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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cummings (US 2010/0097891 A1), Blake (US 2013/0242700 A1), and Hadley (US 3,178,677).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 20, Cummings teaches a sonar transducer system, a sonar transducer assembly, and a method of tuning a sonar transducer assembly comprising:
a sonar transducer assembly [[abstract] sonar system; [0013] transducer electronically coupled the transmitter and the receiver] comprising:
a transmitter that is configured to transmit sonar signals [[abstract] transmitter], the transmitter having a peak transmit sensitivity occurring at a first frequency [[abstract] transmit frequency of the transmitter; [0012] would be desirable to: make sonar units with transmitters which can transmit at or near the best echo frequency of the transducer; reduce the amount of gain for a return]; and
a receiver that is configured to receive return sonar signals [[abstract] receiver], the receiver having a peak receive sensitivity occurring at a second frequency [[0011] advantage to having a sonar unit tuned to its specific transducer is the return echoes are received at maximum amplitude], wherein the first frequency is different than the second frequency [[0010] sonar units as manufactured today pick a transmitter frequency based on the median transducer echo frequency. Transducers generally have a tolerance on their echo frequency of ±4% to ±6%. The inherent ± tolerance on the transducers echo frequency creates a mismatch between the fixed frequency circuit of the transmitter and the particular transducers echo frequency]; and
a display [[abstract] display],
wherein the transmitter and the receiver share a same facing direction [[0010] transducers; [0034] transducer 22 receives transmitted frequency 126 from transmitter 102, transducer 22 converts the frequency to sound waves 128 and begins directing the sound into water 14 at state 206. When reflected sound wave 130 is reflected back, reflected sound 130 is converted to a received frequency 132 at state 208], wherein the transmitter and the receiver are provided as physically separate components [[fig. 2] transmitter #102 and receiver #104], wherein at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is tuned so that the peak transmit sensitivity and the peak receive sensitivity occur at a same frequency [[0015] adjusting the transmit frequency to match the best echo frequency], wherein the sonar transducer assembly is configured to improve at least one of the peak transmit sensitivity or the peak receive sensitivity to generate a sonar image having a greater quality [[0011-0012] return echoes are received at maximum amplitude; [0024] display image is coupled to display]
Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches wherein any electromechanical tuning applied to the transmitter, if applied, is different than any electromechanical tuning applied to the receiver, if applied [[0063] individual transducer R1, R2, R3, T within each array 30, are commercially available transducers in the form of rectangular blocks of piezoelectric material of length L (which in this embodiment is 25 mm), width A (which in this embodiment is 5 mm) and depth B which is specified so that the transducers are tuned to receive or transmit sound waves at a frequency of 200 kHz. The depth B is dependent upon the specific material of the transducer, which in this embodiment comprises lead zirconate titanate (PZT)] [note: instant para. 0007 explains that transmit crystal and the receive electromechanics may include a receive crystal. … the transmitter and/or the receiver may be tuned by adjusting the shape of the transmit crystal and/or the receive crystal. … the transmitter and/or the receiver may be tuned by adjusting the size of the transmit crystal and/or the receive crystal. … the receiver may be tuned by adjusting the width of the receive crystal in the receive electromechanics.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
(claim 11 recites a sonar transducer assembly which is comparable to claim 1 and is therefore rejected for similar reasons)
(claim 20 recites a method of tuning a sonar transducer assembly which is a method form of the system recited in claim 1 and is therefore rejected using similar reasoning).
Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Hadley teaches a transmitter comprising a transmit transducer element [[col. 2:30-50] Systems in accordance with the invention may utilize individual or combined transducers for converting electrical signals to and from acoustic waves, as well as wave transducers fer collimating or concentrating, or both collimating and concentrating, the acoustic waves. High power transmitted waves are generated at a selected high ultrasonic frequency by excitation of the acoustic transducer which in turn provides waves to be concentrated by the wave transducer.], and a receiver comprising a receive transducer element different from the transmit transducer element [[col. 2:30-50] at the same or a different location, the waves which are reflected or received are concentrated by the same or a different wave transducer, and the same or a different acoustic transducer is utilized to generate corresponding electrical signals].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to separate the combined transmit and receive transducer as taught by Cummings, into different individual transmit transducer and receive transducers as taught by Hadley so that self ringing is reduced.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Hadley also teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 1, wherein a figure of merit value is defined as a sum of a transmit sensitivity at the operating frequency and the receive sensitivity at the same operating frequency, wherein tuning at least one of the transmitter or the receiver so that peak transmit sensitivity and the peak receive sensitivity occur at the same frequency results in an increase in the figure of merit value of 4 decibels or more [[fig. 2] shows that the sum of the untuned transducer transmitting response characteristic and the untuned transducer receiving sensitivity is about +20 dB + -65 dB = -45 dB; the tuned amplifier response is 10*log(0.9 V / 0.003 V) or +24 dB so that the sum is +20dB + 24 dB = 44 dB which is greater than a 4 dB increase in the figure of merit].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of an increase of a value of 4 decibels or more so that signal is improved.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Hadley teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 2, wherein the increase in the figure of merit value enhances an overall sensitivity of the sonar transducer assembly, wherein the increase in the figure of merit value enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of the sonar [[col. 8:5-15] sensitivity may be increased, or the bandwidth widened by the use of appropriate tuning elements.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of an increase of a value of 4 decibels or more so that signal is improved.
Regarding claim 4 and 14, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 1, wherein the transmitter is provided with transmit electromechanics, wherein the receiver is provided with receive electromechanics, wherein at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is tuned by adjusting at least one of the transmit electromechanics or the receive electromechanics [[0063] individual transducer R1, R2, R3, T within each array 30, are commercially available transducers in the form of rectangular blocks of piezoelectric material of length L (which in this embodiment is 25 mm), width A (which in this embodiment is 5 mm) and depth B which is specified so that the transducers are tuned to receive or transmit sound waves at a frequency of 200 kHz. The depth B is dependent upon the specific material of the transducer, which in this embodiment comprises lead zirconate titanate (PZT)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 4, wherein the transmit electromechanics include a transmit crystal and the receive electromechanics include a receive crystal [[0063] individual transducer R1, R2, R3, T within each array 30, are commercially available transducers in the form of rectangular blocks of piezoelectric material of length L (which in this embodiment is 25 mm), width A (which in this embodiment is 5 mm) and depth B which is specified so that the transducers are tuned to receive or transmit sound waves at a frequency of 200 kHz. The depth B is dependent upon the specific material of the transducer, which in this embodiment comprises lead zirconate titanate (PZT)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 5, wherein the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is tuned by adjusting a shape of at least one of the transmit crystal or the receive crystal [[0063]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 5, wherein the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is tuned by adjusting the size of at least one of the transmit crystal or the receive crystal [[0063]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 7, wherein the receiver is configured to be tuned by adjusting the width of the receive crystal in the receive electromechanics [[0063]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claim 9, Cummings does not explicitly teach and yet Blake teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 5, wherein the receive crystal includes a receiving face, wherein the transmit crystal includes a transmitting face, wherein the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver is tuned by adjusting the size of at least one of a shape of the receiving face or the transmitting face [[0063]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claim 10, Cummings teaches the sonar transducer system of Claim 1, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are provided as electrically separate components [[fig. 2] transmitter #102 and receiver #104].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Regarding claim 19, Cummings teaches the sonar transducer assembly of Claim 11, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are used to form side scan sonar imagery, forward scan sonar imagery, or down scan sonar imagery [[fig. 1] shows sonar imaging downward from boat].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of electronic tuning of frequency as taught by Cummings, with the teaching of tuning of frequency by choosing the length and width of a piezoelectrical material transducer as taught by Blake so that the sound waves are tuned at desired frequencies (Blake) [0063].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/25/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See discussion below.
Representative explains that even considering the language of Hadley and Blake, none of the references disclose, teach, or suggest tuning of a transmitter to a separate receiver, much less tuning of a transmitter having its own transducer to a receiver having its own transducer. Consequently, a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to modify the combination in order to cover the claim limitations of the independent claims.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Furthermore, the Examiner disagrees because Hadley teaches a transmitting transducer #12, a receiving transducer #13 and explains that a single transducer or separate transducers may implement the functions of transmitting and receiver [[col. 4:20-35]]. Hadley is in general discussing untuned versus tuned response characteristics and so is in the same field of endeavor [[fig. 2]]. The rejection is based on a combination of references and the specific limitations are met by the art as cited.
Finally, the claims recite wherein any electromechanical tuning applied to the transmitter, if applied, is different than any electromechanical tuning applied to the receiver, if applied. Therefore, to meet the claim language it is apparently not even required that any tuning take place at all.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7339. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Isam Alsomiri can be reached on 571-272-6970. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3645 /ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645