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 .
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 1-3, 5, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (CN 101596522).
With respect to claim 1, Chen et al. discloses an ultrasonic transducer (Fig 1) for an ultrasonic flowmeter (this is merely a statement of intended use with no accompanying structure, and therefore does not further limit the structural features of the ultrasonic transducer), comprising at least one piezoelectric transducer element (item 5), a first holding element (item 9); a second holding element (item 4), wherein the at least one piezoelectric transducer element is arranged between the first holding element and the second holding element (Fig 1), wherein the first holding element, the at least one piezoelectric transducer element and the second holding element are arranged one behind the other along a longitudinal axis of the ultrasonic transducer (Fig 1), wherein at least one pre-tensioning element (item 10) is provided on the side of the first holding element facing away from the piezoelectric transducer element (Fig 1), wherein a connecting element (item 3) is provided on the side of the pre-tensioning element facing away from the first holding element (Fig 1), wherein the connecting element serves to preload the pre-tensioning element and is connected to the second holding element (Fig 1), wherein, in the loaded state of the pre-tensioning element, a force acts on the first holding element and, via the connecting element, on the second holding element in such a way that the first holding element and the second holding element clamp the at least one piezoelectric transducer element (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 2, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the pre-tensioning element is designed in the first holding element, and wherein the pre-tensioning element is implemented by a material reduction of the first holding element (Fig 1, wherein the claim does not specify a starting state for the “reduction” of material). The language “implemented by a reduction in material of the first holding element” is product-by-process language. It has been held that where a claimed product is the same as or obvious over a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even if the prior product was made by a different process (In re Thorpe, 227 USPQ 964).
With respect to claim 3, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the pre-tensioning element is designed as a compression spring, disc spring, wave spring or plate spring (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 5, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the connecting element is implemented by a sleeve, wherein the sleeve can be connected to the second holding element via additional fastening elements or the sleeve can be screwed onto the second holding element, so that the pre-tensioning element is brought into the loaded state by the latching or by the screwing on of the sleeve (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 7, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the connecting element is implemented by a connecting rod (shaft of bolt 3) and a nut (item 11), that the connecting rod is connected to the second holding element (Fig 1), that the pre-tensioning element, the first holding element and the at least one piezoelectric transducer element each have a recess through which the connecting rod is passed (Fig 1), that, at its end facing away from the second holding element, the connecting rod has a thread onto which the nut can be screwed (Fig 1), and that the pre-tensioning element is brought into the loaded state by screwing the nut onto the connecting rod (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 8, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 7, wherein the connecting rod is non-detachably connected to the second holding element, in particular is welded to the second holding element or is designed integrally with the second holding element (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 9, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 7, wherein the connecting rod is detachably connected to the second holding element, in particular by a screw connection, a snap-in connection or a bayonet connection (Fig 1).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al.
With respect to claim 4, Chen et al. discloses the ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1.
Chen et al. does not disclose that at least one second pre-tensioning element is provided, wherein the first pre-tensioning element and the second pre-tensioning element are arranged adjacent to one another in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the first pre-tensioning element and the second pre-tensioning element are designed identically.
However, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts for multiple effect is obvious (In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378). It would therefore be obvious to provide additional pre-tensioning springs along the longitudinal axis of the device of Chen et al. in order to provide additional pre-tensioning force along the stack. The result is at least one second pre-tensioning element is provided, wherein the first pre-tensioning element and the second pre-tensioning element are arranged adjacent to one another in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the first pre-tensioning element and the second pre-tensioning element are designed identically.
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide additional pre-tensioning element(s) for the device of Chen et al. as it has been held that the mere duplication of parts for multiple effect is obvious (In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378), and for the benefit of providing additional pre-tensioning force along the stack.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose or suggest “wherein the connecting element is designed in a T-shape with a T- roof and a T-bar, wherein the T-shaped connecting element has a thread at an end of the T-bar facing away from the T-roof, wherein the second holding element has a connecting-element receptacle with a corresponding mating thread, wherein the pre-tensioning element, the first holding element and the at least one piezoelectric transducer element each have a recess through which the T-bar of the T-shaped connecting element is passed, and wherein the pre-tensioning element is brought into the loaded state by screwing the T-shaped connecting element into the second holding element” in combination with the remaining elements of claim 6.
Conclusion
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/DEREK J ROSENAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837