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 § 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.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al. (CN 107655831 A)(hereinafter, “Yin”) in view of Wang et al. (CN 110102894 A) (hereinafter, “Wang”).
Regarding claim 1, Yin teaches a melt pool 3D morphology in-situ measurement device, comprising a measurement laser device (8), a beam splitter (4), a processing laser device (9), a galvanometer (6), a field lens (7), and an image acquisition unit (a high speed camera, a telephoto microscope head, and a filter, page 3, line 16),
wherein the measurement laser device (8) emits a measurement laser beam (page 6, lines 55-58), the measurement laser beam is split into a first path and a second path by the beam splitter(“…sequentially reflected by the dichroic mirror 4…coupled with the processing laser 14, page 6, lines 56-57),
wherein the processing laser device (9) emits a processing laser beam(“the laser 9 emits a processing laser 14 having a wavelength of 1064 nm… interacts with the metal powder to form the molten pool 11”, page 6, lines 50-53), the processing laser beam is coaxial with the measurement laser beam (discloses the illumination light coupled with the processing laser 14, page 6, lines 55-58), the processing laser beam and the measurement laser beam sequentially pass through the galvanometer(6) and the field lens (discloses scanned by the galvanometer 6 and multi-wavelength diffractive f-theta focusing mirror 7, page 6, lines 57-58),
wherein the processing laser beam melts the metal powder to form melt pool (molten pool 11), a light beam formed by the measurement laser beam reflected by the melt pool is directed to the image acquisition unit (discloses directs light from the molten pool to a high-speed camera via a telephoto microscope for imaging, page 6, lines 42-43), the image acquisition unit comprises a filter and a detector (discloses a high speed camera, a telephoto microscope head, and a filter, page 3, line 16), the filter (3) eliminates a high-temperature thermal radiation emitted from the melt pool (page 7, lines 9-11), and the detector (a high speed camera 1) captures an interference image (page 5, lines 25-34).
Yin fails to disclose the first path of the measurement laser beam is served as a reference laser beam, and the second path is served as the measurement laser beam, and the measurement laser beam is configured to measure the 3D of the melt pool.
Wang teaches the first path of the measurement laser beam is served as a reference laser beam (“after the laser beam output by the laser generator is split by the beam splitter, a part of the laser light is transmitted as a reference laser, page 2, lines 34-36), and the second path is served as the measurement laser beam (“another part is reflected to the dichroic mirror to become a measuring laser”, page 2, lines 34-36), and the measurement laser beam(laser generator 2-1, after beam splitter 2-2, page 2, lines 34-36) is configured to measure the 3D of the melt pool (“helpful to directly and accurately obtain the weld penetration by laser interferometry, and real-time monitoring and evaluation of the penetration characteristics of the workpiece during the welding process”, page 5, lines 24-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate a reference beam from the measurement laser of Wang into the molten pool monitoring system of Yin to improve the system that can support real-time, in-situ three-dimensional measurement of the melt pool, thereby enhancing consistency and reliability of the additive manufacturing process (page 4, lines 9-13).
Regarding claim 2, Yin teaches wherein a beam expander (10) is arranged between the measurement laser device (8) and the beam splitter (4).
Yin fails to disclose the measurement laser beam emitted by the measurement laser device, reflected by a first mirror passes through the beam splitter, and interferes with the measurement laser beam reflected by the melt pool.
Wang teaches the measurement laser beam emitted by the measurement laser device (discloses measuring laser from dichroic mirror 2-5, page 5, lines 36-42), reflected by a first mirror passes through the beam splitter (discloses the reference beam split from laser generator by beam splitter 2-2, page 5, lines 36-42), and interferes with the measurement laser beam reflected by the melt pool (“the measuring laser is transmitted through the dichroic mirror 2-5 to the focusing mirror 2-6, and then projected to the workpiece”, page 5, lines 38-40).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate a reference beam from the measurement laser of Wang into the molten pool monitoring system of Yin to improve the system that can support real-time, in-situ three-dimensional measurement of the melt pool, thereby enhancing consistency and reliability of the additive manufacturing process (page 4, lines 9-13).
Regarding claim 4, Yin teaches equal to the wavelength of the filter (discloses filter 3 is band-pass filter of 500-1000 nm, page 7, line 9), and a laser scanning pitch of the processing laser device is between 50 μm and 100 μm (discloses laser 9 is scanned via galvanometer and f-theta lens, page 6, lines 57-58).
Yin fails to disclose wherein a wavelength of the measurement laser beam emitted by the measurement laser device differs from a wavelength of processing laser beam emitted by the processing laser device, the measurement laser device emits a continuous laser beam.
Wang teaches wherein a wavelength of the measurement laser beam emitted by the measurement laser device differs from a wavelength of processing laser beam emitted by the processing laser device (discloses a processing laser for welding and a measurement laser for interferometry, page 2, lines 7-10), the measurement laser device emits a continuous laser beam (discloses continuous real-time monitoring implies a continuous laser beam, page 4, lines 7-8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate the measurement laser and interferometric detection principles of Wang into the molten pool monitoring system of Yin to improve the system that can support real-time, in-situ three-dimensional measurement of the melt pool, thereby enhancing consistency and reliability of the additive manufacturing process (page 4, lines 9-13).
Regarding claim 5, Yin teaches wherein a wavelength band of the selected filter is close to natural light (“the filter 3 is a 500-1000 nm”, page 7, line 9), and allows the measurement light emissivity reflected by the melt pool surface to pass through (discloses captures radiation from the molten pool through filter 3 into the camera, page 7, lines 1-4).
Regarding claim 6, Yin teaches wherein the image processing unit (17).
Yin fails to disclose decode the interference images to obtain 3D morphology information of the melt pool.
Wang teaches decode the interference images to obtain 3D morphology information of the melt pool (“helpful to directly and accurately obtain the weld penetration by laser interferometry, and real-time monitoring and evaluation of the penetration characteristics of the workpiece during the welding process”, page 5, lines 24-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate a reference beam from the measurement laser of Wang into the molten pool monitoring system of Yin to improve the system that can support real-time, in-situ three-dimensional measurement of the melt pool, thereby enhancing consistency and reliability of the additive manufacturing process (page 4, lines 9-13).
Regarding claim 8, Yin in view of Wang fails to disclose wherein an accuracy of measuring the 3D morphology of the melt pool is a micrometer-level. MPEP 2144.04 V recites: “In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961) (The claimed structure, a lipstick holder with a removable cap, was fully met by the prior art except that in the prior art the cap is "press fitted" and therefore not manually removable. The court held that "if it were considered desirable for any reason to obtain access to the end of [the prior art’s] holder to which the cap is applied, it would be obvious to make the cap removable for that purpose.")” Here, Yin in view of Wang teaches all structural components and the principles of laser interferometry of the claim and is capable of being operated as required by claim 8, therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to tune the system parameters to achieve micrometer-level resolution to improve the precision and reliability of the melt pool measurement.
Regarding claim 9, Yin fails to disclose an in-situ measurement method for in-situ 3D morphology of melt pools comprises the following steps: Step 1: obtaining interference image using the melt pool 3D morphology in-situ. Step 2: processing the interference images using the image processing unit to obtain 3D morphology information of the melt pool.
Wang teaches an in-situ measurement method for in-situ 3D morphology of melt pools comprises the following steps:
Step 1: obtaining interference image using the melt pool 3D morphology in-situ (“a detecting device for performing a bath depth detection on a molten pool on a workpiece in the vacuum welding chamber 3, the detecting device being a laser interference device”, page 4, lines 46-48).
Step 2: processing the interference images using the image processing unit to obtain 3D morphology information of the melt pool (“real-time monitoring and evaluation of the penetration characteristics of the workpiece during the welding process to ensure that it meets the design and process requirements of the welded joint”, page 5, lines 24-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate the laser interference device and processing principle of Wang into the molten pool monitoring system of Yin to improve the system that can support real-time, in-situ three-dimensional measurement of the melt pool, thereby enhancing consistency and reliability of the additive manufacturing process (page 4, lines 9-13).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al. (CN 107655831 A)(hereinafter, “Yin”) in view of Wang et al. (CN 110102894 A) (hereinafter, “Wang”), further in view of Zhai (US Pub 2021/0191138 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Yin fails to disclose further comprising second mirror and a long-pass dichroic mirror wherein the measurement laser beam is reflected by the second mirror and enters the long-pass dichroic mirror, while the processing laser beam passes through the long-pass dichroic mirror and is coaxial with the measurement laser beam reflected by the long-pass dichroic mirror.
Wang teaches a long-pass dichroic mirror(discloses dichroic mirror 2-5 used to combine measuring and processing laser, page 5, lines 32-42), while the processing laser beam passes through the long-pass dichroic mirror and is coaxial with the measurement laser beam reflected by the long-pass dichroic mirror (“with this scheme, the processing laser and the measuring laser share the dichroic mirror 2-5 and the focusing mirror 2-6, which can simplify the structure of the device”, “while making the measuring laser and the processing laser illuminate axis”, page 5, lines 32-42).
Yin in view of Wang fails to disclose a second mirror.
Zhai teaches a second mirror (discloses mirror/beam path directing deep red LED toward wedged dichroic mirror, [0054]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate dichroic mirror configuration of Zhai to Yin in view of Wang to improve the overall optical integration and supports flexible system expansion ([0057-0060] and [0063]).
Claims 7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al. (CN 107655831 A)(hereinafter, “Yin”) in view of Wang et al. (CN 110102894 A) (hereinafter, “Wang”), further in view of Chakravarthula et al. (US Pub 2023/0171385 A1)(hereinafter, “Chakravarthula”).
Regarding claim 7, Yin in view of Wang teaches the melt pool (molten pool 11), but fail to disclose wherein the 3D morphology image processing unit comprises a GAN, a wrapped phase retrieval module, and an absolute phase retrieval module, wherein the GAN is configured to denoise the interference images, the wrapped phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase wrapping operations to obtain the wrapped phase of the interference images, and the absolute phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase unwrapping operations to obtain the continuous absolute phase of the melt pool.
Chakravarthula teaches a GAN (aberration approximator, [0120]), a wrapped phase retrieval module (discloses the iterative phase optimization step, which is effectively performing wrapped phase retrieval, [0117-0118]), and an absolute phase retrieval module (discloses once the hologram is optimized with aberration compensation, the resulting phase pattern is continuous, [0118]), wherein the GAN is configured to denoise the interference images (discloses uses a GAN to learn and correct aberrations in holographic images, denoising deviations between ideal and real captures, [0120]), the wrapped phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase wrapping operations to obtain the wrapped phase of the interference images (discloses the iterative phase optimization computes the SLM phase modulo 2π, [0117-0118]), and the absolute phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase unwrapping operations to obtain the continuous absolute phase (discloses once the hologram is optimized with aberration compensation, the resulting phase pattern is continuous, [0118]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate GAN and phase retrieval method of Chakravarthula to Yin in view of Wang to enable learning-based compensation of system aberrations ([0118]), thereby improving the quality and reliability of interferometric measurements.
Regarding claim 10, Yin in view of Wang teaches the melt pool (molten pool 11), but fail to disclose wherein in the step 2, during processing of the interference images, the network and module from the image processing unit which comprises a GAN (aberration approximator, [0120]), a wrapped phase retrieval module, and an absolute phase retrieval module(discloses the iterative phase optimization step, which is effectively performing wrapped phase retrieval, [0117-0118]), are invoked to perform respective processing steps, wherein the GAN is configured to denoise the interference images (discloses uses a GAN to learn and correct aberrations in holographic images, denoising deviations between ideal and real captures, [0120]), the wrapped phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase wrapping operations to obtain the wrapped phase of the interference images (discloses the iterative phase optimization computes the SLM phase modulo 2π, [0117-0118]), and the absolute phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase unwrapping operations to obtain the continuous absolute phase (discloses once the hologram is optimized with aberration compensation, the resulting phase pattern is continuous, [0118]).
Chakravarthula teaches during processing of the interference images, the network and module from the image processing unit which comprises a GAN, a wrapped phase retrieval module, and an absolute phase retrieval module, are invoked to perform respective processing steps, wherein the GAN is configured to denoise the interference images, the wrapped phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase wrapping operations to obtain the wrapped phase of the interference images, and the absolute phase retrieval module is configured to perform phase unwrapping operations to obtain the continuous absolute phase of the melt pool.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to integrate GAN and phase retrieval method of Chakravarthula to Yin in view of Wang to enable learning-based compensation of system aberrations ([0118]), thereby improving the quality and reliability of interferometric measurements.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTINA I XING/ Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/Kara E. Geisel/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877