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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12 August 2026.
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) 1-11, 13-14, and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coward (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0291446). Regarding Claim 1, Coward shows a system for recoating a powder bed, the system comprising a non-contact powder redistributor configured to be operable for redistributing powder applied to the powder bed, to thereby flatten or level the powder bed (Figure 5; 0006, 0050-0053, 0060). Coward does not show a system configured for application in a pattern along a top surface of the powder bed that covers only one or more portions, and not the entirety. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the powder in any appropriate design, such as a pattern, because configuration is a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration was significant (MPEP 2144.04 (IV)(B)).
Regarding Claim 2, Coward shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the non-contact powder redistributor comprises: an electrode positionable over the powder bed; and a voltage supply configured to produce a high voltage alternating current signal for creating an alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed (0023).
Regarding Claim 3, Coward shows the system of claim 2 above, including one wherein the voltage supply is configured to produce the high voltage alternating current signal to create the alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed for causing the powder in the pattern to redistribute to thereby flatten or level the powder bed without physically contacting the powder bed (0021-0024).
Regarding Claim 4, Coward shows the system of claim 2 above, including one wherein the system includes a non-conductive dielectric shield positionable over the powder bed between the electrode and the powder bed (0024).
Regarding Clam 5, Coward shows the system of claim 4 above, including one wherein the non-conductive dielectric shield comprises a non-conductive dielectric plate positionable over the powder bed between the electrode and the powder bed whereat the non-conductive dielectric plate is operable to prevent direct arcing between the powder bed and the electrode (0020).
Regarding Claim 6, Coward shows the system of claim 4 above, including one wherein the voltage supply is configured to produce the high voltage alternating current signal to create the alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed for causing at least a top layer of powder particles in the pattern to oscillate in a region between the non-conductive dielectric shield and the powder bed and then reposition themselves on the powder bed such that the top layer of powder particles is smoother than it was prior to when the powder particles began oscillating (0021-0022).
Regarding Claim 7, Coward shows the system of claim 2 above, including one wherein the powder bed is electrically conductive and electrically grounded such that the powder bed is configured to form a lower electrode opposite the electrode for generating the alternating electric field between the electrode and the powder bed when the voltage supply is producing the high voltage alternating current signal (0025).
Regarding Claim 8, Coward shows the system of claim 2 above, including one wherein the voltage supply is configured to produce the high voltage alternating current signal having a voltage amplitude ranging from about 300 volts to 5000 volts for creating an electric field strength between 150 to 2500 volts per millimeter between the electrode and the powder bed (0020, 0054).
Regarding Claim 9, Coward shows the system of claim 1 above, including one further comprising a carriage including one or more powder outlets along a bottom of the carriage, wherein the carriage is movable over the top surface of the powder bed and configured to be operable for dispensing powder through the one or more powder outlets in a pattern along the top surface of the powder bed that covers only one or more portions, and not the entirety, of the powder bed (0056).
Regarding Claim 10, Coward shows the system of claim 9 above, including one wherein the carriage is configured to be operable for dispensing powder along the bottom of the carriage as the carriage is moved over the top surface of the powder (0057). Coward does not show a plurality of spaced apart openings. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have multiple openings in the carriage because duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new or unexpected result is produced (MPEP 2144.04 (VI)(B)).
Regarding Claim 11, Coward shows the system of claim 9 above, including one wherein the system is configured such that a clearance gap between the bottom of the carriage and the top of the powder bed is maintained as the carriage is moved over the powder bed (Figure 6B).
Regarding Claim 13, Coward shows the system of claim 9 above, including one wherein the system is configured such that the powder is redistributed in the pattern to flatten the layer of powder such that the top of the flattened layer of powder is lower than the bottom of the carriage and a smooth layer of powder has been spread onto the powder bed while maintaining a clearance gap between the bottom of the carriage and the final height of the powder bed (Figure 6C-6D).
Regarding Claim 14, Coward shows the system of claim 9 above, including one wherein the non-contact powder redistributor comprises an electrode mounted on the carriage behind the one or more powder outlets (Figure 6C, element 15).
Regarding Claim 16, Coward shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the non-contact powder redistributor comprises one or more gas jets and/or an ultrasonic vibration generator (0016: known in the prior art).
Regarding Claim 17, Coward shows a powder bed additive manufacturing system comprising the system for recoating a powder bed of claim 1 (Abstract).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coward, in view of Hays et al. (U.S. Patent 11,167,477). Coward shows the system of claim 9 above, but he does not show an agitator in the carriage. Hays et al., hereafter “Hays,” show that it is known to have a carriage powder distributor which comprises an agitator near the one or more powder outlets, the agitator configured to be operable for agitating the powder contained within the carriage near the one or more powder outlets before the powder is dispensed through the one or more powder outlets (element 38). It would have been obvious to include Hays’ agitator in Coward’s carriage in order to urge powder in the direction of the outlet.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 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.
Conclusion
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MONICA ANNE HUSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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