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, 9 – 10, 15, 17 and 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sako et al. (EP 2662024 A1 – hereafter “Sako”).
As per claim 1, Sako teaches a probe, comprising: a shell (case 7, see para. [0016]);
an ultrasonic transducer unit, disposed in the shell (CMUT chip 1attached at case 7, see para. [0016]) and comprising:
a substrate (semiconductor substrate 15, see para. [0016]);
a vibrating membrane, disposed on the substrate and forming a cavity with the substrate and forming a cavity with the substrate (membrane 18 closing an opening of a recess in insulating layer 17, forming vacuum/gas-filled gap 19, see para. [0017]);
and an anti-resonance structure, disposed on one side of the substrate facing away from the vibrating membrane (backing layer 5 provided on the rear face side of the semiconductor substrate, see para. [0016], [0019]) and comprising: a hard layer (first backing layer 27, see para. [0020]);
and a glue layer, connected to the hard layer, wherein a density of the glue layer is different from a density of the hard layer (adhesive layer 25 connecting backing layer 27 to substrate 15, see para. [0019]; the adhesive layer’s composition inherently differs in density from the backing layer 27 composite, which is formed of resin with carbon fiber or glass fiber filler, see para. [0036] – [0037]);
and at least one circuit board, electrically coupled to the ultrasonic transducer unit (flexible substrate 11 connected to the CMUT chip via metal wire 9, see para. [0016]).
.
As per claim 9, Sako further teaches wherein the ultrasonic transducer unit further comprises: an acoustic lens, wherein the vibrating membrane has an ultrasonic emission side facing away from the substrate, and the acoustic lens is disposed on the ultrasonic emission side of the vibrating membrane and overlaps the vibrating membrane (acoustic lens 3 provided on the front face side of the CMUT cells, see para. [0016]; the acoustic lens focuses ultrasound irradiated from the CMUT chip and is attached to the front face side of the CMUT chip, see para. [0018]).
As per claim 10, Sako further teaches the probe according to claim 1, wherein the hard layer has a plane facing away from the substrate, the glue layer is connected to the plane of the hard layer, and a material of the glue layer comprises a mixture of epoxy and tungsten (second backing layer 29 provided on the rear face side of the first backing layer 29 is formed of a mixed material of epoxy resin and tungsten, see para. [0046]).
As per claim 15, Baumgartner teaches a method of fabricating an ultrasonic transducer unit, comprising:
forming a vibrating membrane on one side of a substrate (membrane 18 patterned on semiconductor substrate 15 by lithography technique, see para. [0017]);
forming a cavity between the substrate and the vibrating membrane (vacuum/gas-filled gap 19 formed by the membrane 18 closing the recess opening, see para. [0017]);
forming an anti-resonance structure on other side of the substrate facing away from the vibrating membrane (backing layer 5 provided on the rear face side of the CMUT chip, see para. [0019]),
wherein forming the anti-resonance structure comprises forming a hard layer and a glue layer connected to each other and having different densities (backing layer 27 bonded to the semiconductor substrate via substrate via adhesive layer 25, see para. [0019], [0038]).
As per claim 17, Sako further teaches the method of fabricating the ultrasonic transducer unit according to claim 15, wherein the hard layer is formed before the glue layer is formed (the first backing layer 27 is formed by injection molding a mixture of 6-Nylon and carbon fiber into a mold, see para. [0037], prior to being bonded to the semiconductor substrate via the adhesive layer 25, see para. [0038]).
As per claim 19, Sako further teaches the method of fabricating the ultrasonic transducer unit according to claim 15, further comprising: forming an acoustic lens on one side of the vibrating membrane facing away from the substrate (acoustic lens 3 attached to the front face side of the CMUT chip 1, see para. [0016], [0018]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 8, 11 – 14 and 16 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.
Conclusion
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/MANUEL SALVADOR CASTELLON JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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