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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/10/2025 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 2/26/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-10, 13 and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0260545 by Ruhl et al. (“Ruhl”) in view of U.S. Patent 9,518,970 issued to Burgi et al. (“Burgi”) and U.S. Patent 11,391,709 issued to Christenson et al. (“Christenson”).
As for claims 1 and 8, Ruhl discloses a gas sensor (Fig. 7), comprising:
a gas sensing layer (403) made of a thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material (paragraphs [0042] and [0058]);
a thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (407; paragraph [0102]) in direct physical contact with a back side of the gas sensing layer to thereby support the gas sensing layer (see Fig. 7);
sensing circuitry (405, 405a) configured to apply a voltage to the gas sensing layer and measure a resistance of the gas sensing layer (paragraphs [0037] and [0077]);
wherein the resistance of the gas sensing layer is indicative of whether a gas under detection has been detected by the gas sensing layer (Abstract), and current flowing through the gas sensing layer serves to self-heat the gas sensing layer (Abstract);
a substrate (lower portion of 401)
a support structure (upper portions of 401 that define the left and right sides of air gap 406 in Fig. 7) extending upward to make direct physical contact with and carry the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (407) about a perimeter of a back face thereof (see Fig. 7 and paragraph [0101]), with the support structure creating an air gap (406) between the back face of the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (407) and the substrate (lower portion of 401).
Ruhl does not explicitly disclose that the sensing circuitry is configured to measure a resulting current flowing through the gas sensing layer. Instead, Ruhl discloses that a presence of a target gas can be detected via a detection of resistance of the gas sensing layer (Abstract).
However, Burgi discloses sensing circuitry that is configured to measure a resulting current flowing through a gas sensing layer (col. 3, lines 8-15). Burgi discloses that the sensing circuitry measure a resulting current so that a presence of a target gas can be detected via a detection of resistance of the gas sensing layer (col. 3, lines 8-15).
Because Ruhl and Burgi both disclose sensing circuits that detect a presence of a target gas, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to substitute the sensing circuit of Burgi for the sensing circuit of Ruhl to achieve the predictable result of providing sensing circuitry that can detect the presence of a target gas.
Ruhl as modified by Burgi discloses that the current flowing through the gas sensing layer is indicative of whether a gas under detection has been detected by the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: paragraph [0042] and Burgi: col. 3, lines 8-15)
Ruhl as modified by Burgi does not explicitly disclose more than one support structure extending upwardly from the substrate.
However, Christenson discloses more than one support structure (16) extending upwardly from a substrate (12).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the support structure of Ruhl and Burgi to be more than one support structure of Christenson in order to thermally isolate the gas sensing layer, improve the energy efficiency and isolate stress (Christenson: col. 3, line 57 - col. 4, line 11).
Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the support structures (Christenson: 16) creates an air gap (Ruhl: 406 and Christenson: see Fig. 1) between the back face of the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (Ruhl: 407 and Christenson: 14) and the substrate (Ruhl: 401 and Christenson: 12) to thereby trap air and heat generated by the gas sensing layer from being radiated other than to the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (because the air gap holds air and is in thermal contact with the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer; also, the structure of the combination has the same structure as the invention, therefore it has the same function).
As for claim 8, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses a gas sensor (see the rejection above) that performs the claimed method.
As for claims 2 and 9, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that an electrical conductance of the gas sensing layer increases in the presence of the gas under detection and decreases in the absence of the gas under detection (Ruhl: paragraphs [0042] and [0058]. See Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art - Background section of the Instant Specification for additional evidence).
As for claims 3 and 10, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material comprises at least one of tin(IV)-oxide (SnO2) (Ruhl: paragraph [0058]), tungsten(III)-oxide (W203), and zinc oxide (ZnO).
As for claims 6 and 13, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the gas sensing layer has a thickness of between 50nm and 60nm (Ruhl: paragraph [00150]).
As for claim 7, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the air gap is formed between the back face of the thermally conductive, insulating layer and a front face of the substrate (Ruhl: see Fig. 7).
As for claim 21, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the gas sensor does not include any heating elements other than the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: paragraphs [0037]-[0040]).
As for claim 22, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: 403) has a thickness (Ruhl: see Fig. 7) configured to affect response time.
As for claim 23, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the air gap is configured to trap air (Ruhl: at least some air in cavity 406 of Ruhl is trapped) and keep heat generated by the gas sensing layer from being radiated other than to the thermally conducting and electrically insulating layer, to thereby evenly apply the heat to the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: the gas sensing layer, thermally conducting and insulating layer and air gap have the same structure as the claimed invention; therefore, they have the same function).
As for claim 24, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses that the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: 403) is the only heating element used to heat the gas sensing layer (Ruhl: paragraphs [0037]-[0040]), and wherein applying the voltage comprises applying the voltage without activating any additional heating elements (Ruhl: paragraphs [0037]-[0040]).
Claims 4, 5, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0260545 by Ruhl et al. (“Ruhl”) in view of U.S. Patent 9,518,970 issued to Burgi et al. (“Burgi”) and U.S. Patent 11,391,709 issued to Christenson et al. (“Christenson”) as applied to claim 1, further in view of U.S. Patent 11,041,838 issued to Rogers et al. (“Rogers”).
As for claims 4 and 11, Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson discloses the gas sensor of claim 1 and the method of claim 8 (see the rejections of claims 1 and 8 above).
Ruhl as modified by Burgi and Christenson does not disclose that the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material includes a dopant. Instead, Ruhl discloses a thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material that detects gas (paragraph [0002]).
However, Rogers discloses a thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material (166) that includes a dopant (col. 16, lines 1-12). Rogers discloses that the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material that includes a dopant detects gas (col. 19, line 60 - col. 20, line 2).
Because Rogers and Ruhl both disclose materials that detect a gas, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to substitute the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material that includes a dopant of Rogers for the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material of Ruhl to achieve the predictable result of providing a material that can detect a gas of interest.
As for claims 5 and 12, Ruhl as modified by Burgi, Christenson and Rogers discloses that the dopant comprises at least one of platinum (Rogers: col. 16, lines 1-12) and palladium.
Claims 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0260545 by Ruhl et al. (“Ruhl”) in view of U.S. Patent 11,391,709 issued to Christenson et al. (“Christenson”).
As for claim 14, Ruhl discloses a gas sensor (Fig. 7), comprising:
a gas sensing layer (403);
a thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (407; paragraph [0102]) in direct physical contact with a back side of the gas sensing layer to thereby support the gas sensing layer (see Fig. 7);
sensing circuitry (405, 405a) configured to determine whether a gas under detection has been detected by the gas sensing layer while causing self-heating of the gas sensing layer (paragraphs [0042] and [0077]), wherein the sensing circuitry (405, 405a) is configured to apply a voltage to cause current to flow through the gas sensing layer that provides the only source of heating for the gas sensing layer (paragraphs 0037]-[0042]);
a substrate (lower portion of 401); and
a support structure (upper portions 401 that define the left and right sides of air gap 406 in Fig. 7) extending upwardly from the substrate to contact and carry the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer (407) about a perimeter of a back face thereof (see Fig. 7 and paragraph [0101]), with the support structure creating an air gap (406) between the back face of the thermally conductive and electrically insulating layer and the substrate (lower portion of 401).
Ruhl does not explicitly disclose more than one support structure extending upwardly from the substrate.
However, Christenson discloses more than one support structure (16) extending upwardly from a substrate (12).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the support structure of Ruhl and Burgi to be more than one support structure of Christenson in order to thermally isolate the gas sensing layer, improve the energy efficiency and isolate stress (Christenson: col. 3, line 57 - col. 4, line 11).
As for claim 15, Ruhl as modified by Christenson discloses that an electrical conductance of the gas sensing layer increases in the presence of the gas under detection and decreases in the absence of the gas under detection (Ruhl: paragraphs [0042] and [0058]. See Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art - Background section of the Instant Specification for additional evidence).
As for claim 16, Ruhl as modified by Christenson discloses that the gas sensing layer has a thickness of between 50nm and 60nm (Ruhl: paragraph [0150]).
As for claim 17, Ruhl as modified by Christenson discloses a substrate (Ruhl: lower portion of 401) from which the support structure extends, and wherein the air gap is formed between the back face of the thermally conductive, insulating layer and a front face of the substrate (Ruhl: see Fig. 7).
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0260545 by Ruhl et al. (“Ruhl”) in view of U.S. Patent 11,391,709 issued to Christenson et al. (“Christenson”) as applied to claim 14, further in view of U.S. Patent 11,041,838 issued to Rogers et al. (“Rogers”).
As for claim 18, Ruhl as modified by Christenson discloses the gas sensor of claim 14 (see the rejection of claim 14 above).
Ruhl as modified by Christenson does not discloses that the gas sensing layer is constructed from a doped thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material. Instead, Ruhl discloses that the gas sensing layer is constructed from a thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material that detects gas (paragraph [0002]).
However, Rogers discloses gas sensing layer (166) that is constructed from a doped thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material (col. 16, lines 1-12). Rogers discloses that the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material that includes a dopant detects gas (col. 19, line 60 - col. 20, line 2).
Because Rogers and Ruhl both disclose materials that detect a gas, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to substitute the doped thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material of Rogers for the thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material of Ruhl to achieve the predictable result of providing a material that can detect a gas of interest.
As for claim 19, Ruhl as modified by Christenson and Rogers discloses that the doped thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material comprises at least one of tin(IV)-oxide (SnO2) (Rogers: col. 16, lines 1-12), tungsten(III)-oxide (W203), and zinc oxide (ZnO).
As for claim 20, Ruhl as modified by Christenson and Rogers discloses that the doped thin-film semiconductor metal oxide material is doped with at least one of platinum (Rogers: col. 16, lines 1-12), and palladium.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 8 and 14 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN N OLAMIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853