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 § 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.
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.
Claim(s) 29-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 209561109 U (Liang).
Regarding claim 29: Liang teaches a NTC sensor element comprising: an NTC thermistor element (Fig. 1: thermistor substrate 1; Paragraph [0021]: “the NTC thermistor of the double-ended glass package includes a thermistor substrate 1”); two connection wires (41 and 42, Fig. 1, respectively) fixed on opposing sides of the NTC thermistor element by solder bonds (Paragraph [0028]: “… soldered together with the lead wires 41 and the leads 42 which are electrically conductive. Made of paste or conductive paste”); and a single-layer coating (5, Fig. 1) completely enclosing the NTC thermistor element and the solder bonds (Paragraph [0022]: “A glass body 5 is externally mounted on the thermistor substrate 1, and the lead wires 31 and the lead wires 32”).
Regarding claim 30: Liang teaches the NTC sensor element according to claim 29, wherein the solder bonds between the connection wires and the NTC thermistor element show a high strength of more than 6 N. The claim does not specify how this strength is achieved. In the absence of details, it is assumed that the solder bonds according to Liang (see, e.g., Paragraph [0021]), obtained by standard methods, trivially achieved the claimed strength of 6N.
Regarding claim 31: Liang teaches the NTC sensor element according to claim 29, wherein the NTC thermistor element has a block or disk shape and does not exceed dimensions of 3 mm x 3 mm x 1 mm (Paragraphs [0023]-[0024]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-28 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding independent claim 16: Liang teaches a method of assembling NTC sensors (Abstract; Paragraph [0001]) comprising the steps of providing an NTC thermistor element (1, Fig. 1) and connection wires (41 and 42, Fig. 1) having terminals for contacting the NTC thermistor element, dispensing solder paste to the terminals of the connection wires, applying the connection wires to the NTC thermistor element (Paragraph [0013]: “The electrode layer and the lead are welded together, and the solder material is made of a conductive paste”; Paragraph [0028]: “… soldered together with the lead wires 41 and the leads 42 which are electrically conductive. Made of paste or conductive paste.”), forming solder bonds between the NTC thermistor element and the connection wires (Paragraph [0029]: “… the solder adhesion process may be coating, dispensing, printing or picking and sticking, and then baking and drying.”).
Liang does not teach self-heating of the NTC thermistor element during the following steps by application of an electrical current nor melting the solder paste by the heat generated by the NTC thermistor element.
The technical effect of using thermistor self-heating for bonding the lead wires to the thermistor is that costly and time-consuming curing processes can be omitted, thereby reducing the manufacturing times and costs (instant application Description: Pg 5, Lns 7-13; Pg 7, Lns 27-32; Pg 24, Lns 1-33). Therefore, the problem solved by the present invention can be considered as how to reduce times and costs of a process of manufacturing an NTC thermistor sensor.
Liang teaches a standard solder process based on a coating step followed by baking and drying (see Paragraph [0029]: “… the solder adhesion process may be coating, … and then baking and drying.”), which is the method acknowledged by the instant application as requiring long times and a cumbersome manufacturing process. Liang doesn’t envisage any alternative to the traditional solder process. Therefore, these limitations are inventive over Liang reference Liang.
Additionally, TDK Corp references, JP 3648465 B2 (TDK Corp) and CN 109053158 A (Liu), fail to teach this limitations. TDK Corp teaches a solder bonding process where a solder material is initially deposited on the thermistor electrodes (Paragraph [0025]). The thermistor is then inserted between the lead wires (Paragraphs [0029]-[0030]) and a washing process is carried out (Paragraph [0031]). A resin coating layer is then formed on the thermistor and the electrical contacts and the device thus obtained is finally cured (Paragraph [0032]). Liu teaches bonding two lead wires (5, Fig. 2) to an NTC thermistor by using dip soldering, and then ultrasonically cleaning and drying after soldering (Paragraph [0029]). The use of thermistor self-heating cannot in any obvious fashion be inferred from Liu. Therefore, these limitations are novel and non-obvious over the prior art.
Therefore, dependent claims 17-22 are allowable for the same reasons.
Regarding independent claim 23: Liu teaches a method for coating NTC sensors (Abstract; Paragraph [0001]) comprising the steps: providing an NTC sensor comprising an NTC thermistor element (2, Figs. 1 and 2) and connection wires (5, Fig. 2) fixed on the NTC thermistor element, dipping the NTC thermistor element in a coating raw material (Paragraph [0029]: “sequentially immersing a soldered NTC thermal chip in a high thermal conductivity silica gel”), forming a coating layer enclosing the NTC thermistor element and adjacent portions of the connection wires (Fig. 2; Paragraphs [0091]-[0095]).
Liu does not teach self-heating of the NTC thermistor element during the following steps by application of an electrical current nor melting the coating raw material by the heat generated by the NTC thermistor element.
The technical effect of using thermistor self-heating for forming the coating layer is that coating can be achieved in a reduced time with respect to known processes and that time-consuming thermal post-treatments for curing and tempering can be dispensed with, thereby reducing manufacturing times and costs (instant application, see Pg 9, Ln 26 – Pg 10, Ln 5 and Pg 24, Lns 1-33). Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention can be considered as how to reduce times and costs of a method of manufacturing an NTC thermistor sensor.
The coating process according to Liu is much longer and costly than the claimed process, which can be carried out within a time interval on the order of a few minutes. Neither Liang, TDK Corp, nor Liu mention the phenomenon of thermistor self-heating. Therefore, this limitation is considered to be novel and non-obvious over the prior art.
Therefore, dependent claims 24-28 are allowable for the same reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 102636284 A teaches an NTC surface temperature measurement temperature sensor, comprising a thermal resistor NTC and flexible flat cable or wire, the NTC thermistor and flexible flat cable or wire are welded together.
JP 2007027541 A teaches an NTC thermistor element which is simply constituted and shows a linear temperature characteristic in a very wide range and is easily manufactured.
DE 19806296 B4 teaches an NTC thermistor element with a pair of outer electrodes with sleeve portions and inner electrodes connected to the outer electrodes.
JP 2003007509 A teaches a thermistor element that is firmly pinched between the tips of the bare core wires and prevented from coming off from the tips in a manufacturing process.
KR 100324097 B1 teaches an NTC thermistor device include electrodes in ohmic contact with a thermistor element.
US 6242998 B1 teaches a planar NTC thermistor that makes a surface-to-surface contact with an inner wall of the case such that the effective thermal capacity of the thermistor element is increased.
JP H11135304 A teaches an NTC thermistor housed in a resin case.
EP 0660094 B1 teaches an NTC thermistor element assembly consisting of a rare earth element-transition element based oxide.
DE 4305216 A1 teaches a thermistor made by forming electrodes on opposite surfaces of a plate type thermistor element with connector leads connected, extending outwards, wherein the thermistor element is enclosed in a resin.
DE 3733193 C1 teaches an NTC temperature sensor that is not subject to aging due to the influence of changing O2 partial pressures.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA FITZPATRICK whose telephone number is (703)756-5783. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-4pm.
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/JULIA FITZPATRICK/ Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/LAURA MARTIN/SPE, Art Unit 2855