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 1-7, 9-19, 21-22 are pending in the application.
Examiner’s Note: The examiner has cited particular passages including column and line numbers, paragraphs as designated numerically and/or figures as designated numerically in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claims, other passages, paragraphs and figures of any and all cited prior art references may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing an eventual response, to fully consider the context of the passages, paragraphs and figures as taught by the prior art and/or cited by the examiner while including in such consideration the cited prior art references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. MPEP 2141.02 VI: “PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS."
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/08/2024 was filed after the mailing date of the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 16-19, 21-22 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 16 recites “wherein the device is configured to carry out the method with the steps according to one of the preceding claims…”
The scope of the claimed device is rendered unclear because the claim attempts to define the apparatus by incorporating, in their entirety, the steps of “one of the preceding claims” rather than expressly reciting the functional capabilities of the claimed device. As written, it is unclear which preceding claim supplies the required limitations, particularly where multiple preceding claims recite different method limitations or different claim scopes. Additionally, the phrase “one of the preceding claims” requires the consulting of multiple separate claims to determine the metes and bounds of claim 16, rather than defining the invention within the claim itself. Consequently, the boundaries of the claimed apparatus cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
Regarding claims 17-19, 21-22, dependent claims inherit the deficiencies of their respective parent(s).
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ford et al. US Pub. No. 2022/0268039 (“Ford”) in view of Guillemette et al. US Pub. No. 2016/0136887 (“Guillemette”).
Regarding claim 1, a method for additively manufacturing a component, wherein the manufactured component has at least two component [502, 504 of fig. 13] portions neighboring in a horizontal plane, which are adjacent to one another in at least one connection region [514 fig. 13 (see further fig. 14-19)]; comprising the steps of:
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planning the at least one connection region of the component portions adjacent to one another [See fig. 4, 13-19];
controlling a material dispensing unit for depositing a building material; and
controlling an actuator assembly (5) which is designed to move the material dispensing unit (4) over a work surface (6) in order to deposit the building material layer by layer in predetermined print paths [See fig. 1-2, 5, 7],
[0057] FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams of an example three-dimensional printing system 10 (e.g., a robotic three-dimensional printer), according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The three-dimensional printing system 10 includes a pair of rail assemblies 20, a gantry 50 movably disposed on the rail assemblies 20, and a printing assembly 100 movably disposed on the gantry 50. The three-dimensional printing system 10 is configured to form a structure via additive manufacturing, specifically three-dimensional (“3D”) printing. In particular, the system 10 (via the rail assemblies 20 and the gantry 50) is configured to controllably move or actuate the printing assembly 100 relative to a foundation 4 of a structure 5 along each of a plurality of orthogonal movement axes or directions 12, 14, 16 such that the printing assembly 100 may controllably deposit an extrudable building material in a plurality of vertically stacked layers to form the structure 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the axes 12, 14, 16 are each orthogonal to one another— with axis 12 being orthogonal to both axes 14, 16, axis 14 being orthogonal to axes 12 and 16, and axis 16 being orthogonal to axes 12 and 14. In addition, an origin (not shown) of axes 12, 14, 16 is generally disposed or defined at the printing assembly 100.
wherein first at least two print path layers, layered on top of one another, of a first of the at least two component portions adjacent to one another and then at least one print path layer of a second of the at least two component portions adjacent to one another are deposited;
wherein the connection region [344 of fig. 7] is planned in such a way that the at least one print path layer of the second component portion in the at least one connection region has a print path portion which can be deposited by the material dispensing unit adjacently to a print path portion of a corresponding print path layer of the first component portion so that the corresponding print path layers of the at least two component portions can be adjacent to one another in the at least one connection region [See fig. 5-7; par. 0100 and 0101], and
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wherein, according to the planning of the at least one connection region, at least one upper print path portion and at least one lower print path portion of the at least two print path layers, layered on top of one another, of the first component portion are layered on top of one another [See fig. 7 above]
Ford does not expressly teach the first component portion are layered on top of one another with a horizontal offset in such a way that a collision of the material dispensing unit with the printed print path layers of the first component portion is avoided when printing the at least one print path layer of the second component portion.
Guillemette teaches another invention relates to 3D printer inputs including filaments comprising separated sections. Specifically, Guillemette teaches the first component portion (segment 1) are layered on top of one another with a horizontal offset in such a way that a collision of the material dispensing unit with the printed print path layers of the first component portion is avoided when printing the at least one print path layer of the second component portion.
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[0211] Filaments with imbedded 3D features may also be produced by direct 3D printing those filaments. In order to accomplish this, individual segments of the filament could be printed at a time. After a segment is printed, an advancing stage in which the filament segment is advanced forward relative to the 3D printer nozzle or the 3D printer nozzle would promote the segment away from the nozzle. Next, another segment could be printed in such a way that it overlaps or is printed end to end with the previous segment to continue the growth of the filament. Due to potential interference with the printer nozzle and the end of a segment, the end of a segment could be printed in a tapered, angled or ‘staircase’ manner with the end section remaining in the printable zone after advancement so that it can be printed upon. The printed filament could be of any cross section and size. Of particular importance are filaments with diameters or side lengths of 0.1-10 mm.
[0212] FIG. 25 depicts three segments of a 3D printed filament. There is a gap between the segments for illustrative purposes but in practice this gap would be non-existent and the ‘staircase’ shapes would be overlapping. The staircase steps represent a shift for each layer or groups of layers that make up the printed filament.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modify the method of Ford with the step of the first component portion are layered on top of one another with a horizontal offset in such a way that a collision of the material dispensing unit with the printed print path layers of the first component portion is avoided when printing the at least one print path layer of the second component portion of Guillemette. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the system the ability to print the connection region without the potential interference of the printer nozzle with another printed wall. Thus, reduce construction time.
Regarding claim 2, Ford in view of Guillemette teaches the at least one upper print path portion and the at least one lower print path portion of the at least two print path layers, layered on top of one another, to one another, define a first connection contour that deviates from a normal to the work surface, when viewed in a cross-section of the at least one connection region [See fig. 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 3, Ford in view of Guillemette teaches the step of planning the connection region comprises the planning of a virtual collision line which, when viewed in a cross-section of the at least one connection region, encloses a first inclination angle with a normal to the work surface that is greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees, wherein the vertex of the first inclination angle is placed on a collision edge of the lowest print path layer, or the first print path layer to be printed, of the first component portion [See fig. 7 of Ford and 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 4, Ford in view of Guillemette teaches when viewed in a cross-section of the at least one connection region, the virtual collision line, the normal to the work surface, and a horizontal collision plane of the print path layers of the first component portion define a free collision region into which no portion of the print path layers of the first component portion protrudes, and wherein the horizontal collision plane of the first component portion comprises a horizontal plane lying on an upper surface of the uppermost print path layer of the first component portion [See fig. 7 of Ford and 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 5, Ford in view of Guillemette the collision edge of a print path layer comprises an actually provided or virtual edge of a print path layer which is defined by an intersection line of a horizontal collision plane, which lies horizontally on the upper side of the print path layer, and a vertical collision plane, which lies vertically on the side of the print path layer that faces the adjacent print path portion to be printed of the further component portion [See fig. 7 of Ford and 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 6, Guillemette teaches the first inclination angle is greater than 5 degrees and less than 80 degrees [See fig. 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 7, Ford in view of Guillemette teaches the second printed component portion has at least two print path layers, layered on top of one another, at least in the connection region, wherein at least one upper print path portion and at least one lower print path portion of the at least two print path layers, layered on top of one another, of the second component portion are layered on top of one another with a horizontal offset in such a way that, when viewed in a cross-section of the at least one connection region, they have a second connection contour which is substantially opposite to the first connection contour, wherein the step of planning the connection region comprises the planning of a virtual connection line which, when viewed in a cross-section of the at least one connection region, is applied to the second connection contour, encloses a second inclination angle with a normal to the work surface that corresponds to or is less than the first inclination angle of the first connection contour [See fig. 25 of Guillemette].
Regarding claim 15, Guillemette teaches in the step of planning the connection region, the horizontal offset and, if applicable, the first inclination angle of the virtual collision line is selected to be at least so large that, when a proximal end of the material dispensing unit is located at the vertex of the inclination angle, the virtual printing angle facing the already printed first component portion is less than or equal to the inclination angle is [See par. 0211 to 0212].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 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: Claims 9-14 are considered allowable since, when reading the claims in light of the specification, none of the references of record alone or in combination disclose or suggest the combination of subject matter specified in the dependent claim(s).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Pub. No. 2024/0342953 to Lutz et al. teach a computer-implemented method is employed for actuating a 3D printer for an additive manufacturing method, in particular filament printing, of structures of a building with concrete or other construction materials. The method may include reading in a 3D model via a CAD interface, in which model the structures are represented in an identifiable manner in structural data in a first design format, reading in printer parameters via a printer interface which parameters represent requirements and/or design specifications of the 3D printer and executing a structure conversion algorithm which uses the structural data represented in the first design format to calculate filament structural data in a second design format for a filament structure on the basis of the printer parameters which have been read in. Control instructions are calculated based on the calculated filament structural data, and the calculated control instructions are transmitted to the 3D printer for the purpose of control.
US Pub. No. 2023/0349176 to Timlick teaches a 3D printing system for 3D printing of concrete buildings or other concrete structures. A set of cable support masts are temporarily installed at corners of a two-dimensional footprint area of any given level of a multi-level building to enable 3D printing of wall sections or other structural components of that given level of the building using a cable-guided concrete dispensing nozzle suspended from said cable support masts by a set of movable, motor-driven positioning cables. The building is built in stage-wise fashion, level-by-level, with the set of support masts being moved up level-by-level as the levels of the building are completed. The construction of the building is not dependent on a set of ground-level towers distributed around the ground-level footprint of the building, thus notably reducing equipment requirements for the 3D printed construction of tall, multi-storey buildings.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINCENT HUY TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7210. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini S Shah can be reached at 571-272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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VINCENT H TRAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2115
/VINCENT H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115
Prosecution Insights