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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 11, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo et al. (KR100934241B1 from IDS) in view of Sato et al. (6,491,785).
Regarding claim 1, Seo discloses welding device comprising: a welding support including a first support 40 including an anvil 50 configured to receive a welding object, a second support 80, and a guide 30, 70 for guiding movements of the first support and the second support, respectively; a welding part, 90, configured to pressurize the welding object and to apply vibration to the welding object; and a control part monitoring the measured pressure value (see computer English translation, figure 4).
Seo does not disclose a pressure measuring part measuring a pressure transmitted from the first support. However, Sato discloses a load sensor 38 on a resonator for measuring the load being applied during ultrasonic welding and a controller 40, 41 used for monitoring the pressure value of the pressure measuring part (column 2 line 22-28, column 2 line 44- column 4 line 20, figure 1). To one skilled in the art at the time of the invention it would have been obvious to use a load sensor for measuring the force to ensure that the correct force is being applied to the workpieces. An incorrect force can either damage the workpieces or create an incomplete weld.
Regarding claim 3, Sato discloses that the control part adjusts a pressure, in which the welding part pressurizes the welding object, when the maximum pressure measured by the pressure measuring part is out of a preset setting pressure range (column 1 line 64 to column 2 line 5, column 7 line 42-column 8 line 21).
Regarding claim 4, Seo discloses that the first support 40 is configured to be movable in a direction closer to or farther away from the second support (figures 1-2), and the welding support 80 further comprises an elastic part 10 for elastically connecting the first support and the second support (figure 6).
Regarding claim 5, Seo discloses that the guide comprises: at least one first guide part 30 connected to the first support and guiding movement of the first support; at least one second guide part 80 connected to the second support and guiding movement of the second support; and a fixing part 15 in which the at least one first guide part and the at least one second guide part are mounted to be spaced apart from each other (figure 1).
Regarding claim 6, Seo discloses that the first guide part and the second guide part are linear guides (see computer English translation).
Regarding claim 11, Seo discloses wherein the welding support further comprises: an elevating part (bearings 72 and slide grooves 73) for raising and lowering the second support, and is configured so that the first support is linked to the second support (by the controller 110) to be raised and lowered together upon raising and lowering the second support by the elevating part (figures 1, 4, see computer English translation).
Regarding claim 15, Seo discloses that the welding part comprises: a vibration generating part 96; a horn H connected to the vibration generating part, and configured to contacting the welding object to transmit vibration to the welding object; and a pressurizing member 80 installed on the horn, and configured to provide a pressurizing force to the horn so that the horn pressurizes the welding object (figures 1, 4).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo et al. (KR100934241B1 from IDS) in view of Sato et al. (6,491,785) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Takahashi et al. (2009/0001056A1).
Regarding claim 2, Seo does not disclose wherein the control part provides a warning alarm to the outside when the maximum pressure measured by the pressure measuring part is out of a preset setting pressure range. However, Takahashi discloses a welding device that has a load sensor and sounds an alarm if the pressure difference value is greater than a reference value (paragraph 0016). To one skilled in the art at the time of the invention it would have been obvious to sound an alarm if the pressure is out of a preset value range to ensure that the user is notified of the problem before the workpieces being joined are damaged. This allows the user to quickly fix the pressure.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo et al. (KR100934241B1 from IDS) in view of Sato et al. (6,491,785) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Spigarelli et al. (4,832,250).
Regarding claim 14, Sato discloses a control with a display for showing the pressure (column 3 line 55 to column 4 line 20). Sato does not specifically disclose that the control part outputs the maximum pressure, and a pressure graph over time, as measured upon the welding process, based on the pressure data. However, Spigarelli discloses that it is known to display welding parameters and graphs during a welding process (column 5 line 55 to column 6 line 25, claim 6). While this is a different welding process, it is well-known to have a display showing welding parameters and graphs during a known welding process. To one skilled in the art at the time of the invention it would have been obvious to have a control that outputs and graphs pressure data to allow the user to monitor the welding process and make real-time adjustments when needed to ensure a proper joint is formed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10, 12-13 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. Prior art was not found that taught or suggested
wherein the welding support comprises: a pusher provided on the first support and disposed to contact the pressure measuring part when the welding part pressurizes the welding object on the first support. Prior art was not found that taught or suggested wherein the second support comprises an insertion groove into which the first support is inserted upon movement of the first support, and a seating groove provided on the bottom surface of the insertion groove and into which the pressure measuring part is mounted, and the first support comprises an insertion part configured to be inserted into the insertion groove, and a locking part having a width greater than that of the insertion groove and
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIN B SAAD whose telephone number is (571)270-3634. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6p.
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/ERIN B SAAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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