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 .
IDS Form (SB08) submitted on 31 March 2026 has been considered.
Claims 2-3, 5-7, 10, 12, and 16-20 are cancelled.
Claims 1, 4, 8-9, 11, 13-15, and 21-26 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “An” speaker assembly comprising. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claim(s) 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ji et al. (CN #216960109 U).
Regarding Claim 23, Ji discloses a speaker assembly (title, abstract, figs. 1-3, ¶n0009) comprising:
a speaker box (Ji abstract: vehicle mounted bass box) defining a resonation chamber (Ji ¶n0014 discloses an opening is provided on the lower outer surface of the sealed metal plate, where the subwoofer is mounted and fixed. The sealed metal plate completely isolates the forward and rearward radiated sound waves of the subwoofer. Due to the presence of the sealed enclosure formed by the B-pillar and the sealed metal plate, the rigidity of the subwoofer's moving mass resonates, causing the minimum resonant frequency of the subwoofer to rise. Since the B-pillar recess has a volume of about 20L, the sealed speaker enclosure has a somewhat deep sound, but good bass resolution, which can achieve a perfect bass reproduction effect. ¶n0015 discloses the bottom surface of the long groove of the B-pillar sheet metal part of the vehicle body is provided with a long strip of reinforcing rib made of sheet material. Since the B-pillar of luxury vehicles of C-class and D-class and above is relatively wide, in order to increase the bending strength of the B-pillar, it is necessary to add a longitudinal reinforcing rib inside the B-pillar. This reinforcing rib also helps to reduce the resonance of the speaker), with an opening in the speaker box (Ji figs. 1-3: 21, 42), wherein the speaker box is sized to be installed in an opening in an interior rear quarter panel and sized to be oriented primarily within an internal cavity within the interior rear quarter panel and at least partially through the interior rear quarter panel opening (Ji figs. 1-3: 21): and
a speaker preassembled in the speaker box opening (Ji figs. 2: speaker 1).
Regarding Claim 24, Ji discloses the speaker assembly of claim 23, further comprising:
the interior rear quarter panel (Ji figs. 1-3: 2, 21): and
the outboard quarter panel frame (Ji figs. 1-3: 41);
wherein the interior rear quarter panel and the vehicle body outboard quarter panel frame collectively define the internal cavity with the opening in the interior rear quarter panel for access to the internal cavity (Ji fig. 2: 1-4 and 41): and
wherein the speaker box is installed in the interior rear quarter panel opening and extends at least partially into the internal cavity (Ji fig. 2: speaker 1).
Regarding Claim 25, Ji discloses the speaker assembly of claim 24
wherein a majority of the speaker box extends into the internal cavity (Ji fig. 2: speaker 1 shown extending).
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 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.
Claims 1, 4, 9, 14-15, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ji et al. (CN #216960109 U) in view of Velican (US #2023/0242046).
Regarding Claim 1, Ji discloses a [[An]] speaker assembly (title, abstract, figs. 1-3, ¶n0009) comprising
a first vehicle body panel formed from sheet metal (Ji ¶n0022 discloses a vehicle mounted subwoofer enclosure structure includes subwoofer speaker and sheet metal parts for the B-pillar of the vehicle body; figs. 1-3);
a second vehicle body panel formed from sheet metal and attached to the vehicle body panel (Ji figs. 1-3: 4 and 2; ¶0056):
wherein the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel collectively define an internal cavity (Ji figs. 1 and 3: 21) that is acoustically sealed at least partially along a perimeter with an opening in the first vehicle body panel for access to the internal cavity and sized to receive a speaker in the opening facing an interior of a vehicle body (Ji ¶n0057 discloses a partial sealing wall 31 is provided around the seat belt retractor fixing platform 3 corresponding to the edge of the missing part 41. The partial sealing wall 31 is made of foam. The long groove 21 of the body B-pillar sheet metal part 2, the partial sealing wall 31 around the seat belt retractor fixing platform 3 and the closed metal plate 4 together constitute a closed subwoofer enclosure space);
wherein the internal cavity provides a resonation chamber for the speaker (Ji ¶n0014 discloses an opening is provided on the lower outer surface of the sealed metal plate, where the subwoofer is mounted and fixed. The sealed metal plate completely isolates the forward and rearward radiated sound waves of the subwoofer. Due to the presence of the sealed enclosure formed by the B-pillar and the sealed metal plate, the rigidity of the subwoofer's moving mass resonates, causing the minimum resonant frequency of the subwoofer to rise. Since the B-pillar recess has a volume of about 20L, the sealed speaker enclosure has a somewhat deep sound, but good bass resolution, which can achieve a perfect bass reproduction effect. ¶n0015 discloses the bottom surface of the long groove of the B-pillar sheet metal part of the vehicle body is provided with a long strip of reinforcing rib made of sheet material. Since the B-pillar of luxury vehicles of C-class and D-class and above is relatively wide, in order to increase the bending strength of the B-pillar, it is necessary to add a longitudinal reinforcing rib inside the B-pillar. This reinforcing rib also helps to reduce the resonance of the speaker);
an insert vehicle body panel connected to the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel to enclose a region between the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel (Ji figs. 1-3: 21, 42) to at least partially enclose the internal cavity and to tune the resonation chamber to the speaker (Ji ¶n0014 discloses an opening is provided on the lower outer surface of the sealed metal plate, where the subwoofer is mounted and fixed. The sealed metal plate completely isolates the forward and rearward radiated sound waves of the subwoofer. Due to the presence of the sealed enclosure formed by the B-pillar and the sealed metal plate, the rigidity of the subwoofer's moving mass resonates, causing the minimum resonant frequency of the subwoofer to rise. Since the B-pillar recess has a volume of about 20L, the sealed speaker enclosure has a somewhat deep sound, but good bass resolution, which can achieve a perfect bass reproduction effect. ¶n0015 discloses the bottom surface of the long groove of the B-pillar sheet metal part of the vehicle body is provided with a long strip of reinforcing rib made of sheet material. Since the B-pillar of luxury vehicles of C-class and D-class and above is relatively wide, in order to increase the bending strength of the B-pillar, it is necessary to add a longitudinal reinforcing rib inside the B-pillar. This reinforcing rib also helps to reduce the resonance of the speaker): and
the speaker installed directly in the opening in the first vehicle body panel (Ji fig. 2: speaker 1).
Ji may not explicitly disclose a port formed through the second vehicle body panel to port the resonation chamber; wherein the port is vented externally of the first vehicle body panel.
However, Velican (title, abstract, figs. 1-11) teaches a speaker assembly (title, abstract) comprising: a first vehicle body panel; (Velican fig. 1: Car A; ¶0026 discloses a cabin wall includes walls constructed of a single panel as well as double panel walls. ¶0032 discloses the cabin wall 31 is a single panel wall; fig. 4); wherein the first vehicle body panel and (Velican fig. 1: Cavity C; ¶0026 discloses a cabin wall includes walls constructed of a single panel as well as double panel walls constructed of inner and outer skins with a cavity between them. ¶0033 discloses it will be appreciated that an interior wall cavity may be used as a default enclosure provided that the cavity is well sealed and the inner and outer skins are rigid; fig. 5) that is acoustically sealed at least partially along a perimeter with an opening (Velican fig. 1: E) in the vehicle body panel for access to the internal cavity and sized to receive a speaker in the opening facing an interior of a vehicle body (Velican ¶0029 discloses the loudspeaker assembly B radiates sound to interior air E in the vehicle cabin C);
wherein the internal cavity provides a resonation chamber (Velican fig. 1: Chamber B) for the speaker (Velican fig. 2: 3a-3d)); and
a port (Velican fig. 2: Port 4) formed through the second vehicle body panel to port the resonation chamber; [[and]]
wherein the port is vented externally of the first vehicle body panel (Velican ¶0030 discloses the loudspeaker assembly is provided in the cabin [not shown] of a vehicle. The loudspeaker assembly 1 includes an enclosure 2 fitted with four drivers 3a-3d in a common compartment 5 having acoustic access to vent duct 4. Vent duct 4 passes through a boundary of a wall of the cabin [ not shown] to air that is external to the vehicle; fig. 2. ¶0031 discloses the loudspeaker assembly 10 includes an enclosure 11 having four compartments 12a-12d. Each compartment is fitted with a driver 13a-13d. A vent duct 14 passes through the boundary of the cabin wall from the cabin to air external to the vehicle. The vent duct includes a first end and a second end. The first end of the vent duct interfaces the enclosure 11 such that the air of each compartment 12a-12d has equal acoustic access to the vent duct 14).
Ji and Velican are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify speaker box structure (as taught by Ji) to advantageously providing a common vent duct maximizes sound mixing so that there is the option of applying distortion cancelling and it will be appreciated that the arrangement will still work with nearby vent ducts provided they are within a quarter wavelength of the highest frequency (as taught by Velican, ¶0010) to provide greater flexibility in the location of the loudspeaker assembly and greater flexibility in the variation of vent duct dimensions, enclosure size and driver parameters without loss of sound quality (Velican, ¶0004).
Regarding Claim 4, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1. But Ji may not explicitly disclose wherein the port further comprises a tube.
However, Velican (title, abstract, figs. 1-11) teaches wherein the port further comprises a tube (Velican ¶0032 discloses a low-profile enclosure 32 vents to air exterior to a vehicle via a vent duct [i.e. tube] 34. ¶0034 discloses the vent duct 51 simply butts against the compartments 52 such that each compartment has equal access to the vent duct 51. The vent duct 51 may be flared at one or both ends as shown in fig. 6 to prevent air noise).
Ji and Velican are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify speaker box structure (as taught by Ji) to advantageously providing a common vent duct maximizes sound mixing so that there is the option of applying distortion cancelling and it will be appreciated that the arrangement will still work with nearby vent ducts provided they are within a quarter wavelength of the highest frequency (as taught by Velican, ¶0010) to provide greater flexibility in the location of the loudspeaker assembly and greater flexibility in the variation of vent duct dimensions, enclosure size and driver parameters without loss of sound quality (Velican, ¶0004).
Regarding Claim 9, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1 wherein the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel collectively provide a pillar (Ji ¶n0076 discloses the long groove 21 of the B-pillar sheet metal part 2 of the vehicle body has a long strip reinforcing rib 5 made of sheet material protruding and fixed along the length direction of the groove bottom surface; fig. 1. ¶n0079 discloses the width of the long grove 21 of B-pillar sheet metal part 2 is 20 cm. claims 1-2: B-pillar).
Regarding Claim 14, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1
wherein the speaker further comprises a sub-woofer (Ji ¶n0009 discloses vehicle-mounted subwoofer).
Regarding Claim 15, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1
wherein the speaker extends at least partially into the internal cavity (Ji fig. 2: 1 speaker mounted in the internal cavity 21 as shown in figs. 1 and 3).
Regarding Claim 22, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1. But Ji may not explicitly disclose wherein the speaker assembly is integrated into the vehicle body and is not housed solely within a trim member.
However, Velican (title, abstract, figs. 1-11) teaches wherein the speaker assembly is integrated into the vehicle body and is not housed solely within a trim member (Velican ¶0029 discloses the loudspeaker assembly B radiates sound to interior air E in the vehicle cabin C. As shown in fig. 1, the location of the loudspeaker assembly B is shown in the floor D [i.e., not housed solely within a trim member]).
Ji and Velican are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify speaker box structure (as taught by Ji) to advantageously providing a common vent duct maximizes sound mixing so that there is the option of applying distortion cancelling and it will be appreciated that the arrangement will still work with nearby vent ducts provided they are within a quarter wavelength of the highest frequency (as taught by Velican, ¶0010) to provide greater flexibility in the location of the loudspeaker assembly and greater flexibility in the variation of vent duct dimensions, enclosure size and driver parameters without loss of sound quality (Velican, ¶0004).
Claims 8 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ji et al. (CN #216960109 U) in view of Velican (US #2023/0242046) further in view of Shao et al. (US #2023/0202405).
Regarding Claim 8, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the second vehicle body panel is welded to the first vehicle body panel.
However, Shao (title, abstract, figs. 1-5) teaches wherein the second vehicle body panel is welded to the first vehicle body panel (Shao ¶0043 discloses wherein, the main body 33 and the installation part 34 may be a split structure connected by welding, which can reduce the volume of the mold and facilitate manufacturing. Welding vehicle body panels is known technique in the field of vehicle manufacturing).
Ji, Velican, and Shao are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of Ji in view of Velican in light of the teachings of Shao to provide the diameter of the airflow inlet that gradually decreases so that the resonance effect of the air is enhanced, and the gas in the accommodation cavity promotes the gas in the inverted tube, which makes the air resonance in the inverted tube more intense (as taught by Shao, ¶0026) thereby, the sound waves of the speaker can be strengthened, and the loudness of the speaker can be improved (Shao, ¶0026).
Regarding Claim 21, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1 but may not explicitly disclose wherein the tube extends into the resonation chamber.
However, Shao (title; abstract; Figs. 1-5) teaches wherein the tube extends into the resonation chamber (Shao ¶0002 disclose usually the rear end of the speaker is located inside the vehicle door, and the inside of the vehicle door is the sealed chamber. ¶0024 discloses the gas in the back of the speaker 2 is compressed by vibration to generate resonance and push the gas in the inverted tube 3 to resonate and move outward).
Ji, Velican, and Shao are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of Ji in view of Velican in light of the teachings of Shao to provide the diameter of the airflow inlet that gradually decreases so that the resonance effect of the air is enhanced, and the gas in the accommodation cavity promotes the gas in the inverted tube, which makes the air resonance in the inverted tube more intense (as taught by Shao, ¶0026) thereby, the sound waves of the speaker can be strengthened, and the loudness of the speaker can be improved (Shao, ¶0026).
Claims 11, 13, and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ji et al. (CN #216960109 U) in view of Velican (US #2023/0242046) further in view of Mutsura et al. (US #2022/0089098).
Regarding Claim 11, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1 but may not explicitly disclose further comprising a port formed through the third vehicle body panel to port the internal cavity.
However, Mutsura (title; abstract; Figs. 1-14) teaches a port formed through the third vehicle body panel to port the internal cavity (Mutsura ¶0021 discloses a speaker disposition structure of a vehicle includes: a pair of left and right hinge pillars extending in a vehicle up-down direction; a dash panel connecting front portions of the pair of left and right hinge pillars to each other in a vehicle width direction; a speaker box that holds a speaker, is fixed to a lower portion of the hinge pillar, and has a closed inner space; and a partition member located on the vehicle-width-direction inner side of the speaker box, wherein a port opening communicating with the inner space of the speaker box is formed in a front face of the speaker box, a space portion surrounded by the front face of the speaker box, the dash panel, the hinge pillar, and the partition member is formed, the space portion is arranged to communicate with an occupant space, on the upper or lower side thereof, and a front-rear-direction dimension of the space portion, from the port opening, is set at least greater than a maximum dimension of the port opening).
Ji, Velican, and Mutsura are analogous art as they pertain to installing speaker in vehicle. Therefor it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of Ji in view of Velican in light of the teachings of Mutsura to allow for transmitting a reproduced sound from the port opening [the reproduced sound from the port] to the cabin (as taught by Mutsura, ¶0034) preventing water and mud from splashing on the port opening, and further preventing occurrence of wind noise due to movement of air flowing from the port opening is realized by a speaker disposition structure of a vehicle (Mutsura, ¶0034).
Regarding Claim 13, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1 but may not explicitly disclose wherein the speaker further comprises a cone speaker.
However, Mutsura (title; abstract; Figs. 1-14) teaches wherein the speaker further comprises a cone speaker (Mutsura ¶0021 discloses the speaker 41 includes: a cone, etc. and a speaker grill 41c attached to the open side of the cone; Figs. 6-7).
Ji, Velican, and Mutsura are analogous art as they pertain to installing speaker in vehicle. Therefor it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of Ji in view of Velican in light of the teachings of Mutsura to allow for transmitting a reproduced sound from the port opening [the reproduced sound from the port] to the cabin (as taught by Mutsura, ¶0034) preventing water and mud from splashing on the port opening, and further preventing occurrence of wind noise due to movement of air flowing from the port opening is realized by a speaker disposition structure of a vehicle (Mutsura, ¶0034).
Regarding Claim 26, Ji in view of Velican discloses the speaker assembly of claim 1. But Ji may not explicitly disclose further comprising: a wheel well panel attached to the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel to collectively provide an internal cavity that is acoustically sealed at least partially along a perimeter; and wherein the port is formed through the wheel well panel to exhaust the internal cavity to an exterior of the vehicle body panel assembly.
However, Velican (title, abstract, figs. 1-11) teaches wherein the port is formed through the wheel well panel to exhaust the internal cavity to an exterior of the vehicle body panel assembly (Velican ¶0029 discloses as shown in Fig. 1, the loudspeaker assembly B radiates sound to interior air E in the vehicle cabin C and in operation vents [a backwave] via a vent duct G to exterior air F. ¶0030 discloses vent duct 4 [Fig. 2] passes through a boundary of a wall of the cabin [not shown] to air that is external to the vehicle).
Ji and Velican are analogous art as they pertain to installing vehicle speaker. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify speaker box structure (as taught by Ji) to advantageously providing a common vent duct maximizes sound mixing so that there is the option of applying distortion cancelling and it will be appreciated that the arrangement will still work with nearby vent ducts provided they are within a quarter wavelength of the highest frequency (as taught by Velican, ¶0010) to provide greater flexibility in the location of the loudspeaker assembly and greater flexibility in the variation of vent duct dimensions, enclosure size and driver parameters without loss of sound quality (Velican, ¶0004).
And Mutsura (title; abstract; Figs. 1-14) teaches a wheel well panel attached to the first vehicle body panel and the second vehicle body panel to collectively provide an internal cavity that is acoustically sealed at least partially along a perimeter (Mutsura ¶0060 discloses Fig. 5 shows a gusset 38 as a high-rigidity member that extends in the front-rear direction and connects a wheel arch for a front wheel and the hinge pillar 30).
Ji, Velican, and Mutsura are analogous art as they pertain to installing speaker in vehicle. Therefor it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of Ji in view of Velican in light of the teachings of Mutsura to allow for transmitting a reproduced sound from the port opening [the reproduced sound from the port] to the cabin (as taught by Mutsura, ¶0034) preventing water and mud from splashing on the port opening, and further preventing occurrence of wind noise due to movement of air flowing from the port opening is realized by a speaker disposition structure of a vehicle (Mutsura, ¶0034).
Conclusion
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/YOGESHKUMAR PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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