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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/17/26 has been entered.
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 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brunner et al. (US 11389893, “Brunner”) in view of Asahi et al. (US 2015/0050778, “Asahi”), and further in in view of Hasui et al. (US 2011/0236265, “Hasui”).
Regarding claim 26, Brunner discloses a welding device, comprising: a damping element 22 (abstract); and an ultrasonic welding machine including an ultrasonic welding head 28 (sonotrode) welding a first component 8/10 and a second component 2 of a product/workpiece (fig. 2) together, the damping element is pressed against the product by the ultrasonic welding head and covers a welding area and a non-welding area of the product (figs. 8-10), the damping element absorbs a vibration energy located in the non-welding area to prevent the vibration energy from being concentrated in the welding area of the workpiece (col. 2, lines 30-41). Brunner discloses a clamping device 16 & 30 (holding arm & device- figs. 4, 8) clamping and fixing the product (fig. 10). Examiner notes that any structure that holds the product in place meets clamping & fixing feature.
Brunner discloses a damping element 22 but is silent with respect to a thin film. However, Asahi discloses a bonding device for a semiconductor device [0001], the bonding device including a heating tool/head 1 and a thin protective film 2 disposed between the head 1 and a chip workpiece 3, wherein the protective film 2 is supplied in a reel-to-reel manner to prevent contamination of the tool head (see fig. 3, [0053-0054]). The protective film 2 covers both joining area 7/8 as well as non-joining area on the workpiece (fig. 3). Given the damping element, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to supply protective film between the ultrasonic welding head and the workpiece in Brunner because doing so would provide dampening effect and prevent contamination of the tool head, as suggested by Asahi. It is noted that a welding area and a non-welding area concerns workpiece features and do not structurally limit the welding device.
Brunner discloses the clamping device 16 including a positioning block having a positioning slot 18 (U-shaped recess) and a plurality of insertion holes 20 (fig. 4), but does not mention plurality of slots and holes communicating with the slot. However, such fixture is known in the art. Hasui is also directed to jig for holding component such as microchannel chip [0002-0004]. Hasui teaches a jig/fixture 70 utilized to bond film 3 to substrate 2 [0074, 0134], wherein the fixture includes a positioning block 70 having a plurality of positioning slots 72 for holding a plurality of products 2 (substrates) and a plurality of insertion holes in communication with the positioning slot (see fig. 17B, [0136]). In this manner, Hasui discloses that the alignment between the films 3 and products/substrates 2 can be more easily performed with higher precision [0137]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have a plurality of slots and pair of communicating holes in the clamp/fixture of Brunner in order to provide necessary space for multiple components and alignment with higher precision for bonding/welding the components, as suggested by Hasui.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brunner in view of Asahi & Hasui as applied to claim 26 above, and further in view of Higashi et al. (US 2001/0013532, “Higashi”, of record).
As to claim 27, Brunner discloses pusher elements that move linearly to secure the flat part/product (col. 4, lines 30-45) that are comparable to a moving device, which would likely assist in moving the positioning block. In any event, such movement mechanism is known in the art. Higashi is directed to positioning apparatus during the production of a semiconductor device ([0004], abstract) and discloses positioning a thin plate [0020, 0038]. Analogous to Brunner, Higashi teaches a positioning block formed by four pusher members 30, which are sliding adjustable to move the semiconductor element 10 (product) into correct position on a stage 22 (figs. 1-3, [0043-0045]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate any suitable moving mechanism (such as pusher) for moving the clamp/positioning block in Brunner with a motivation to place the product into correct position for welding. Thus, combination of Brunner, Asahi, Hasui & Higashi includes a moving device in the ultrasonic welding machine.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 4, 7-8, 10-13, 21, 23 and 25 are allowable over prior art.
Claims 28-29 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(s).
Response to Amendment and Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to new claim(s) 26-27 have been considered but are moot in light of new grounds of 103 rejections set forth above, which are based on new reference of Hasui. Examiner also notes that new claims 28-29 are allowable.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVANG R PATEL whose telephone number is (571) 270-3636. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached on 571-272-3458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVANG R PATEL/
Primary Examiner, AU 1735
Prosecution Insights