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 08/14/2025 consists of changes to the claims and remarks related to the previous rejections. The above have been entered and considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the second circuit board (claim 18) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5, 9, 10, 13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al, (USPN 10732200; “Wang”).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses in figures 5-7, a sensor cluster module comprising: a circuit board frame (121) defining a hollow interior (in the area of P) and having a plurality of external faces (not labeled): a and a single, unitary rigid-flex printed circuit board assembly (123, see col. 6, ll. 16-32) including multiple rigid elements (gyroscope and accelerometer) joined by flexible circuitry, the PCBA wrapped at least partially around the external faces of the circuit board frame (121), and adhesively bonded (welded, see col. 7 ll. 21-35) to the frame (121), wherein electronic components (122 in fig. 7) of the PCBA are mounted on an inner-facing side of the PCBA (see fig. 7) such that, after the PCBA (123) is wrapped around the circuit board frame (121), the electronic components (122) are positioned within the hollow interior (near P) of the circuit board frame (121).
Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses in figures 5-7, the sensor cluster module (121) is an inertial measurement module (see col. 6, ll. 16-20).
Regarding claim 3, Wang discloses in figures 5-7, the PCBA is a unitary rigid-flex printed circuit board assembly (see col 6; ll. 20-32).
Regarding claim 4, Wang discloses in figures 5-7, the PCBA includes a plurality of rigid elements, each rigid element comprising an electronic component (gyroscope; see col. 6, ll. 16-20).
Regarding claim 5, Wang discloses in figure 1, the electronic component (122) includes one or more of: a Y-axis component, an X-axis component, a Z-axis component and an application specific integrated circuit (see ABSTRACT and also col. 8; ll. 456-57).
Regarding claim 9, Wang discloses in figure 7 the circuit board frame includes integral guide elements (groove as discloses in col. 7; ll. 20-35) for wrapping the PCBA (123) to the frame (121).
Regarding claim 10, Wang discloses in figure 7 the PCBA is adhesively bonded (welded; see col. 6; ll. 16-20) to the circuit board frame.
Regarding claim 13, Wang discloses in figure 7 the frame is in the shape of a cube.
Regarding claim 17, Wang discloses in figure 7 the hollow interior is sized to receive the electronic components mounted on the inner-facing side of the PCBA.
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 6-8, 11, 12, 14-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang.
Regarding claim 6, Wang is silent to the PCBA comprises a flexible tail having a connector.
However, the Examiner hereby takes official notice that this is a well-known configuration and is further evidenced by Applicant’s current remarks in the reply to drawing objections.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to manufacture Wang’s device having a flexible tail with an electrical connector to more easily electrical connect the overall device.
Regarding claim 7, Wang shows in at least fig. 7, one or more of the electronic components (122) are located mounted on an inside surface inner-facing side of the circuit board (123) such that, after the PCBA is wrapped around the frame (122) the one or more electronic components (122) are located within the hollow interior of the frame (121).
Regarding claim 8, Wang shows in at least fig. 7, an outer- facing side of the PCBA is substantially free of electronic components after the PCBA (123) is wrapped around the frame (121; see also, col. 7; ll. 20-35).
Regarding claim 11, Wang is silent to the PCBA is adhesively bonded using an ultraviolet (UV) cure epoxy adhesive.
However, the Examiner hereby takes official notice that this is a well-known alternative to Wang’s welding technique.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to manufacture Wang’s PCBA by using UV cure epoxy adhesive to more easily electrical connect the overall device.
Regarding claims 15 and 16, Wang discloses in the paragraph spanning col. 6 that the circuit board frame (121) is made of metal material or non-metal material with a certain gravity and rigidity, but is silent to it being made of cast aluminum or injection molded plastic.
However, the examiner hereby takes official notice that these are well-known frame materials to have sufficient rigidity to allow for the carrying of a PCB.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to construct Wang’s frame of either cast aluminum or injection molded plastic to ensure solid supporting with easier and faster manufacturing, thereby lowering the overall cost of the device while improving performance.
Regarding claim 18, Wang discloses in figures 5-10 a method for manufacturing an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the method comprising: mounting electronic components (122) on an inner-facing side of a rigid-flex printed circuit board (123) assembly (PCBA), wherein the electronic components (122) comprise three dimensional sensors (col. 3; ll. 15-18); forming a circuit board frame (121) to define a hollow interior and to include guide elements (groove); wrapping and mounting the PCBA around external faces (not labeled) of the circuit board frame (121) such that the electronic components (122) are positioned within the hollow interior of the frame; adhesively bonding (welding) the PCBA to the frame; encapsulating the frame (121) in a package (16).
Wang is silent to routing the PCBA from a circuit board panel.
However, the examiner hereby takes official notice that this is a well-known and understood way to create PCBAs, further evidenced by Applicant’s own admission of prior art in fig. 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to construct Wang’s PCBA by routing from a circuit board panel to allow for better precision and customization for the overall device.
Wang is also silent to mounting the package to a second circuit board.
However, this is inferred from Wang’s disclosure since this device is to be connected to a control computer which is not shown in the figures. One skilled in the art clearly understands Wang’s device will need to be connected to a second circuit board to allow for proper usage.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to mount Wang’s device onto a second circuit board
Regarding claim 19, Wang is silent to providing a flexible connector for connection to a zero-insertion force (ZIF) socket.
However, the examiner takes official notice that this is a conventional component well known in the art, and is further evidenced by Applicant’s current remarks.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to construct Wang’s device with a flexible connector to a ZIF socket to allow for better, faster and more reliable way to connect the PCB to power.
Regarding claims 12, 14 and 20, Wang discloses in col. 8, ll. 57-59 that the frame can be in many different shapes but does not explicitly state a shape of either a pyramid or octagonal in shape.
However, the Examiner hereby takes official notice that this is a well-known alternative to Wang’s cube shape.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to manufacture Wang’s frame in a shape of pyramid or octagonal to fit more different physical spaces, making this a more robust and usable device.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER J MACCHIAROLO whose telephone number is (571)272-2375. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Wellington can be reached at (571) 272-4483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855