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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/17/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
In response to the final office action dated 12/17/2025, applicant has filed a request for continued examination and amended claim 1. Claims 10 and 11 are cancelled. Claims 1-2, 6, 8, and 13-17 are pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, 8, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moro (US Pub No. 2015/0304778, hereinafter Moro) in view of Baird (US Pub No. 2023/0319459, priority date 08/13/2020, hereinafter Baird).
Regarding claim 1, Moro teaches a loudspeaker (Fig 8, loudspeaker 10), comprising: a frame (Fig 8, frame 132); a diaphragm for vibrating to produce sound (Fig 8, diaphragm 12), and arranged on the frame; a voice coil for driving the diaphragm to vibrate (Fig 8, voice coil 18); a magnetic circuit for driving the voice coil to vibrate (Fig 8, motor assembly 112 with permanent magnet 118), the magnetic circuit being arranged on the frame (Fig 8, motor assembly 112 attached to top plate 120 and back plate 114 of frame 132), and the magnetic circuit being provided with a magnetic gap for a lower end portion of the voice coil to insert in (Fig 8, air gap 122); and an annular member arranged at an upper end portion of the voice coil and connected to the diaphragm (Fig 1, flexible adhesive material 22), wherein the annular member comprises a hollow cylinder (Fig 1, flexible adhesive material 22 formed around voice coil former 14 which makes it hollow and annular) and is sleeved on the upper end portion of the voice coil (Fig 1, flexible adhesive material 22 formed around voice coil former 14), wherein the diaphragm is provided with a mounting hole (Fig 1, diaphragm 12), the upper end portion of the voice coil is inserted into the mounting hole (Fig 8, voice coil former 14 inserted in hole of diaphragm 12), and wherein the annular member is a flexible member and formed by glue after curing (¶ [0025], flexible adhesive material 22 formed of silicone or similar material), such that an inner surface of the annular member is bonded to an outer surface of the voice coil (Fig 1, inner surface of flexible adhesive material 22 attached to voice coil former 14), an outer surface of the annular member is bonded to a hole wall of the mounting hole (Fig 1, outer surface of flexible adhesive material 22 attached to neck portion 16 of diaphragm 12), and the diaphragm and the voice coil are flexibly connected through the annular member (¶ [0025], flexible adhesive material 22 flexibly connects voice coil former 14 to diaphragm neck 16) and configured to filter out high frequency sound (¶ [0026], flexible coupling used for high frequency filtering).
Moro does not explicitly teach an annular member having a height in an up-down direction of 0.5-5 mm and filtering of frequencies within 3000-11000 Hz.
The examiner takes official notice it is notoriously well known in the art to design speaker components to specific dimensions as a matter of design choice for the purpose of achieving desired physical specifications (size, shape, form factor of the device for example).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design for the desired physical specifications such as the height of a component (annular member) for the purpose of achieving desired physical specifications of the device.
Baird teaches transducer components forming a mechanical high-pass filter based on the mass of moving parts (See Baird ¶ [0191], filter response based on component mass).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have designed components for a specific frequency response as taught by Baird with the loudspeaker taught by Moro. Designing for desired frequency response is well known in the art and is a matter of design choice to achieve a specific result. As stated by Baird ¶ [0191], the resonant frequency is inversely proportional to the square root of the mass so a high frequency bandwidth can be extended by reducing mass and vice versa.
Regarding claim 2, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 1, wherein the annular member is coaxial with the voice coil (See Moro Fig 1, flexible adhesive material 22 formed around voice coil former 14).
Regarding claim 6, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker further comprises a dust cap, the dust cap is connected to the diaphragm and covers over the mounting hole (See Moro Fig 8, dust dome 136).
Regarding claim 8, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 1, wherein the annular member is formed by curing adhesive (See Moro ¶ [0025], flexible adhesive material 22 formed of silicone or similar material).
Moro does not explicitly teach the annular member formed by curing silane glue.
The examiner takes official notice it is notoriously well known in the art to use cured adhesive to form components and/or bonds for the purpose of achieving desired physical specifications.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a specific adhesive such as silane glue to achieve specific physical specifications.
Regarding claim 13, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is a subwoofer, a woofer, or a midrange loudspeaker (See Moro ¶ [0022], flexible coupler for use in woofers).
Claim(s) 15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moro (US Pub No. 2015/0304778, hereinafter Moro) in view of Baird (US Pub No. 2023/0319459, priority date 08/13/2020, hereinafter Baird) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Christensen (US Patent No. 5295194, hereinafter Christensen).
Regarding claim 15, Moro in view of Baird teaches an audio system (See Moro Fig 8, loudspeaker 10), the audio system further comprising at least one of a subwoofer, a woofer (See Moro ¶ [0022], flexible coupler for use in woofers), and a midrange loudspeaker, wherein the subwoofer, the woofer, or the midrange loudspeaker is a loudspeaker according to claim 1 (See Moro Fig 8, loudspeaker 10).
Moro in view of Baird does not explicitly teach a tweeter.
Christensen teaches a tweeter (See Christensen Fig 1,tweeter conical diaphragm 38).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the tweeter taught by Christensen with the loudspeaker taught by Moro in view of Baird. Using both a tweeter and woofer is well known in the art and allows for a balanced sound covering both low and high frequencies. This improves sound clarity and allows for a wider dynamic range.
Regarding claim 17, Moro in view of Baird teaches a loudspeaker according to claim 1 (See Moro Fig 8, loudspeaker 10).
Moro in view of Baird does not explicitly teach a coaxial loudspeaker comprising a tweeter unit and a woofer unit.
Christensen teaches a coaxial loudspeaker comprising a tweeter unit (Fig 1,tweeter conical diaphragm 38) and a woofer unit (column 6 lines 15-16, low-frequency woofer).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the tweeter taught by Christensen with the loudspeaker taught by Moro in view of Baird. Using both a tweeter and woofer is well known in the art and allows for a balanced sound covering both low and high frequencies. This improves sound clarity and allows for a wider dynamic range.
Claim(s) 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moro (US Pub No. 2015/0304778, hereinafter Moro) in view of Baird (US Pub No. 2023/0319459, priority date 08/13/2020, hereinafter Baird) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Forte (US Pub No. 2007/0025572, hereinafter Forte).
Regarding claim 14, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 1.
Moro in view of Baird does not explicitly teach the loudspeaker being a vehicle-mounted loudspeaker.
Forte teaches a coaxial woofer/tweeter loudspeaker for use in a vehicle (Forte ¶ [0036], advantageous for use in motor vehicles).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the loudspeaker vehicle use taught by Forte with the coaxial loudspeaker taught by Moro in view of Baird. By incorporating coaxial speakers in a vehicle, a dynamic sound can be created allowing for a balanced and immersive experience.
Regarding claim 16, Moro in view of Baird teaches the loudspeaker according to claim 15.
Moro in view of Baird does not explicitly teach the loudspeaker being a vehicle-mounted loudspeaker.
Forte teaches a coaxial woofer/tweeter loudspeaker for use in a vehicle (Forte ¶ [0036], advantageous for use in motor vehicles).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the loudspeaker vehicle use taught by Forte with the coaxial loudspeaker taught by Moro in view of Baird. By incorporating coaxial speakers in a vehicle, a dynamic sound can be created allowing for a balanced and immersive experience.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 6, 8, and 13-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bryant et al (US Pub No. 2012/0092023) teaches a speaker connecting an inner opening of a diaphragm to a voice coil former using epoxy.
Bank (US Pub No. 2011/0142277) teaches an acoustic device having a diaphragm with an annular gap and a voice coil attached to the annular gap via adhesive and an annular foot.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYLER LIEBGOTT whose telephone number is (703)756-1818. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-6:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fan Tsang can be reached at (571)272-7547. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.M.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2694
/FAN S TSANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2694