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 .
Election/Restriction
Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1 - 5, drawn to an inspection method of electrical connectivity of a piezoelectric element, classified in B32B 41/00.
II. Claims 6 - 14, drawn to a manufacturing method of a magnetic head suspension, classified in B29C 66/90.
The inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other because:
Inventions I and II are unrelated. Inventions are unrelated if it can be shown that they are not disclosed as capable of use together and they have different designs, modes of operation, and effects (MPEP § 802.01 and § 806.06). In the instant case, the different inventions are unrelated because the inspection method as disclosed is not necessary to be used in a manufacturing method of a magnetic head suspension and can be used in any piezoelectric manufacturing method.
Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
- the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification;
- the inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).
Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of an invention to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected invention.
The election of an invention may be made with or without traverse. To reserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
During a telephone conversation with Joseph Venier of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on January 12, 2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of II, claims 6 - 14. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 1 - 5 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 6 - 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kurachi et al (Japanese Patent 2023119459).
With regards to claim 6, Kurachi teaches a manufacturing method of a magnetic head suspension including a piezoelectric element that finely moves a gimbal region to which a magnetic head slider is mounted in a seek direction parallel to a disk surface, where the piezoelectric element is fixed to a predetermined mounting position by a first insulation adhesive, and where a predetermined first electrode terminal region of a first electrode, which is disposed on one side in a thickness direction region by a first electrode conductive adhesive covering the first insulation adhesive in a bridge-like manner (paragraph 21), the method comprising:
A fixation step of fixing the piezoelectric element to the predetermined mounting position by the first insulation adhesive (paragraphs 21 and 110)
An insulation calculation step of calculating an amount of the first insulation adhesive existing on an inspection area set so as to include a part or all of at least one of the first electrode terminal region and the first electrode connection region (paragraph 110)
A first electrode electrical connection step of applying the first electrode conductive adhesive by a predetermined amount to electrically connect the first electrode connection (paragraph 110)
A conduction calculation step of calculating an amount of the first electrode conductive adhesive existing on the inspection area (paragraph 110) and
A determination step of determining electrical connectivity between the first electrode and the first electrode connection region on a basis of a difference between a calculation value in the conduction calculation step and a calculation value in the insulation calculation step (paragraph 110)
With regards to claim 7, Kurachi teaches a manufacturing method of a magnetic head suspension including a piezoelectric element that finely moves a gimbal region to which a magnetic head slider is mounted in a seek direction parallel to a disk surface, where the piezoelectric element is fixed to a predetermined mounting position by a first insulation adhesive, and where a predetermined first electrode terminal region of a first electrode, which is disposed on one side in a thickness direction region by a first electrode conductive adhesive covering the first insulation adhesive in a bridge-like manner (paragraph 21), the method comprising:
A fixation step of fixing the piezoelectric element to the predetermined mounting position by the first insulation adhesive (paragraphs 21 and 110)
An insulation calculation step of calculating an amount of the first insulation adhesive existing on an inspection area set so as to include a part or all of at least one of the first electrode terminal region and the first electrode connection region (paragraph 110)
An application amount calculation step of calculating an amount of the insulation adhesive existing on an inspection area set so as to include a part or all of at least one of the first electrode terminal region and the first electrode connection region (paragraphs 120 and 121)
A first electrode electrical connection step of applying the first electrode conductive adhesive by a predetermined amount to electrically connect the first electrode connection (paragraph 110)
With regards to claim 8, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the method comprises a conduction calculation step of calculating an amount of the first electrode conductive adhesive existing on the inspection area (paragraph 110) and a determination step of determining electrical connectivity between the first electrode and the first electrode connection region on a basis of a difference between a calculation value in the conduction calculation step and a calculation value in the insulation calculation step (paragraph 110).
With regards to claim 9, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the inspection area is set with reference to a mounting reference point that is used when the piezoelectric element is mounted at the predetermined position (paragraph 118).
With regards to claim 10, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the calculation steps each are configured to calculate a plane area of a portion covered by the corresponding adhesive in the inspection area on the basis of a two-dimensional image of the inspection area captured by a two-dimensional imaging device (paragraph 113).
With regards to claim 11, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the calculation steps each are configured to calculate a volume of the corresponding adhesive existing on the inspection on the basis of a three-dimensional image of the inspection area captured by a three-dimensional imaging device (paragraph 115).
With regards to claim 12, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the insulation calculation step and the conduction calculation step are configured to perform imaging by the imaging device in a state in which the inspection area was irradiated with ultraviolet light by an ultraviolet irradiation device (paragraph 116).
With regards to claim 13, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that the magnetic head suspension includes a support portion that is directly or indirectly swung about a swing center in the seek direction parallel to the disk surface by a main actuator, a lead bending portion that includes a leaf spring having a proximal end portion connected to the support portion and generating a load for pressing the gimbal region against the disk surface, a load beam portion that is supported by the support portion via the load bending portion and transmits the load to the gimbal region, and a flexure portion that includes a flexure substrate including the gimbal region and a wiring structure fixed to the flexure substrate (paragraph 38);
where the support portion includes a proximal-end-side support portion having the swing center, a distal-end-side support portion that supporting the proximal end side of the load bending portion, and a weak-rigidity support portion connecting the distal-end-side support portion and the proximal-end-side support portion such that the distal-end-side support portion can swing to both sides in the seek direction with respect to the proximal-end-side support portion with reference to a suspension longitudinal direction center line, the weak-rigidity support portion being provided with openings that enable the pair of piezoelectric elements to be arranged symmetrically to each other with respect to the longitudinal direction center line (paragraph 41);
where the magnetic head suspension further includes a support plate fixed to a lower surface of the support portion, the support plate supporting the lower surface of the pair of piezoelectric elements while having access openings for exposing parts of lower surfaces of the pair of piezoelectric elements to the disk surface side (paragraph 40)
where the wiring structure includes an insulation layer provided on the lower surface of the flexure substrate that faces the disk surface, and a conductor layer provided on the insulation layer (paragraph 89)
where the insulation layer has an extension region extending into the access opening in planar view (paragraph 131)
where the conductor layer includes a signal wiring electrically connected to the magnetic head slider and a piezoelectric element wiring for supplying a driving voltage to the piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric element wiring having a piezoelectric element terminal region arranged in the extension region (claim 13)
where the manufacturing method further includes a temporary fixation step performed before the fixation step, the temporary fixation step is configured to apply the second electrode conductive adhesive in the access opening and the through hole and apply a second insulation adhesive for temporary fixation to the support plate, and then mount the piezoelectric element such that the second electrode of the piezoelectric element is in contact with the second electrode conductive adhesive and a peripheral region of the lower surface of the piezoelectric element is in contract with the second insulation adhesive for temporary fixation (claim 13)
where the fixation step is configured to apply the first insulation adhesive in gaps between the piezoelectric element and the proximal-end-side support portion, the distal-end-side support portion and the weak-rigidity support portion (claim 13) and
where the inspection area is set at the first electrode support portion (claim 13)
With regards to claim 14, the teachings of Kurachi are presented above. Additionally, Kurachi teaches that:
The magnetic head suspension includes a support portion that is directly or indirectly swung about a swing center in the seek direction parallel to the disk surface by a main actuator, a load bending portion that includes a leaf spring having a proximal end portion connected to the support portion and generating a load for pressing the gimbal region against the disk surface, a load beam portion that is supported by the support portion via the load bending portion and transmits the load to the gimbal region, and a flexure portion that includes a flexure substrate including the gimbal region and a wiring structure fixed to the flexure substrate (claim 14)
Where the flexure substrate includes a load-beam-portion fixation region overlapped with and fixed to the load beam portion, and a flexure distal end region extending from the load-beam-portion fixation region to the distal end side so as to be free from a state of being supported by the load beam portion (claim 14)
Where the flexure distal end region has the gimbal region and a pair of gimbal support pieces, the gimbal region having an upper surface opposite to the disk surface with which a dimple provided in the load beam portion is in contact and a lower surface facing the disk surface that supports the magnetic head slider, the pair of gimbal support pieces extending from the load-beam-portion fixation region toward the distal end side in the suspension longitudinal direction in a state of being symmetrical to each other with reference to the suspension longitudinal direction center line and supporting the gimbal region such that the gimbal region can swing in a roll direction and the seek direction with the dimple as a fulcrum (claim 14)
Where the gimbal region and the pair of gimbal support pieces are configured to form opening that enable the pair of piezoelectric elements to be arranged symmetrically to each other with respect to the suspension longitudinal direction center line (claim 14)
Where the gimbal region is provided with a weak rigidity portion that enables the gimbal region to swing to both sides in the seek direction with the dimple as a fulcrum in response to expansion and contraction operation of the pair of piezoelectric elements (claim 14)
Where the wiring structure includes an insulation layer provided on the lower surface of the flexure substrate that faces the disk surface, and a conductor layer provided on a lower surface of the insulation layer (claim 14)
Where the insulation layer has an air region that is away from a state of being supported by the flexure substrate and extends into the opening (claim 14)
Where the conductor layer includes a signal wiring electrically connected to the magnetic head slider and a piezoelectric element wiring for supplying a driving voltage to the piezoelectric element (claim 14)
Where the piezoelectric element wiring has a piezoelectric element terminal region arranged in the air region (claim 14)
Where the wiring structure further includes a ground metallic portion provided on the lower surface of the air region in a state of being insulated from the conductor layer (claim 14)
Where the air region has a first electrode through hole and a second electrode through hole that cause the piezoelectric element terminal region and the ground metallic portion to be exposed to the upper surface of the insulation layer, respectively (claim 14)
Where a region of the piezoelectric element terminal region that is exposed via the first electrode through hole forms the first electrode connection region (claim 14)
Where a second electrode of the piezoelectric element that is disposed on the other side in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element is electrically connected to the ground metallic portion via a second electrode conductive adhesive filled in the second electrode through hole (claim 14)
Where the manufacturing method further includes a second electrode electrical connection step performed in parallel with the fixation step and a piezoelectric element second end portion fixation step performed at an appropriate timing after the second electrode electrical connection step (claim 14)
Where the fixation step and the second electrode electrical connection step that are performed in parallel are configured so as to apply the first insulation adhesive to an area of the upper surface of the air region on which a first end portion in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element is mounted and apply the second electrode conductive adhesive in the second electrode through hole, and then mount the piezoelectric element on the upper surface of the air region so that the first end portion in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element is mounted and apply the second electrode conductive adhesive in the second electrode through hole, and then mount the piezoelectric element on the upper surface of the air region so that the first end portion of the piezoelectric element is fixed to the upper surface of the air region while the second electrode is electrically connected to the ground conductive region (claim 14)
Where the piezoelectric element second end portion fixation step is configured so as to fix a second end portion in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element to the gimbal region by another second insulation adhesive (claim 14) and
Where the inspection area is set to the region of the piezoelectric element terminal region that is exposed via the first electrode through hole (claim 14).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHEL RIVERA whose telephone number is (571)270-7655. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12pm - 8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at (571) 270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHEL RIVERA/Examiner, Art Unit 1746
/MICHAEL N ORLANDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1746