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 Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “a radiating-element array antenna” in lines 1-2 and later recites “the radiating-element array” in line 4 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”.
Claim 8 recites “a radiating-element array antenna the radiating elements” in lines 1-2 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”. Also, in line 4 the claim recites “said radiating-element array” instead of “said radiating-element array antenna”.
Claim 9 recites “the radiating-element array” in lines 2-3 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”.
Claim 10 recites “the radiating-element array” in line 2 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”.
Claim 11 recites “the array antenna” in line 4 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”. Also in line 6, the claim recites “the array antenna” instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”.
Claim 14 recites “a radiating-element array antenna the radiating elements” in lines 1-2 and in line 13 instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”. Also, in line 4 the claim recites “said radiating-element array” instead of “said radiating-element array antenna”. In lines 8 and 10, the claim recites “the array antenna” instead of “the radiating-element array antenna”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the radiating aperture of the antenna" in line 4; " the impedance of the antenna for an H-plane scan" in line 5; “the intersection…” in line 7; “the respective anti-symmetry planes” in lines 7-8; “the electric field radiated by the antenna for an H-plane scan” in line 8; and “the impedance of the antenna for an E-plane scan” in lines 10-11. However, there are insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 1 recites “an H-plane scan” in line 5 and later recites another “an H-plane scan” in line 8. It is not clear if the H-plane recited in line 8 refers to the H-plane scan in line 4 or if it is an additional H-plane scan.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "that each internal interconnect" in lines 9-10, however, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "that each internal interconnect" in line 10 and “the number of internal interconnects” in line 19. However, there are insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492.
Regarding claim 1:
Wang et al. disclose a wide-angle impedance-matching device (in Figs. 1-3) for a radiating-element array antenna (201, 202), comprising: a transmission screen (1) having a first surface intended to be positioned facing the radiating-element array (201, 202) parallel to the radiating aperture of the antenna (201 or 202) and being configured to match the impedance of the antenna (201 or 202) for an H-plane scan (from 202), at the intersection of at least some of the respective anti-symmetry planes (opposite direction from 201 and 202) of the electric field radiated by the antenna (201, 202) for an H-plane scan (from 202), for two linear polarizations in two orthogonal directions (from 201 and from 202; Para. 0012, Lines 4-7; Para. 0033, Lines 1-2), said set of metal pins being configured to match the impedance of the antenna for an E-plane scan (from 201).
Wang et al. are silent on that a set of metal pins placed orthogonally, on at least one surface of the transmission screen.
Jiang et al. disclose a set of metal pins (defined as shorting pin) placed orthogonally, on at least one surface of the transmission screen (defined by Meta-WAIM).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the set of metal pins placed orthogonally, on at least one surface of the transmission screen as taught by Jiang et al. into the device of Wang et al. for the benefit of mitigating common-mode resonance thereby successfully transform unbalanced feedings into balanced feedings to improve the VSWR performance (Col. 5, Lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 2:
Wang et al. disclose the transmission screen (1) is a structure composed of one or more dielectric layers (Para. 0006, Lines 3-4; Para. 0012, Lines 4-7; Para. 0024, Lines 1-2; see Figs.).
Regarding claim 3:
Wang et al. disclose wherein the transmission screen (1) is a structure composed of monolayer on which a periodic grid of metal patterns (101 and 102) is placed (see Figs.).
Claims 4, 6 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492 as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Legay et al. (US 20200335842).
Regarding claims 4 and 13:
Wang as modified are silent on that the transmission screen is a periodic grid of a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a supporting frame and at least one interconnect internal to said supporting frame, said supporting frame being inscribed in a prism, having a given axis Z′, said prism comprising
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faces connected together by
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edges, which are oriented along the axis of the prism Z′, said supporting frame comprising
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corner elements, each corner element having an edge coinciding with one of said edges of the prism, the corner elements being arranged such that the supporting frame has, on each face of the prism, a slot extending along the axis of the prism Z′; and in that each internal interconnect comprises
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inductive rods each comprising two ends, the inductive rods each having a first end connected to one of said edges of the supporting frame, the second ends of the inductive rods being connected to one another at a rod-connection point, said rod-connection point being positioned substantially in the centre of said supporting frame in a plane orthogonal to the axis of the prism Z′, and wherein the first step of dimensioning the transmission screen consists at least in dimensioning at least one parameter among: the dimension of the inductive rods, the dimension of the slots, the position of the inductive rods along the axis of the prism Z′, and the number of internal interconnects.
Legay et al. disclose the transmission screen (402/502) is a periodic grid of a plurality of cells (412/512), each cell comprising a supporting frame (410/510) and at least one interconnect internal (452, 454 and 456 in Fig. 7A) to said supporting frame (410/510), said supporting frame (410/510) being inscribed in a prism (see Fig. 6), having a given axis Z′, said prism comprising
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faces connected together by
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edges (along 424, 425, 426, and 427 in Fig. 7A or 372, 374, 376 and 377 in Fig. 6), which are oriented along the axis of the prism Z′ (see Figs.), said supporting frame (410/510) comprising
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corner elements, each corner element having an edge coinciding with one of said edges of the prism, the corner elements being arranged such that the supporting frame (410/510) has, on each face of the prism (See Figs.), a slot (defined by 424, 425, 426, and 427) extending along the axis of the prism Z′ (see Fig. 7A); and in that each internal interconnect (452, 454 and 456) comprises
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inductive rods (4521, 4542 and 4563; 4521, 4542 and 4563; 4521, 4542 and 4563) each comprising two ends (see Figs.), the inductive rods each having a first end connected to one of said edges of the supporting frame (410/510), the second ends of the inductive rods (4563; 4563; and 4563) being connected to one another at a rod-connection point (4563; 4563; and 4563), said rod-connection point being positioned substantially in the center of said supporting frame (410/510) in a plane orthogonal to the axis of the prism Z′ (see Figs.), and wherein the first step of dimensioning the transmission screen (402/502) consists at least in dimensioning at least one parameter among: the dimension of the inductive rods (4521, 4542 and 4563; 4521, 4542 and 4563; 4521, 4542 and 4563), the dimension of the slots (defined by 424, 425, 426, and 427), the position of the inductive rods along the axis of the prism Z′, and the number of internal interconnects (see Abstract; Para. 0014, Lines 13-18; Para. 0025, Lines 1-2; Para. 0065, Lines 1-6).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the transmission screen is a periodic grid of a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a supporting frame and at least one interconnect internal to said supporting frame, said supporting frame being inscribed in a prism, having a given axis Z′, said prism comprising
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faces connected together by
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edges, which are oriented along the axis of the prism Z′, said supporting frame comprising
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corner elements, each corner element having an edge coinciding with one of said edges of the prism, the corner elements being arranged such that the supporting frame has, on each face of the prism, a slot extending along the axis of the prism Z′; and in that each internal interconnect comprises
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inductive rods each comprising two ends, the inductive rods each having a first end connected to one of said edges of the supporting frame, the second ends of the inductive rods being connected to one another at a rod-connection point, said rod-connection point being positioned substantially in the center of said supporting frame in a plane orthogonal to the axis of the prism Z′, and wherein the first step of dimensioning the transmission screen consists at least in dimensioning at least one parameter among: the dimension of the inductive rods, the dimension of the slots, the position of the inductive rods along the axis of the prism Z′, and the number of internal interconnects as taught by Legay et al. into the modified device of Wang et al. for the benefit of avoiding introducing frequency dispersion into the sections of waveguide and to obtain very wideband responses thereby confer stability with incidence of the injected electromagnetic wave on the polarizing screen (Para. 0129, Lines 5-10).
Regarding claim 6:
Wang as modified are silent on that a metal pin of said assembly is positioned on said rod-connection point.
Accordingly, it would have been an obvious matter of design consideration to implement a metal pin on the said rod-connection point for improving the H-plane scanning performance of the antenna in the dual-polarization direction by enhancing the H-plane current coupling in the horizontal and vertical polarization, especially since such design consideration would have been knowledge within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art, thereby suggesting the obviousness of the design consideration.
Regarding claims 11 and 12:
Wang as modified are silent on that a first step of dimensioning the transmission screen so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna, a second step of dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane as required by claim 11; and the second step of dimensioning all of the metal pins consists at least in dimensioning the length of the pins as required by claim 12.
Legay et al. disclose a first step of dimensioning the transmission screen (402/502) so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna, a second step of dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane; and the second step of dimensioning all of the metal pins consists at least in dimensioning the length of the pins (Para. 0070, Lines 1-5; Para. 0071, Lines 1-6; Para. 0072, Lines 1-13).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement dimensioning the transmission screen so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna and dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane as taught by Legay et al. into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of achieving characteristic impedances determined by the characteristics of the frame, acting as a parallel-plate waveguide (Para. 0133, Lines 1-7; Para. 0134, Lines 1-9).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492 as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Legay et al. (US 20170005407).
Regarding claims 8-10:
Wang as modified are silent on that the radiating-element array antenna which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves, and a wide-angle impedance-matching device according to claim 1 and positioned on said radiating-element array antenna as required by claim 8; the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned at a non-zero distance from the radiating-element array antenna as required by claim 9; and the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned in contact with the radiating-element array antenna as required by claim 10.
Legay et al. disclose (in Figs. 6a, 6b and 9-10) the radiating-element array antenna (40) which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves (Para. 0004, Lines 1-8; Para. 0070, Lines 1-7), and a wide-angle impedance-matching device (13; Para. 0057, lines 6-9) according to claim 1 and positioned on said radiating-element array antenna (40) as required by claim 8; the wide-angle impedance-matching device (13) is positioned at a non-zero distance from the radiating-element array antenna (40) as required by claim 9; and the wide-angle impedance-matching device (13) is positioned in contact with the radiating-element array antenna (40) as required by claim 10.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the radiating-element array antenna which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves, and a wide-angle impedance-matching device and positioned on said radiating-element array antenna such that the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned at a non-zero distance from the radiating-element array antenna and the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned in contact with the radiating-element array antenna as taught by Legay et al. into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of making it possible to obtain fewer aberrations and beams of better quality (Para. 0006, Lines 6-7; Para. 0050, Lines 10-14; Para. 0053, Lines 6-8).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492 and further in view of Legay et al. (US20170005407) as applied to claims 1 and 4, and further in view of Mossinger (DE102014112487A1).
Regarding claim 5:
Wang as modified are silent on that the metal pins are positioned in the extension of each edge of each of the cells.
Mossinger discloses the metal pins (S1-S4) are positioned in the extension of each edge of each of the cells (in Fig. 2).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the metal pins are positioned in the extension of each edge of each of the cells as taught by Mossinger into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of improving impedance matching of the antenna device (Para. 0014, Lines 14-16).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492 as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Mossinger (DE102014112487A1).
Regarding claim 7:
Wang as modified are silent on that the metal pins are placed, at least partially, on the surface of the transmission screen opposite the first surface.
Mossinger discloses (in Fig. 2) the metal pins (S1-S4) are placed, at least partially, on the surface of the transmission screen (D) opposite the first surface (facing the antenna, A1, aperture).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the metal pins are positioned in the extension of each edge of each of the cells as taught by Mossinger into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of improving impedance matching of the antenna device (Para. 0014, Lines 14-16).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN114744409B) in view of Jiang et al., “Ultra-wideband dual-polarized tightly coupled dipole array with double layers meta-WAIM” International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEU) 159 (2023) 154492 as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Legay et al. (US 20170005407; hereafter referred to as Legay (‘407)) and Legay et al. (US 20200335842; hereafter referred to as Legay (‘842)).
Regarding claim 14:
Wang as modified are silent on that an antenna device comprising a radiating-element array antenna the radiating elements of which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves, and a wide-angle impedance-matching device according to claim 1 and positioned on said radiating-element array; the method comprising executing a method for designing a wide-angle impedance-matching device according to claim 1, comprising: a first step of dimensioning the transmission screen so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the array antenna, a second step of dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane, wherein the first dimensioning step further comprises dimensioning the distance between the radiating-element array and the impedance-matching device.
Legay (‘407) discloses a radiating-element array antenna (40) the radiating elements of which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves (Para. 0004, Lines 1-8; Para. 0070, Lines 1-7), and a wide-angle impedance-matching device (in Figs. 6a, 6b and 9-10) according to claim 1 and positioned on said radiating-element array [antenna] (40); the method comprising executing a method for designing a wide-angle impedance-matching device (in Figs. 6a, 6b and 9-10).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the radiating-element array antenna which are able to radiate a field of transverse electromagnetic waves, and a wide-angle impedance-matching device and positioned on said radiating-element array antenna such that the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned at a non-zero distance from the radiating-element array antenna and the wide-angle impedance-matching device is positioned in contact with the radiating-element array antenna as taught by Legay et al. into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of making it possible to obtain fewer aberrations and beams of better quality (Para. 0006, Lines 6-7; Para. 0050, Lines 10-14; Para. 0053, Lines 6-8).
Wang as modified is silent on that a first step of dimensioning the transmission screen so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the array antenna, a second step of dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane, wherein the first dimensioning step further comprises dimensioning the distance between the radiating-element array and the impedance-matching device.
Legay (‘842) discloses a first step of dimensioning the transmission screen (402/502) so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna (40), a second step of dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane, wherein the first dimensioning step further comprises dimensioning the distance between the radiating-element array [antenna] and the impedance-matching device (Para. 0070, Lines 1-5; Para. 0071, Lines 1-6; Para. 0072, Lines 1-13).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement dimensioning the transmission screen so as to optimize impedance matching for the H-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna and dimensioning all the metal pins so as to optimize impedance matching for the E-plane scan of the [radiating-element] array antenna without modifying the matching previously achieved in the H-plane as taught by Legay et al. into the modified device of Wang for the benefit of achieving characteristic impedances determined by the characteristics of the frame, acting as a parallel-plate waveguide (Para. 0133, Lines 1-7; Para. 0134, Lines 1-9).
Conclusion
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/DAMEON E LEVI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845