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 § 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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda et al. (“Ueda”; US 2012/0169153), in view of Umehara (“Umehara 252”; US 2014/0202252).
Regarding claim 1: Ueda discloses a vibration module (Fig. 3), comprising:
a movable unit including a base plate (8), a magnet (5), and a back yoke (6, Fig. 2);
a stationary unit including a frame (1, 9), a substrate (2), a coil (3); and
an elastic member (7) between the movable unit and the stationary unit (Fig. 2 and 3),
wherein the movable unit, the stationary unit, and the elastic member are arranged in a first arrangement direction (vertically, Fig. 3),
the frame in the stationary unit has a first surface (1) at one side of the frame in the first arrangement direction and attached to the movable unit with the elastic member (7), and the frame has a second surface (9) at the other side of the frame in the first arrangement direction and attachable to a vibration body supported by a support (shown by arrows in annotated Fig. 2 below, sides leading upwards from the bottom detachable from the vibration body by the elastic member 7);
the movable unit is movable relative to the stationary unit in a direction intersecting with the first arrangement direction (paragraph 0016, there is expansion and contraction between the inner ring 103 and outer ring 101, Fig. 4, which a radial direction that intersects the vertical direction).
Ueda does not explicitly disclose the stationary unit includes an insulator.
However, Umehara 252 discloses the stationary unit includes an insulator (paragraph 0050).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the stationary unit of Ueda to have the insulator of Umehara 252 in order to ensure the outside of the module is insulated.
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Regarding claim 2: Ueda discloses wherein the base plate (8) has a surface facing the first surface of the frame (up), and
the surface of the base plate has a recess accommodating the elastic member (shown by the notch in 8 in Fig. 3 right below the elastic member 7).
Regarding claim 4: Ueda discloses the second surface of the frame and the vibration body, but does not explicitly disclose an attachment member to be located between the second surface of the frame and the vibration body to attach the frame to the vibration body, wherein the second surface of the frame includes a protrusion protruding toward the vibration body, and the attachment member has an opening accommodating the protrusion.
However, Umehara 252 discloses an attachment member (21, Fig. 2) to be located between the second surface of the frame (akin to 30) and the vibration body to attach the frame to the vibration body (80),
wherein the second surface of the frame includes a protrusion protruding toward the vibration body (33a-d), and the attachment member has an opening accommodating the protrusion (23a-d).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the module of Ueda to include the attachment member of Umehara 252 in order to ensure the device components are securely attached to one another.
Regarding claim 5: Ueda discloses the base plate and the back yoke, but does not explicitly disclose the base plate includes an attachment protrusion protruding toward the back yoke, and the attachment protrusion is placed in a through-hole in the back yoke.
However, Umehara 252 discloses the base plate includes an attachment protrusion protruding toward the back yoke (into holes 371a-b, not shown in FIG. 12, paragraph 0113), and
the attachment protrusion is placed in a through-hole (371a-b) in the back yoke (370).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the yoke of Ueda to have the through-holes of Umehara 252 in order to ensure a secure connection.
Regarding claim 8: Ueda discloses the frame has a surface being plate-like (flat portion, either bottom of 9 or 1) and a side surface extending in the first arrangement direction (see arrows in annotated 2 above), and
the side surface has one end face connecting to the surface of the frame (as shown in Fig. 2).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda and Umehara 252 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. (“Zhang”; US 2020/0044527).
Regarding claim 3: Ueda discloses the base plate and the frame, and the magnet, the coil, and the elastic member, but does not explicitly disclose a protector between the base plate and the frame, the protector being frame-like and extending along a periphery of the base plate, wherein the magnet, the coil, and the elastic member are located inward from the protector.
However, Zhang discloses a protector (150) between the base plate (112) and the frame (111), the protector being frame-like and extending along a periphery of the base plate (Fig. 1),
wherein the magnet (131), the coil (120), and the elastic member (140) are located inward from the protector (as shown in Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the module of Ueda to include the protector of Zhang in order to better protect the components from colliding (paragraph 0020).
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda and Umehara 252 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Umehara et al. (“Umehara 401”; US 2017/0104401).
Regarding claim 6: Ueda discloses the magnet and a plurality of the coils are arranged in a second arrangement direction (horizontal or radial direction, shown in Fig. 2) intersecting with the first arrangement direction (vertical direction), and
the movable unit moves relative to the stationary unit in the second arrangement direction (paragraph 0016, there is expansion and contraction between the inner ring 103 and outer ring 101, Fig. 4, which a radial direction that intersects the vertical direction)
Ueda discloses a magnet but does not explicitly disclose a plurality of the magnets.
However, Umehara 401 discloses a plurality of magnets (paragraph 0086).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the magnet of Ueda to be the plurality of magnets of Umehara 401 in order to increase the current generating capability.
Regarding claim 7: Ueda discloses the base plate (8), but does not explicitly disclose the base plate has a surface facing the first surface of the frame, the surface of the base plate has a plurality of reception holes each accommodating a corresponding magnet of the plurality of magnets, and the plurality of reception holes are arranged in the second arrangement direction.
However, Umehara 401 discloses the base plate (81, Fig. 4) has a surface facing the first surface of the frame (upward in the z direction shown in Fig. 4), the surface of the base plate has a plurality of reception holes each accommodating a corresponding magnet of the plurality of magnets (shown best in Fig. 10, magnet 60 is flush in the hole in 81), and
the plurality of reception holes are arranged in the second arrangement direction (as the plurality of magnets, paragraph 0086, would be arranged in the x or y direction).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the base plate and magnet of Ueda to be the plurality of magnets of Umehara 401 in order to increase the current generating capability.
Conclusion
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/SEAN GUGGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834