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 § 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)(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 1-6, 10-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 12,294,845 (Xu et al.).
With respect to claim 1, Xu et al. teach
a substrate having a cavity thereon
Xu et al. teach substrate 100 having cavity/chamber region defined beneath diaphragm 102 and above magnetic member 170 as shown in Figs. 1B.
a membrane suspended above the cavity and anchored to the substrate
Xu et al. teach diaphragm 102 suspended above the cavity and supported by peripheral portions attached to substrate 100 as shown in Figs. 1A, 1B.
the membrane comprises a central region
Xu et al. teach central diaphragm region surrounded by the spiral coil region shown in Figs. 1A and 1B and Abstract.
a peripheral suspension region
Xu et al. teach suspension portions 105A and 105B located between the central diaphragm region and the substrate attachment region. See Figs. 1A, 1B, and Fig. 2.
a coil region between the central region and the peripheral suspension region
Xu et al. teach spiral coil 130 disposed between the diaphragm center and suspension portions 105A/105B. See Figs. 1A and 1B and Col. 6, lines 35 - 50.
a coil embedded in the coil region
Xu et al. teach coil 130 embedded within diaphragm structure 102. See Figs. 1B and 2.
the peripheral suspension region has a first concave portion and a first convex portion
Xu et al. expressly discloses suspension region 105 having alternating recessed and raised portions. See Fig. 2 showing concave portion 105B and convex portion 105A.
With respect to Claim 2
Xu et al. teach diaphragm 102 formed from polymeric diaphragm materials. See diaphragm structure discussed throughout the specification and shown in Figs. 1A-2. See also Col. 1, lines 46 – 48.
With respect to claim 3,
Xu teach polyimide diaphragm materials for MEMS speaker diaphragms (See at least Col. 1, lines 46 - 48.
With respect to Claim 4,
Xu et al. teach a tensile diaphragm film suspended over the cavity. (See Col. 7, lines 3 -7).
With respect to Claim 5,
Xu et al. teach dielectric membrane materials including silicon nitride implementations. (See Col. 5, lines 60 – 63).
With respect to Claim 6,
Xu et al. teach in Fig. 2 which, shows convex portion 105A directly adjoining concave portion 105B. In addition, Xu et al. in Fig. 2 illustrates inclined transition sidewalls connecting the bottom of concave region 105B and the upper surface of convex region 105A.
With respect to Claim 10,
Xu et al. teach a centrally recessed diaphragm region corresponding to a second concave portion. See Figs. 1A and 1B and the multiple concave portions.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 12,294,845 (Xu et al.).
With respect to claim 9
Xu et al. disclose in Fig. 2, differing thicknesses of convex and concave regions and corresponding dimensional relationships. The thicknesses in claim 9, could be found by one of ordinary skill via obvious experimentation.
Claims 7 – 8 and 17 - 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 12,294,845 (Xu et al.) in view of U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0116675 (Miyoshi et al.).
With respect to claims 7 and 17,
Xu et al. disclose all limitations of claim 6, including the concave portion, convex portion, and oblique sidewall.
Miyoshi et al. disclose specific corner geometries for MEMS diaphragm structures. Figure 2 and the Abstract disclose rounded upper corner portions and shaped lower corner portions to reduce stress.
In addition, with respect to claims 7 and 17
Miyoshi et al. disclose forming sloped sidewalls and rounded transitions through reflow processes. Figure 2 and Figures 3D-3H show lower corner geometries that are non-right-angle stress-relieved transitions corresponding to obtuse lower corners.
It would have been obvious to modify Xu's suspension profile using Miyoshi's corner-shaping techniques to reduce stress and improve fatigue resistance of the suspended diaphragm structure.
With respect to Claim 8 and 18
Miyoshi et al. disclose rounded upper hinge corner portions. See Abstract, Fig. 2, and Figs. 3D-3H.
With respect Claims 11-16 and 19-20 such claims correspond to the apparatus claims 1-6, 9, and 10 and would be rejected in the same manner.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Note the Figs and Abstracts of the additional references cited on the accompanying 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Deane whose telephone number is 571 - 272- 7484. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - FRIDAY from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ahmad Matar, can be reached on 571-272-7488.
The official fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. However, unofficial faxes can be direct to the examiner's computer at 571 273 -7484.
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24Jun2026
/WILLIAM J DEANE JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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