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 .
1. This communication in response to application filed 06/17/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. Claim(s) 1-12, 14 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Kakinuma et al. (JP H10-108297 using an English machine translation) in view of Tokuhisa et al. (US 2016/0183006 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kakinuma teaches a sound apparatus, comprising:
a sound generating module (reads on element 7, see abstract); and
an enclosure (reads on case 19B, see [0039]) at the sound generating module with an internal space therebetween (see Fig. 6), wherein the sound generating module (reads on element 7, see abstract) comprises:
a vibration member (reads on diaphragm 5, see abstract); and
a vibration apparatus (reads on element 1, see [0005]-[0006]) configured at the vibration member (see Fig. 6).
Kakinuma does not specifically teach a vibration member comprises at least “one or more holes”.
However, Tokuhisa discloses wherein the vibration member (321) comprises at least one or more holes (reads on first hole 35 and second hole 36, as shown in Fig. 1 and [0121]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the feature of having vibration member comprises one or more holes, as taught by Tokuhisa, into the teaching of Kakinuma in order to have the sound waves generated are released in a favorable manner from the sound path (see Tokuhisa [0137]).
Claim 2 recites “wherein the vibration apparatus comprises a long side and a short side, and wherein a distance between the vibration apparatus and the at least one or more holes is 60% or less of a length of the short side of the vibration apparatus”. Note that Kakinuma and Tokuhisa may not specifically teach the limitation of claim 2, however, this structure is a considered a design choice that is not limiting in any way, and can be set as deemed appropriate according to need and desire.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the at least one or more holes have a size of approximately 1 mm or more, or wherein the at least one or more holes are configured to pass through the vibration member in a thickness direction of the vibration member (see [0022] of Tokuhisa).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches a coupling member (reads on element 8, see [0009] Kakinuma) between the vibration member (reads on element 5, see [0009] Kakinuma) and the enclosure (reads on element 9B, see [0009] Kakinuma).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the at least one or more holes are disposed closer to the vibration apparatus than the coupling member (Tokuhisa teaches in Fig. 1 that holes are under the edge of vibration apparatus 322, which is closer to 322 than to the portion of 321 near 34).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the enclosure comprises an opening part (reads on element 6, see Kakinuma) connected to the internal space (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the vibration member is spaced apart from the opening part (opening part 6 of Kakinuma is under the center of element 1 of Kakinuma).
Claim 8 recites “wherein the at least one or more holes do not overlap the opening part”. Note that Tokuhisa teaches the vibration member comprises at least one or more holes (reads on first hole 35 and second hole 36, as shown in Fig. 1), since the opening part 6 of Kakinuma is under the center of element 1 of Kakinuma whereas the holes (first hole 35 and second 36 of Tokuhisa) are at the edges of element 1 of Kakinuma), it would have been obvious to provide sound-passing parts through which the sound waves generated in the first space S1 are passed to the second space S2, and as a result, the sound waves generated are released in a favorable manner from the sound path (see Tokuhisa [0137]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the enclosure comprises:
first enclosure including the opening part (element 6 as shown in Fig. 6 of Kakinuma); and
a second enclosure connected to the first enclosure (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma), and
wherein the sound generating module is configured at the internal space between the first enclosure and the second enclosure (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches a first coupling member between the vibration member and the first enclosure (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma); and
a second coupling member between the vibration member and the second enclosure (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the at least one or more holes are disposed closer to the vibration apparatus than to the first coupling member and the second coupling member (Tokuhisa teaches in Fig. 1 that holes are under the edge of vibration apparatus 322, which is closer to 322 than to the portion of 321 near 34).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the internal space is between a first surface of the sound generating module (space between 5b and 9B of Kakinuma) and the first enclosure and is connected to the opening part (reads on element 6 as shown in Fig. 6 of Kakinuma),
wherein the enclosure comprises another space between the second enclosure and a second surface opposite to the first surface of the sound generating module (Fig. 6 of Kakinuma), and
wherein the internal space and the another space are connected (Fig. 6 of Kakinuma) to each other through the at least one or more holes (see hole 35 and/or 36 as shown in Fig.1 of Tokuhisa).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the internal space is between a first surface of the sound generating module and the enclosure and is connected (reads on space between 5b and 9B as shown in Fig. 6 of Kakinuma) to the opening part (element 6, see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma), and wherein the internal space (space between 5b and 9B as shown in Fig. 6 of Kakinuma) is connected to an adjacent space through the at least one or more holes (holes 35 and/or 36 as shown in Fig. 1 of Tokuhisa).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Kakinuma and Tokuhisa teaches wherein the vibration apparatus (reads on element 1 of Kakinuma) comprises one or more vibration generators, and wherein the one or more vibration generator comprise:
a vibration part (reads on element 2, see Kakinuma [0005]);
a first electrode part (reads on element 4 of Kakinuma) at a first surface of the vibration part (see Kakinuma [0008]); and
a second electrode part (reads on element 3 of Kakinuma) at a second surface (see Kakinuma [0008]) different from the first surface of the vibration part (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma).
4. Claim(s) 13, 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakinuma in view of Tokuhisa and further in view of Lee (Pub.No.: 2020/0379508) hereinafter Lee508.
For claim 13, neither Kakinuma nor Tokuhisa alone or in combination specifically teach a connection member connected to the enclosure, wherein the connection member is connected to a periphery of the opening part in the outer surface of the enclosure.
However, Lee508 teaches an enclosure (320) having a structure (see structure of 320 between 321 and 410) that forms a port hole (321), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel (400) via a coupling portion (324) and a coupling member (323) (see Fig. 4 and [0065]).
Thus, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the enclosure (element 9B of Kakinuma) to have said structure of Lee508 at the hole (element 6 of Kakinuma), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel via a coupling portion (element 324 of Lee508) and a coupling member (element 323 of Lee508), to provide a way to couple the sound apparatus of Kakinuma to a panel (see Lee508 Fig. 4 and [0065]).
Note that Lee508 further comprising a connection member ([0065], element 323 that can be double-sided tape, which has 3 layers (i.e. a middle between 2 adhesive layers), and the claimed “connection member” can be e.g., the outermost adhesive layer) connected to the enclosure (320) (Fig. 4),
wherein the enclosure comprises an inner surface (surface of 320 that is above 310) facing the vibration member (of 310) and an outer surface (surface of 320 that contacts 400 and 323) opposite to the inner surface (Fig. 4), and
wherein the connection member (outermost adhesive layer of 323) is connected to a periphery of the opening part in the outer surface (surface of 320 that is between 321 and 410) of the enclosure (Fig. 4).
For claim 15, neither Kakinuma nor Tokuhisa alone or in combination specifically teach a “connection member connected to the enclosure, wherein the connection member is connected to a periphery of the opening part in the outer surface of the enclosure”.
However, Lee508 discloses an enclosure (320) having a structure (see structure of 320 between 321 and 410) that forms a port hole (321), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel (400) via a coupling portion (324) and a coupling member (323) (see Fig. 4 and [0065]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the enclosure (element 9B of Kakinuma) to have said structure of Lee508 at the hole (element 6 of Kakinuma), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel via a coupling portion (element 324 of Lee508) and a coupling member (element 323 of Lee508), in order to couple the sound apparatus of Kakinuma to a panel (Lee508 - Fig. 4 and [0065]).
Note that Lee508 further teaches a soft member (323) connected to the enclosure (320) (Fig. 4) ([0065], element 323 “may be made of a material having elasticity to be compressed at a certain level” which indicates softness),
wherein the enclosure (320) comprises an inner surface (surface of 320 that is above 310) facing the vibration member of 9310) and an outer surface (surface of 320 that contacts 400 and 323) opposite to the inner surface, and
wherein the soft member (323) is connected to a periphery of the opening part in the outer surface (surface of 320 that is between 321 and 410) of the enclosure (Fig. 4).
Claim 16 recites “a coupling part (in Lee508, 324 in combination with the vertical portion of 320 that is located between 321 and 410) configured to couple the enclosure to a mount object with the enclosure mounted (element 400 in Lee508) thereon, wherein the coupling part comprises a hollow part (321 in Lee508) connected to the internal space through the opening part of the enclosure (see Fig. 4 and [0065])”.
Claim 17 recites “wherein the coupling part comprises a hook member (reads on element 324 in Lee508) coupled to an inner surface of the enclosure in the internal space (see Fig. 4 in Lee508), and wherein the coupling part is accommodated into the opening part and a hole of the mount object (in Lee508 and Fig. 4, the opening part (i.e. portion of 320 that surround the vertical portion of 320)).
Claim 18 recites “wherein the enclosure further comprises: an inner surface facing the vibration member and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface; and a protrusion part (reads on element 323 which can be double-sided tape that has 3 layers (i.e. a middle between 2 adhesive layers, see [0065]. Note that “protrusion part” can be e.g., the middle layer) protruding from the outer surface of the enclosure to surround the opening part (see Fig. 4 of Lee508).
Claim 19 recites “wherein the coupling part (reads on 324 in combination with the vertical portion of 320 that is located between 321 and 410, see Lee508) comprises a hook member (element 324 in Lee508) coupled to the inner surface of the enclosure in the internal space (Fig. 4 of Lee508), wherein the protrusion part comprises a hollow hole (reads on middle layer of 323 circularly surrounds 312 thus defining a hollow hole, see Lee508) connected to the opening part (see Fig.4 of Lee508), and wherein the coupling part is accommodated into a hole (element 410 of Lee508) of the mount object (element 400 of Lee508), the hollow hole (see discussion above), and the opening part(in Lee508 and Fig. 4, the opening part (i.e. portion of 320 that surround the vertical portion of 320))”.
5. Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakinuma in view Tokuhisa and further in view of Kakegawa (WO 2005/006809 using an English machine translation).
For claim 21, neither Kakinuma nor Tokuhisa alone or in combination specifically teach “wherein the protection member comprises a rubber material, or comprises ethylene propylene diene monomer, ethylene propylene rubber, or urethane rubber”.
However, Kakegawa teaches a housing made of rubber in order to prevent vibration from the vibration apparatus from being transmitted to the outside (page 11, lines 21-27).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the housing (9) of Kakinuma of rubber, as taught by Kakegawa, in order to prevent vibration from the vibration apparatus from being transmitted to the outside (Kakegawa - page 11, lines 21-27).
6. Claim(s) 22-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakinuma in view of Tokuhisa and further in view of Lee (Pub.No.: 2022/0069194 A1).
For claim 22, Kakinuma does not specifically teach “wherein the one or more vibration generators further comprise: a first cover member at the first electrode part; and a second cover member at the second electrode part”.
Lee teaches wherein a vibration apparatus (Fig. 4) comprises one or more vibration generators (reads on 210 and 230 as shown in Fig. 4), and
wherein the one or more vibration generators comprise:
a vibration part (see 211a in Fig. 4) including a piezoelectric material (see [0140]);
a first electrode part (see 211b in Fig. 4) at a first surface of the vibration part (see [0140]); and
a second electrode part (see 211c in Fig. 4) at a second surface (see [0140]) different from the first surface of the vibration part (see Fig. 4),
wherein the one or more vibration generators further comprise:
a first cover member (see 213 in Fig. 4) at the first electrode part (see [0160]-[0161]); and
a second cover member (see 215 in Fig. 4) at the second electrode part (see [0160]-[0161]) (see Fig. 4).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the vibration apparatus (1 of Kakinuma) with the vibration apparatus (Fig. 4), as taught in Lee, in order to perform the simple substitution of one vibration apparatus for vibrating a plate (element 5 of Kakinuma) for another vibration apparatus for vibrating a plate (element 100) (see Fig. 6B and [0092] of Lee) to obtain predictable results of a vibration apparatus to vibrate a plate.
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Kakinuma, Tokuhisa and Lee teaches wherein the one or more vibration generators further comprise a signal supply member (reads on PL1, PL2, 217, and 219 in Lee) electrically connected to the first electrode part and the second electrode part (see Figs. 3-4 and [0172], [0174] and [0180] in Lee), and
wherein a portion (reads on PL1 and PL2 in Lee) of the signal supply member is accommodated between the first cover member and the second cover member (see Fig. 4 of Lee).
For claim 24, neither Kakinuma nor Tokuhisa alone or in combination specifically teach “wherein the vibration apparatus comprises a first vibration generator and a second vibration generator stacked on each other, and wherein each of the first vibration generator and the second vibration generator comprises:
a vibration part including a piezoelectric material;
a first electrode part at a first surface of the vibration part; and
a second electrode part at a second surface different from the first surface of the vibration part”.
However, lee wherein a vibration apparatus (Fig. 4) comprises one or more vibration generators (reads on 210 and 230 as shown in Fig. 4), and
wherein the one or more vibration generators comprise:
a vibration part (see 211a in Fig. 4) including a piezoelectric material (see [0140]);
a first electrode part (see 211b in Fig. 4) at a first surface of the vibration part (see [0140]); and
a second electrode part (see 211c in Fig. 4) at a second surface (see [0140]) different from the first surface of the vibration part (see Fig. 4),
wherein the vibration apparatus comprises a first vibration generator (see 210 in Fig. 4) and a second vibration generator (see 230 in Fig. 4) stacked on each other (see Fig. 4), and
wherein each of the first vibration generator and the second vibration generator comprises:
a vibration part (see 211a in Fig. 4) including a piezoelectric material (see [0140]);
a first electrode part (see 211b in Fig. 4) at a first surface of the vibration part (see [0140]); and
a second electrode part (see 211c in Fig. 4) at a second surface (see [0140]) different from the first surface of the vibration part (see Fig. 4).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the vibration apparatus (element 1 of Kakinuma) with the vibration apparatus (Fig. 4), as taught by Lee, in order to perform the simple replacement of one vibration apparatus for vibrating a plate (element 5 of Kakinuma) for another vibration apparatus for vibrating a plate (element 100) (Fig. 6B and [0092] in Lee) to obtain predictable results of a vibration apparatus to vibrate a plate.
Regarding claim 25 the combination of Kakinuma, Tokuhisa and Lee teaches wherein the vibration apparatus further comprises an intermediate member (reads on element 250 in Fig. 4 of Lee) connected between the first vibration generator and the second vibration generator (see Fig. 4 of Lee), and
wherein the first vibration generator and the second vibration generator are displaced in a same direction (see Lee Fig. 6B and [0195]).
7. Claim(s) 26-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakinuma in view of Ryan (Pub.No.: 2009/0110229 A1).
For claim 26, Kakinuma teaches the sound apparatus of claim 1.
Kakinuma does not teach a vehicular apparatus, comprising:
an interior material exposed at an interior space; and
at least one or more sound generating apparatuses disposed at the interior material to output a sound to the interior space,
wherein the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses comprise the sound apparatus of claim 1.
However, Ryan teaches a vehicular apparatus, comprising:
an interior material exposed at an interior space (surface of automobile trunk); and
at least one or more sound generating apparatuses (speaker) disposed at the interior material to output a sound to the interior space (see [0002]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the speaker of Ryan with the sound generating apparatus of Kakinuma, in order to have a vehicular apparatus, comprising: an interior material exposed at an interior space; and at least one or more sound generating apparatuses disposed at the interior material to output a sound to the interior space, wherein the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses comprise the sound apparatus of claim 1 and to perform the simple substitution of one sound generating apparatus for another to obtain predictable results of an apparatus for generating sound.
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Kakinuma and Ryan teaches wherein the enclosure in the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses comprises an opening part connected to the internal space (see Fig. 6 of Kakinuma), and wherein the interior material comprises an opening hole connected to the opening part (element 6 as shown in Fig. 6 of Kakinuma) of the enclosure in the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses (reads on speaker which is taught by Ryan (see [0002]).
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Kakinuma and Ryan teaches a connection member between the interior material and the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses (reads on multiple coupling points, see [0041] of Ryan).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Kakinuma and Ryan teaches wherein the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses further comprises a coupling member between the vibration member and the enclosure (see Ryan [0041]), and
wherein the connection member comprises a material which differs from a material of the coupling member (see Ryan [0041]).
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Kakinuma and Ryan teaches wherein the connection member comprises an opening hole connected to the opening part of the enclosure in the at least one or more sound generating apparatuses (see Ryan [0026] and Fig. 3).
8. Claim(s) 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakinuma in view of Ryan and further in view of Lee (Pub.No.: 2020/0379508) hereinafter Lee508.
For claim 31, neither Kakinuma nor Ryan alone or in combination specifically teach the limitations of claim 31 as recited.
However, Lee508 teaches a coupling part (324 in combination with the vertical portion of 320 that is located between 321 and 410) configured to couple the enclosure to a mount object (400 in Fig. 4) with the enclosure mounted thereon (see Fig. 4 and [0065]),
wherein the coupling part comprises a hollow part (321 in Fig. 4) connected to the internal space (RS1) through the opening part of the enclosure (Fig. 4).
Note that in Lee058 enclosure (320) having a structure (see structure of 320 between 321 and 410) that forms a port hole (321), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel (400) via a coupling portion (324) and a coupling member (323) (see Fig. 4 and ¶ 0065).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the enclosure (9B of Kakinuma) to have said structure of Lee508 at the hole (6 of Kakinuma), where said structure enables the enclosure to be coupled to a panel via a coupling portion (324 of Lee508) and a coupling member (323 of Lee508), in order to provide a way to couple the sound apparatus of Kakinuma to a panel (see Fig. 4 and [0065] of Lee058).
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rasha S. AL-Aubaidi whose telephone number is (571) 272-7481. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ahmad Matar, can be reached on (571) 272-7488.
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/RASHA S AL AUBAIDI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693