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 § 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(s) 1-2 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pu (CN 107948889) in view of Shin (US 2016/0302000).
Regarding claim 1, Pu teaches A speaker box, comprising a shell and a speaker unit accommodated in the shell (Pu figure 2, covers 1-2, sound-emitting unit 3), wherein the shell is provided with an acoustic channel (Pu figure 4, front cavity 102 formed by front sound cavity 6 and sound guiding channel 4) for emitting sounds generated by the speaker unit (limitations after “for” considered intended use) from a side of the speaker box, a supporting wall for supporting and fixing the speaker unit is formed in the shell (Pu figures 2-4 and ¶0037, “sound unit 3 close to the sound guiding channel 4 is abutted and fixed to the reinforcing plate 5, and the other side of the sound unit 3 is abutted and fixed to the supporting wall 11”), the supporting wall is provided with a gap at the acoustic channel (Pu figure 4, any portions of walls forming sound cavities 4 and 6 can be considered a gap), however does not explicitly teach a reinforcing rib is formed in the acoustic channel, a supporting rib extends from an end of the reinforcing rib close to the speaker unit into the gap, the speaker unit is supported and fixed on the supporting wall and the supporting rib.
Shin teaches a reinforcing rib (Shin figure 3 and 9, and ¶0051 “formed to be independently separated from each other so that the sound from the speaker 71 is prevented from flowing into the microphone 75.” The part of the rear housing 51 that separates the speaker and the microphone can be considered a reinforcing rib with BRI) is formed in the acoustic channel (Shin figure 3, channel formed by front case 15), a supporting rib extends from an end of the reinforcing rib close to the speaker unit into the gap (Shin figure 3+9, middle part of front housing 41 connected to the middle of rear housing 51), the speaker unit is supported and fixed on the supporting wall and the supporting rib (Shin figure 3+9, speaker 71 is supported by the outer wall of front housing 41 and the inner wall separately it from the microphone).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Shin to improve the known speaker box of Pu to achieve the predictable result of isolating outgoing and incoming sound to reduce the vibration and noise from the speaker (Shin ¶0047).
Regarding claim 2, Pu in view of Shin teaches wherein the shell comprises an upper shell and a lower shell engaged with the upper shell (Pu figure 4, lower cover 2 and upper cover 1), the upper shell comprises a bottom wall (Pu figure 4, upper cover 1 has top and bottom walls) and the supporting wall protruding from the bottom wall (Pu figure 4, support wall 11), the acoustic channel is formed in the upper shell (Pu figure 4, cavity 102), the speaker unit is spaced apart from the bottom wall for forming a front cavity communicated with the acoustic channel (Pu figure 4, speaker 3 is spaced from bottom of upper cover 1 to form a cavity 6).
Regarding claim 5, Pu in view of Shin teaches wherein the reinforcing rib locates in the middle of the acoustic channel (Shin figure 3 and 9, and ¶0051 “formed to be independently separated from each other so that the sound from the speaker 71 is prevented from flowing into the microphone 75.” The part of the front housing 41 that separates the speaker and the microphone can be considered a rib with BRI).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pu (CN 107948889) in view of Shin (US 2016/0302000) in further view of Shao (US 2017/0134848).
Regarding claim 3, Pu in view of Shin teaches wherein the upper shell comprises an upper shell main body part and an upper shell steel sheet combined with the upper shell main body part by injection molding (Pu ¶0044, “the reinforcing plate 5, the supporting wall 11 and the sound guiding channel 4 are integrally injection molded”), however does not explicitly teach the shell is made of plastic, the lower shell comprises a lower shell plastic main body part and a lower shell steel sheet combined with the lower shell plastic main body part by injection molding.
Shao teaches the shell is made of plastic (Shao ¶0033, “plastic body”), the lower shell comprises a lower shell plastic main body part and a lower shell steel sheet combined with the lower shell plastic main body part by injection molding (Shao figure 2 and ¶0012, “steel sheets are injection-molded at portions of outer lateral walls of the acoustic guide channels facing the active sound source, the number of the steel sheets is two, and the two steel sheets and two outer lateral walls of the middle housing are integrally injection-molded”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Shao to improve the known speaker of Pu in view of Shin to achieve the predictable result of improving acoustic performance and durability of the device (Shao ¶0042).
Regarding claim 4, Pu in view of Shin in further view of Shao teaches wherein the upper shell plastic main body part and the lower shell plastic main body part are combined by ultrasonic welding (Shao ¶0033, “the upper housing 11 and the middle housing 12 are fixedly bonded by adhering or ultrasonic welding”).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pu (CN 107948889) in view of Shin (US 2016/0302000) in further view of KR (KR 20110002044).
Regarding claim 6, Pu in view of Shin does not explicitly teach a printed circuit board electrically connecting the speaker unit with an external circuit, wherein the printed circuit board comprises a first part located inside the shell and a second part located outside the shell, the first part is fixed to the speaker unit, the first part is provided with a first positioning hole, the upper shell is provided with a first positioning pillar located in the first positioning hole, the second part is fixed to the lower shell, the second part is provided with a second positioning hole, the lower shell is provided with a second positioning pillar located in the second positioning hole.
KR teaches a printed circuit board electrically connecting the speaker unit with an external circuit (KR figure 3, and ¶0032, “The PCB substrate (190) is physically connected to an external device (200)”), wherein the printed circuit board comprises a first part located inside the shell and a second part located outside the shell (KR figure 3, PCB 190 is within the shell), the first part is fixed to the speaker unit (KR figure 5), the first part is provided with a first positioning hole (KR figure 3, copper plate holes 194), the upper shell is provided with a first positioning pillar located in the first positioning hole (KR ¶0031, “soldered to the copper plate hole (194) so that the copper plate (192) is electrically connected”), the second part is fixed to the lower shell, the second part is provided with a second positioning hole (KR figure 3, copper plate holes 196), the lower shell is provided with a second positioning pillar located in the second positioning hole (KR figure 3, connector 220).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of KR to improve the known speaker of Pu in view of Shin to achieve the predictable result of easier connection to an external device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/11/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues on pages 3-4 of Remarks that
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Examiner respectfully disagrees. In response to applicant's argument that Secondary reference Shin’s speaker output hole 45 should read on “the acoustic channel,” and the separating wall of Shin should read on “the shell,” Examiner relied on primary reference Pu to read on those limitations instead of Shin. The applicant also argues that the separating wall “is the indispensable part of the speaker output hole 45 for outputting the sound generated from the speaker 71, simply put, it is the enclosure wall of the acoustic channel. Examiner disagrees. With the BRI, Shin teaches a front case 15 with at least one opening which would be considered an acoustic channel (Shin figure 3). The rear part of the separating wall formed by rear housing 51 (reads on reinforcing rib) and the front part of the separating wall formed by front housing 41 which extends from the rear housing 51 (reads on supporting rib extends from an end of the reinforcing rib close to the speaker unit in the gap) are both formed within said acoustic channel of front case 15 (reads on a reinforcing rib is formed in the acoustic channel). The speaker unit 71, is supported by both a portion of the front and rear portion of the separating wall (Shin figure 3, parts of front housing 41 and rear housing 51 supports speaker 71) in addition to the other walls of the housings 41 and 51 (which reads on the speaker unit is supported and fixed on the supporting wall and the supporting rib). In addition, the bolded limitations, “an acoustic channel for emitting sounds generated by the speaker unit from a side of the speaker box,” is considered intended use. Although the acoustic channel is intended for the sound emitted by the speaker, the claim does not definitely claim that the speaker’s sound is emitted into said acoustic channel. Therefore, the arguments are not persuasive and the claims stand rejected.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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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/NORMAN YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693