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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on November 24, 2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
In the amendment filed November 24, 2025, newly claims 25-26,28-36 were added. However, the numbering of the newly added claims are not chronologically numbered (e.g. claim 27 is missing). Hence, newly added claims 25-26,28-36 will be renumbered as 25-35, respectively. Claims 1, 7-8, 11-13, 16, 19-20 and 25-35 are presently pending.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on November 24, 2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent 11,982,524 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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.
Claims 1, 7-8, 11-13, 16, 19-20, 25-26 and 28-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2018/0248105 (Van Den Ende et al.).
With regards to claim 1, Van Den Ende et al. discloses an actuator and sensor device comprising, as illustrated in Figures 1-9, a deformation amount detection device 22 (e.g. an EAP actuator structure; paragraph [0042]) comprising an input portion 62 (e.g. ingoing terminal on left portion of structure 22 in Figure 4; paragraph [0060]) that includes a first deformation portion (e.g. an area of the left-side of structure 22 in Figure 4) and a first electrode 12 (e.g. top electrode; paragraphs [0003]; [0013] indicates separate electrodes for actuation signal and sensing signal) disposed; an output portion 60 (e.g. outgoing terminal on right portion of structure 22 in Figure 4; paragraph [0058]) including a second deformation portion (e.g. an area of the right-side of structure 22 in Figure 4) and a second electrode 12 (e.g. top electrode; paragraphs [0003]; [0013] indicates separate electrodes for actuation signal and sensing signal) disposed; a transmission portion (e.g. central portion of structure 22 in Figure 4) disposed between the input portion and the output portion such that the transmission portion comprising a flexibility to be deformed and being configured to transmit an elastic wave from the first deformation portion to the second deformation portion (e.g. paragraphs [0003],[0046],[0048]); a detection unit 52 (e.g. processing element; paragraph [0058]); the input portion further includes a third electrode 10 (e.g. bottom electrode; paragraphs [0003]; [0013] indicates separate electrodes for actuation signal and sensing signal) and the output portion further includes a fourth electrode 10 (e.g. bottom electrode; paragraphs [0003]; [0013] indicates separate electrodes for actuation signal and sensing signal); the first deformation portion is configured to be deformed in response to an input signal 44,50 (e.g. actuator control element along with driver element; paragraph [0058]) applied to the first electrode and to generate the elastic wave; the second deformation portion is configured to be deformed by the elastic wave and to generate an output signal (e.g. electrical properties of the sensor signal after passage across the actuator; paragraph [0058]) to the second electrode; the first deformation portion, the second deformation portion and the transmission portion share a piezoelectric film 14 (e.g. electroactive polymer material like piezoelectric; paragraphs [0025],[0088],[0092]); the first electrode and the third electrode face each other in an up-down direction with the piezoelectric film sandwiched therebetween (e.g. observed in Figures 1-2); the second electrode and the fourth electrode face each other in the up-down direction with the piezoelectric film sandwiched therebetween (e.g. observed in Figures 1-2). (See, paragraphs [0040] to [0116]).
With regards to claim 7, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the first electrode 12, the second electrode 12, the third electrode 10 and the fourth electrode 10 are each planar conductor layers having a rectangular shape in a plan view thereof (e.g. observed in Figures 1-2).
With regards to claim 8, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the first deformation portion, the second deformation portion, and the transmission portion are formed as a single film (e.g. observed in Figure 4).
With regards to claim 11, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the first deformation portion is configured to be deformed in response to the input signal as having a periodically changing voltage such that the first deformation portion repeatedly stretches and compresses in a left-right direction. (See, paragraphs [0048],[0062],[0046],[0104],[0003]; observed in Figures 1-3)
With regards to claim 12, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the second deformation portion is configured to be deformed in response to the elastic wave such that the second deformation portion repeatedly stretches and compresses in the left-right direction when the elastic wave is transmitted by the transmission portion. (See, paragraphs [0048],[0062],[0046], [0104],[0003]; observed in Figures 1-3)
With regards to claims 13, 16, 19, 20 and 34, the claims are commensurate in scope with the above claims 1,7,11,12,26,28 and are rejected for the same reasons as set forth above.
With regards to claim 25, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the detection unit 52 is configured to detect a stretching amount of the transmission portion based on an electrical parameter included in the output signal from the output portion and a reference state of the transmission portion (e.g. paragraphs [0023],[0027],[0058],[0065]).
With regards to claim 26, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the detection unit 52 is configured to detect the stretching amount in one of: (1) a left-right uniaxial stretching direction of the transmission portion relative to the input portion and the output portion, or (ii) a front-back uniaxial stretching direction of the transmission portion relative to the input portion and the output portion. (See, paragraphs [0048],[0062],[0046],[0104],[0003]; observed in Figures 1-3).
With regards to claim 28, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the electrical parameter comprises at least one of a resonance frequency, a Q factor, and an amplitude of the output signal (e.g. paragraphs [0021],[0023],[0049],[0050],[0011]).
With regards to claim 29, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the input signal comprises a voltage that periodically changes (e.g. paragraphs [0027],[0028],[0048]).
With regards to claim 30, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses at least one of the resonance frequency, the Q factor, and the amplitude are based on frequency characteristics of 100 kHz or less (e.g. paragraphs [0021],[0023],[0049],[0050],[0011],[0056]).
With regards to claim 31, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses at least one of the resonance frequency, the Q factor, and the amplitude are based on frequency characteristics between 13kHz and 20kHz (e.g. paragraphs [0021],[0023],[0049],[0050],[0011],[0056]).
With regards to claim 32, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the piezoelectric film comprises one of chiral polymer or polyvinylidene fluoride (e.g. polyvinylidene fluoride; paragraphs [0093],[0094],[0025],[0087],[0088],[0092]).
With regards to claim 33, Van Den Ende et al. further discloses the first electrode, the second electrode, the third electrode and the fourth electrode are each planar conductor layers having a shape formed as a substantially continuous conductive surface within an internal region (e.g. inside region of housing 42 in Figure 3; paragraph [0057]) enclosed by an outer periphery line (e.g. walls of the housing 42 in Figure 3) in a plan view thereof. (See, observed in Figure 3).
With regards to claim 35, the claim is commensurate in scope with the above claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons as set forth above.
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.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2018/0248105 (Van Den Ende et al.) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0075226 (Andoh).
With regards to claim 27, Van Den Ende et al. does not disclose the detection unit is configured to detect an angle Θ of the transmission portion.
Andoh discloses a touch panel, as illustrated in Figures 1-19, a touch panel 1; upper electrodes 3a-3d; lower electrode 4; a deformation piezoelectric portion 2a positioned between the upper and lower electrodes; a detection unit 101 (e.g. processor) stores (e.g. by storage unit 104; Figure 9) a table (e.g. paragraphs [0067]; Table 3) indicating a relationship between an electrical parameter (e.g. mV) of an output signal and an angle Θ that is a deformation amount of the transmission portion (e.g. paragraphs [0074],[0075]); the detection unit 101 is configured to determine (e.g. by detection unit 102 and computation unit 103; Figure 9) the angle Θ as the deformation amount from the reference state of the transmission portion based on the output signal and the table such that the angle Θ indicating a positional relationship between a member (e.g. electrode) connected to the input and a member (e.g. electrode) connected to the output (e.g. paragraphs [0069],[0070],[0071]; Table 4; Figure 7). (See, paragraphs [0045] to [0102]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have readily recognize the advantages and desirability of employing the detection unit is configured to detect an angle Θ of the transmission portion as suggested by Andoh to the system of Van Den Ende et al. to have the ability to provide position information based on detected voltage patterns compared to stored detected voltage pattens. (See, paragraphs [0023],[0024],[0102] of Andoh).
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 7-8, 11-13, 16, 19-20 and 25-35 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection and/or because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/HELEN C KWOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855