a method for a non-contact acoustic determination of a mass of an object (non-contact manipulation technology), comprising: capturing the object (1) within an acoustic trap (Figs. 8, 11 and 12) of an acoustic balance (Fig.2); in response to changing at least one acoustic parameter (column 9 lines 5-7) of the acoustic balance (Fig.2), changing an equilibrium position (column 13 lines 3-10) of the object (1); in response to changing the equilibrium position of the object (column 13 lines 3-10), causing the object to oscillate (column 21 lines 26-34); Ochiai fails to explicitly disclose determining a resonant frequency of oscillation of the object; and based on the resonant frequency of oscillation of the object, determining the mass of the object.
Altemir (US 5684276 A) teaches determining a resonant frequency of oscillation (column 6 line 62- column 7 line 32) of the object (ex: material); and based on the resonant frequency of oscillation (column 9 lines 12-50) of the object (ex: material), determining the mass of the object (column 6 line 62- column 7 line 32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai’s non-contact manipulation technology to determine the mass of a material as taught by Altemir because this will greatly reduce physical damage and contamination while working with very small quantities.
Regarding claim 2, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the at least one acoustic parameter is a phase of ultrasound (column 2 lines 14-29) generated by at least one transducer (26) of the acoustic balance (Fig.2).
Regarding claim 3, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the acoustic trap (Figs. 8, 11 and 12) is an acoustic wave levitator (Fig.8; column 5 lines 35-38) generated by opposing (Figs. 8, 11 and 12) transducers (26) of the acoustic balance (Fig.2).
Regarding claim 4, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein changing the equilibrium position of the object is a discontinuous changing of the equilibrium position of the object (column 17 lines 28-36).
Regarding claim 5, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising using two positions (Figs. 11 and 12) of the object (1) within the acoustic balance (Figs.2, 11, 12) for determining the mass (Figs. 17A and 17B) of the object (1).
Regarding claim 7, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology). Altemir teaches the mass of the object is determined as:
m
=
k
(
2
π
f
)
2
(column 9 line 25)
where: m is the mass of the object, f is the resonant frequency of the object, and k is a restoring force constant.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai as modified non-contact manipulation technology and find the mass of the object using the above formula because this will help achieve a specific vibration frequency for the system. Furthermore, this formula is a well-known formula used to calculate a mass in a simple harmonic oscillator.
Regarding claim 8, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology); acoustic balance (Fig.2). Ochiai fails to explicitly disclose calibrating by acoustically weighing at least one reference object of a known mass.
Altemir teaches calibrating acoustically weighing at least one reference object of a known mass (column 9 lines 12-47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai’s non-contact manipulation technology with calibration as taught by Altemir because this will help enhance the performance of the system.
Regarding claim 9, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology).
Altemir teaches further comprising determining a restoring force constant k of the object based on acoustically weighing the at least one reference object of the known mass (column 9 lines 12-47).
The motivation would be the same as the one stated above.
Regarding claim 10, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising: sorting objects based on the mass (column 17 lines 60-63) of individual objects (1).
Regarding claim 11, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising: ascertaining a volume (column 17 lines 55-60) of at least one liquid droplet (column 20 lines 55-59) by determining a mass of the at least one liquid droplet (column 20 lines 55-59), wherein the at least one liquid droplet (column 20 lines 55-59) is dispensed from a dispenser (not mentioned but implied).
Regarding claim 12, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising: aggregating objects in different groups (column 18 lines 3-8) based on the mass of individual objects (column 17 lines 46-67 and column 18 lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 13, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising: determining aggregate mass (column 18 lines 3-8) of the objects in real time (column 20 lines 9-10) during aggregating the objects (1).
Regarding claim 14, Ochiai discloses the method (non-contact manipulation technology), further comprising: weighing individual objects (column 17 lines 60-63); aggregating the individual objects into different groups (column 18 lines 3-8) based on the mass of the individual objects (Figs. 17A and 17B) of a plurality of objects; and determining whether a target cumulative mass for the plurality of objects is achieved (column 17 lines 60-63).
Regarding claim 15, Ochiai discloses an apparatus for a non-contact acoustic determination of a mass of an object (non-contact manipulation technology), comprising: an array (20) of ultrasound transducers (26) configured for generating an ultrasound field (ex: acoustic-potential field); and a controller (PC 10) configured to generate phase delay signals (column 10 lines 18-26) for the array (20) of ultrasound transducers (26); wherein the ultrasound field (ex: acoustic-potential field) is configured for: capturing (column 8 lines 20-24) the object (1) within an acoustic trap (Figs. 8, 11 and 12) of an acoustic balance (Fig.2); in response to changing at least one acoustic parameter (column 9 lines 5-7) of the acoustic balance (Fig.2), changing an equilibrium position (column 13 lines 3-10) of the object (1); and in response to changing the equilibrium position (column 13 lines 3-10) of the object (1), causing the object to oscillate (column 21 lines 26-34), wherein the controller (10) is configured for: Ochiai fails to explicitly disclose determining a resonant frequency of oscillation of the object; and based on the resonant frequency of oscillation of the object, determining the mass of the object.
Altemir (US 5684276 A) teaches determining a resonant frequency of oscillation (column 6 line 62- column 7 line 32) of the object (ex: material); and based on the resonant frequency of oscillation (column 9 lines 12-50) of the object (ex: material), determining the mass of the object (column 6 line 62- column 7 line 32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai’s non-contact manipulation technology to determine the mass of a material as taught by Altemir because this will greatly reduce physical damage and contamination while working with very small quantities.
Regarding claim 16, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the at least one acoustic parameter is a phase of ultrasound (column 2 lines 14-29) generated by at least one transducer (26) of the acoustic balance (Fig.2).
Regarding claim 19, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology). Altemir teaches wherein the mass of the object is determined as:
m
=
k
(
2
π
f
)
2
(column 9 line 25)
where: m is the mass of the object, f is the resonant frequency of the object, and k is a restoring force constant.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai as modified non-contact manipulation technology and find the mass of the object using the above formula because this will help achieve a specific vibration frequency for the system. Furthermore, this formula is a well-known formula used to calculate a mass in a simple harmonic oscillator.
Regarding claim 20, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the controller (10); the acoustic balance (Fig.2). Ochiai fails to explicitly disclose calibrating by acoustically weighing at least one reference object of a known mass.
Altemir teaches calibrating acoustically weighing at least one reference object of a known mass (column 9 lines 12-47).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Ochiai’s non-contact manipulation technology with calibration as taught by Altemir because this will help enhance the performance of the system.
Regarding claim 21, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the controller (10) is further comprised for: sorting objects based on the mass (column 17 lines 46-67 and column 18 lines 1-2) of individual objects (1).
Regarding claim 22, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the controller (10) is further comprised for: aggregating objects in different groups (column 18 lines 3-8) based on the mass of individual objects (column 17 lines 46-67 and column 18 lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 23, Ochiai discloses the apparatus (non-contact manipulation technology), wherein the controller (10) is further comprised for: determining a target cumulative mass for a plurality of objects (column 17 lines 60-63); weighing individual objects (column 17 lines 60-63); aggregating the objects in different groups based on mass of the individual objects (column 18 lines 3-8); and determining aggregate mass of the objects in real time during aggregating the objects (column 20 lines 9-10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 17-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claim.
Regarding claim 6 and 17-18, the prior art fails to explicitly disclose the method and apparatus wherein the resonant frequency of the object determined using a laser-based displacement sensor, a camera, or acoustic time of flight sensors and an oscillation of the object is a damped oscillation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIREILLE SANDRA SADATE-MOUALEU whose telephone number is (571)272-2862. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0730-1700.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-272-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIREILLE S SADATE-MOUALEU/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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