DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed May 8, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 5-15, 18, and 20-26 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-8, filed May 8, 2025, with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 5-8, 13-15, 18, and 20 under 35 U.S.C § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art reference Wu (Patent Number US 11,747,939 B1), hereafter referred to as Wu.
Applicant's arguments filed May 8, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive, with respect to the rejection of claims 9-12 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Applicant argues that the previously presented prior art references fail to disclose “a third resistor comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor”. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Applicant argues that previously presented prior art reference Krah (Patent Number US 11,079,878 B1), hereafter referred to as Krah, does not disclose the claimed “third resistor”. However, as recited by the Non-Final Office Action mailed April 28, 2026 (page 9), Krah does disclose the “third resistor” as resistor 474 of Fig. 4C, however, Krah does not disclose all of the features relating to the third resistor, namely that “the third resistor is located between the first resistor and the second resistor”, as a resistor analogous to the claimed second resistor is not present in Krah, and this limitation is instead taught by reference Hotelling et al. (Patent Publication Number US 2011/0063154 A1), hereafter referred to as Hotelling. However, Krah does disclose the third resistor “comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor” (Krah, Fig. 4C, see terminal of 474 coupled to negative input of 462, and terminal of 474 coupled to 468, 454, and 428). Therefore, applicant’s arguments are not convincing and the rejection of claims 9-12 is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 23 recites the limitation “wherein the third capacitor is the second terminal and the touch sensor” in lines 1-2. This limitation is indefinite because it is unclear what the connection relationship is between the third capacitor and the second terminal (of the sixth capacitor). Amending the limitation to “wherein the third capacitor is between the second terminal and the touch sensor” is sufficient to overcome this rejection, which is how the limitation will be treated for examination purposes.
Claim 25 recites the limitation “wherein the first resistor comprises a third terminal coupled to the output end and the first resistor” in lines 1-2. This limitation is indefinite because it is unclear what connecting a terminal of a resistor to itself is intended to claim. Amending the limitation to “wherein the first resistor comprises a third terminal coupled to the output end” is sufficient to overcome this rejection, which is how the limitation will be treated for examination purposes.
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, 5, 8, and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krah in view of Wang et al. (Patent Publication Number US 2011/0102061 A1), hereafter referred to as Wang, and Wu.
Regarding claim 1, Krah discloses:
An analog front-end circuit (Krah, Fig. 4C), comprising: a reference voltage source (Fig. 4C, VBIAS, see also Col. 12, line 67-Col. 13, line 3); an amplifier (Fig. 4C, 462), comprising: a first input end (Fig. 4C, see negative input of 462) receiving a touch sensing signal from a touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensing signal 452); a second input end (Fig. 4C, see positive input of 462) and an output end (Fig. 4C, see output of 462) outputting an output signal (Fig. 4C, VOUT); a second capacitor (Fig. 4C, 468) disposed between the first input end and the second input end (Fig. 4C, see connection between inputs of 462 via capacitor 468); a third capacitor (Fig. 4C, 454) disposed between the first input end and the touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensor 452 via capacitor 454); a fourth capacitor (Fig. 4C, 428) disposed between the first input end and a display panel (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and display signal 456 via capacitor 428, see also Col. 8, lines 14-19); a fifth capacitor (Fig. 4C, 464) disposed between the first input end and the output end (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and output of 462 via capacitor 464); and a first resistor (Fig. 4C, 466) disposed between the output end and the third capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between output of 462 and capacitor 454 via resistor 466), but fails to disclose a first capacitor coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch, [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor; a sixth capacitor comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor.
However, Wang teaches a first capacitor (Wang, Fig. 3, Cx) coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch (Fig. 3, see connection between Vcm and Cx via switch S2), [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor (Fig. 3, consider switch S2 closed and switch S3 coupled to Vcm, and consider signal from Cx to positive input of amplifier 330); but fails to teach a sixth capacitor comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor.
However, Wu teaches a sixth capacitor (Wu, Fig. 2, Cgain) comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and negative input of amplifier OP) and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and touch sensing capacitor Cm, and consider that Cgain is directly connected to the input of OP to provide gain control, and that when included in the circuit of Krah, the second terminal of Cgain would be coupled to all of the second, third, and fourth capacitors of Krah).
Krah, Wang, and Wu are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wang and Wu to include the capacitor and switch network of Wang in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of reducing the effects of undesired parasitic capacitances (Wang, Paragraph 8, lines 6-9), and to include the gain capacitor of Wu in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of providing control over the gain of the amplifier of Krah (Wu, Col. 6, lines 7-14).
Regarding claim 5, Krah fails to disclose:
wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first input end and the fifth capacitor, and the second terminal is coupled to the first resistor, the second capacitor, and the third capacitor.
However, Wu further teaches wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first input end (Wu, Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and negative input of amplifier OP) and the fifth capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and Cf), and the second terminal is coupled to the first resistor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and Rf), the second capacitor, and the third capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and touch sensing capacitor Cm, and consider that Cgain is directly connected to the input of OP to provide gain control, and that when included in the circuit of Krah, the second terminal of Cgain would be coupled to both of the second and third capacitors of Krah).
Krah, Wang, and Wu are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wu to include the gain capacitor of Wu in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of providing control over the gain of the amplifier of Krah (Wu, Col. 6, lines 7-14).
Regarding claim 8, Krah fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance of the first capacitor is between 1 pF and 200 pF, and a capacitance of the second capacitor is between 50 fF and 5 pF.
However, Wang teaches wherein a capacitance of the first capacitor is between 1 pF and 200 pF (Wang, Paragraph 7, lines 4-6 [capacitance of the first capacitor {Cx} is on the order of tens of pF]), and a capacitance of the second capacitor is between 50 fF and 5 pF (Paragraph 7, lines 3-4 [capacitance of the second capacitor {analogous to coupling capacitance 230/Cxy} is on the order of several pF]).
Krah, Wang, and Wu are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wang to incorporate the capacitance values of the capacitors of Wang in the capacitors of Krah, which would have the effect of providing appropriate capacitance values for a touch sensing system (Wang, Paragraph 7, lines 1-6).
Regarding claim 21, Krah in view of Wu further discloses wherein the first resistor comprises a third terminal coupled to the output end (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between 466 and VOUT) and the fifth capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between 466 and 464) and a fourth terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, the fourth capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between 466 and 468, 454, and 428), and the sixth capacitor (Fig. 4C, consider connection between 466 and negative input of 462, and that the capacitor Cgain of Fig. 2 of Wu is coupled to the negative input of amplifier OP, analogous to amplifier 462).
Regarding claim 22, Krah in view of Wu further discloses wherein the second capacitor is between the second terminal and the second input end (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between 468 and negative input of 462, and consider that the capacitor Cgain of Fig. 2 of Wu is coupled to the negative input of amplifier OP, analogous to amplifier 462).
Regarding claim 23, Krah in view of Wu further discloses wherein the third capacitor is the second terminal and the touch sensor (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensor 452 via capacitor 454, and consider that the capacitor Cgain of Fig. 2 of Wu is coupled to the negative input of amplifier OP, analogous to amplifier 462).
Regarding claim 24, Krah in view of Wu further discloses wherein the fourth capacitor is between the second terminal and the display panel (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and display panel 456 via capacitor 428, and consider that the capacitor Cgain of Fig. 2 of Wu is coupled to the negative input of amplifier OP, analogous to amplifier 462).
Claims 6-7 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krah in view of Wang and Wu as applied to claims 5 and 1, respectively, above, and further in view of Guedon et al. (Patent Number US 9,244,569 B2), hereafter referred to as Guedon.
Regarding claim 6, Krah fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance of the fifth capacitor is between 0.1 pF and 5 pF, and a capacitance of the sixth capacitor is between 0.1 pF and 5 pF.
However, Guedon teaches wherein a capacitance of the fifth capacitor is between 0.1 pF and 5 pF (Guedon, Fig. 19, see feedback capacitor CFi with capacitance of 2 pF), and a capacitance of the sixth capacitor is between 0.1 pF and 5 pF (Fig. 19, see input capacitor Cc with capacitance of 1 pF).
Krah, Wang, Chen, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Guedon to incorporate the capacitance values of the capacitors of Guedon in the capacitors of Krah, which would have the effect of providing appropriate capacitance values for a touch sensing system.
Regarding claim 7, Krah fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance ratio of the fifth capacitor and the sixth capacitor is between 0.1 and 5.
However, Guedon teaches wherein a capacitance ratio of the fifth capacitor and the sixth capacitor is between 0.1 and 5 (Guedon, Fig. 19, consider that capacitance ratio between fifth capacitor [CFi] and sixth capacitor [Cc] is 2).
Krah, Wang, Chen, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Guedon to incorporate the capacitance values of the capacitors of Guedon in the capacitors of Krah, which would have the effect of providing appropriate capacitance values for a touch sensing system.
Regarding claim 13, Krah and Wang fail to disclose:
further comprising: an integrator circuit comprising: a first integrator input end coupled to the output end of the amplifier; a second integrator input end coupled to the reference voltage source; and an integrator output end.
However, Guedon teaches further comprising: an integrator circuit (Guedon, Fig. 9, 1506) comprising: a first integrator input end (Fig. 9, see negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506) coupled to the output end of the amplifier (Fig. 9, see connection between negative input of amplifier 1504 with integrator 1506 and output of previous stage OUT1); a second integrator input end (Fig. 9, see positive input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506) coupled to the reference voltage source (Fig. 9, see connection between positive input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 and VCM); and an integrator output end (Fig. 9, OUT2).
Krah, Wang, Chen, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Guedon to include the integrator of Guedon at the output of the amplifier of Krah, which would have the effect of enabling additional noise cancellation for the system of Krah (Guedon, Col. 8, lines 32-36).
Regarding claim 14, Krah and Wang fail to disclose:
further comprising: a fourth resistor disposed between the first integrator input end and the output end of the amplifier; and a seventh capacitor disposed between the first integrator input end and the integrator output end.
However, Guedon further teaches further comprising: a fourth resistor (Guedon, Fig. 9, RFi) disposed between the first integrator input end and the output end of the amplifier (Fig. 9, see connection between negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 and previous stage output OUT1); and a seventh capacitor (Fig. 9, CFi) disposed between the first integrator input end and the integrator output end (Fig. 9, see connection between OUT2 and negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 via capacitor CFi).
Krah, Wang, Chen, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Guedon to include the integrator of Guedon at the output of the amplifier of Krah, which would have the effect of enabling additional noise cancellation for the system of Krah (Guedon, Col. 8, lines 32-36).
Claims 9-10 and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krah in view of Wang and Hotelling.
Regarding claim 9, Krah discloses:
An analog front-end circuit (Krah, Fig. 4C), comprising: a reference voltage source (Fig. 4C, VBIAS, see also Col. 12, line 67-Col. 13, line 3); an amplifier (Fig. 4C, 462), comprising: a first input end (Fig. 4C, see negative input of 462) receiving a touch sensing signal from a touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensing signal 452); a second input end (Fig. 4C, see positive input of 462) and an output end (Fig. 4C, see output of 462) outputting an output signal (Fig. 4C, VOUT); a second capacitor (Fig. 4C, 468) disposed between the first input end and the second input end (Fig. 4C, see connection between inputs of 462 via capacitor 468); a third capacitor (Fig. 4C, 454) disposed between the first input end and the touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensor 452 via capacitor 454); a fourth capacitor (Fig. 4C, 428) disposed between the first input end and a display panel (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and display signal 456 via capacitor 428, see also Col. 8, lines 14-19); a first resistor (Krah, Fig. 4C, 466) disposed between the output end and the third capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between output of 462 and capacitor 454 via resistor 466); and a third resistor (Fig. 4C, 474) comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end (Fig. 4C, see connection between 474 and negative input of 462) and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and capacitors 468, 454, and 428), but fails to disclose a first capacitor coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch; [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor; a second resistor disposed between the first input end and the output end, wherein the first resistor and the second resistor are two different resistors; wherein the third resistor is located between the first resistor and the second resistor.
However, Wang teaches a first capacitor (Wang, Fig. 3, Cx) coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch (Fig. 3, see connection between Vcm and Cx via switch S2); [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor (Fig. 3, consider switch S2 closed and switch S3 coupled to Vcm, and consider signal from Cx to positive input of amplifier 330), but fails to teach a second resistor disposed between the first input end and the output end, wherein the first resistor and the second resistor are two different resistors; wherein the third resistor is located between the first resistor and the second resistor.
However, Hotelling teaches a second resistor (Hotelling, Fig. 9, RFB_AAF) disposed between the first input end and the output end (Fig. 9, see connection between output of amplifier of Fig. 9 and negative input of amplifier of Fig. 9), wherein the first resistor and the second resistor are two different resistors (Fig. 9, consider that resistor RFB_AAF and resistor 466 of Krah, Fig. 4C are different resistors); wherein the third resistor is located between the first resistor and the second resistor (Fig. 9, consider connection of resistor RIN AAF2 as between RFB_AAF and CFB_AAF [capacitor analogous to capacitor 464 of Krah, Fig. 4C, which is directly in parallel with resistor 466 of Krah, Fig. 4C [the first resistor]).
Krah, Wang, and Hotelling are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving differential amplifier circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wang and Hotelling to include the capacitor and switch network of Wang in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of reducing the effects of undesired parasitic capacitances (Wang, Paragraph 8, lines 6-9), and to include the feedback network of Hotelling in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of reducing undesirable noise in the circuit of Krah (Hotelling, Paragraph 76, lines 1-7).
Regarding claim 10, Krah further discloses:
wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first input end (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and negative input of 462) and the second resistor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and resistor 466), and the second terminal is coupled to the first resistor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and resistor 466 via intervening elements 468, 472, and 462), the second capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and capacitor 468), and the third capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and capacitor 454).
Regarding claim 25, Krah further discloses:
wherein the first resistor comprises a third terminal coupled to the output end and the first resistor (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 466 and VOUT) and a fourth terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, the fourth capacitor, and the third resistor (Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 466 and capacitors 468, 454, and 428 and resistor 474).
Regarding claim 26, Krah further discloses:
wherein the second capacitor is between the second terminal and the second input end (Krah, Fig. 4C, see connection between resistor 474 and positive input of 462 via capacitor 468).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krah in view of Wang and Hotelling as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of McQuaid et al. (Patent Publication Number WO 9,807,110 A1), hereafter referred to as McQuaid.
Regarding claim 11, Krah and Wang fail to disclose:
wherein a resistance of the second resistor is between 200 ohms and 4000 ohms, and a resistance of the third resistor is between 200 ohms and 4000 ohms.
However, McQuaid teaches wherein a resistance of the second resistor is between 200 ohms and 4000 ohms (McQuaid, Fig. 7A, see feedback resistor 22, see also Page 20, line 13 [resistance value is 1000 ohms]), and a resistance of the third resistor is between 200 ohms and 4000 ohms (Fig. 7A, see input resistor 213, see also Page 20, line 7 [resistance value is 261 ohms]).
Krah, Wang, Hotelling, and McQuaid are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving differential amplifier circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of McQuaid to incorporate the resistance values of the resistors of McQuaid in the resistors of Krah, which would have the effect of providing appropriate resistance values for a sensing system.
Regarding claim 12, Krah and Wang fail to disclose:
wherein a resistance ratio of the second resistor and the third resistor is between 0.1 and 5.
However, McQuaid teaches wherein a resistance ratio of the second resistor and the third resistor is between 0.1 and 5 (McQuaid, Fig. 7A, see also Page 20, lines 7 and 13, and consider that resistance ratio between second resistor [22] and third resistor [213] is approximately 4).
Krah, Wang, Hotelling, and McQuaid are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving differential amplifier circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of McQuaid to incorporate the resistance values of the resistors of McQuaid in the resistors of Krah, which would have the effect of providing appropriate resistance values for a sensing system.
Claims 15, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krah in view of Wang, Wu, and Guedon.
Regarding claim 15, Krah discloses:
A touch sensing circuit (Krah, Fig. 4C), comprising: an analog front-end circuit (Fig. 4C), comprising: a reference voltage source (Fig. 4C, VBIAS, see also Col. 12, line 67-Col. 13, line 3); an amplifier (Fig. 4C, 462), comprising: a first input end (Fig. 4C, see negative input of 462) receiving a touch sensing signal from a touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensing signal 452); a second input end (Fig. 4C, see positive input of 462) and an output end (Fig. 4C, see output of 462) outputting an output signal (Fig. 4C, VOUT); a second capacitor (Fig. 4C, 468) disposed between the first input end and the second input end (Fig. 4C, see connection between inputs of 462 via capacitor 468); a third capacitor (Fig. 4C, 454) disposed between the first input end and the touch sensor (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and touch sensor 452 via capacitor 454); a fourth capacitor (Fig. 4C, 428) disposed between the first input end and a display panel (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and display signal 456 via capacitor 428, see also Col. 8, lines 14-19); a fifth capacitor (Fig. 4C, 464) disposed between the first input end and the output end (Fig. 4C, see connection between negative input of 462 and output of 462 via capacitor 464); and a first resistor (Fig. 4C, 466) disposed between the output end and the third capacitor (Fig. 4C, see connection between output of 462 and capacitor 454 via resistor 466), but fails to disclose a first capacitor coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch; [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor; a sixth capacitor comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor; and an integrator circuit, comprising: a first integrator input end coupled to the output end of the amplifier; a second integrator input end coupled to the reference voltage source; and an integrator output end.
However, Wang teaches a first capacitor (Wang, Fig. 3, Cx) coupled to the reference voltage source through a switch (Fig. 3, see connection between Vcm and Cx via switch S2); [the second input end] receiving a reference signal from the first capacitor (Fig. 3, consider switch S2 closed and switch S3 coupled to Vcm, and consider signal from Cx to positive input of amplifier 330); but fails to teach a sixth capacitor comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor; and an integrator circuit, comprising: a first integrator input end coupled to the output end of the amplifier; a second integrator input end coupled to the reference voltage source; and an integrator output end.
However, Wu teaches a sixth capacitor (Wu, Fig. 2, Cgain) comprising a first terminal coupled to the first input end (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and negative input of amplifier OP) and a second terminal coupled to all of the second capacitor, the third capacitor, and the fourth capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and touch sensing capacitor Cm, and consider that Cgain is directly connected to the input of OP to provide gain control, and that when included in the circuit of Krah, the second terminal of Cgain would be coupled to all of the second, third, and fourth capacitors of Krah), but fails to teach and an integrator circuit, comprising: a first integrator input end coupled to the output end of the amplifier; a second integrator input end coupled to the reference voltage source; and an integrator output end.
However, Guedon teaches and an integrator circuit (Guedon, Fig. 9, 1506), comprising: a first integrator input end (Fig. 9, see negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506) coupled to the output end of the amplifier (Fig. 9, see connection between negative input of amplifier 1504 with integrator 1506 and output of previous stage OUT1); a second integrator input end (Fig. 9, see positive input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506) coupled to the reference voltage source (Fig. 9, see connection between positive input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 and VCM); and an integrator output end (Fig. 9, OUT2).
Krah, Wang, Wu, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wang, Chen, and Guedon to include the capacitor and switch network of Wang in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of reducing the effects of undesired parasitic capacitances (Wang, Paragraph 8, lines 6-9), to include the gain capacitor of Wu in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of providing control over the gain of the amplifier of Krah (Wu, Col. 6, lines 7-14), and to include the integrator of Guedon at the output of the amplifier of Krah, which would have the effect of enabling additional noise cancellation for the system of Krah (Guedon, Col. 8, lines 32-36).
Regarding claim 18, Krah fails to disclose:
wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first input end and the fourth capacitor, and the second terminal is coupled to the first resistor, the second capacitor, and the third capacitor.
However, Wu further teaches wherein the first terminal is coupled to the first input end (Wu, Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and negative input of amplifier OP) and the fourth capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and touch sensing capacitor Cm, and consider that Cgain is directly connected to the input of OP to provide gain control, and that when included in the circuit of Krah, Cgain would be coupled to the fourth capacitor of Krah), and the second terminal is coupled to the first resistor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and Rf), the second capacitor, and the third capacitor (Fig. 2, see connection between Cgain and touch sensing capacitor Cm, and consider that Cgain is directly connected to the input of OP to provide gain control, and that when included in the circuit of Krah, the second terminal of Cgain would be coupled to both of the second and third capacitors of Krah).
Krah, Wang, Wu, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Wu to include the gain capacitor of Wu in the circuit of Krah, which would have the effect of providing control over the gain of the amplifier of Krah (Wu, Col. 6, lines 7-14).
Regarding claim 20, Krah and Wang fail to disclose:
wherein the integrator circuit further comprises: a fourth resistor disposed between the first integrator input end and the output end of the amplifier; and a seventh capacitor disposed between the first integrator input end and the integrator output end.
However, Guedon further teaches wherein the integrator circuit further comprises: a fourth resistor (Guedon, Fig. 9, RFi) disposed between the first integrator input end and the output end of the amplifier (Fig. 9, see connection between negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 and previous stage output OUT1); and a seventh capacitor (Fig. 9, CFi) disposed between the first integrator input end and the integrator output end (Fig. 9, see connection between OUT2 and negative input of amplifier 1504 within integrator 1506 via capacitor CFi).
Krah, Wang, Wu, and Guedon are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving touch sensing circuits. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Krah to incorporate the teachings of Guedon to include the integrator of Guedon at the output of the amplifier of Krah, which would have the effect of enabling additional noise cancellation for the system of Krah (Guedon, Col. 8, lines 32-36).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Noto et al. (Patent Number US 9,437,169 B2) discloses (Fig. 7) a differentiator/integrator circuit for a touch sensing system.
Guang et al. (Patent Publication Number CN 115,562,513 A) discloses (Fig. 5) a touch sensing system with a capacitor between amplifier input and a switched reference voltage.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/LANCE TORBJORN BARTOL/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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