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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
Reference character “100” has been used to designate both the bone conduction microphone (see para. 0020) and the receiving space (see Para. 0021).
Reference characters "10" and "1" have both been used to designate the housing (see para. 0020; note that element “10” does not exist in the drawings).
Reference characters "711" and "731" have both been used to designate the diaphragm (see para. 0026).
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. 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 Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8 recites “a back cavity is provided on the substrate”. This appears to refer to the back cavity [711] described in the specification. However, a back cavity was also recited in Claim 1. Examiner suggests amending the recitation in Claim 8 to “the back cavity”, to maintain consistency. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meng, et al., Chinese Application Publication No. CN 114374920 A, published on April 4, 2022 (Meng) (citations refer to English translation of specification in U.S. Patent No. 11,895,452), in view of Leahy et al., U.S. Publication No. 2023/0097786, published on March 30, 2023 (Leahy).
As to Claim 1, Meng discloses a bone conduction microphone comprising: a housing [1]; a circuit board [3] (col. 2, line 66) engaged with the housing [1] for enclosing a receiving space [100] (see Fig. 1), and including an acoustic channel [3A] (col. 3, lines 8-9); a vibration assembly [5] received in the receiving space [100], dividing the receiving space [100] into a first cavity [101] and a second cavity [103] (col. 3, lines 10-14; see Fig. 1); and a MEMS chip [7] including a back cavity [71A] (col. 3, lines 25-27), received in the second cavity [103] enclosed by the vibration assembly [5] and the circuit board [3], and mounted on the circuit board [3] (see Fig. 3); wherein the acoustic channel [3A] is configured to connect the first cavity [101] with the back cavity [103] (col. 3, lines 11-14; see Fig. 1); an airflow generated by the vibration of the vibration assembly [5] is transmitted to one side of the MEMS chip [7] through the first cavity [101], the acoustic channel [3A] and the back cavity [71A] successively (col. 3, lines 33-36); the airflow is transmitted to the other side of the MEMS chip [7] through the second cavity [103] (col. 3, lines 36-38). Meng does not explicitly disclose that the circuit board is a monolayer circuit board. However, providing a monolayer circuit board having an acoustic channel through it was well known.
Leahy discloses a microphone comprising a circuit board [616] including an acoustic channel [603], wherein the circuit board is a monolayer circuit board (the circuit board having the acoustic path comprises one layer [616]; see Fig. 6). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention, to provide a monolayer circuit board as a circuit board in the microphone of Meng, for the obvious benefit of simplified construction.
As to Claim 2, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 1. Meng further discloses that the acoustic channel [3A] comprises a first sound hole (part of acoustic channel [3A] connected to first cavity [101]; see Fig. 1) connected with the first cavity [3A] (see Fig. 1), a second sound hole [3C] connected with the back cavity [71A] and spaced away from the first sound hole (see Fig. 1), and a sound path [3B] provided in the circuit board [3] and connecting the first sound hole (part of acoustic channel [3A] connected to first cavity [101]) and the second sound hole [3C] (see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 3, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 1. Meng further discloses that the vibration assembly [5] comprises a vibrator [51] opposite to the circuit board [3] and a frame [53] connecting the vibrator [51] and the circuit board [3]; the second cavity [103] is enclosed by the frame [53], the vibrator [51], and the circuit board [3] (col. 3, lines 15-22; see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 4, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 3. Meng further discloses that the vibrator [51] comprises a membrane [511] fixed to the frame [53] and a mass [513] fixed to the membrane [511] (col. 4, lines 52-54; see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 5, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 4. Meng further discloses that the mass [513] is disposed on a surface of the membrane [511] facing the first cavity [101] (although not illustrated, Meng discloses that the weight can be on the side of first cavity [101]; col. 4, lines 57-59).
As to Claim 6, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 4. Meng further discloses that the mass [513] is disposed on a surface of the membrane [511] facing the second cavity [103] (col. 4, lines 55-57; see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 7, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 1. Meng does further discloses an ASIC chip [9] electrically connected with the MEMS chip [7]; the ASIC chip is located in the second cavity [103] and mounted on the circuit board [3] (col. 5, lines 3-8; see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 8, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 1. Meng does further discloses that the MEMS chip [7] comprises a substrate [71] fixed to the circuit board [3] and a capacitance system [73] mounted on a side of the substrate [71] away from the circuit board [3]; a back cavity [71A] is provided on the substrate [71] (col. 3, lines 25-27); the capacitance system comprises a diaphragm [731] and a back plate [733] arranged on a side of the diaphragm [731] away from the back cavity [71A] (col. 3, lines 27-30); a plurality of sound holes is provided on the back plate [733] penetrating thereon along a vibration direction of the diaphragm [731] (see Fig. 1).
As to Claim 9, Meng and Leahy remain as applied above to Claim 1. Meng does further discloses that the housing [1] is made of metal capable of electromagnetic shielding (col. 4, lines 11-17).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ryan Robinson whose telephone number is (571) 270-3956. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Fan Tsang, can be reached on (571) 272-7547. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/RYAN ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694