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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Muehlheim et al. (U.S. 7,564,338, hereafter referred to as Muehlheim).
Regarding claim 1, Muehlheim teaches a pressure transducer, comprising: a housing 155; a fluid inlet 150 configured to provide a fluid to a first cavity within the housing; a pressure measurement assembly comprising a microelectromechanical pressure sensor 120 configured to output a signal representative of the pressure in the first cavity; and a heater 220 configured to heat the pressure measurement assembly based on a target temperature (see column 3, lines 18-34).
Regarding claim 3, Muehlheim further teaches wherein the pressure measurement assembly comprises a diaphragm (see column 4, lines 6-8) at least partially defining the first cavity 145.
Regarding claim 7, Glaudel further teaches wherein the heater comprises: a first zone heater (200, 220) configured to heat the housing based on the target temperature; and a second zone heater (210, 230) configured to heat the pressure measurement assembly based on the target temperature.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Glaudel et al. (U.S. 2012/0197554, hereafter referred to as Glaudel).
Regarding claim 1, Glaudel teaches a pressure transducer, comprising: a housing 210; a fluid inlet 260 configured to provide a fluid to a first cavity 246 within the housing; a pressure measurement assembly comprising a microelectromechanical pressure sensor 240 configured to output a signal representative of the pressure in the first cavity; and a heater (234, 520) configured to heat the pressure measurement assembly based on a target temperature (see para. 0020).
Regarding claim 3, Glaudel further teaches wherein the pressure measurement assembly comprises a diaphragm (see para. 0017, 0029, 0030; see figure 4: 245) at least partially defining the first cavity 246.
Regarding claim 4, Glaudel further teaches wherein the measurement diaphragm is configured to convey the pressure from the first cavity to the microelectromechanical pressure sensor (see para. 0017, ‘One of the two silicon dice, a membrane chip, forms a diaphragm. The other die, an electrode chip, forms the pattern of electrodes that senses the diaphragm movement’).
Regarding claim 14, Glaudel further teaches wherein the heater comprises: a heating element 234 configured to heat the pressure measurement assembly; a temperature sensor 530 configured to measure a temperature of the pressure measurement assembly (see para. 0018); and control circuitry 232 configured to control the heating element based on the measured temperature.
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) 2 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Glaudel in view of Moisoi et al. (Advances in Core Fundamental Sensor Technologies Enabling Improvements in the Metrological Transfer Standards of Pressure Measurement’, Metrologist -NCSLI WORLDWIDE NEWS, vol. 15, no. 2, 2002, hereafter referred to as Moisoi).
Glaudel teaches the claimed invention except wherein the MEMS sensor is a trench etched resonant pressure sensor.
Moisoi teaches a MEMS pressure sensor (see page 48, para. 1: ‘micromechanical devices including pressure sensors’) comprising a trench etched resonant pressure sensor (see page 48, para. 3: ‘Druck has since developed the TERPS (trench etched resonant pressure sensor) technology’).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Glaudel with the teaching of Moisoi in order to improve sensor performance.
Regarding claims 8-11, Moisoi further teaches wherein the microelectromechanical pressure sensor is configured to output pressure measurement signals for fluids having pressures at least from 1 Torr to 100 Torr and having less than a threshold error; from 10 Torr to 1000 Torr and having less than a threshold error; from 1 Torr to 1000 Torr and having less than a threshold error; wherein the threshold error is less than 0.1500% reading (see page 50, figure 9; see page 50, 2.3; see page 51, figure 10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Glaudel with the teaching of Moisoi since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 12, Moisoi further teaches measurement circuitry configured to: apply a drive signal to the microelectromechanical pressure sensor (see page 48, 1.2: ‘drive and sense circuitry’); measure a frequency of a resulting signal output by the microelectromechanical pressure sensor; and determine a measured pressure based on the frequency (see page 48, 1.1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Glaudel with the teaching of Moisoi in order to improve sensor performance.
Claim(s) 2 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muehlheim in view of Moisoi et al. (Advances in Core Fundamental Sensor Technologies Enabling Improvements in the Metrological Transfer Standards of Pressure Measurement’, Metrologist -NCSLI WORLDWIDE NEWS, vol. 15, no. 2, 2002, hereafter referred to as Moisoi).
Muehlheim teaches the claimed invention except wherein the MEMS sensor is a trench etched resonant pressure sensor.
Moisoi teaches a MEMS pressure sensor (see page 48, para. 1: ‘micromechanical devices including pressure sensors’) comprising a trench etched resonant pressure sensor (see page 48, para. 3: ‘Druck has since developed the TERPS (trench etched resonant pressure sensor) technology’).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Muehlheim with the teaching of Moisoi in order to improve sensor performance.
Regarding claims 8-11, Moisoi further teaches wherein the microelectromechanical pressure sensor is configured to output pressure measurement signals for fluids having pressures at least from 1 Torr to 100 Torr and having less than a threshold error; from 10 Torr to 1000 Torr and having less than a threshold error; from 1 Torr to 1000 Torr and having less than a threshold error; wherein the threshold error is less than 0.1500% reading (see page 50, figure 9; see page 50, 2.3; see page 51, figure 10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Muehlheim with the teaching of Moisoi since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 12, Moisoi further teaches measurement circuitry configured to: apply a drive signal to the microelectromechanical pressure sensor (see page 48, 1.2: ‘drive and sense circuitry’); measure a frequency of a resulting signal output by the microelectromechanical pressure sensor; and determine a measured pressure based on the frequency (see page 48, 1.1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the device of Muehlheim with the teaching of Moisoi in order to improve sensor performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6 and 13 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMEL E WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7027. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm.
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/JAMEL E WILLIAMS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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