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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 8/7/2025. These drawings are accepted by the Examiner.
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.
Claims 1-11, 13-16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kalliokoski et al. (US 2005/0285797) in view of Tsuru et al. (US 6,222,489).
In regards to claim 1, Kalliokoski discloses of a printed antenna, comprising: a first conductive layer patterned to form two or more regions (for example see 102A-B, 106, 110, 114) of a radiating element; a second conductive layer patterned to form at least one region (for example see 104, 108, 112, 116) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are separated by a dielectric (100, see Fig 1A and Paragraphs 0018, 0023), wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see Figs 1A-B; 106, 114 and 102B of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 104, 108, 112, 116 of the second conductive layer; furthermore, Paragraphs 0022 and 0030 discloses the length of the elements may be adjusted); and a plurality of vias (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, see Paragraphs 0020, 0024) connecting the two or more regions on the first conductive layer to the at least one region on the second conductive layer to form a coil (see Figs 1A-B), the two or more regions on the first conductive layer having a greater number than the at least one region on the second conductive layer (see Figs 1A-B), wherein the printed antenna is one of an inverted-L antenna or an inverted-F antenna (see Figs 1A-B and Paragraphs 0017-0025).
Although it is well-known in the art that conductive radiating elements for use within antenna applications are made within metallic materials, Kalliokoski is silent and does not explicitly disclose of wherein the conductive layer regions are metal.
Tsuru discloses of a printed antenna, comprising: a first conductive layer (on 13b in Fig 2, on 19a in Fig 6) patterned to form two or more metal regions (see 14a-14d, and 20a-20d) of a radiating element (see Figs 1-2, 5-7); a second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) patterned to form at least one metal region (see 14e-14h, 20e-20h) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer (13b, 19a) and the second conductive layer (13d, 19b) are separated by a dielectric (13c, see Column 2 Lines 46-51, and Column 6 Lines 20-27 (layers are laminated dielectrics)), wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see at least Figs 2 and 6; 14b-d and 20b-d of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 14e-h and 20e-h of the second conductive layer); and a plurality of vias (15a-b in Fig 2, unlabeled in Fig 6) connecting the two or more metal regions (14a-14d, 20a-20d) on the first conductive layer (on 13b, 19a) to the at least one metal region (14e-14h, 20e-20h) on the second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) to form a coil (see spiral/coils in Figs 1-2, 5-7, also see Column 1 Lines 37-49, Column 2 Lines 37-51).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the conductive layer regions being comprised of metal as taught by Tsuru as a known conventional construction of a small-sized inverted F-type antenna to achieve the desired RF operations of the antenna device.
In regards to claim 2, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the two or more metal regions (102A-B, 106, 110, 114 of Kalliokoski) on the first conductive layer are arranged at an angle relative to the at least one region on the second conductive layer (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 3, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the two or more metal regions (102A-B, 106, 110, 114 of Kalliokoski) on the first conductive layer are arranged substantially in parallel with one another (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 4, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the two or more metal regions (102A-B, 106, 110, 114 of Kalliokoski) on the first conductive layer are arranged such that a current vector of the printed antenna along the two or more metal regions on the first conductive layer is aligned (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 5, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the second conductive layer comprises two or more metal regions (104, 108, 112, 116 of Kalliokoski) arranged substantially in parallel with one another (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 6, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 5, wherein the two or more metal regions (104, 108, 112, 116 of Kalliokoski) on the second conductive layer are arranged such that a current vector of the printed antenna along the two or more metal regions on the second conductive layer is aligned (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 7, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the printed antenna comprises further conductive layers having metal regions that are substantially in parallel with one another but substantially not in parallel with the metal regions on the other conductive layers (see Kalliokoski Figs 1A-B, 2A-C, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 8, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the two or more metal regions on the first conductive layer includes a first metal region electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) signal feed (for example see 160) for the printed antenna and/or a second metal region electrically coupled to an impedance tuning structure (see Figs 1A-B and Paragraphs 0018, 0023 of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 9, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the dielectric (100 of Kalliokoski, 11 of Tsuru) separating the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is configured to reduce a resonant frequency of the printed antenna (see Figs 1A-B of Kalliokoski, Tsuru Figs 1-2, 5, 7).
In regards to claim 10, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vias (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 of Kalliokoski) are through-hole vias (see Figs 1A-B and Paragraphs 0007, 0020, 0024 of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 11, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer comprise copper metallization (see Column 1 Lines 37-49, Column 2 Lines 37-51 and Column 6 Lines 23-27 of Tsuru).
In regards to claim 13, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are layers of a printed circuit board (PCB, see Paragraphs 0005, 0018 of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 14, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is an outermost conductive layer of the printed antenna (see 140 in Figs 1A-B of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 15, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is an internal conductive layer of the printed antenna (see 142 in Fig 1A of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 16, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1, wherein one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is an outermost conductive layer (see 142 of Kalliokoski) of the printed antenna and the other of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is an internal conductive layer of the printed antenna (see 140 in Fig 1A of Kalliokoski).
In regards to claim 18, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna claim 1, wherein the printed antenna is an inverted-F antenna (see Figs 1A-B, and Paragraphs 0018, 0023 of Kalliokoski), wherein a first signal feed (for example see 160) is coupled to a first metal region of the two or more metal regions and a second signal feed (for example see 150) is coupled to a second metal region of the two or more metal regions (see Figs 1A-B of Kalliokoski, 160 is coupled to 102A, 150 is additionally coupled to 152).
In regards to claim 20, Kalliokoski discloses of a method of forming a printed antenna, the method comprising: patterning a first conductive layer of a printed circuit board (PCB) to form two or more regions (for example 102A-B, 106, 110, 114) of a radiating element; patterning a second conductive layer of the PCB to form at least one region (for example 104, 108, 112, 116) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are separated by dielectric (100, see Fig 1A and Paragraphs 0018, 0023) wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see Figs 1A-B; 106, 114 and 102B of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 104, 108, 112, 116 of the second conductive layer; furthermore, Paragraphs 0022 and 0030 discloses the length of the elements may be adjusted); and forming a plurality of vias (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, see Paragraphs 0020, 0024) connecting the two or more regions on the first conductive layer to the at least one region on the second conductive layer to form a coil (see Figs 1A-B), the two or more regions on the first conductive layer having a greater number than the at least one region on the second conductive layer (see Figs 1A-B), wherein the printed antenna is one of an inverted-L antenna or an inverted-F antenna (see Figs 1A-B and Paragraphs 0017-0025).
Although it is well-known in the art that conductive radiating elements for use within antenna applications are made within metallic materials, Kalliokoski is silent and does not explicitly disclose of wherein the conductive layer regions are metal.
Tsuru discloses of a printed antenna, comprising: a first conductive layer (on 13b in Fig 2, on 19a in Fig 6) patterned to form two or more metal regions (see 14a-14d, and 20a-20d) of a radiating element (see Figs 1-2, 5-7); a second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) patterned to form at least one metal region (see 14e-14h, 20e-20h) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer (13b, 19a) and the second conductive layer (13d, 19b) are separated by a dielectric (13c, see Column 2 Lines 46-51, and Column 6 Lines 20-27 (layers are laminated dielectrics)), wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see at least Figs 2 and 6; 14b-d and 20b-d of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 14e-h and 20e-h of the second conductive layer); and a plurality of vias (15a-b in Fig 2, unlabeled in Fig 6) connecting the two or more metal regions (14a-14d, 20a-20d) on the first conductive layer (on 13b, 19a) to the at least one metal region (14e-14h, 20e-20h) on the second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) to form a coil (see spiral/coils in Figs 1-2, 5-7, also see Column 1 Lines 37-49, Column 2 Lines 37-51).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the conductive layer regions being comprised of metal as taught by Tsuru as a known conventional construction of a small-sized inverted F-type antenna to achieve the desired RF operations of the antenna device.
Claims 12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kalliokoski et al. (US 2005/0285797) in view Tsuru et al. (US 6,222,489) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Katajamaki et al. (US 11,539,243).
In regards to claim 12, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1 as found within the explanation above.
However, Kalliokoski and Tsuru do not disclose of the printed antenna being coupled to a battery module.
Katajamaki discloses of a wireless battery management system (200) comprising a battery module (208); and a printed antenna (202, see examples in Figs 3-6, 9-10) coupled to the battery module for wirelessly charging the battery module (208, see Figs 1-6 and 9-10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a printed antenna in a battery module of a battery management system as taught by Katajamaki for harvesting power waves for wirelessly charging the battery module.
In regards to claim 19, Kalliokoski discloses of a printed antenna, comprising: a first conductive layer patterned to form two or more regions (for example see 102A-B, 106, 110, 114) of a radiating element; a second conductive layer patterned to form at least one region (for example see 104, 108, 112, 116) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are separated by a dielectric (100, see Fig 1A and Paragraphs 0018, 0023), wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see Figs 1A-B; 106, 114 and 102B of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 104, 108, 112, 116 of the second conductive layer; furthermore, Paragraphs 0022 and 0030 discloses the length of the elements may be adjusted); and a plurality of vias (20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, see Paragraphs 0020, 0024) connecting the two or more regions on the first conductive layer to the at least one region on the second conductive layer to form a coil (see Figs 1A-B), the two or more regions on the first conductive layer having a greater number than the at least one region on the second conductive layer (see Figs 1A-B), wherein the printed antenna is one of an inverted-L antenna or an inverted-F antenna (see Figs 1A-B and Paragraphs 0017-0025).
Although it is well-known in the art that conductive radiating elements for use within antenna applications are made within metallic materials, Kalliokoski is silent and does not explicitly disclose of wherein the conductive layer regions are metal.
Tsuru discloses of a printed antenna, comprising: a first conductive layer (on 13b in Fig 2, on 19a in Fig 6) patterned to form two or more metal regions (see 14a-14d, and 20a-20d) of a radiating element (see Figs 1-2, 5-7); a second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) patterned to form at least one metal region (see 14e-14h, 20e-20h) of the radiating element, wherein the first conductive layer (13b, 19a) and the second conductive layer (13d, 19b) are separated by a dielectric (13c, see Column 2 Lines 46-51, and Column 6 Lines 20-27 (layers are laminated dielectrics)), wherein the two or more metal regions of the first conductive layer and the at least one metal region of the second conductive layer each have substantially equal length (for example see at least Figs 2 and 6; 14b-d and 20b-d of the first conductive layer have substantially equal length to that of 14e-h and 20e-h of the second conductive layer); and a plurality of vias (15a-b in Fig 2, unlabeled in Fig 6) connecting the two or more metal regions (14a-14d, 20a-20d) on the first conductive layer (on 13b, 19a) to the at least one metal region (14e-14h, 20e-20h) on the second conductive layer (on 13d, 19b) to form a coil (see spiral/coils in Figs 1-2, 5-7, also see Column 1 Lines 37-49, Column 2 Lines 37-51).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the conductive layer regions being comprised of metal as taught by Tsuru as a known conventional construction of a small-sized inverted F-type antenna to achieve the desired RF operations of the antenna device.
However, Kalliokoski and Tsuru do not disclose of a battery management system comprising a battery module, wherein the battery module is coupled to the printed antenna.
Katajamaki discloses of a wireless battery management system (200) comprising a battery module (208); and a printed antenna (202, see examples in Figs 3-6, 9-10) coupled to the battery module for wirelessly charging the battery module (208, see Figs 1-6 and 9-10); wherein the printed antenna is in a coil shape (see Figs 3-6, 9-10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a printed antenna in a battery module of a battery management system as taught by Katajamaki for harvesting power waves for wirelessly charging the battery module.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kalliokoski et al. (US 2005/0285797) in view Tsuru et al. (US 6,222,489) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Maruyama (US 2011/0140978).
In regards to claim 17, Kalliokoski in view of Tsuru disclose of the printed antenna of claim 1 as found within the explanation above, wherein the printed antenna is an inverted-F antenna.
However, Kalliokoski and Tsuru do not explicitly disclose of wherein the printed antenna is an inverted-L antenna.
Although one of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that an inverted-F and inverted-L antenna are obvious variants with the inverted-F essentially comprising an inverted-L antenna including an additional ground connection for impedance matching purposes, Maruyama discloses of it being well-known to utilize a printed antenna in wireless mobile communications devices, wherein the printed antenna may be a small inverted-L or inverted-F antenna for a wireless mobile communication device (see Paragraphs 0004-0006).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have a printed antenna being an inverted-L (or inverted-F) antenna as taught by Maruyama as well-known antenna shapes capable for utilizing small-sized antennas that may be tuned to realize ideal frequency bands for mobile wireless communication.
Conclusion
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/JASON M CRAWFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844