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 .
Continued Examination
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 30th, 2026 has been entered.
Status of the Claims
Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 1-9 are currently examined herein.
Status of the Rejection
All 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections from the previous office action are essentially maintained and modified only in response to the amendments to the claims.
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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe et al. (US 2017/0284958 A1) in view of Toshiba (machine translation of JP 2001-163682, provided in IDS dated 02/18/2025).
Regarding Claim 1, Watanabe teaches a sensor element (sensor element 101 in Fig. 1-3 [para. 0024, 0026]) for detecting a target gas (such as NOx as the specific gas concentration [para. 0025]) to be measured in a measurement-object gas (such as exhaust gas [para. 0025]), the sensor element comprising:
an element body (sensor element 101 is an element having a structure in which six layers composed of a first substrate layer 1, a second substrate layer 2, a third substrate layer 3, a first solid electrolyte layer 4, a spacer layer 5, and a second solid electrolyte layer 6 in Fig. 2 [para. 0026]) including an oxygen-ion-conductive solid electrolyte layer (each layer 1-6 formed from an oxygen ion-conductive solid electrolyte layer of zirconia [para. 0026]); and
a protective layer (a porous protective layer 90 in Fig. 1-3 [para. 0063]; porous protective layer 90 includes porous protective layers 90a-90e; porous protective layer 90 has a two-layer structure: a porous outer protective layer 91 and a porous inner protective layer 92 in Fig. 3 [para. 0064]) covering at least a part of a surface of the element body (Figs. 1-3 shows the upper/lower/left/right/front end surfaces of the element main body 101 are covered by the porous protective layer 90 [para. 0063]), wherein
the protective layer comprising a porous material (porous material such as an alumina porous body [para. 0065]) that has a pore inside (porous protective layer 90 is a porous body [para. 0065]),
and wherein the protective layer has a thickness of 100 µm or more and 1000 µm or less (at least one of the protective layers 90a-e has an outer protective layer 91a-e thickness T1 of 30-300 µm and at least one of the inner protective layers 92a-e has a thickness T2 of 170-400 µm [para. 0069], resulting in an overall thickness (T1+T2) of 200-700 µm for the protective layer 90, falling within the claimed thickness range of 100 µm or more and 1000 µm or less).
Watanabe is silent on in the pore in the protective layer, a ratio (Lt/Lf) of a pore length (Lt) in a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface of the element body to a pore length (Lf) in a surface direction perpendicular to said thickness direction is 0.6 to 0.9; and
wherein the protective layer has a porosity of 10% by volume to 70% by volume.
However, Watanabe teaches at least one of the outer protective layers 91a-e has a porosity ranging from 10%-60% by volume [para. 0070], and at least one of the inner protective layers 92a-e has a porosity ranging from 20%-70% by volume [para. 0070]. Note that the protective layer of Watanabe is composed of both the outer protective layers 91a-e and the inner protective layers 92a-e, and Watanabe teaches various thickness ranges for these layers. In the cases where the thickness of the outer protective layers 91a-e and the inner protective layers 92a-e are the same for a given side a-e (ratio T1/T2 of the thickness T1 of the outer protective layer to the thickness T2 of the inner protective layer may be 1.0 or less [para. 0014]), the volume of the outer protective layer 91 ≈ the volume of the inner protective layer 92 for any given side a-e as the inner and outer protective layer have the same dimensions in the length direction and the width direction, respectively (see Fig. 1-3). Using the range of porosities for the outer protective layer (10%-60%) and the inner protective layer (20%-70%), an overall porosity of the protective layer 90 can be calculated as follows:
Φ
P
=
Φ
i
n
n
e
r
+
Φ
o
u
t
e
r
2
0.20
+
0.10
2
≤
Φ
P
≤
0.70
+
0.60
2
0.15
≤
Φ
P
≤
0.65
where Φp is the porosity of the protective layer 90, Φinner is the porosity of the inner protective layer, and Φouter is the porosity of the outer protective layer.
Thus, Watanabe teaches that the overall porosity of the protective layer 90 is from at least 15%-65% by volume.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a porosity of the protective layer within the disclosed range, as taught by Watanabe, as the range of porosities disclosed for the protective layer by Watanabe further improve the waterproofing performance of the element main body [para. 0015]. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Watanabe is silent on in the pore in the protective layer, a ratio (Lt/Lf) of a pore length (Lt) in a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface of the element body to a pore length (Lf) in a surface direction perpendicular to said thickness direction is 0.6 to 0.9.
Toshiba teaches a porous sintered compact related to ceramics [Overview], and teaches a ratio (Lt/Lf) of a pore length (Lt) in a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface of the element body to a pore length (Lf) in a surface direction perpendicular to said thickness direction is 0.6 to 0.9 (pores are generally ellipsoidal in shape [para. 0006] with the long axis of the ellipsoidal pore in the horizontal x-direction and the short axis in the perpendicular y-direction [paras. 0026-0027]; the ratio of the long axis to the short axis of the pores is preferably 1:0.9-1:0.1 [para. 0007]). Based on the ratio of long axis to short axis disclosed in para. 0007, a ratio (Lt/Lf) of a pore length (Lt) in a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface of the element body to a pore length (Lf) in a surface direction perpendicular to said thickness direction is as follows:
0.1
1.0
≤
L
t
L
f
≤
0.9
1.0
0.1
≤
L
t
L
f
≤
0.9
Thus, the Lt/Lf disclosed by Toshiba is 0.1 ≤ Lt/Lf ≤ 0.9.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the protective layers 90a-e of Watanabe to have a pore ratio (Lt/Lf) of a pore length (Lt) in a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface of the element body to a pore length (Lf) in a surface direction perpendicular to said thickness direction of approximately 0.1 ≤ Lt/Lf ≤ 0.9, as taught by Toshiba, as properties such as thermal conductivity and mechanical strength can be controlled based on the orientation of the ellipsoidal pores (Toshiba, [para. 0006]). It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 2, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 1.
Watanabe is silent on wherein the protective layer has a thickness of 100 µm to 500 µm.
However, Watanabe teaches that at least one of the protective layers 90a-e has an outer protective layer 91a-e thickness T1 of 30-300 µm and at least one of the inner protective layers 92a-e has a thickness T2 of 170-400 µm [para. 0069], resulting in an overall thickness (T1+T2) of 200-700 µm for the protective layer 90.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a thickness of the protective layer 90 within the disclosed range, as taught by Watanabe, including those amounts that overlap within the claimed range, since one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect any value within the taught range to be suitable given that Watanabe specifically teaches the thickness to be suitable for the protective layer to improve waterproofing performance of the element main body of the sensor element [para. 0018]. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 1.
Watanabe is silent on wherein the protective layer has a porosity of 10% by volume to 40% by volume.
However, as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above, Watanabe teaches that the overall porosity of the protective layer 90 is from at least 15%-65% by volume. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 1.
Watanabe teaches wherein the protective layer comprises a surface layer (outer protective layers 91a-e [para. 0066]; illustrated in Fig. 1-3), and an inner layer (inner protective layers 92a-e [para. 0066]; illustrated in Fig. 1-3) formed inside the surface layer (outer protective layers 91a-e are disposed on the outer side of the inner protective layers 92a-e [para. 0066], also illustrated in Fig. 3); and the inner layer has a higher porosity than the surface layer (Watanabe teaches the value of the ratio P1/P2, where P1 is the porosity of the outer protective layer and P2 is the porosity of the inner protective layer, and P/P2 is more preferably less than 1.0, and yet more preferably less than 0.5 [para. 0015]).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 4.
Watanabe is silent on wherein the inner layer in the protective layer has a thickness of 300 µm to 700 µm.
However, Watanabe teaches that the protective layer 90 has at least one of an inner protective layer 92a-e thickness T2 of 170-400 µm [para. 0069].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a thickness for the inner protective layer within the disclosed range, as taught by Watanabe, including those amounts that overlap within the claimed range, since one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect any value within the taught range to be suitable given that Watanabe specifically teaches the thickness of the inner protective layer to be suitable to improve the waterproofing performance of the element main body of the sensor element [para. 0018]. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 4.
Watanabe is silent on wherein the surface layer in the protective layer has a thickness of 100 µm to 300 µm.
However, Watanabe teaches that the protective layer 90 has at least one of the outer protective layers 91a-e having a thickness T1 of 30-300 µm [para. 0069].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a thickness for the outer protective layer within the disclosed range, as taught by Watanabe, including those amounts that overlap within the claimed range, since one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect any value within the taught range to be suitable given that Watanabe specifically teaches the thickness of the outer protective layer to be suitable to improve the waterproofing performance of the element main body of the sensor element [para. 0018]. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 4.
Watanabe is silent on wherein the inner layer in the protective layer has a porosity of 40% by volume to 70% by volume.
However, Watanabe teaches at least one of the inner protective layers 92a-e can have a porosity ranging from 20%-70% [para. 0070].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a porosity of the inner protective layers 92a-e within the disclosed range, as taught by Watanabe, as the range of porosities disclosed for the inner protective layers 92a-e by Watanabe suppresses the deficiency of the heat-insulating effect between the outer protective layer and the element main body can be suppressed as well as suppresses the deficiency of the strength of the inner protective layer [para. 0015]. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 1.
Watanabe teaches wherein the sensor body comprises:
a base part (sensor element 101 has a structure of six layers: a first substrate layer 1, a second substrate layer 2, a third substrate layer 3, a first solid electrolyte layer 4, a spacer layer 5, and a second solid electrolyte layer 6 in Fig. 2 [para. 0026]) in an elongated plate shape (sensor element 101 has a shape of an elongated cuboid [para. 0024]), including a plurality of oxygen-ion-conductive solid electrolyte layers stacked (each layer being formed from an oxygen ion-conductive solid electrolyte layer of zirconia stacked in Fig. 2 [para. 0026]);
a measurement-object gas flow part (gas flow portion corresponds to the portions from the gas inlet 10 to the second internal space 40 in Fig. 2 [para. 0029]) formed from one end part in a longitudinal direction of the base part (as illustrated in Fig. 2, the gas inlet 10 is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the sensor element 101 base);
at least one inner electrode (measurement electrode 44 [para. 0049]; Fig. 2) disposed on an inner surface of the measurement-object gas flow part (measurement electrode 44 is disposed on the upper surface of the first solid electrolyte layer 4 facing the second internal space 40 [para. 0049]; illustrated in Fig. 2); and
an outer electrode (outside pump electrode 23 [para. 0049]; Fig. 2) disposed in contact with the inner electrode via at least one layer of the plurality of oxygen-ion-conductive solid electrolyte layers (outside pump electrode 23 and measurement electrode 44 are in contact via the second solid electrolyte layer 6, the spacer layer 5, and the first solid electrolyte layer 4 [para. 0049]; illustrated in Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 9, Watanabe teaches a production method (a method for making [para. 0078-0080]) of a sensor element according to claim 1 (modified Watanabe teaches the sensor element according to claim 1), and Watanabe teaches the production method [para. 0078-0080] comprising the steps of:
applying a protective layer (slurries are prepared for an outer protective layers 91a-e and an inner protective layers 92a-e; the inner protective layers 92a-e and outer protective layers 91a-e are applied by dipping [para. 0079]) forming composition including a pore forming material (the pore-forming material include theobromine and an acrylic resin [para. 0078]), onto at least a part of a surface of the element body (slurry of inner protective layers 91a-e covers at least part of the surface of the solid electrolyte layers of the element main body 101a [para. 0079]), to form a coating layer (slurries of inner protective layers 91a-e and outer protective layers 92a-e form a coating film when applied [para. 0079]), and
degreasing the coating layer to obtain a protective layer comprising a porous material (the outer protective layer slurries and inner protective layer slurries are fired at a particular temperature [para. 0079], during this sintering step, material that can be used as a pore-forming material disappears during firing [para. 0078]).
Watanabe is silent on pressing the coating layer.
Toshiba teaches methods for making porous sintered body with ellipsoidal pores [para. 0005], which includes pressing the coating layer (slurry is placed into a mold and pressure is applied for form ellipsoidal pores [paras. 0005, 0024]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to press the slurries of the protective layer 90 before solidifying of Watanabe to obtain the desired ceramic particle orientation, as taught by Toshiba, as properties such as thermal conductivity and mechanical strength can be controlled based on the orientation of the ellipsoidal pores (Toshiba, [para. 0006]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see Remarks Pgs. 5-11, filed 03/30/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections have been fully considered.
Applicant’s Argument #1:
Applicant argues on pages 5-7 that the pores of the instant application of the protective layer have a flat shape that spreads in the surface direction and are thin in the thickness direction, which is different from Toshiba which discloses ellipsoidal pores in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the pressure, and that Toshiba does not teach or suggests the pores have a flat shape in a surface direction.
Examiner’s Response #1:
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. The secondary reference of Toshiba generally teaches the ellipsoidal pores for a gas sensor are formed in the direction of a major axis and a minor axis, with properties such as thermal conductivity and mechanical strength changing with the major and minor axis directions. As such, ellipsoidal pores can be oriented in the x-z direction depending on the required properties.
Applicant’s Argument #2:
Applicant argues on pages 8-11 that it would not be obvious to combine the prior art references of Watanabe and Toshiba, as Watanabe is directed to a fine porous layer having a micro-order thickness, whereas Toshiba is directed to an alumina porous sintered body, which is a large bulk molded body. Thus, it would not be obvious to modify the pores of Watanabe using the teaching of Toshiba.
Examiner’s Response #2:
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive, as both Watanabe and Toshiba are considered analogous references that relate to ceramic, porous materials including the benefits of pores (Watanabe [paras. 0065-0066]) and Toshiba [paras. 0001-0005]). Thus, it would be obvious to apply the teachings of ellipsoidal pores of Toshiba to Watanabe.
Conclusion
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/R.L.G./Examiner, Art Unit 1795
/SHIZHI QIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1795