DETAILED ACTION
In Response to Election filed on 08/25/2026, claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 12-20 are withdrawn based on the restriction requirement. Claims 1-11 are considered in the current Office 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Claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/25/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 08/25/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/29/2025 and 08/11/2026 were filed with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2 recites the limitation “the patterned energy” should read as “the patterned heat energy” for consistency.
Claim 3 recites the limitation “the patterned energy” should read as “the patterned heat energy” for consistency.
Claim 6 recites the limitation “wherein heating elements” should read as “wherein the plurality of heating elements” for consistency.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2017/0028471 (Boswell) and US2019/0061266 (“Geisen et al” hereinafter Geisen).
Regarding Claim 1, Boswell teaches a method (abstract and [0001]) comprising:
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performing additive manufacturing to print an object ([0009] and [0012] depositing a layer of powder material onto a base plate to form a component using powder deposition which is a form of additive manufacturing) by using a patterning laser to fuse powdered material ([0013]-[0014], providing energy to heat the deposited powder material by fusing using a laser energy source) on a powder bed (Figure 2, layer 142 of the powder material) in a print chamber (Figure 1 and [0094], the stack 120 of heating elements 122 forms an enclosed chamber within which the base plate is movable), wherein the print chamber comprises one or more side walls (see annotated Figure 1) and a print plate (Figure 2, base plate 100) that supports the powder bed (Figure 2), wherein the one or more side walls comprise a plurality of heating elements (Figure 2, heating elements 122 and [0094]); and
providing a patterned heat energy comprising energy emitted at the plurality of heating elements (the Examiner is interpreting this limitation as “the internal heating system is configured to direct patterned heat energy onto the printer bed and supported manufacturing materials” which is consistent with [0007] of instant application. Boswell discloses in Figure 2, heating element 122 provides patterned heat energy) according to a predetermined heating schedule specified for the object being printed ([0029] and [0107], the heating element generates a predetermined temperature profile across the Z-direction or through thickness of the component)
wherein the heating schedule specifies a heat load for each heating element in the plurality of heating elements for different layers of the additive manufacturing ([0029] and [0107]).
Boswell fails to teach wherein the print plate comprises a plurality of heating elements.
However, in the same field of powder bed fusion with heating elements to control the temperature of the printing environment, Geisen teaches wherein the print plate comprises a plurality of heating elements (Figures 2-3 and [0016]-[0017], the apparatus further comprises a plurality of heating elements, wherein the heating elements are arranged and configured such that the portions of the base can be heated individually by the heating elements. Expediently, the heating elements are arranged below the manufacturing surface. The plurality of heating elements 4 are located on the print base 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method as taught by Boswell such that it teaches all of the above mentioned limitations as taught by Geisen to control the temperature of the base to be at different predetermined value ([0019]).
Regarding Claim 2, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the patterned energy is configured to maintain an isothermal condition by balancing a thermal load of the patterning laser with the patterned heat energy (Boswell, [0030], the control of temperature prevent thermal gradient which resulted in an isothermal condition).
Regarding Claim 3, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the patterned energy is configured to provide a constant thermal load on the powder bed (Boswell, [0028], heated uniformly through the thickness of layer implied a constant thermal load).
Regarding Claim 4, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the patterned heat energy is determined at least in part by a pattern printed on the powder bed (Boswell, [0030], by varying the temperatures of the second and subsequent heating elements, the method of the disclosure enables a pre-determined temperature gradient to be generated though the thickness of the component. In other words, the amount of patterned heat energy is determined based upon the thickness pattern of the printed component).
Regarding Claim 5, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, but fails to explicitly teach wherein the patterned heat energy is substantially inversely related to a pattern printed on the powder bed.
However, Boswell discloses heating element 122 provides patterned heat energy (Figure 2) and the individual control of the heating elements allows the method of disclosure to control both the temperature of the powder bed and the temperature gradient through the powder bed during the deposition process ([0021]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to recognize the bigger the printed component is, the temperature gradient between the printed part and the surrounding air is smaller for a given print area, so less active heating is needed to maintain the build chamber at an isothermal condition.
Regarding Claim 6, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein heating elements at different positions of the one or more side walls emit different amount of energy according to the heating schedule (Boswell, [0026], variation of the energy supplied to the successive heating elements in the stack enables a temperature gradient through the thickness of the component to be generated and maintained through the deposition process).
Regarding Claim 7, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein at least one heating element in the plurality of heating elements emits different amount of energy for different layers of the additive manufacturing according to the heating schedule (Boswell, [0026] and [0029], variation of the energy supplied to the successive heating elements in the stack enables a temperature gradient through the thickness of the component to be generated and maintained through the deposition process. In other words, a temperature gradient in the z-direction implied different amount of heat emitted to different layers, which also stacked in z-direction, based on the predetermined temperature profile).
Regarding Claim 11, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, Boswell teaches wherein the plurality of heating elements are positions at different vertical positions of the one or more sidewalls (Boswell, Figure 2 and [0026]). Boswell fails to teach the plurality of heating elements are positions at different horizontal positions of the print plate.
However, Geisen teaches the plurality of heating elements are positions at different horizontal positions of the print plate (Figures 2-3 and [0016]-[0017], the apparatus further comprises a plurality of heating elements, wherein the heating elements are arranged and configured such that the portions of the base can be heated individually by the heating elements).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method as taught by Boswell such that it teaches all of the above mentioned limitations as taught by Geisen to control the temperature of the base to be at different predetermined value ([0019]).
Claim(s) 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2017/0028471 (Boswell) and US2019/0061266 (“Geisen et al” hereinafter Geisen) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of EP3208077 (“Buller et al” hereinafter Buller), copy provided.
Regarding Claim 8, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the plurality of heating elements are controlled by a feedforward controller according to the heating schedule.
However, in the same field of selective laser sintering, Buller discloses the plurality of heating elements are controlled by a feedforward controller according to the heating schedule ([0109] and [0154], the computer model may comprise model predictive control. The computer model may evolve based on a time-span required to reach a threshold value. The threshold value may be the temperature of a melt pool as part of the 3D object. The controller may comprise a feedback or feed-forward control. The control-model may comprise one or more free parameters, such as temperature, that are optimized in real time during the forming of the at least one 3D object).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method as taught by Boswell such that it teaches all of the above mentioned limitations as taught by Buller because the combination of the known elements provides a predictable result, namely, another known way to implement various aspects of the signal processing and control of the additive manufacturing system ([0154]). MPEP 2143.
Regarding Claim 9, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the feedforward controller is configured based on a geometry of the object being printed (Buller, [0154]).
Regarding Claim 10, the modified Boswell teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the feedforward controller is configured based on a printing thermal load history of the object being printed (Buller, [0109] and [0154]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US2020/0061922, Figure 9, a plurality of heating elements contained in the build platform and/or within the build sleeve.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINWEN (Cindy) YE whose telephone number is (571)272-3010. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 17:00.
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XINWEN (CINDY) YE
Examiner
Art Unit 1754
/LARRY W THROWER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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