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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (Claims 1-19) in the reply filed on 8/4/26 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 plurality of vibrators in contact with a single common contact body (claim 16) and the wire-driven actuator comprising an elongated member and a wire inserted through the elongated member (claim 19) 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 1-3, 5-6, 10-15 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi et al. (US2019/0115853, hereinafter Hayashi).
Regarding claim 1, Hayashi discloses a vibration actuator (101) comprising: a vibrator in which an electrode (3), a rectangular piezoelectric material (paragraph [0071]), and an elastic body (6) are sequentially arranged; and a contact body (8) that is disposed so as to be in contact with the elastic body (6) and so as to be movable relative to the vibrator, wherein the elastic body and the piezoelectric material are bonded to each other by a conductive bonding portion (2).
Regarding claim 2, Hayashi discloses the electrode including a first electrode and a second electrode (31, Fig. 6) that are adjacent to each other, wherein, when a region of the piezoelectric material in which the first electrode is disposed and a region of the piezoelectric material in which the second electrode is disposed are respectively defined as a first region and a second region, the vibrator forms a first bending vibration mode in which the first region and the second region extend or contract together and a second bending vibration mode in which the second region contracts when the first region extends and in which the second region extends when the first region contracts. See Fig. 5.
Regarding claim 3, Hayashi discloses the elastic body including a rectangular portion, and the vibrator is held at four corners of the rectangular portion by a vibrator holding member (holding member 11).
Regarding claim 5, a third electrode (2) sandwiches the piezoelectric material together with the first and second electrodes (31).
Regarding claim 6, Hayashi discloses a fourth electrode (21) adjacent to the first and second electrode (31).
Regarding claim 10, Hayashi discloses an adhesive portion comprising anisotropic conductive material (paragraph [0052]).
Regarding claim 11, the lead content of the piezoelectric material is less than 1,000 ppm (paragraph [0065]).
Regarding claims 12 and 13, Hayashi discloses the use of BT and BCT (paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 14, the power supply member (7) is bonded to the piezoelectric element and the electrodes.
Regarding claim 15, the elastic body is made of stainless steel (paragraph [0143]).
Regarding claims 17 and 18, Hayashi anticipates the claimed limitation, see Fig. 10.
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 of this title, 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashi in view of Shimada (US2021/0067059, hereinafter Shimada).
Regarding claim 4, Hayashi discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose a support portion that protrudes from an end portion of the rectangular portion. Shimada discloses a vibration actuator comprising a support portion (32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4) protruding from an end portion of the rectangular portion. Fig. 5 shows the protrusions provided to position the piezoelectric element in the pressure member. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to provide a support portion protruding from the rectangular portion to facilitate the positioning of the element in the system.
Claims 7-9, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashi.
Regarding claims 7-9, Hayashi discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose the specific details of the thickness of the conductive bonding portion, the average particle diameter, and the specific gravity of the conductive particles. However, it is the examiner's position that defining specific values for the thickness, particle diameter and specific gravity of the conductive particles are an obvious matter of design choice and it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine the values as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application. Moreover, the claimed limitations do not depart from the scope and spirit of Hayashi’s invention.
Regarding claim 16, Hayashi discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose the plurality of vibrators in contact with a single common contact body. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to provide multiple vibrators in contact with a single contact body to provide different bending vibration modes or micro and macro adjustments since it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 19, Hayashi discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose a wire-driven actuator comprising an elongated member and a wire inserted through the elongated member. However, it is the examiner's position that it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to place or use the actuator in any appropriate device because it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d - 164 7 (1987). Furthermore, the claimed limitation does not depart from the scope and spirit of Hayashi’s invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jaydi San Martin whose telephone number is (571)272-2018. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 7:45-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached on 571-270-7938. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. San Martin/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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