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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant is advised that the new art unit number is 2692. Please use the new art unit number for all future communications.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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(s) 1, 4, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN 206524970 using an English machine translation) in view of Horibe et al. (US 2012/0328142) in view of Lim et al. (US 2019/0145806) in view of Wei et al. (CN 110753293 using an English machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang discloses a directional microphone module, comprising:
a housing (1),
a circuit board (2), disposed in the containing space (the upper surface of 2 is in the containing space 10) and fixed to the housing (see Fig. 2); and
a MEMS microphone (3), disposed in the containing space and fixed to the circuit board (see Fig. 2),
wherein the housing comprises a top wall (top of 1)
Additionally, Horibe discloses that a printed circuit board (Fig. 3: 2) (¶ 0208) having a winding passageway (6, 11, 7) can be created using three layers of circuit boards stacked on each other (see Figs. 3 and 4, and ¶ 0129).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to create the circuit board (2 of Zhang) using three layers of circuit boards stacked on each other, as taught by Horibe,
in which case:
the claimed “circuit board” can be the top layer of the three layers of circuit boards of element 2;
the claimed “housing” can be element 1 of Zhang in combination with the lower two layers of circuit boards of element 2;
the claimed “containing space” can be 10, 5, and 6 of Zhang.
the motivation being to accomplish the formation of the acoustic path (5 and 6) of Zhang (Horibe - ¶ 0129).
Zhang-Horibe is not relied upon to disclose a sound-permeable mesh;
a housing, engaged with the sound-permeable mesh for forming a containing space;
wherein
the housing comprises a top wall spaced apart from the sound-permeable mesh and a side wall extending from the top wall and fixed to the sound-permeable mesh,
the circuit board is arranged between the top wall and the sound-permeable mesh,
the circuit board and the sound-permeable mesh are spaced for forming a second cavity.
In a similar field of endeavor, Lim discloses a sound permeable mesh (134) to cover an acoustic port (132) that leads to a MEMS microphone (102) (Fig. 1) to prevent contaminants, such as solid particles and liquids outside of the device, from entering through the acoustic port (¶ 0021, 0020).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure a sound-permeable mesh to cover the acoustic port (20 of Zhang) that leads to the MEMS microphone (3 of Zhang),
which would result in: a sound-permeable mesh (134 of Lim);
a housing (1 and lower two layers of 2 of Zhang), engaged with the sound-permeable mesh (bottom layer of 2, which is part of the housing, engages with 134) for forming a containing space (since 20 of Zhang is part of containing space, and 134 of Lim is below 20, 134 contributes to forming the containing space);
wherein
the housing comprises a top wall (top of 1 of Zhang) spaced apart from the sound-permeable mesh and a side wall (Figs. 1 and 2: vertical walls of 1 of Zhang) extending from the top wall and fixed to the sound-permeable mesh (fixed by way of element 2 therebetween),
the circuit board (top layer of 2) is arranged between the top wall and the sound-permeable mesh,
the circuit board and the sound-permeable mesh are spaced for forming a second cavity (5 and 6 of Zhang are between the top layer of 2 and 134 of Lim),
the motivation being to prevent contaminants, such as solid particles and liquids outside of the device, from entering through the acoustic port.
Zhang-Horibe-Lim is not relied upon to disclose the MEMS microphone comprises a first acoustic hole facing the top wall, the first acoustic hole communicates with the first cavity.
In a similar field of endeavor, Wei discloses a MEMS microphone comprises a first acoustic hole (302) facing upwards and a second acoustic hole (401) facing downwards (Figs. 4 and 5).
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 MEMS microphone of Zhang with that of Lim, which would result in:
the MEMS microphone comprises a first acoustic hole (302 of Wei) facing the top wall and a second acoustic hole (401 of Wei) facing the circuit board, the first acoustic hole communicates with the first cavity, the circuit board is provided with a through hole (21 of Zhang) communicating the second acoustic hole and the second cavity (see Fig. 2 of Zhang and Fig. 4 of Wei), the second acoustic hole communicates with the second cavity through the through hole (see Fig. 2 of Zhang and Fig. 4 of Wei),
the motivation being to obtain a stronger anti-pressure ability (Wei - Abstract).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 1, wherein the second acoustic hole (401 in Fig. 4 of Wei) is closer to the another second wall (the right vertical wall in Fig. 2 of Zhang) than the first acoustic hole (which can be the left-most 302 in Fig. 4 of Wei).
The teachings of Wei relied upon above are combinable with Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Regarding claim 8, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 1, wherein the first acoustic hole, the second acoustic hole and the through hole are arranged at an intermediate position between the two first walls (see Fig. 2 of Zhang).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Horibe in view of Lim in view of Wei in view of Wang et al. (CN 215871839 using an English machine translation).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 1, and Zhang discloses having a long axis (Fig. 1: axis parallel to A) and a short axis perpendicular to the long axis, wherein the two first walls (the two longer vertical walls of 1 in Fig. 1) extend along the long axis, the two second walls extend (the two shorter vertical walls of 1 in Fig. 1) along the short axis, in a direction along the long axis (see Fig. 1),
Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei is not relied upon to disclose the circuit board is spaced apart from the one of the two second walls.
In a similar field of endeavor, Wang discloses two cavities (1a1 and 1a2) being in communication via a circuit board (122) being spaced apart from a wall (11) (see Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to create 22 of Zhang via the circuit board (top layer of 2 of Zhang) being spaced apart from the wall (left wall of 1 in Fig. 1 of Zhang), which would result in: the circuit board is spaced apart from the one of the two second walls, the motivation being to perform the simple substitution of one way of forming a communication between two cavities defined by a circuit board therebetween for another, to obtain predictable results of a communication between two cavities defined by a circuit board therebetween. See MPEP § 2143(B).
Claim(s) 6, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Horibe in view of Lim in view of Wei in view of Tanaka et al. (US 2011/0158450).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 1, wherein the first acoustic hole (302 of Wei), the second acoustic hole (401 of Wei)
The teachings of Wei relied upon above are combinable with Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei is not relied upon to disclose that the through hole (21 of Zhang) is a circular hole.
In a similar field of endeavor, Tanaka discloses that the through hole (11 in Fig. 4) can be circular or rectangular (¶ 0080).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to try either a circular or rectangular shape for the through hole 21 of Zhang, and note that the former would result in: the through hole is a circular hole, the motivation being to choose from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success, to address the issue of what shape the through hole can be. See MPEP § 2143(E).
Regarding claim 7, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei-Tanaka discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 6, wherein a hole diameter of the through hole (21 of Zhang) is larger than a hole diameter of the second acoustic hole (401 of Wei) (see Fig. 2 of Zhang and Fig. 4 of Wei).
The teachings of Wei relied upon above are combinable with Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Horibe in view of Lim in view of Wei in view of Park et al. (WO 2007/123300).
Regarding claim 9, Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei discloses the directional microphone module as described in claim 1, wherein the MEMS microphone is fixed to the circuit board (see Fig. 2 of Zhang)
Zhang-Horibe-Lim-Wei is not relied upon to disclose wherein the MEMS microphone is fixed to the circuit board by using surface mounting technology.
In a similar field of endeavor, Park discloses wherein the MEMS microphone is fixed to the circuit board by using wire bonding or surface mounting technology (¶ 0046).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to try either wire bonding or surface mounting technology to fix the MEMS microphone to the circuit board, and note that the latter would result in: wherein the MEMS microphone is fixed to the circuit board by using surface mounting technology, the motivation being to choose from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success, to address the issue of how to fix the MEMS microphone to the circuit board. See MPEP § 2143(E).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5 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:
In regard to claim 3, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the top wall, the circuit board and the sound-permeable mesh are parallel to each other, a spaced distance between the circuit board and the top wall is equal to a spaced distance between the circuit board and the sound-permeable mesh.”
In regard to claim 5, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the housing is provided with a step part extending from the top wall toward the sound-permeable mesh and only along the two first walls and the another second wall, the circuit board is fixed to the step part.”
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wang et al. (CN 101296531) teaches a circuit board (13) separating two cavities (61 and 62), a MEMS microphone (41) in one cavity (61), and a hole (15) communicating the two cavities (Fig. 1)
Conclusion
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/MARK FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692