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 Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/22/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 7/14/2026 has been entered.
The specification and drawings have been amended to match drawings of 12/13/2022. The previously set-forth 5/14/2026 drawing objection is withdrawn.
Claims 1 and 8 have been amended. This amendment overcomes the previously set-forth 1/14/2026 rejections of claims 1-4 and 6-7 under 35 U.S.C. 103. The amendment to claim 8 overcomes the prior 5/14/2026 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) of claims 8-10.
Claims 1-4 and 6-10 are currently pending, with claims 1 and 8 being independent.
Response to Arguments
Regarding the teachings of Kim (US 20200152876 A1) and Sakurada (US 20240075556 A1), and claim 1, in response to applicant's argument on p. 8 [“The Examiner relies on Kim and Sakurada to teach the claimed rough surfaces configured to cause laser reflection a plurality of times. However, Kim is directed to a mask assembly for OLED manufacturing, not a structural frame, and teaches roughening a flat, exposed top surface for a simple spot weld… Sakurada similarly teaches roughening the flat surface of a nickel plating layer so "incident light 22a is refracted by the surface and absorbed into the nickel plating layer, reflected light 22b is also reabsorbed into the nickel plating layer" (Sakurada at [0021]… Both Kim and Sakurada teach roughening a flat, 2D top surface where the laser hits directly. Neither reference teaches or suggests roughening the concealed mating side-wall surfaces of a "hole shaft fit" (a post and a through-hole). The mechanism of action in the present invention relies on the 3D geometry of the fit part: the rough surfaces on the mating walls cause the incident laser to reflect a plurality of times between the walls of the post and hole, repeatedly absorbing the laser. The Examiner's combination improperly imports a micro-roughness mechanism from a flat plate into the macro-geometry of Xu's mechanical rivets using impermissible hindsight.”]. Kim was presented as teaching the use of conventional laser welding as a substitute welding connection method, wherein a PHOSITA would have applied laser welding to Xu with a reasonable expectation of success. Examiner notes that the claim does not require any specific welding processing steps, “concealed mating side-wall surfaces”, or “micro-roughness mechanism”, and merely recites, per the previously presented broadest reasonable interpretation of “rough”, that the surfaces of the posts/holes are rough surfaces. Furthermore, the fact that the inventor has recognized another advantage which would flow naturally from following the suggestion of the prior art cannot be the basis for patentability when the differences would otherwise be obvious. See Ex parte Obiaya, 227 USPQ 58, 60 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1985). In this case, since Xu discloses the conventional arrangement of a post/hole configuration in a welding connection, and Kim teaches the predictable and conventional alternate welding connection method of laser welding, any advantages naturally resulting from the known features of laser processing [e.g., reflection/absorption of laser light/energy], would have been obvious. Sakurada was presented as teaching that it is known, during laser welding, to configure rough surfaces to cause a particular laser reflection a plurality of times on the rough surfaces so as to increase welding strength. In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971). In view of applying the presented conventional laser processing teachings of Kim and Sakurada to the welding connection of Xu, a PHOSITA would have a reasonable expectation of success applying laser welding configured rough surfaces to the welded posts of Xu.
Regarding the teachings of Fujiwara (US 20190368524 A1) and claim 1, in response to applicant's argument on p. 9 [“Fujiwara does not teach an "annular groove" that is "recessed into the middle plate" around the root of a solid die-cast aluminum post to discharge gas generated from the aluminum alloy itself to increase the weld pool depth. The structural implementation in Fujiwara is entirely different from the claimed invention.”]. Examiner respectfully disagrees, and has presented in the new rejection of amended claim 1 below of Fujiwara teaching the exhaust groove as an annular groove, recessed into the middle plate from which it protrudes.
Applicant argues “A person of ordinary skill in the art would have no motivation to combine the flat mask assembly of Kim, the surface plating of Sakurada, or the through-hole venting of Fujiwara with the structural middle frame of Xu to arrive at the claimed invention. The references operate via fundamentally different mechanisms that cannot be logically combined to achieve the claimed structural arrangement Therefore, the combination of Xu, Kim, Sakurada, and Fujiwara fails to teach or suggest all the limitations of Claim L Withdrawal of the rejection to claim 1, and its associated dependent claims 2-4 and 6-7, is respectfully requested.” In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, Xu establishes welding a conventional hole shaft fit of an electronic device comprising a middle frame, bezel, and middle plate. Kim teaches that it is known in the art to use a laser to improve welding characteristics. Sakurada teaches that surface roughness is a known result effective variable with regards to laser welding. Fujiwara teaches the benefit of exhaust grooves with regards to diverting gases generated during laser welding. Thus, Examiner maintains that the presented prior art discloses and suggests the limitations of claims 1 and 8, i.e., Xu discloses the conventional welding arrangement of a post and hole, having “concealed mating side-wall surfaces” of a “hole shaft fit”, and thus, a PHOSITA, when applying the known laser welding art teachings of Kim, Sakurada, and Fujiwara, to the welding arrangement of Xu, and when optimizing known laser welding result effective variables, e.g., roughness of welding surfaces, and size/shape/location of exhaust holes/grooves, would find the limitations of the instant claims as obvious.
The previous 103 rejections of claims 2-4, 6, and 8-10 are maintained.
Claim Interpretation
Regarding claim 1 and claim 8, which respectively recite “rough surfaces” and “performing film processing…so that at least surfaces of the plurality of welded posts are rough surfaces…performing surface treatment…so that at least surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces”
In light of
para. 0007: “The rough surface is configured to increase a laser absorption amount in the fit part of the welded post and the through-hole during the laser welding.”
para. 0016: “In an implementation, the rough surface of the welded post is obtained by film processing, and surface glossiness of the welded post is less than 20 Gu.”
para. 0017: “In an implementation, a surface roughness value of the through-hole is from Ra3.2 to Ra5.”
para. 0022: “In an implementation, the performing surface treatment on the bezel so that at least surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces includes: performing chemical sanding on the bezel so that at least surface roughness values of the through-hole surfaces are from Ra3.2 to Ra5.”
para. 0048: “It may be understood that surface roughness of the bezel 1 may be increased by removing the material, for example, chemical sanding. A glossiness requirement of the middle plate 2 may be ensured by adding a dense film layer, for example, film processing.”
the claims, while not rendered indefinite by the limitation ‘rough’, will be interpreted as establishing the metes and bounds of the claim to include surfaces (including surfaces with non-zero Gu) with any measurable level of roughness (i.e., non-zero Ra, wherein real-world surfaces inherently have some degree of roughness, and are not considered to be able to achieve perfect smoothness). If Applicant intends the recitation of surfaces of the welded posts/through-holes be rough surfaces to further limit the invention, Examiner recommends including roughness value(s) with an appropriate dimensional unit [see Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112].
Regarding claim 6 which recites film processing to obtain the rough surface of the welded post, such that the surface glossiness less than 20 Gu is met,
the term “film processing” is used by the claim to mean generating a dense film layer closely attached to a surface [e.g., para. 0048: “A glossiness requirement of the middle plate 2 may be ensured by adding a dense film layer, for example, film processing.”; para. 0080: “In an implementation, the film processing means that phosphate reacts with a middle plate semifinished part of die casting aluminum, so that a dense film layer is generated and is closely attached to a surface of metal.”].
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.
Claims 1 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu (CN 106862399 A) in view of Kim (US 20200152876 A1), Sakurada (US 20240075556 A1), and Fujiwara (US 20190368524 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
Xu discloses:
An electronic device [p. 3: “The mobile terminal in the invention can be a smart phone, tablet computer, PDA (PersonalDigital Assistant, handheld computer) can be terminal device of wireless communication.”], comprising
a middle frame [fig. 1; p. 3: “FIG. 1 is the mobile terminal of this invention metal frame manufacturing method of one embodiment of the disclosure”], wherein the middle frame comprises
a bezel [metal frame 21] and
a middle plate [bracket 22];
the bezel is disposed around an edge of the middle plate [fig. 5; p. 5: “Referring to FIG. 5, picture 5 is the structure schematic diagram of the invention in mobile terminal metal frame is a metal outer frame and metal in the bracket; wherein the rivet enters the through hole”];
a plurality of welded posts are disposed on the middle plate [studs/rivet 221];
a plurality of through-holes whose positions and sizes are corresponding to those of the plurality of welded posts are disposed on the bezel [through-hole 211; p. 2: “metal in one side of the bracket is provided with a convex rivet, metal outer frame corresponding position is provided with a through hole… wherein the length of the rivet column is equal to the length of the through hole”],
and the plurality of welded posts form a hole shaft fit in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of through-holes [see figs. 1 and 5; p. 3: “S101: preparing respectively independent metal outer frame and in metal bracket, metal in one side of the bracket is provided with a convex rivet, corresponding position of outer metal frame is a through hole.”];
surfaces of the plurality of welded posts and surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces [i.e., the surfaces of 221 and 211 inherently have surfaces with non-zero Ra] configured to cause laser reflection a plurality of times on the rough surfaces; and
the bezel and the middle plate are connected by using the plurality of through-holes [p. 4: “S103, using rivet for riveting and welding the metal outer frame and metal inner frame.”]
However, Xu does not explicitly disclose:
surfaces of the plurality of welded posts and surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces configured to cause laser reflection a plurality of times on the rough surfaces;
the bezel and the middle plate are connected by using laser welding,
and the rough surface is configured to increase a laser absorption amount of the fit part of the welded post and the through-hole during the laser welding by repeatedly absorbing the laser reflected a plurality of times;
further comprising an exhaust groove recessed into the middle plate,
wherein the exhaust groove is an annular groove disposed around a root of at least one welded post of the plurality of welded posts,
and the exhaust groove is configured to discharge gas that is generated during the laser welding and increase a weld pool depth during the laser welding.
Kim, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
a frame [see fig. 1, showing frame 110, with surfaces having inherent roughness] and a sheet [see fig. 1, showing sheet 120, with surfaces having inherent roughness] connected by using laser welding such that the connection has improved welding characteristics [para. 0076: “Accordingly, when the first and second hatching areas HA1 and HA2 are irradiated with the welding laser, laser process efficiency increases according to the rough surfaces of the first and second hatching areas HA1 and HA2, and the welding characteristics may be improved.”]. Kim further teaches that it is known that surface roughness increases absorption of a laser beam [para. 0076: “When the surface roughness becomes large, an absorptance of a laser beam increases.”].
Sakurada, in the same field of endeavor, teaches it is known that during laser welding, to configure rough surfaces to cause a particular laser reflection a plurality of times on the rough surfaces [i.e., by generating a dense film layer via film processing, e.g., a plating treatment to an aluminum alloy member 71, forming a nickel plating layer 71b closely attached to a surface of alloy member 71, the surface of the dense film layer having a predetermined roughness that is configured to correspond to a particular desired level of laser absorption and/or a particular desired level of absorption suppression/reflection; see fig. 7; paras. 0032-36: “…The arithmetic average roughness Sa of the surface of the nickel plating layer is greater than or equal to 100 nm... Further, the greater the arithmetic average roughness Sa of the surface, the higher the energy absorptivity of the surface… Such a configuration has a range of Sa that further increases the absorptivity, so that it is possible to perform welding even with the input of less energy. That is, the energy absorptivity (laser absorptivity) of the surface becomes higher, and welding can be performed even with the input of less energy, so that it is possible to further suppress the generation of the intermetallic compound and further increase (stabilize) the welding strength… However, when the arithmetic average roughness Sa is less than or equal to the upper limit value (500 nm), it is possible to effectively prevent energy from being accumulated only in nickel (plating layer) (prevent the volume of nickel (plating layer) that absorbs energy from being increased). It is therefore possible to prevent energy more than necessary from being input, suppress the generation of the intermetallic compound, and increase (stabilize) the welding strength.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the electronic device of Xu and Kim by:
substituting the welding connection of Xu with the laser welding connection of Kim, since this would yield the predictable result of connecting the bezel and middle plate, and further since Kim teaches this results in improved welding characteristics [para. 0076]; and
including surfaces of the plurality of welded posts and surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces configured to cause laser reflection a plurality of times on the rough surfaces as taught and suggested by Sakurada, since Sakurada teaches this allows for controlling laser absorption thus increasing welding strength.
However, Kim and Sakurada are not directed towards any discharging of gas during the laser welding.
Fujiwara, in the same field of endeavor, teaches it is known that during laser welding two components together see [fig. 1, showing material 1 welded to material 3], gases may arise due to evaporation causing poor welds [para. 0074: “It sometimes happens during welding that the melted part of second material 2 flows from inner periphery 2A of through-hole 211 into second gap 7 between outer peripheral region 9 of the projections of first material 1 and/ or third material 3 along the thickness of these materials. In this case, if second material 2 is made of a low-boiling point material such as resin, second material 2 may liquefy or evaporate and be blown out, causing fusion zone 12 to be poorly welded.”]. Fujiwara further teaches exhaust grooves recessed into the middle plate disposed around a root of projections 1E [see fig. 1, showing exhaust grooves 1a disposed around a base of 1E, recessed, or built into the middle plate first material 1, wherein the exhaust groove is shaped as an annular groove around the base of 1E, e.g., the exhaust groove is configured to correspond to a ring shaped welding pattern; para. 0013: “In the joined structure according to the aspect of the present disclosure, the weld zone may have a circular or oval ring-shaped pattern, the ring-shaped pattern being a welding pattern to which energy is applied from a heat source, and the at least one exhaust groove or the at least one exhaust hole may be located either inside or outside the ring-shaped pattern.”] to prevent gas from second material 2 from entering the welding connection [para. 0075: “In the present exemplary embodiment, exhaust holes ( or exhaust grooves) la and 3a are located outside projections lE and 3E so as to prevent second material 2 from being blown out to fusion zone 12 even if it is liquefied or evaporated.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the electronic device of Xu and Kim, by including the annular exhaust grooves of Fujiwara, recessed into the middle plate disposed around the root of the welded posts of Xu, since this would discharge gas that is generated during the laser welding of Kim, thus preventing contamination of the weld pool, inherently increasing weld pool depth, as taught by Fujiwara [paras. 0074-75].
Regarding claim 6, Xu in view of Kim, Sakurada and Fujiwara discloses the electronic device according to claim 1.
Xu as modified by Kim and Sakurada, further discloses:
the welded post meets that surface glossiness is less than 20 Gu.
In this case, since Sakurada teaches that reflected/refracted light corresponds to the surface roughness/smoothness [para. 0021: “FIG. 2, when a surface 21 of the nickel plating layer is roughened and the roughened surface 21 is irradiated with laser light 22, incident light 22a is refracted by the surface and absorbed into the nickel plating layer, reflected light 22b is also reabsorbed into the nickel plating layer, so that most of the incident light 22a and most of the reflected light 22b are absorbed. On the other hand, in a smooth surface (not illustrated), even when the surface is irradiated with a laser, incident light is absorbed through the surface into the nickel plating layer, but reflected light is reflected off the surface of the nickel plating layer in a direction opposite to an incident (irradiation) direction (toward a light source) and is hardly reabsorbed into the nickel plating layer. Therefore, roughening the surface of the nickel plating layer allows an increase in the absorptivity as compared with the smooth surface. It is therefore considered that it is possible to efficiently melt and mix an aluminum alloy and a metal of a different type (negative electrode tab or the like) such as copper other than the aluminum alloy and obtain a strong joint structure.”], it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to select a surface glossiness less than 20 Gu, according to the requirements of the given application, e.g., a desired level of absorptivity, materials, laser parameters.
Regarding claim 7, Xu in view of Kim, Sakurada, and Fujiwara discloses the electronic device according to claim 1.
Xu as modified by Kim, specifically Kim further teaches:
wherein a surface roughness value of the through-hole is from Ra3.2 µm to Ra5 µm.
In this case, in view of Kim disclosing example arithmetical average roughness in the range of 0.1 um to 0.2 um [para. 0010: “In an embodiment, the arithmetical average roughness of the second surface in the hatching area may be about 0.1 μm to about 0.2 μm”], and a ten-point average roughness of 2.0 um to 5 um [para. 0012], and in view of Kim further teaching that as surface roughness becomes large, absorptance of a laser beam increases, which improves welding characteristics [para. 0076: “When the surface roughness becomes large, an absorptance of a laser beam increases. Accordingly, when the first and second hatching areas HAl and HA2 are irradiated with the welding laser, laser process efficiency increases according to the rough surfaces of the first and second hatching areas HAl and HA2, and the welding characteristics may be improved.”], it would have been obvious to a PHOSITA to discover an optimum range of Ra (i.e., surface roughness; e.g., in order to generate a desired level of heat as quickly and efficiently as possible), since it has been held by the courts that optimizing a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu (CN 106862399 A) in view of Kim (US 20200152876 A1), Sakurada (US 20240075556 A1), and Fujiwara (US 20190368524 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chen (US 20190252809 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Xu in view of Kim, Sakurada, and Fujiwara discloses the electronic device according to claim 1.
Xu discloses a circular shape for the posts and the through-holes [see fig. 1, showing circular 221 and 211. However, Xu does not explicitly disclose:
wherein
each of the plurality of welded posts is a rounded rectangular welded post; and
each of the plurality of through-holes is a rounded rectangular through-hole.
Chen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a welded post and through-hole combination [see figs. 1 and 9-10; para. 0016: “According to embodiments of the present disclosure, each metal welding column has at least one through hole or concave slot configured to be inserted by a corresponding one of the at least two protrusion engaging portions.”] wherein the shape of the welded post and the corresponding through-hole is rounded rectangular [see fig. 1; para. 0017: “According to embodiments of the present disclosure, each protrusion engaging portion has a rectangular, semicircular or triangular cross section.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to substitute the circular shape of Xu with the rounded rectangular shape of Chen, since this would predictably form the hole shaft fit of Xu, and since Chen teaches this allows the combination to stand upright reliable [para. 0071: “In summary, the welding column combination of the present disclosure can reduce the height/width ratio of the overall structure of the metal welding column by using an insulator block and at least two metal welding columns with a larger height/width ratio such that the welding column combination can stand upright reliably.”].
Regarding claim 3, Xu in view of Kim, Sakurada, and Fujiwara discloses the electronic device according to claim 1.
Xu discloses a circular shape for the posts and the through-holes [see fig. 1, showing circular 221 and 211. However, Xu does not explicitly disclose:
wherein
the plurality of welded posts comprise at least one first welded post and at least one second welded post, the first welded post is a circular welded post, and the second welded post is a rounded rectangular welded post;
the plurality of the through-holes comprise at least one first through-hole and at least one second through-hole, the first through-hole is a circular through-hole, and the second through-hole is a rounded rectangular through-hole; and
the at least one first welded post forms a hole shaft fit in a one-to-one correspondence with the at least one first through-hole, and the at least one second welded post forms a hole shaft fit in a one-to-one correspondence with the at least one second through-hole.
Chen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a welded post and through-hole combination [see figs. 1 and 9-10; para. 0016: “According to embodiments of the present disclosure, each metal welding column has at least one through hole or concave slot configured to be inserted by a corresponding one of the at least two protrusion engaging portions.”] wherein the shape of the welded post and the corresponding through-hole can be rectangular or circular [see fig. 1; para. 0017: “According to embodiments of the present disclosure, each protrusion engaging portion has a rectangular, semicircular or triangular cross section.”], and wherein two welding posts/through-hole combinations can be different shapes [para. 0015: “According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the at least two metal welding columns are of the same shapes or different shapes.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to substitute the circular shape of all the welded posts/through-holes of Xu with the circular and rounded rectangular shapes for different combinations of Chen, since this would predictably form the hole shaft fit of Xu, and since Chen teaches this allows the combination to stand upright reliable [para. 0071: “In summary, the welding column combination of the present disclosure can reduce the height/width ratio of the overall structure of the metal welding column by using an insulator block and at least two metal welding columns with a larger height/width ratio such that the welding column combination can stand upright reliably.”].
Regarding claim 4, Xu in view of Kim, Sakurada, Fujiwara, and Chen discloses the electronic device according to claim 3.
Xu further discloses:
wherein the middle plate is a rectangular middle plate [see fig. 1, showing rectangular 22], and the at least one first welded post and/or the at least one second welded post are/is disposed on each side line of the middle plate [see fig. 1, showing a post 221 in each of the corners of 22].
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu (CN 106862399 A) in view of Kim (US 20200152876 A1) and Sakurada (US 20240075556 A1).
Regarding claim 8,
Xu discloses:
A manufacturing method for a middle frame [fig. 1; p. 3: “FIG. 1 is the mobile terminal of this invention metal frame manufacturing method of one embodiment of the disclosure”],
wherein the middle frame comprises
a middle plate [bracket 22] and
a bezel [metal frame 21],
and the method comprises:
obtaining the middle plate by using a die casting molding process [p. 3: “The metal bracket is realized independently moulded by aluminium alloy die-casting.”], and
disposing a plurality of welded posts on the middle plate [studs/rivet 221];
[i.e., the surfaces of 221 inherently have surfaces with non-zero Ra];
performing machining on an aluminum profile to obtain the bezel [p. 3: “The mobile terminal metal in the embodiments of the invention, the frame can be made of aluminium, titanium alloy, stainless steel and so on, and the material are not limited… wherein the metal frame is by casting, stamping, computer numerical control machine tool (Computer The invention claims a, namely the CNC) cutting process to realize independently formed.”], and
disposing a plurality of through-holes whose positions and sizes are corresponding to those of the plurality of welded posts on the bezel [through-hole 211; p. 2: “metal in one side of the bracket is provided with a convex rivet, metal outer frame corresponding position is provided with a through hole… wherein the length of the rivet column is equal to the length of the through hole”];
performing surface treatment [i.e., machining via a CNC cutting process] on the bezel so that at least surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces [i.e., the surfaces of 211 inherently have surfaces with non-zero Ra after machining];
mounting the bezel on the middle plate so that the plurality of welded posts form a hole shaft fit in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of through-holes [see figs. 1 and 5; p. 3: “S101: preparing respectively independent metal outer frame and in metal bracket, metal in one side of the bracket is provided with a convex rivet, corresponding position of outer metal frame is a through hole.”]; and
connecting the bezel and the middle plate into an integrated structure by using [p. 4: “S103, using rivet for riveting and welding the metal outer frame and metal inner frame.”].
However, Xu does not explicitly disclose:
performing film processing on the middle plate to generate a dense film layers attached to a surface of the middle plate so that at least surfaces of the plurality of welded posts are rough surfaces;
connecting the bezel and the middle by using laser welding.
Kim, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
a frame [see fig. 1, showing frame 110, with surfaces having inherent roughness] and a sheet [see fig. 1, showing sheet 120, with surfaces having inherent roughness] connected by using laser welding such that the connection has improved welding characteristics [para. 0076: “Accordingly, when the first and second hatching areas HA1 and HA2 are irradiated with the welding laser, laser process efficiency increases according to the rough surfaces of the first and second hatching areas HA1 and HA2, and the welding characteristics may be improved.”]. Kim further teaches that it is known that surface roughness increases absorption of a laser beam [para. 0076: “When the surface roughness becomes large, an absorptance of a laser beam increases.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to simply substitute the welding connection of Xu with the laser welding connection of Kim thereby connecting the bezel and the middle by using laser welding, since this would yield the predictable result of connecting the bezel and middle plate, and further since Kim teaches this results in improved welding characteristics [para. 0076].
Sakurada, in the same field of endeavor, teaches it is known that during laser welding, to generate a dense film layer [i.e., film processing, e.g., a plating treatment to an aluminum alloy member 71, forming a nickel plating layer 71b closely attached to a surface of alloy member 71; see fig. 7; paras. 0032-34], the surface of the dense film layer having a predetermined roughness that is configured to correspond to a particular desired level of laser absorption and/or a particular desired level of absorption suppression (reflection) [paras. 0035-36: “The arithmetic average roughness Sa of the surface of the nickel plating layer is greater than or equal to 100 nm... Further, the greater the arithmetic average roughness Sa of the surface, the higher the energy absorptivity of the surface… Such a configuration has a range of Sa that further increases the absorptivity, so that it is possible to perform welding even with the input of less energy. That is, the energy absorptivity (laser absorptivity) of the surface becomes higher, and welding can be performed even with the input of less energy, so that it is possible to further suppress the generation of the intermetallic compound and further increase (stabilize) the welding strength… However, when the arithmetic average roughness Sa is less than or equal to the upper limit value (500 nm), it is possible to effectively prevent energy from being accumulated only in nickel (plating layer) (prevent the volume of nickel (plating layer) that absorbs energy from being increased). It is therefore possible to prevent energy more than necessary from being input, suppress the generation of the intermetallic compound, and increase (stabilize) the welding strength.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Xu and Kim, by including performing film processing on the middle plate to generate a dense film layer closely attached to a surface of the middle plate so that at least surfaces of the plurality of welded posts are rough surfaces as taught and suggested by Sakurada, since Sakurada teaches this allows for controlling laser absorption thus increasing welding strength.
Regarding claim 9, Xu in view of Kim and Sakurada discloses the manufacturing method for a middle frame according to claim 8.
Xu as modified by Kim and Sakurada, further discloses:
performing film processing on the middle plate, so that at least surfaces of the plurality of welded posts meet that surface glossiness is less than 20 Gu.
In this case, since Sakurada teaches that reflected/refracted light corresponds to the surface roughness/smoothness [para. 0021: “FIG. 2, when a surface 21 of the nickel plating layer is roughened and the roughened surface 21 is irradiated with laser light 22, incident light 22a is refracted by the surface and absorbed into the nickel plating layer, reflected light 22b is also reabsorbed into the nickel plating layer, so that most of the incident light 22a and most of the reflected light 22b are absorbed. On the other hand, in a smooth surface (not illustrated), even when the surface is irradiated with a laser, incident light is absorbed through the surface into the nickel plating layer, but reflected light is reflected off the surface of the nickel plating layer in a direction opposite to an incident (irradiation) direction (toward a light source) and is hardly reabsorbed into the nickel plating layer. Therefore, roughening the surface of the nickel plating layer allows an increase in the absorptivity as compared with the smooth surface. It is therefore considered that it is possible to efficiently melt and mix an aluminum alloy and a metal of a different type (negative electrode tab or the like) such as copper other than the aluminum alloy and obtain a strong joint structure.”], it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to select a surface glossiness less than 20 Gu, according to the requirements of the given application, e.g., a desired level of absorptivity, materials, laser parameters.
Regarding claim 10, Xu in view of Kim and Sakurada discloses the manufacturing method for a middle frame according to claim 8.
Xu as modified by Kim, specifically Kim further teaches:
wherein the performing surface treatment on the bezel so that at least surfaces of the plurality of through-holes are rough surfaces comprises: performing chemical sanding [para. 0095: “In other words, as another embodiment of the inventive concept, the hatching process may include a polishing process, a sandblasting process, an electrochemical nano-etching process, or the like in order to increase the surface roughness of a part of the welding part.”] on the bezel so that at least surface roughness values of the through-hole surfaces are from Ra3.2 µm to Ra5 µm.
In this case, in view of Kim disclosing example arithmetical average roughness in the range of 0.1 um to 0.2 um [para. 0010: “In an embodiment, the arithmetical average roughness of the second surface in the hatching area may be about 0.1 μm to about 0.2 μm”], and a ten-point average roughness of 2.0 um to 5 um [para. 0012], and in view of Kim further teaching that as surface roughness becomes large, absorptance of a laser beam increases, which improves welding characteristics [para. 0076: “When the surface roughness becomes large, an absorptance of a laser beam increases. Accordingly, when the first and second hatching areas HAl and HA2 are irradiated with the welding laser, laser process efficiency increases according to the rough surfaces of the first and second hatching areas HAl and HA2, and the welding characteristics may be improved.”], it would have been obvious to a PHOSITA to discover an optimum range of Ra (i.e., surface roughness; e.g., in order to generate a desired level of heat as quickly and efficiently as possible), since it has been held by the courts that optimizing a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
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/THEODORE J EVANGELISTA/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/JIMMY CHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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