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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities: at least the first occurrence of the abbreviation “TTP” in the claims should be preceded with “Tailored Tempering Properties” to make it clear what the abbreviation represents. 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 1-2, 5 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0048160 A1 by Larsson et al., hereinafter “Larsson”, in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0261769 A1 by Bodin, hereinafter “Bodin”.
Regarding claim 1, Larsson discloses a production method for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region (production method shown in Fig. 1; ¶[0009]), the method comprising:
heating a slab in a heating furnace to fully austenitize the same (slab blanks 14-18 are heated in furnace 11 to fully austenitize them; ¶[0010]);
moving the slab into a TTP thermoforming die (Slab blanks are moved into a die in press 12 in Fig. 1; ¶[0010]), the TTP thermoforming die preforming the blank (¶[0013] discloses the die in press 12 may preform the blank);
rapidly moving a thermoformed member from the TTP thermoforming die into a shaping die (the preformed blank is then moved to a die in press 13 in the shortest possible transfer time; ¶[0010] and [0011]), and further shaping the preformed blank in the shaping die until it is the same shape as the finished product (the preformed blank is then further shaped in the die in press 13 to the shape of finished product 19 in Fig. 1; ¶[0010]), and the die removal temperature being lower than 80°C (Fig. 2 shows finished product 19 is removed from the die in press 13 at process step 5 where the die removal temperature is lower than 80°C); and
removing a shaped part from a shaping press (Fig. 1 shows shaped parts 19 are then removed from the die in press 13).
Larsson does not expressly disclose the preforming disclosed in paragraph [0013] involves pressing out several ribs at a soft region with the height and width of the ribs depending on the length to which the soft region cools and shrinks. Larsson also does not expressly disclose the ribs at the soft region are pressed lower and wider when pressure is applied until they are the same shape as a digital product model.
In the same field of press forming soft regions in metal sheet, Bodin teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to press out several folded ribs at a soft region of a product made of flat metal sheet. See paragraphs [0010] through [0016].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to preform ribs in Larsson’s heated blank 18 using the die in press 12, in the same way Bodin teaches, and then further shape the preformed ribs wider and deeper using Larsson’s die in press 13. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Bodin to Larsson’s method would yield the predictable result of preforming ribs in the soft region of Larsson’s product and then further shaping the ribs to the final product shape in the finishing die.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin renders the production method for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region according to claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. Larsson further discloses the TTP thermoforming die has soft and hard regions (¶[0010] discloses the die in press 12 has soft and hard regions with the hard regions being heated at temperature B and the soft regions being heated at temperature C in Fig. 2), and the soft region employs an in-die heating TTP process (¶[0011] teaches the die in press 12 may employ in-die heating to better control the cooling time), the die removal temperature thereof being higher than the die removal temperature of the hard region by 250°C to 350°C (¶[0010] discloses the hard region may be cooled to a temperature as low as 580°C while the soft region is allowed to cool more slowly from a starting temperature of slightly lower than 900 to 930°C, resulting in a temperature difference of up to 350°C).
Regarding claim 5, Larsson discloses a production die for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region, comprising:
a TTP thermoforming die (the die in press 12 in Fig. 1) and a shaping die (the die in press 13 in Fig. 1),
preforming features protruding from the TTP thermoforming die (¶[0013] discloses the die in press 12 may have features which preform blank 18), and the shaping die pressing until they are the same shape as a digital product model (the preformed blank is then further shaped in the die in press 13 to the shape of finished product 19 in Fig. 1; ¶[0010]).
Larsson does not expressly disclose the preforming disclosed in paragraph [0013] involves pressing out several ribs at a soft region with the height and width of the ribs depending on the length to which the soft region cools and shrinks. Larsson also does not expressly disclose the ribs at the soft region are pressed lower and wider when pressure is applied until they are the same shape as a digital product model.
In the same field of press forming soft regions in metal sheet, Bodin teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to press out several folded ribs at a soft region of a product made of flat metal sheet. See paragraphs [0010] through [0016].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to preform ribs in Larsson’s heated blank 18 using the die in press 12, in the same way Bodin teaches, and then further shape the preformed ribs wider and deeper using Larsson’s die in press 13. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Bodin to Larsson’s method would yield the predictable result of preforming ribs in the soft region of Larsson’s product and then further shaping the ribs to the final product shape in the finishing die.
Regarding claim 8, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin renders a production die for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region, wherein the production die implements the production method according to claim 1 unpatentable. The production dies in presses 12 and 13 in Fig. 1 of Larsson as modified by the teaching of Bodin as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above renders dies implementing the method unpatentable.
Regarding claim 9, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin renders a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region produced by the production method according to claim 1 unpatentable. Larsson’s hot stamped member 19 in Fig. 1 as modified by the teaching of Bodin as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above renders a hot stamped member unpatentable.
Claims 3 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Larsson in view of Bodin and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2022/0176434 A1 by Shi et al., hereinafter “Shi”.
Regarding claim 3, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin renders the production method for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region according to claim 1 unpatentable as explained above. However, the combination does not teach the pressure is applied by an insert mounted in the shaping die, to press the ribs of the soft region lower and wider until they are the same shape as the digital product model.
In the same field of forming soft zones in pressed metal parts using hot die forming, Shi teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to construct forming dies with cooling inserts and heating inserts to produce the soft zones. See paragraphs [0006] through [0008].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use inserts in the die of Larsson’s press 13 in Fig. 1 in the same way Shi teaches to press the preformed ribs produced by the die in press 12 into the final shape of product 19. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Shi to Larsson’s method would yield the predictable result of using temperature controlled die inserts to perform the method.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin renders the production die for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region according to claim 5 unpatentable as explained above. However, the combination does not teach the shaping die applies pressure by an insert mounted in the die.
In the same field of forming soft zones in pressed metal parts using hot die forming, Shi teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to construct forming dies with cooling inserts and heating inserts to produce the soft zones. See paragraphs [0006] through [0008].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use inserts in the die of Larsson’s press 13 in Fig. 1 in the same way Shi teaches to press the preformed ribs produced by the die in press 12 into the final shape of product 19. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Shi to Larsson’s die in press 13 would yield the predictable result of using temperature controlled die inserts in the die of press 13.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin and further in view of Shi renders the production die for a hot stamped member comprising a local soft region according to claim 6 unpatentable as explained above. Shi further teaches a cooling water channel is provided in the insert. See paragraph [0008].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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: the prior art reference combination of Larsson in view of Bodin appears to be the closest prior art. Neither prior art reference disclose nor teach the detail the ribs pressed in the soft area by the thermoforming die are pressed by the shaping die to be flush with an adjacent hard region.
Conclusion
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/P DEREK PRESSLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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