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 .
Claims filed 11-25-2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8-20-2025 was filed after the mailing date of the application filed on 11-25-2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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) 1, 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2
Regarding claim 1. Zhong discloses a loudspeaker comprising:
a diaphragm (Fig 1 vibrating diaphragm 221, para [22, 27] configured to vibrate to produce air-conducted sound waves); and
a housing (Fig 1 upper module housing 12 and lower module housing 16, para [27-28]) configured to form an accommodation cavity for housing the diaphragm (Fig 1 shows front cavity, rear cavity 17, para [22]), wherein the diaphragm (Fig 1 vibrating diaphragm 221 divides the accommodation cavity into a front cavity (Fig 1 front cavity via sound passage 11, para [22, 27]) and a rear cavity (Fig 1 rear cavity 17, para [22, 28]),
the housing is provided with a sound outlet hole (Fig 1 sound outlet hole/ sound passage 11 of the front cavity, para [22, 27] communicating with the front cavity), and at least a portion of the air-conducted sound waves is transmitted through the sound outlet hole (Fig 1 sound outlet hole 14, para [27, 29-30] to an exterior of the loudspeaker),
wherein a cavity structure (Fig 1 sealed cavity 13, para [29-30] is provided on the housing) and communicated with at least one of the front cavity and the rear cavity (Fig 1, sealed cavity 13 is provided on the side wall of the sound passage 11 of the front cavity, and the sealed cavity 13 is in communication with the sound passage 11 of the front cavity through the communication hole 15, para [29]), and the cavity structure is configured to absorb a sound wave with a target frequency in the air-conducted sound waves (para [14-15, 29-32] discloses the sealed cavity 13 forms a resonant energy absorption structure).
Zhong does not explicitly disclose the cavity structure is configured to absorb a sound wave with a target frequency in the air-conducted sound waves, wherein the target frequency is in a range of 3 kHz-20 kHz.
Suzuki EP 0448110A2 teaches the cavity structure is configured to absorb a sound wave with a target frequency in the air-conducted sound waves, wherein the target frequency is in a range of 3 kHz-20 kHz (the configuration of sound-absorbing portion 20 is resonate to a frequency of 8500Hz or 8.5KHz. See at least col 5 lines 41-55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the invention to configure of sound absorbing portion such that it absorbs target frequency including resonant frequency of the acoustic cavity to prevent sound leakage from the acoustic device and enhancing frequency response of the device.
Regarding claim 3. Zhong discloses the loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the front cavity is communicated with the sound outlet hole through a sound guiding channel (Fig 1 sound outlet hole/sound passage 11 of the front cavity, para [22, 27] communicating with the front cavity through the sound outlet hole 14, para [27, 29-30]), and
the cavity structure (Fig 1 sealed cavity 13, para [29-30] is communicated with the sound guiding channel through the front cavity (Fig 1, sealed cavity 13 is provided on the side wall of the sound passage 11 of the front cavity, and the sealed cavity 13 is in communication with the sound passage 11 of the front cavity through the communication hole 15, para [29]).
Regarding claim 4. Zhong discloses the loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the housing (Fig 1) includes a front cavity plate (Fig 1, front cavity plate/upper module housing 12, para [27]), a rear cavity plate (Fig 1, rear cavity plate/lower module housing 16, para [28]), and a side plate (Fig 1 a side plate/vertical portion that connected between upper 12 and lower module housing 16) , and the cavity structure (Fig 1, sealed cavity 13, para [29] includes a connecting hole (Fig 1 connecting hole via communication hole 15, para [29] and an acoustic absorbing cavity (para [29] discloses the sealed cavity 13 forms a resonant energy absorption structure).
Regarding claim 5. Zhong discloses the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein the connecting hole is communicated with the acoustic absorbing cavity through a sound guiding tube (Fig 1 shows connecting hole via as communication hole 15 with acoustic absorbing cavity/sealed cavity 13 through a sound guide via communication hole 15, para [29-30, 32]).
Regarding claim 6. Zhong discloses the loudspeaker of claim 5, wherein an equivalent diameter of the sound guiding tube (Fig 1 sound guide tube via communication hole 15).
Zhong discloses the claimed invention except for wherein an equivalent diameter of the sound guiding tube is not less than 0.05 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have wherein an equivalent diameter of the sound guiding tube is not less than 0.05 mm is just a matter of design choice by the manufacturers, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claims are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for this would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 7. Zhong discloses the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein an equivalent diameter of the connecting hole (Fig 1 shows connecting hole via communication hole 15) is not less than 0.1 mm.
Zhong discloses the claimed invention except for wherein an equivalent diameter of the connecting hole is not less than 0.1 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have an equivalent diameter of the connecting hole is not less than 0.1 mm is just a matter of design choice by the manufacturers, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claims are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for this would have yielded predictable results.
Claim(s) 2 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 further in view of Epping 2016/0066111
Regarding claim 2. Zhong does not explicitly disclose the claimed limitation as recited in claim 2.
Suzuki EP 0448110A2 teaches the configuration of sound-absorbing portion 20 is resonate to a frequency of 8500Hz or 8.5KHz/target frequency. See at least col 5 lines 41-55.
Epping teaches diaphragm has a primary resonant frequency, a difference between the primary resonant frequency and the target frequency being within 300 Hz (Fig 5B shows primary resonant frequency different from the target frequency less than 300 Hz).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the diaphragm has a primary resonant frequency, a difference between the primary resonant frequency and the target frequency being within 300 Hz as taught by Epping in Zhong’s invention to achieve an improved frequency response.
Regarding claim 19. Zhong does not explicitly disclose the claimed limitation as recited in claim 19.
Suzuki EP 0448110A2 teaches the configuration of sound-absorbing portion 20 is resonate to a frequency of 8500Hz or 8.5KHz/target frequency. See at least col 5 lines 41-55.
Epping teaches the loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the difference between the primary resonant frequency and the target frequency is within 100 Hz (Fig 5B shows the difference between the primary resonant frequency and the target frequency is within 100 Hz).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate wherein the difference between the primary resonant frequency and the target frequency is within 100 Hz as taught by Epping in Zhong’s invention to achieve an improved frequency response.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-18 and 20 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.
Claim 8 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation, “the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein a parameter θ takes a value in a range of 1000 (1/Ѵm²)-4000 (Vm²), wherein:
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where S denotes a transverse area of the connecting hole, I denotes a length of the connecting hole, and V denotes a volume of the acoustic absorbing cavity”
Claim 9 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation, “the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein the cavity structure is disposed in the rear cavity plate, the rear cavity plate includes a front cavity wall, a side cavity wall, and a back plate that form the cavity structure,
wherein at least one of the front cavity wall, the side cavity wall, or the back plate includes a damping mesh.”
Claim 10 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation, “the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein the connecting hole is disposed within a projection of the diaphragm along a vibration direction of the diaphragm.”
Claim 11 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation, “the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein the diaphragm includes a folded-ring portion and a fixed end, and the connecting hole is arranged directly opposite to the folded-ring portion of the diaphragm.”
Claim 12 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation,” the loudspeaker of claim 4, further comprising a driving unit configured to generate vibration based on an electrical signal and drive the diaphragm to vibrate, wherein the driving unit is provided in the rear cavity, the driving unit cooperates with the rear cavity plate to divide the rear cavity into a first rear cavity and a second rear cavity, and the second rear cavity is composed of the driving unit and the rear cavity plate.”
Claims 13 -15 are rejected because they are depending on claim 12.
Claim 16 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation,” the loudspeaker of claim 4, wherein the cavity structure is provided in the front cavity plate.”
Claim 17 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation,” the loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the cavity structure includes at least two cavity structures arranged symmetrically with respect to a central axis of the loudspeaker.”
Claim 18 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation,” the loudspeaker of claim 17, wherein the at least two cavity structures are configured to absorb sound waves with a same frequency or different frequencies in the air-conducted sound waves.”
Claim 20 objected because the prior art Zhong 2018/0035198 in view of Suzuki EP 0448110A2 fails to teach the claimed limitation,” the loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein an amplitude difference between a peak corresponding to the primary resonant frequency and a peak corresponding to the target frequency is greater than 12 dB.”
Conclusion
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/JULIE X DANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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