DETAILED ACTION
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon.
As to claim 1, Congdon discloses a method for capturing directional sound using structural vibration sensing elements, the method comprising the steps of:
affixing one or more structural vibration sensing elements (See Fig. 4, 22, 24, 26, 28) to an elastic base surface (12, 12b; col. 7, lines 15-col. 8, lines 15; “Vibrations in the vibratile plate 12, resulting from sound waves in the transmission medium”, “the vibratile plate 12 is capable of responding to sound wave travel in the coupled transmission medium”);
detecting vibrations in the elastic base surface that are sensed by a structural vibration sensing element, wherein said vibrations are caused by acoustic pressure waves impacting upon said elastic base surface (col. 2, lines 25-47);
measuring a vibration signal from the vibrations in said base surface in response to the acoustic pressure waves that are impacting upon said elastic base surface (col. 7, lines 15-57, “The four individual electrodes 22, 24, 26, 28 are symmetrically positioned on the surface of the piezoelectric disc 12b to provide each one of the four piezoelectric transducer elements so formed, in a different one of four quadrants of the piezoelectric disc 12b and vibratile plate 12. The transducer output signals are thus indicative of the vibrations in each one of the four quadrants.”);
inferring from the vibration signal in said elastic base surface the incident angle of the acoustic pressure waves at the point of impact on said elastic base surface, wherein inferences of the incident angle of the acoustic pressure waves are drawn based on vibration features extracted from the vibration signal that provide information on the relative modal excitations of the elastic base surface by the vibrations (col. 1, lines 20-37, “the signal outputs of the individual hydrophone transducers are combined to provide output signals bearing a sine and/or cosine like function of the angle of incidence of the incident sound waves, as is well-known to those skilled in the art. The combined signal output is a function of transducer spacing as well as the angle of incidence”; col. 3, lines 7-27, “In operation, one surface of the vibratile plate or disc is coupled to the water sound transmission medium for responding to wave front travel in the medium including sound wave travel in directions substantially parallel to the planes of the disc surfaces and in response thereto, for providing complex vibrations in the disc which vary as a function of the direction of the wave front travel in the medium. The vibrations in the disc are sensed by the transducer elements which provide electrical output signals in response thereto. The resultant electrical output signals from each pair of the transducer elements related to diametrically opposite ones of the four quadrants of the disc are combined to provide output voltages which vary substantially as sine and cosine functions of the angle of wave front travel of the incident sound waves in the transmission medium. The electrical output signals of all four transducer elements of the two respective pairs of elements can also be combined to provide a resultant electrical signal having omnidirectional characteristics to the wave front travel in the medium.”).
As to claim 2, Congdon discloses further comprising the step of networking said structural vibration sensing element to a computer processor (See Fig. 11).
As to claim 3, Congdon discloses wherein the base surface is a flat panel (See Fig. 1-2 and 4-7).
As to claim 8, Congdon discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 and further discloses a system for capturing directional sound using structural vibration sensing elements, the system comprising:
one or more structural vibration sensing elements (See Fig. 4, 22, 24, 26, 28), wherein a structural vibration sensing element is affixed to an elastic base surface (12, 12b; col. 7, lines 15-col. 8, lines 15; “Vibrations in the vibratile plate 12, resulting from sound waves in the transmission medium”, “the vibratile plate 12 is capable of responding to sound wave travel in the coupled transmission medium”);
a network connected to the structural vibration sensing element for capturing directional sound (See Fig. 11).
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”), and further in view of “Online direction of Arrival Estimation Based on Deep Learning” to Li Qinglong et al (“Li”).
As to claim 4, Congdon fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms and short time Fourier transforms (STFTs).
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms (¶ 0093-0097).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Congdon in view of Garg fails to disclose wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs).
Li discloses wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs) (See Abstract, Introduction (STFTs)).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of Garg with the teachings of Li wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs), as suggested by Li thereby similarly using known configurations using short time Fourier transforms in sensing systems.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”).
As to claim 5, Congdon fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale.
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale (¶ 0095).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2018/0188363 A1 to Felber.
As to claim 6, Congdon fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface.
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank (¶ 0093-0097).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Congdon in view of Garg fails to disclose wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface.
Felber discloses wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface (See Fig. 9-14, 21; ¶ 0042, 0105).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of Garg with the teachings of Felber wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface, as suggested by Knowles thereby similarly using known configurations for sensing signals based on resonant frequencies of a sensing surface.
As to claim 7, Congdon in view of Garg and Felber discloses wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface (See the rejections of claims 5 and 6.).
Claim(s) 9-10, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2011/0096036 A1 to McIntosh et al (“McIntosh”).
As to claim 9, Congdon discloses all of the limitations of claim 8, but fails to disclose further comprising a computer processor, wherein the computer processor is networked to the structural vibration sensing element; a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, said computer-readable instructions for capturing directional sound.
McIntosh discloses an acoustic touch system further comprising a computer processor, wherein the computer processor is networked to the structural vibration sensing element (See Fig. 2, 204); a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, said computer-readable instructions for capturing directional sound (See Fig. 2, 206).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon with the teachings of McIntosh of further comprising a computer processor, wherein the computer processor is networked to the structural vibration sensing element; a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, said computer-readable instructions for capturing directional sound, as suggested by McIntosh thereby similarly using known configurations of sensing systems which require processors and storage mediums for performing the sensing methods stored thereon.
As to claim 10, the same rejection or discussion is used as in the rejection of claim 3.
As to 15, Congdon discloses all of the limitations of claim 1, but fails to disclose sensing vibrations caused by touch impacting the base surface.
McIntosh discloses disclose sensing vibrations caused by touch impacting the base surface (See Abstract)
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon with the teachings of McIntosh of sensing vibrations caused by touch impacting the base surface, as suggested by McIntosh thereby similarly using known configurations for sensing touch impacting a surface based on vibration signals.
As to claim 16, Congdon discloses wherein networking said structural vibration sensing element to a computer processor (See Fig. 11).
As to 17, McIntosh discloses wherein the vibrations induced by touch are recorded by the structural vibration sensing element directly (¶ Abstract).
As to claim 18, McIntosh discloses wherein an external actuator induces vibrations in the base surface and the structural vibration sensing element records changes in the resulting driven vibrations of the elastic object when the touch force is applied to the surface of the elastic object when the base surface is touched (See Abstract, ¶ 0005-0006).
As to claim 19, McIntosh discloses wherein after the vibrations induced by touch are recorded by the structural vibration sensing element directly then an external actuator induces vibrations in the base surface and the structural vibration sensing element records changes in the resulting panel vibration when the base surface is touched (See Abstract, ¶ 0005-0006, 0033, 0057, 0062).
As to claim 20, the same rejection or discussion is used as in the rejection of claim 3.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2011/0096036 A1 to McIntosh et al (“McIntosh”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”), and further in view of “Online direction of Arrival Estimation Based on Deep Learning” to Li Qinglong et al (“Li”).
As to claim 11, Congdon in view of McIntosh fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms and short time Fourier transforms (STFTs).
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms (¶ 0093-0097).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of McIntosh with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are derived using spectrally rich representations of the panel's vibrations, wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise one or more of mel and linear spectrograms, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Congdon in view of McIntosh and Garg fails to disclose wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs).
Li discloses wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs) (See Abstract, Introduction (STFTs)).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of McIntosh and Garg with the teachings of Li wherein said spectrally rich representations comprise short time Fourier transforms (STFTs), as suggested by Li thereby similarly using known configurations using short time Fourier transforms in sensing systems.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2011/0096036 A1 to McIntosh et al (“McIntosh”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”).
As to claim 12, Congdon in view of McIntosh fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale.
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale (¶ 0095).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of McIntosh with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the mel scale, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 4,268,912 to Congdon in view of US Patent Pub. 2011/0096036 A1 to McIntosh et al (“McIntosh”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2019/0088099 A1 to Garg et al (“Garg”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2018/0188363 A1 to Felber.
As to claim 13, Congdon in view of McIntosh fails to disclose wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface.
Garg discloses wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank (¶ 0093-0097).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of McIntosh with the teachings of Garg wherein the vibration features are frequency domain signal representations derived using a filter bank, as suggested by Garg thereby similarly using known configurations for extracting features from acoustic signals using classification algorithms.
Congdon in view of McIntosh and Garg fails to disclose wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface.
Felber discloses wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface (See Fig. 9-14, 21; ¶ 0042, 0105).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Congdon in view of McIntosh and Garg with the teachings of Felber wherein the frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface, as suggested by Knowles thereby similarly using known configurations for sensing signals based on resonant frequencies of a sensing surface.
As to claim 14, Congdon in view of McIntosh, Garg and Felber discloses wherein the vibration features are cepstral coefficients derived using a filter bank whose frequencies are determined by the resonant frequencies of the base surface (See the rejections of claims 12 and 13.).
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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