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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EIJI’270 (JP 2020141270).
With respect to claim 1, EIJI’270 teaches an ultrasonic apparatus (Fig.3, item 151) comprising:
a circuit substrate (Fig.1, item 41) on which a ground electrode, which is connected to a ground potential, is formed [an ultrasonic unit (Fig.3, item 151) is inherent disclosed with a circuit substrate on which a ground electrode, which is connected to a ground potential, is formed in order to perform at least one of transmission processing and reception processing of ultrasonic waves and detecting the state of an object];
an ultrasonic device (Fig.5, item 40) that is mounted on a first surface of the circuit substrate (Fig.5, item 41); and
a shield (Fig.5, item 44) that is electrically connected to the ground electrode and that surrounds the ultrasonic device (Fig.5);
wherein the circuit substrate (Fig.5, item 41) has a through hole (Fig.5, item 41A) that penetrates between the first surface and a second surface, which is at an opposite side from the first surface [the substrate (Fig.5, item 41) is considered having front surface and back surface],
the shield has a main body section that is disposed on the first surface of the circuit substrate and that surrounds the ultrasonic device and a leg section that extends from the main body section [The sealing plate 44 is arranged on the −L side of the diaphragm 42. The sealing plate 44 has a plurality of grooves 441 provided so as to accommodate the piezoelectric element 43 on the diaphragm 42. Further, the sealing plate 44 has a plurality of partition walls 442 protruding from the bottom side of the groove 441 to the diaphragm 42 side, and the partition walls 442 are connected between the vibration portions 42A in the diaphragm 42 (page 7 and Fig.5)] and
that passes through the through hole and protrudes from the second surface, and a protruding section is provided on a portion of the leg section that protrudes from the second surface and the protruding section protrudes, when the second surface is viewed in plan view, further outward than the through hole [The sealing plate 44 is arranged on the −L side of the diaphragm 42. The sealing plate 44 has a plurality of grooves 441 provided so as to accommodate the piezoelectric element 43 on the diaphragm 42. Further, the sealing plate 44 has a plurality of partition walls 442 protruding from the bottom side of the groove 441 to the diaphragm 42 side, and the partition walls 442 are connected between the vibration portions 42A in the diaphragm 42 (page 7 and Fig.5)].
With respect to claim 2, which further limits claim 1, EIJI’270 teaches wherein the shield has a contact section that extends from the main body section and that contacts the first surface and the ground electrode is located in a region that, when viewing the first surface of the circuit substrate in plan view, overlaps the contact section [The sealing plate 44 is arranged on the −L side of the diaphragm 42. The sealing plate 44 has a plurality of grooves 441 provided so as to accommodate the piezoelectric element 43 on the diaphragm 42. Further, the sealing plate 44 has a plurality of partition walls 442 protruding from the bottom side of the groove 441 to the diaphragm 42 side, and the partition walls 442 are connected between the vibration portions 42A in the diaphragm 42 (page 7 and Fig.5)].
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EIJI’270 (JP 2020141270), and further in view of Arai’374 (US 2019/0265374).
With respect to claim 3, which further limits claim 1, EIJI’270 does not teach an opening is formed in a region of the main body section that, when viewing the first surface in plan view, overlaps the ultrasonic device.
Arai’374 teach an opening is formed in a region of the main body section that, when viewing the first surface in plan view, overlaps the ultrasonic device (Fig.3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of EIJI’270 according to the teaching of Arai’374 to substitute ultrasonic sensor which having an opening is formed in a region of the main body section when viewing the first surface in plan view because this will allow the paper sheet to be detected more effectively.
Claim objection
Claim 4 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 1 because the prior art of record does not teach “the first through hole and the second through hole are located, when viewing the first surface in plan view, on opposite sides of the ultrasonic device from each other, assuming that the leg section is a first leg section, the shield further includes a second leg section that is different from the first leg section, the second leg section extends from the main body section, passes through the second through hole, and protrudes from the second surface, and a protruding section is provided on a portion of the second leg section that protrudes from the second surface and the protruding section protrudes, when the second surface is viewed in plan view, further outward than the second through hole.” Claim 4 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 5 is objected to as being dependent upon an objected base claim 4 because the prior art of record does not teach “wherein each of the first leg section and the second leg section has an introduction portion on an opposite side from the main body section side and the introduction portion of the first leg section and the introduction portion of the second leg section are inclined in directions that are line symmetrical with each other.” Claim 5 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 6 is objected to as being dependent upon an objected base claim 5 because the prior art of record does not teach “wherein the introduction portion has a tip end section on an opposite side from the main body section side and a width dimension of the tip end section is smaller than a width dimension of a portion between the introduction portion of the first leg section and the second leg section and the main body section.” Claim 6 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUO LONG CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3759. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am - 5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tieu, Benny can be reached on (571) 272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HUO LONG CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682