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
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 9, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Larson et al., U.S. Patent No. 7,657,052, patented on February 2, 2010 (Larson).
As to Claim 9, Larson discloses a sensor device, comprising: a sensor housing [24], which includes i. a circuit carrier [24d] (col. 8, lines 10-11) including a microphone sensor [24c] (col. 8, lines 8-10), ii. a cover (portion of [24b] attached to [24h]), and iii. a housing body (other portion of [24b]), which has an internal space (see Fig. 3A), the circuit carrier [24d] being arranged in the internal space (see Fig. 3A); and at least one elastic outer damper [25] (the elastic outer damper [25] is a rubber grommet that provides vibration dampening; col. 8, lines 23-38) arranged on an outer side of the sensor housing [24b] on the cover and/or the housing body (see Figs. 3A and 4).
As to Claim 13, Larson discloses a vehicle (col. 7, lines 41-45), comprising: a sensor device including: a sensor housing [24], which includes i. a circuit carrier [24d] (col. 8, lines 10-11) including a microphone sensor [24c] (col. 8, lines 8-10), ii. a cover (portion of [24b] attached to [24h]), and iii. a housing body (other portion of [24b]), which has an internal space (see Fig. 3A), the circuit carrier [24d] being arranged in the internal space (see Fig. 3A); and at least one elastic outer damper [25] (the elastic outer damper [25] is a rubber grommet that provides vibration dampening; col. 8, lines 23-38) arranged on an outer side of the sensor housing [24b] on the cover and/or the housing body (see Figs. 3A and 4).
As to Claim 16, Larson discloses a mounting method for mounting a sensor device to a component [10] of a vehicle (col. 7, lines 41-45), comprising the following step: arranging a sensor device (Fig. 3A) on the component [10] of the vehicle (col. 7, lines 41-45), the sensor device including: a sensor housing [24], which includes i. a circuit carrier [24d] (col. 8, lines 10-11) including a microphone sensor [24c] (col. 8, lines 8-10), ii. a cover (portion of [24b] attached to [24h]), and iii. a housing body (other portion of [24b]), which has an internal space (see Fig. 3A), the circuit carrier [24d] being arranged in the internal space (see Fig. 3A); and at least one elastic outer damper [25] (the elastic outer damper [25] is a rubber grommet that provides vibration dampening; col. 8, lines 23-38) arranged on an outer side of the sensor housing [24b] on the cover and/or the housing body (see Figs. 3A and 4), wherein the elastic outer damper [25] directly contacts the component and a pretension of the elastic outer damper is generated (the damper is compressed when it comes into contact with a casing of the component [10] to retain the sensor housing in position; col. 8, lines 28-38).
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gore et al., U.S. Patent No. 4,620,605, patented on November 4, 1986 (Gore), in view of Wu et al., U.S. Publication No. 2010/0290644, published on November 18, 2010 (Wu).
As to Claim 9, Gore discloses (in Fig. 3) a sensor device, comprising: a sensor housing [16] (the sensor [16] is a microphone; col. 3, line 42; note that the numbered components described in Figs. 1-2 apply to Figs. 3-4; col. 4, lines 18-20), which includes a housing body [16] (the housing comprises an entire body; see Fig. 3); and at least one elastic outer damper [50] (damper [50] comprises a suspension of soft rubber or other similar resilient material; col. 2, lines 10-12) arranged on an outer side of the sensor housing [16] on the cover and/or the housing body [16] (the damper [50] surrounds the housing body [16]; col. 2, lines 14-17; see Fig. 3). Gore does not explicitly disclose that the sensor housing includes i. a circuit carrier including a microphone sensor, ii. a cover, and the housing body having an internal space, the circuit carrier being arranged in the internal space. Gore does not go into detail regarding the particulars of the sensor housing. However, sensor housings having a built-in circuit carrier and a cover were well known in the art of acoustic sensors.
Wu discloses (in Fig. 1) a sensor housing [10] which includes i. a circuit carrier [11] (para. 0011, lines 3-4) including a microphone sensor [15] (para. 0011, lines 6-7), ii. a cover [22], and iii. a housing body [18], which has an internal space (see Fig. 1), the circuit carrier [11] being arranged in the internal space (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would 35have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention, to use Wu’s design for the microphone sensor with housing in the sensor device of Gore, as a known technique for constructing a microphone element.
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rothkopf et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,515113, patented on August 20, 2013 (Rothkopf), in view of Wu et al., U.S. Publication No. 2010/0290644, published on November 18, 2010 (Wu).
As to Claim 14, Rothkopf discloses a method of producing a sensor device (Fig. 5), the sensor device including a sensor housing [106] (the sensor [106] is a microphone; col. 5, lines 23-24), which includes a housing body [106] (the housing comprises an entire body; see Fig. 1A); the method comprising the following step; injection molding an elastomer for forming an elastic outer damper [102] (damper [102] is formed of a silicone plastic; col. 10, lines 34-37; the damper is formed by injection molding; col. 38-50) on an outer side of the sensor housing [106] of the sensor device (see Fig. 3A). Rothkopf does not explicitly disclose that the sensor housing includes i. a circuit carrier including a microphone sensor, ii. a cover, and the housing body having an internal space, the circuit carrier being arranged in the internal space. Rothkopf does not go into detail regarding the particulars of the sensor housing. However, sensor housings having a built-in circuit carrier and a cover were well known in the art of acoustic sensors.
Wu discloses (in Fig. 1) a sensor housing [10] which includes i. a circuit carrier [11] (para. 0011, lines 3-4) including a microphone sensor [15] (para. 0011, lines 6-7), ii. a cover [22], and iii. a housing body [18], which has an internal space (see Fig. 1), the circuit carrier [11] being arranged in the internal space (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention, to use Wu’s design for the microphone sensor with housing in the sensor device of Rothkopf, as a known technique for constructing a microphone element.
As to Claim 15, Rothkopf and Wu remain as applied above to Claim 14. Rothkopf further discloses that when injection molding the elastomer (a center portion [206] of the damper; col. 10, lines 7-10; comprises a silicone plastic; col. 10, lines 34-37), at least one hold-down and/or a sealing element [204] is formed in addition to the outer damper [200] ([204] is an element for sealing integrity; col. 10, lines 21-23), wherein the outer damper [200] and the hold-down and/or the sealing element [204] are formed in one piece (different materials are injection molded to form a single structure; col. 10, lines 38-50).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 10 recites the unique features of an elastic hold-down arranged on the cover and/or the housing body, wherein the hold-down is configured to generate a holding force on the circuit carrier so that the circuit carrier is fixed in the internal space of the housing body, wherein the elastic outer damper and the elastic hold-down are integral. Claim 11 recites the unique features of at least one sealing element configured to seal a sound channel of the microphone sensor toward the internal space of the housing body, and the outer damper and the sealing element are integral. Claim 12 recites the unique features of the outer side of the sensor housing in a region of a passage of the cover and/or in a region of a passage of the housing body, has an enlarged surface area and/or undercuts in or at the passage of the cover and/or the passage of the housing body. The closest prior art does not disclose or suggest such features.
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