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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments/arguments on “an edge on a side of the distal end of the vibration arm comprises an arc shape when viewed in a plan view” have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in addition with Matsuo US 9,793,876.
The other references remain relevant and relied on for their respective disclosures in the prior art rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 4-7, 9-12, 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umeda US 2018/0226937 of record, in view of Yamada US 2014/0375178 of record, Takizawa US 8,416,027 of record, and Matsuo US 9,793,876.
1. Umeda discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1-5, 6H, etc.) comprising: a lower cover (20); an upper cover (30) connected to the lower cover; and
a resonator (10) that has a vibration arm (135A) configured to vibrate outside a plane ([0080]: “out-of-plane bending vibration mode”) in an interior space provided between the lower cover and the upper cover,
wherein the vibration arm has a distal end (136A) with a metal film (E2) on a side that faces the upper cover;
and wherein a thickness of a base of the vibrating arm is a same thickness of the vibrating arm (Figs. 2, 6H, etc., similar to Application’s Figs. 2, 10);
additionally, the vibration arm may be bent ([0053]).
Umeda does not explicitly discloses a first gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the upper cover is larger than a second gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the lower cover; wherein the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end; and wherein an edge on a side of the distal end of the vibration arm comprises an arc shape.
Yamada discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1A-C, 2A,B, 7A,B, etc.) comprising: a lower cover (51); an upper cover (56) connected to the lower cover; and a resonator (1) that has a vibration arm (21, 22) configured to vibrate in an interior space provided between the lower cover and the upper cover, wherein the vibration arm has a distal end (24, 25) with a metal film (35f, 36d, etc.) on a side that faces the upper cover, and wherein a first gap (H2) between the distal end of the vibration arm and the upper cover is larger than a second gap (H1) between the distal end of the vibration arm and the lower cover ([0106]).
Takizawa discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1A-7B, etc.) comprising: a lower cover (54), an upper cover (56) connected to the lower cover; and a resonator (10) that has a vibration arm (16a) configured to vibrate in an interior space provided between the lower cover and the upper cover, and wherein a first gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the upper cover is larger than a second gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the lower cover (Figs. 1B, 5, 6, 7A,B; Col. 6 lines 49-63; the arm 16 is made closer to the lower cover); the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end (Takizawa: Figs. 1B, 5, 6, 7A,B).
At the time of the filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made the resonance device of Umeda to have the first gap larger than the second gap as in Yamada and Takizawa, and the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end as in Takizawa. The modification would have been obvious because the vibration arm may be bent thus the inequal gap distance as supported by Ueda ([0053]), improvement in impact resistance and lower height may be provided as taught by Yamada ([0106]) and reliably eliminate the possibility that the distal end making contact with the upper cover during the excitation as taught by Takizawa (Col. 7 lines 37-47).
Matsuo discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1, 5, etc.) comprising: a resonator (3) that has a vibration arm (5) configured to vibrate in an interior space (911); an edge (374) on a side of a distal end of the vibration arm comprises an arc shape (curved as shown in Figs. 1, 5) when viewed in a plan view (which is Fig. 1).
Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made an edge on a side of the distal end of the vibration arm to have an arc shape (curved) when viewed in a plan view. The modification would have been obvious because the curved surfaces (no sharp corners) can suppress stress concentration resulting in durability improvement, Q values, and desired resonation characteristic as taught by Matsuo (Col. 8 lines 34-48, 59-64).
12. Umeda discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1-5, 6H, etc.) comprising: a first/lower cover (20); a second/upper cover (30) connected to the lower cover to define an interior space;
a resonator (10) having a base (130) and a vibration arm (135A) extending thereform with a distal end (136A) configured to vibrate outside a plane ([0080]: “out-of-plane bending vibration mode”) in the interior space; and
a metal film (E2) disposed on an upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that faces the upper cover;
and wherein a thickness of the base of the vibrating arm is a same thickness of the vibrating arm (Figs. 2, 6H, etc., similar to Application’s Figs. 2, 10);
additionally, the vibration arm may be bent ([0053]).
Umeda does not explicit disclose a distance from the upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm to the upper cover is larger than a distance from the lower cover to a lower surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that is opposite the upper surface; wherein the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end; and wherein an edge on a side of the distal end of the vibration arm comprises an arc shape.
Yamada a resonance device (Figs. 1A-C, 2A,B, 7A,B, etc.) comprising: a first/lower cover (51); a second/upper cover (56) connected to the lower cover to define an interior space; a resonator (1) having a base (12) and a vibration arm (21, 22) extending thereform with a distal end (24, 25) configured to vibrate in the interior space; and a metal film (35f, 36d, etc.) on an upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that faces the upper cover, wherein a distance (H2) from upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm to the cover is larger than a distance (H1) from the lower cover to a lower surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that is opposite the upper surface ([0106]).
Takizawa discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1A-7B, etc.) comprising: a first/lower cover (54); a second/upper cover (56) connected to the lower cover to define an interior space; a resonator (10) having a base (14) and a vibration arm (16a) extending thereform with a distal end configured to vibrate in the interior space; wherein a distance from upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm to the cover is larger than a distance from the lower cover to a lower surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that is opposite the upper surface (Figs. 1B, 5, 6, 7A,B; Col. 6 lines 49-63; the arm 16 is made closer to the lower cover thus smaller distance); the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end (Takizawa: Figs. 1B, 5, 6, 7A,B).
At the time of the filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made the resonance device of Umeda to have the a distance from upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm to the cover is larger than the distance from the lower cover to a lower surface of the distal end of the vibration arm that is opposite the upper surface as in Yamada and Takizawa, and the vibration arm is configured so that a distance between the vibration arm and the lower cover decreases as the vibration arm extends towards the distal end as in Takizawa. The modification would have been obvious because the vibration arm may be bent thus the inequal gap distance as supported by Ueda ([0053]), improvement in impact resistance and lower height may be provided as taught by Yamada ([0106]) and reliably eliminate the possibility that the distal end making contact with the upper cover during the excitation as taught by Takizawa (Col. 7 lines 37-47).
Matsuo discloses a resonance device (Figs. 1, 5, etc.) comprising: a resonator (3) that has a vibration arm (5) configured to vibrate in an interior space (911); an edge (374) on a side of a distal end of the vibration arm comprises an arc shape (curved as shown in Figs. 1, 5) when viewed in a plan view (which is Fig. 1).
Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made an edge on a side of the distal end of the vibration arm to have an arc shape (curved) when viewed in a plan view. The modification would have been obvious because the curved surfaces (no sharp corners) can suppress stress concentration resulting in durability improvement, Q values, and desired resonation characteristic as taught by Matsuo (Col. 8 lines 34-48, 59-64).
4, 15. The combination discloses the vibration arm warps downward towards the lower cover without a voltage being applied thereto (Takizawa: Figs. 1B, 5, 6, 7A,B; the warp is due to pressure of gas in the formation of the device, see Col. 8 lines 9-64).
5. The combination discloses the upper cover and the lower cover each have a cavity defining the interior space (Umeda: items 21, 31).
6, 16. The combination discloses a depth of the cavity of the upper cover is larger than a depth of the cavity of the lower cover (Umeda: items 31, 21; Yamada: H2>H1; due to the gap distance relationship, the corresponding depth of the cavities follow the relationship).
7, 17. The combination discloses the invention as discussed above, including for claim 7: the second gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the lower cover has a distance G1 and the first gap between the distal end of the vibration arm and the upper cover has a distance G2 (definition; essentially the corresponding gaps/distances at distal end in Umeda, Yamada and/or Takizawa; also Yamada: H1=G1, H2=G2); for claim 17: the distance between the lower surface of the distal end of the vibration arm and the lower cover has a distance G1 and the distance between the upper surface of the distal end of the vibration arm and the upper cover has a distance G2 (definition; and similar to claim 7 as discussed above); but does not explicitly disclose the respective distances satisfy a relationship of 1<G2/G1≤1.5.
However, the gaps/distances necessarily influence the range of the vibration (Umeda: Fig. 6H; Yamada: Fig. 7B; [0106]; Takizawa: Fig. 1B, 7A,B; i.e., the space provided for the movement of the vibration arm, thus the corresponding characteristics, e.g., range, strength, amplitude, and/or size, of the vibration/device; hence the gaps/distances are result effective variables; and the gap/distance G2 is larger than gap distance G1 (Yamada: H2>H1; Takizawa: bent shape, Col. 6 lines 49-63; thus 1<G2/G1) as discussed above (see also claims 1, 12).
At the time of the filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made the respective gaps/distances satisfy the relationship 1<G2/G1≤1.5. The modification would have been obvious as optimization of the gaps/distances to achieve desired characteristics (e.g., range, strength, amplitude, and/or size of the vibration/device; see also MPEP 2144.05(II)).
9. The combination discloses the upper cover has a metal film that faces at least the distal end of the vibration arm (Umeda: Figs. 5, 6H, the unlabeled film in the cavity of the upper cover 30).
10. The combination discloses the distal end of the vibration arm has a width in a direction parallel to a surface of the upper cover that is greater than a width of a base of the vibration arm (Umeda: Fig. 3; [0046], wider at 136A than base of 135A that connects to item 130, similar to Applicant’s Fig. 3).
11. The combination discloses a frame (Umeda: Figs. 2, 3 item 140) that at least partially surrounds the resonator; and a holding arm (110) that connects a base (130) of the resonator to the frame, with the vibration arm (135A) extending from the base of the resonator towards the frame.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/A.W/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843