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
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 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) 15–38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gerbig Y B et al.: "In-situ Raman spectroscopic measurements of the deformation region in indented glasses", JOURNAL OF NON-CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS, NORTH-HOLLAND PHYSICS PUBLISHING. AMSTERDAM, NL, vol. 530, 23 December 2019 (2019-12-23), XP085994579, ISSN: 0022-3093, DOI: 10.1016/J.JNONCRYSOL.2019.119828, hereinafter referred to as Gerbig.
Regarding claims 15 and 29, Gerbig teaches, “A strain measurement apparatus (method) configured for measuring mechanical strain in a sample, comprising: a sample holder device (page 2, para. 2.1.2; “specimen holder”) arranged for accommodating the sample to be investigated, an indenter device (page 3, para. 2.1.2.2) including an indenter tip and an actuator stage carrying the indenter tip, wherein the actuator stage is arranged for an application of a localized mechanical load along a load axis via the indenter tip at an indentation zone of the sample accommodated by the sample holder device, when the sample holder device is in a load application position, a confocal Raman microscopy device (page 2, para. 2.1.2) having an imaging axis and being arranged for collecting at least one Raman spectrum in the indentation zone of the sample, and a calculation device (page 4, para. 2.3; “analysis of spectral data”) arranged for calculating at least one strain parameter based on the at least one Raman spectrum, wherein: the sample holder device, the indenter device and the confocal Raman microscopy device are arranged such that the confocal Raman microscopy device is capable of collecting the at least one Raman spectrum, while the sample holder device is in the load application position (page 4, para. 2.2), and the indenter device and the confocal Raman microscopy device are arranged such that the load axis of the actuator stage and the imaging axis of the confocal Raman microscopy device coincide (page 4, para. 2.2).” (Note: for more constructional details of the strain measurement apparatus, see also Gerbig et al.: “Indentation device for in situ Raman spectroscopic and optical studies”, REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, vol. 83, issue 12, December 2012, 125106; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4769995; cited on the 1/9/2026 IDS; hereinafter referred to as Gerbig 2)
Regarding claims 16, 30, and 31, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the sample holder device, the indenter device and the confocal Raman microscopy device are arranged such that the confocal Raman microscopy device is capable of collecting the at least one Raman spectrum simultaneously with the application of the localized mechanical load (page 4, para. 2.2).”
Regarding claims 17, 32, and 33, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the indenter device and the confocal Raman microscopy device are arranged on opposite sides of the sample holder device, so that the localized mechanical load can be applied at a loading spot on a first side of the sample and the at least one Raman spectrum can be collected in the indentation zone from a second, opposite side of the sample (page 2, para. 2.1.2).”
Regarding claims 18 and 33, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the indenter device and the confocal Raman microscopy device are arranged on opposite sides of the sample holder device, so that the localized mechanical load can be applied at the loading spot on the first side of the sample and the at least one Raman spectrum can be collected at the loading spot from the second, opposite side of the sample (page 2, para. 2.1.2; see also Gerbig 2, section II, “Indentation device”).”
Regarding claims 19 and 34, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the sample holder device is provided with a translation stage arranged for adjusting an x-y-position of the sample holder device in a plane perpendicular to the imaging axis of the confocal Raman microscopy device (page 2, para. 2.1.2).”
Regarding claims 20, 35, 36, and 37, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the confocal Raman microscopy device is configured for at least one of time-resolved collecting multiple Raman spectra and mapping (three-dimensionally) the sample in a range including the indentation zone (page 5–10, para. 3).”
Regarding claims 21–25, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the indenter tip has a distal contact section exposed for contacting the sample; wherein the indenter tip is exchangeable; wherein the indenter tip is a diamond tip or a sapphire tip or a ruby tip; wherein the indenter tip is a cono-spherical tip; wherein the indenter tip has a tip geometry comprising a cube corner or a Berkovich geometry or a Vickers geometry or a flat punch geometry (page 3, para. 2.1.2.2; see also Gerbig 2, section II, “Indentation device”).”
Regarding claim 26, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the actuator stage comprises a piezo-electric actuator and transducer (page 2–5 and para. 2.1.2).”
Regarding claims 27, 28, and 38, Gerbig teaches, “wherein the indenter device comprises a load-cell connected to the actuator stage and arranged for measuring the mechanical load applied to the sample; wherein the sample holder device has a concentric window, which is inversely mounted under the confocal Raman microscopy device (page 2–5 and para. 2.1.2; see also Gerbig 2, section II, “Indentation device”, description of sample table and aperture).”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO–892 form. The reference cited herewith teaches a sample holder and inverted spectrometer inspection device configured similarly to the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN D WALSH whose telephone number is (571)272-2726. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-6:30pm.
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/RYAN D WALSH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
