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
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) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Delaunay (WO 2023/126406 with US 20250222644).
As to claim 1, Delaunay teaches a method of production of a container by deformation of a heated preform[0019-0022], the container including a body extending along a container axis, said method comprising the following steps: determining at least two formed zones along the container axis in the body [0022, Fig 5], said formed zones being produced using a different quantity of material (the different thicknesses of the wall would be greater amount of material and thinner areas being made of less material) [0074], each formed zone of the body of the container corresponding to at least one heated zone of a body of the preform [0065, 0074, 0075]; heating the body of the preform using at least two heating elements, each heating element heating one of the heated zones of the body of the preform [Fig 6, 0074, 0075]; deforming the heated preform to form the container [Fig 5]; and wherein the method further comprises, before the step of heating the body of the preform, adjusting a heating power of each heating element wherein the heating power of each heating element is adjusted as a function of a quantity of material in the formed zone of the body of the container corresponding to the heated zone heated by each heating element [0116, 0033, 0031].
As to claim 2, Delaunay teaches the step of determining the formed zones of the body further comprises: a step of distribution of the material in the formed zones of said body of the container, wherein a quantity of material to be added in at least one of the formed zones of the body of the container and a quantity of material to be removed in at least one other formed zone of the body of the container are defined, wherein the quantity of material to be added is substantially equal to the quantity of material to be removed [0116, 0031, 0033] as these values result from the incongruity of thicknesses from design values as the preforms are relatively uniform an excess of thickness in one area would necessarily be a dearth in another.
As to claim 3, Delaunay teaches the body of the container includes at least three formed zones, the preform including at least three heated zones corresponding to said formed zones, each heated zone being heated by at least one heating element the heating power, wherein the heating power is adjusted as a function of the quantity of material in the corresponding formed zone [0031, 0033, 0041 Fig 6].
As to claims 4 and 5, Delaunay teaches distribution step comprises defining: a quantity of material to be added in one of the formed zones, a first quantity of material to be removed in another of the formed zones, and a second quantity of material to be removed in a further one of the formed zones, the quantity of material to be added being substantially equal to a sum of the first quantity of material to be removed and the second quantity of material to be removed [0031, 0033, 0041, 0103, 0116] as these values result from the incongruity of thicknesses from design values as the preforms are relatively uniform an excess of thickness in one area would necessarily be a dearth in another.
The examiner notes that the use of “when the first quantity of material to be removed is zero” renders the subsequent requirement contingent, see MPEP 2111.04.
As to claim 6, Delaunay teaches at least one of the formed zones corresponds to at least two heated zones, the heating powers of the heating elements heating the at least two heated zones, the heating powers being jointly adjusted as a function of a quantity of material defined for said corresponding formed zone [0116, 0091, 0074-0076, 0031, 0033, Fig 6].
As to claim 7, Delaunay teaches the at least two heated zones corresponding to a formed zone are adjacent heated zones along a preform axis corresponding to the container axis [Fig 6, 0041, 0103].
As to claim 8, Delaunay each heating element comprises a plurality of sources of monochromatic or pseudo-monochromatic electromagnetic radiation [0078, 0082].
As to claim 9, Delaunay teaches comprising a step of producing a container blank as the preform must be produced in order to exist, the quantity of material in each formed zone being defined as a function of a measured thickness of a wall of the body of the container blank or a visual observation of said body [0031, 0032, 0041].
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bellec (US 2013/0221579).
As to claim 1, Bellec teaches a method of production of a container by deformation of a heated preform[Title, Abstract, 0062], the container including a body extending along a container axis, said method comprising the following steps: determining at least two formed zones along the container axis in the body [Fig 4-6], said formed zones being produced using a different quantity of material (the different thicknesses of the wall would be greater amount of material and thinner areas being made of less material) [Fig 4-6], each formed zone of the body of the container corresponding to at least one heated zone of a body of the preform [0047, 0039, Fig 4-6]; heating the body of the preform using at least two heating elements, each heating element heating one of the heated zones of the body of the preform [0047, 0039, Fig 4-6]; deforming the heated preform to form the container [0047, 0039, Fig 4-6]; and wherein the method further comprises, before the step of heating the body of the preform, adjusting a heating power of each heating element wherein the heating power of each heating element is adjusted as a function of a quantity of material in the formed zone of the body of the container corresponding to the heated zone heated by each heating element [0036, 0038].
As to claim 2, Bellec teaches the step of determining the formed zones of the body further comprises: a step of distribution of the material in the formed zones of said body of the container, wherein a quantity of material to be added in at least one of the formed zones of the body of the container and a quantity of material to be removed in at least one other formed zone of the body of the container are defined, wherein the quantity of material to be added is substantially equal to the quantity of material to be removed [0036, 0038, Fig 4-6] as these values result from the incongruity of thicknesses from starting preform thickness and desired end thickness as the preforms are relatively uniform an excess of thickness in one area would necessarily be a dearth in another.
As to claim 3, Bellec teaches the body of the container includes at least three formed zones, the preform including at least three heated zones corresponding to said formed zones, each heated zone being heated by at least one heating element the heating power, wherein the heating power is adjusted as a function of the quantity of material in the corresponding formed zone [0036, 0038, Fig 4-6].
As to claims 4 and 5, Bellec teaches distribution step comprises defining: a quantity of material to be added in one of the formed zones, a first quantity of material to be removed in another of the formed zones, and a second quantity of material to be removed in a further one of the formed zones, the quantity of material to be added being substantially equal to a sum of the first quantity of material to be removed and the second quantity of material to be removed [0036, 0038, Fig 4-6] as these values result from the incongruity of thicknesses from starting preform thickness and desired end thickness as the preforms are relatively uniform an excess of thickness in one area would necessarily be a dearth in another.
The examiner notes that the use of “when the first quantity of material to be removed is zero” renders the subsequent requirement contingent, see MPEP 2111.04.
As to claim 6, Bellec teaches at least one of the formed zones corresponds to at least two heated zones, the heating powers of the heating elements heating the at least two heated zones, the heating powers being jointly adjusted as a function of a quantity of material defined for said corresponding formed zone [0036, 0038, 00 47, 0068 Fig 4-6].
As to claim 7, Bellec teaches the at least two heated zones corresponding to a formed zone are adjacent heated zones along a preform axis corresponding to the container axis [Fig 4-6].
As to claim 8, Bellec each heating element comprises a plurality of sources of monochromatic or pseudo-monochromatic electromagnetic radiation [0008, 0029-0032, Abstract].
As to claim 9, Bellec teaches comprising a step of producing a container blank as the preform must be produced in order to exist, the quantity of material in each formed zone being defined as a function of a measured thickness of a wall of the body of the container blank or a visual observation of said body according to the desired curvature of the formed part [0070-0074, 0068, 0039, 0041, Fig 5].
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) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Delaunay (WO 2023/126406) in view of Bellec (US 2013/0221579)
As to claim 10, Delaunay teaches a the heating elements are VCSEL arrays and so would be capable of having the heated zones have a height of 4-5 mm.
Bellec teaches a process for forming containers by selective laser heating and free blowing [title and abstract] and notes that heated zones referred to as lighted bands can be adjusted [0047, 0039] and that “a person skilled in the art can adjust these factors to obtain the desired alternating lighted and unlighted bands” in order to create the desired curvature [0068, 0039, 0041]. It is well settled that the determination of the optimum value of a result effective variable, in this case heating zone height, is within the skill of one practicing art, see MPEP § 2144.05 II. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to optimize the heating zone height to the exact value of 4-5 mm, as suggested by Bellec, in order to obtain the desired geometry within the blown part.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bellec (US 2013/0221579)
As to claim 10, Bellec teaches a process for forming containers by selective laser heating and free blowing [title and abstract] and notes that heated zones referred to as lighted bands can be adjusted [0047, 0039] and that “a person skilled in the art can adjust these factors to obtain the desired alternating lighted and unlighted bands” in order to create the desired curvature [0068, 0039, 0041]. It is well settled that the determination of the optimum value of a result effective variable, in this case heating zone height, is within the skill of one practicing art, see MPEP § 2144.05 II. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to optimize the heating zone height to the exact value of 4-5 mm, as suggested by Bellec, in order to obtain the desired geometry within the blown part.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARMAND MELENDEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-0342. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM- 6 PM Monday-Friday.
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/ARMAND MELENDEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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