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 .
EXAMINER’S COMMENTS
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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,
“wherein wiring is connected to the pair of electrode layers in each of the plurality of driving layers from an electrode pad such that a voltage for driving the driving layers is supplied” recited in Claim 6;
“wherein the wiring includes common wiring toward the pair of electrode layers in each of the plurality of driving layers” recited in Claim 7;
“wherein the wiring includes wiring common to vibrating films disposed along each periphery” recited in Claim 12;
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
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 3, 5, 13-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Onishi et al. (Hereinafter Onishi) JP-2012217037- (For examination purports English machine translation of Onishi would be use as cited reference).
Regarding claim 1, Onishi teaches
A transducer (Figs. 1-2 show an oscillation devices 100) comprising:
a substrate including a main surface (Figs. 1 and 2 shown an elastic member 22) and a back surface (Figs. 1-2 show a support member 30) facing the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) as shown in Fig. 1;
a plurality of vibrating films (Figs. 1-2 show a plurality of vibrating member 20) formed in the substrate at a predetermined thickness between the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) and a plurality of recesses formed in the back surface (i.e. support member 30) of the substrate such that the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) can vibrate in the thickness direction of the substrate as shown in Fig. 1; and
a plurality of driving layers (Figs. 1-3 show a piezoelectric vibrator 10) laminated on the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) as shown in Fig. 1, each being constituted by a pair of electrode layers (Fig. 3 shows an upper electrode 72, and a lower electrode 74) with a piezoelectric layer (Fig. 3 shows a piezoelectric body 70) therebetween and being disposed on the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) include vibrating films arranged at predetermined intervals in each of at least two directions in a plane of the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) as shown in Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 3, Onishi teaches
The transducer according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) include vibrating films that are arranged such that an interval between mutually adjacent vibrating films is equal in the plane of the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) as shown in Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 5, Onishi teaches
The transducer according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of vibrating films include vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) having the same shape in the plane of the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) as shown in Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 13, Onishi teaches
The transducer according to claim 1, wherein on the back surface (i.e. support member 30), a partition wall is formed from the back surface (i.e. support member 30) to a predetermined height around each of the recesses on each vibrating film of the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) to form an independent space as shown in Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 14, Onishi teaches
The transducer according to claim 1, wherein on the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22), a partition wall (i.e. support member 30) is formed from the main surface (i.e. elastic member 22) to a predetermined height around each vibrating film of the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. plurality of vibrating member 20) to form an independent space as shown in Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 17, Onishi teaches
An electronic device (Figs. 1-2 shows an electronic device 200) comprising: the transducer (i.e. oscillation devices 100) according to claim 1 as a speaker (the oscillation device 100 is used as a parametric speaker…..Pg. 3, Para. 9, Line 1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
8. 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.
9. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Brommer et al. (Hereinafter Brommer) US-PAT No. 5,471,180.
Regarding claim 2, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that the vibrating films arranged at the predetermined intervals in each of the at least two directions include vibrating films arranged at equal intervals in each of three directions including the at least two directions in the plane of the main surface.
Brommer teaches in Fig. 14 of a dielectric structure 300 has a plurality of cylindrical elements 302 periodically arranged to provide a triangular lattice symmetry. The dashed lines 312 illustrate the triangular lattice structure of the cylindrical elements 302 having two-dimensional periodicity along the face 304 of the background material.
Onishi and Brommer each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include the elements arranged at equal intervals in each of three directions including the at least two directions in the plane of the main surface as taught by Brommer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the elements arranged at equal intervals in each of three directions including the at least two directions in the plane of the main surface as taught by Brommer. The motivation is to use the arrangement to produced sound waves that can be gathered in a specific direction.
10. Claims 4 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Onishi et al. (Hereinafter Onishi ‘3630) US-PG-PUB No. 2013/0083630.
Regarding claim 4, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that natural frequencies of the plurality of vibrating films are higher than an audible frequency band.
Onishi ‘3630 teaches a parametric speaker which is an acoustic reproducer in which ultrasonic waves are used as a transporter of modulation waves is used (Para. [0070], Lines 1-6). Therefore, , all ultrasonic waves operate at frequencies above the range of human hearing, which is generally defined as exceeding 20 kilohertz (kHz).
Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include the natural frequencies of the plurality of vibrating films are higher than the audible frequency band as taught by Onishi ‘3630. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the natural frequencies of the plurality of vibrating films are higher than the audible frequency band as taught by Onishi ‘3630. The motivation is to improve the sound quality by preventing acoustic noise pollution.
Regarding claim 6, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that wiring is connected to the pair of electrode layers in each of the plurality of driving layers from an electrode pad such that a voltage for driving the driving layers is supplied.
Onishi ‘3630 teaches that lead wires 124 connected to the upper electrode 72, and the lower electrode 74 in each of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 10 from a control portion 140 such that a voltage for driving the piezoelectric vibrators 10 is supplied (Para. [0043], Lines 1-5).
Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include the natural frequencies of the plurality of vibrating films are higher than the audible frequency band as taught by Onishi ‘3630. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the wiring is connected to the pair of electrode layers in each of the plurality of driving layers from the electrode pad such that the voltage for driving the driving layers is supplied as taught by Onishi ‘3630. The motivation is to independently connected the plurality of vibrating films to individually controller the plurality of vibrating films.
Regarding claim 7, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 6 as outlined above. Onishi ‘3630 teaches that the wiring includes common wiring toward the pair of electrode layers (i.e. the upper electrode 72, and the lower electrode 74) in each of the plurality of driving layers (i.e. piezoelectric vibrators 10) (Para. [0043], Lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 8, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 6 as outlined above.
The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 do not teach that the plurality of vibrating films include vibrating films with equal intervals from one vibrating film in the plane of the main surface.
Onishi ‘3630 teaches in a different embodiment that a plurality of elastic vibrating regions 812 with equal intervals from one elastic vibrating regions 812 in the plane of the rectangular elastic vibration plate 810 as shown in Fig. 16.
The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 and the different embodiment of Onishi ‘3630 each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 to include the plurality of vibrating films include vibrating films with equal intervals from one vibrating film in the plane of the main surface as taught by the different embodiment of Onishi ‘3630. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 with the plurality of vibrating films include vibrating films with equal intervals from one vibrating film in the plane of the main surface as taught by the different embodiment of Onishi ‘3630. The motivation is to use the arrangement to produced sound waves that can be gathered in a specific direction.
Regarding claim 9, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 8 as outlined above. Onishi ‘3630 teaches that the vibrating films (i.e. elastic vibrating regions 812) with the equal intervals from the one vibrating film include vibrating films that are arranged at predetermined intervals along a periphery that is at predetermined intervals from the one vibrating film as shown in Fig. 16.
Regarding claim 10, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 9 as outlined above. Onishi ‘3630 teaches that the vibrating films (i.e. elastic vibrating regions 812) include vibrating films that are arranged at predetermined intervals along a second periphery at predetermined intervals from the one vibrating film as shown in Fig. 16, the second periphery being located outside of a first periphery which is at predetermined intervals from the one vibrating film and along which vibrating films are arranged at predetermined intervals as shown in Fig. 16.
Regarding claim 11, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 9 as outlined above. Onishi ‘3630 teaches that the plurality of vibrating films (i.e. elastic vibrating regions 812) include vibrating films having the same shape of each periphery in the plane of the main surface as shown in Fig. 16.
11. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Onishi ‘3630 and further in view of Inoue US-PG-PUB No. 2005/0146242.
Regarding claim 12, The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 teach all the features with respect to claim 10 as outlined above.
The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 do not teach that the wiring includes wiring common to vibrating films disposed along each periphery.
Inoue teaches of first wiring portion 21 serially connects the four piezoelectric thin film resonators 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d as shown in Fig. 2.
The combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 and Inoue each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 to include the wiring includes wiring common to vibrating films disposed along each periphery as taught by Inoue. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Onishi ‘3630 with the wiring includes wiring common to vibrating films disposed along each periphery as taught by Inoue. The motivation is to use the above design to independently connected each vibrating films so as to be able to drive the vibrating films individually.
12. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Ono et al. (Hereinafter Ono) US-PG-PUB No. 2018/0078970.
Regarding claim 15, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that the substrate is constituted by a silicon substrate.
Ono teaches that the substrate is constituted by a silicon substrate (Para. [0062], Lines 1-2).
Onishi and Ono each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include the substrate is constituted by the silicon substrate as taught by Ono. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the substrate is constituted by the silicon substrate as taught by Ono. The motivation is to use the silicone to allow the substrate stay flexible or rigid, and withstand extreme temperatures or humidity, thus reducing the resource and energy consumption of the transducer.
13. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Cheng et al. (Hereinafter Cheng) US-PAT No. 10,508,023.
Regarding claim 16, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that another substrate that is disposed to face the back surface and is mounted near the back surface of the substrate.
Cheng teaches that a carrier 302 that is disposed to face the back surface and is mounted near the back surface of a substrate 102 as shown in Fig. 2D.
Onishi and Cheng each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include another substrate that is disposed to face the back surface and is mounted near the back surface of the substrate as taught by Cheng. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the another substrate that is disposed to face the back surface and is mounted near the back surface of the substrate as taught by Cheng. The motivation is to use the second substrate to provide extra support to the transducer.
14. Claims 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Sakurauchi et al. (Hereinafter Sakurauchi) US-PG-PUB No. 2012/0082325.
Regarding claim 18, Onishi teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Onishi does not teach that a transducer array using the transducer according to claim 1, wherein the transducer is provided in plurality, main surfaces of the plurality of transducers face one side, and the plurality of transducers are arranged in a two-dimensional manner so as to include transducers arranged at predetermined intervals in each of at least two directions.
Sakurauchi teaches that a transducer array using the transducer, wherein the transducer is provided in plurality, main surfaces of the plurality of transducers face one side, and the plurality of transducers are arranged in a two-dimensional manner so as to include transducers arranged at predetermined intervals in each of at least two directions as shown in Fig. 1A (Para. [0050], Lines 1-4).
Onishi and Sakurauchi each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of Onishi to include the transducer array using the transducer as taught by Sakurauchi. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of Onishi with the transducer array using the transducer as taught by Sakurauchi. The motivation is to use the transducer array to provide a rigid, organized, and scalable platform for multiple transducers, thus improve audio quality.
Regarding claim 20, The combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi teach all the features with respect to claim 18 as outlined above. Sakurauchi teaches that a main surface of each of the plurality of transducers inclines toward a center of the plurality of transducers which have been arranged in a two-dimensional manner as a distance increases from the center as shown in Fig. 1A.
15. Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onishi in view of Sakurauchi and further in view of Brommer et al. (Hereinafter Brommer) US-PAT No. 5,471,180.
Regarding claim 19, The combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi teach all the features with respect to claim 18 as outlined above.
The combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi do not teach that the transducers arranged at the predetermined intervals in each of the at least two directions include transducers arranged at equal intervals in three directions including the at least two directions in a plane defined by the transducers which have been arranged in the two-dimensional manner.
Brommer teaches in Fig. 14 of a dielectric structure 300 has a plurality of cylindrical elements 302 periodically arranged to provide a triangular lattice symmetry. The dashed lines 312 illustrate the triangular lattice structure of the cylindrical elements 302 having two-dimensional periodicity along the face 304 of the background material.
The combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi and Brommer each disclose a transducer. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi to include the transducers arranged at the predetermined intervals in each of the at least two directions include transducers arranged at equal intervals in three directions including the at least two directions in a plane defined by the transducers which have been arranged in the two-dimensional manner as taught by Brommer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transducer of the combination of Onishi and Sakurauchi with the transducers arranged at the predetermined intervals in each of the at least two directions include transducers arranged at equal intervals in three directions including the at least two directions in a plane defined by the transducers which have been arranged in the two-dimensional manner as taught by Brommer. The motivation is to use the arrangement to produced sound waves that can be gathered in a specific direction.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELICA M MCKINNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3321. The examiner can normally be reached 7AM-3PM EST M-F. 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.
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/ANGELICA M MCKINNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694