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 § 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.
Claims 2-8 and 11-20 are 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.
Regarding claim 2, the phrase "for example" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Claims 3-8 are indefinite because of their dependence on claim 2.
Regarding claim 11, “the set range value” (3rd to last line) and “the bark stopping mechanism” (3rd to last line) lack proper antecedent basis in the claim.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (CN 201110779 Y).
Regarding claim 1, Li et al. disclose a sensor, comprising: a shell 8, a vibration plate (4,5), a back plate (9,12,6), and a support elastic element 7, wherein said shell includes a vibration cavity, which is equipped with a first opening end (end at top where head 1 extends) and a second opening end (bottom of shell 8 in Figure); and said vibration plate (4,5) is movably set at said first opening end of said vibration cavity (see Figure); and said back plate (9,12,6) is fixedly set at said second opening end of said vibration cavity (Id.), and is set at an interval opposite to said vibration plate (Id.); and said support elastic element 7 is located inside said vibration cavity, and the upper and lower ends of said support elastic element are elastically abutted between said vibration plate and said back plate, to drive said vibration plate to move along the axial direction of said vibration cavity; and wherein, said vibration plate is made of rigid material, and only direct contact mechanical vibration can cause said vibration plate to vibrate (par. 0014, plate portion 4 is supported by elastic spring to be movable and therefore would vibrate when mechanical vibrations contact it; plate portion 4 must be “rigid” in order to function as described; note that all vibrations can be said to be caused by a direct contact mechanical vibration, i.e. a physical medium in direct contact with an object is required for transmitting vibrations).
Regarding claim 2, Li et al. disclose that said shell 8 is a ring-shaped structure, and its cross-sectional shape is circular (par. 0014, shell 8 is a cylinder).
Regarding claim 3, Li et al. disclose that said first opening end and said second opening end are respectively located at the corresponding two ends of said vibration cavity (see Figure, opening ends are at the ends of shell 8 which defines the vibration cavity inside).
Regarding claim 4, Li et al. disclose that the cross-sectional shape of said vibration plate (4,5) corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of said shell 8 (see Figure, plate section 4 fits centered in shell 8) and said back plate (9,12,6) is set in a substantially parallel structure relative to said shell (Id., plate structure 9,12,6 is parallel to plate 4,5).
Claim(s) 1 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sugimori et al. (US 2006/0053888).
Regarding claim 1, Sugimori et al. disclose a vibration sensor, comprising: a shell (8,3), a vibration plate 1, a back plate 5, and a support elastic element 2, wherein said shell includes a vibration cavity (central cavity of 8), which is equipped with a first opening end (at top in Fig. 1) and a second opening end (at bottom in Fig. 1); and said vibration plate 1 is movably set at said first opening end of said vibration cavity; and said back plate is fixedly set at said second opening end of said vibration cavity (see Fig. 1), and is set at an interval opposite to said vibration plate (Id.); and said support elastic element 2 is located inside said vibration cavity, and the upper and lower ends of said support elastic element are elastically abutted between said vibration plate 1 and said back plate, to drive said vibration plate to move along the axial direction of said vibration cavity; and wherein, said vibration plate is made of rigid material, and only direct contact mechanical vibration can cause said vibration plate to vibrate (par. 0050; note that all vibrations can be said to be caused by a direct contact mechanical vibration, i.e. a physical medium in direct contact with an object is required for transmitting vibrations).
Regarding claim 9, Sugimori et al. disclose that at least one elastic component is affixed to the inner wall of said shell (components of elastic element 2 are fixed to shell at edges (see 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(s) 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 201110779 Y).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Li et al. disclose that said vibration plate is composed of two parts of rigid plates, including a layer 4 and conductive layer 5 (see par. 0014, plate portion 5 is copper clad electrode for a capacitor), and wherein said layer 4 is located at one end far from said vibration cavity, and said conductive layer 5 is located at one end close to said vibration cavity (see Figure). Li et al. do not explicitly state that the layer 4 is an insulation layer. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made the part 4 out of an insulating material in order to electrically isolate the capacitor electrode plate 4 and allow it to function properly as a capacitor electrode.
Regarding claim 7, Li et al. disclose that said back plate is made of rigid conductive material 6 (see par. 0014, plate material 6 is copper clad).
Regarding claim 8, Li et al. disclose that said vibration plate and said back plate in said vibration sensor form an adjustable capacitor, and the up and down vibration of said vibration plate changes the capacitance value of the adjustable capacitor (see par. 0016, up and down movement of plate 4,5 changes capacitance).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 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.
Claims 11-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regard to claim 10, Sugimori et al. fail to teach or suggest the support elastic element being made of insulating material. Sugimori’s elastic element is required to be conductive in order to operate properly.
With regard to claim 11, Mainini et al. (US 6,431,121) disclose a dog bark detection device with a processing device and vibration sensor, and with a bark stopping mechanism, but Mainini et al. fail to disclose or suggest the vibration sensor having the details required by the claim. Neither Sugimori et al. nor Li et al. teach or suggest their respective sensor being used in combination with a processing device such that it can trigger a bark stopping mechanism of a dog bark detection device. It is not clear if or how Sugimori et al. or Li et al. could be used to detect dog bark vibrations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL M WEST whose telephone number is (571)272-2139. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am - 5:30 pm (CT).
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/PAUL M. WEST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855