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 Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 15 discloses the phrase “15, the earphone of claim 13” in line 1. The phrase should read as “15. The earphone of claim 13”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the two ear hook assemblies" in line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-20 are rejected under 35 USC 112(b) as dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-7, 10, 13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavarra et al (US 20170280223 A1) in view of Justin et al (US 11509988 B1).
With respect to claim 1, Cavarra discloses an earphone (fig.1 #120) comprising:
two speaker assemblies (fig.1 #122,124; Par.[0021]);
a connection member (Par.[0031] “arch of headset”) configured to connect the two speaker assemblies, wherein the connection member provides, through a bending deformation, a clamping force for placing the two speaker assemblies on a head of a user (As shown in figures 2 and 3, the arch of the headset is configured to provide a clamping force for holding on the head of a user), wherein
a bending sensor (#144,224) is disposed in the connection member, and the bending sensor is configured to generate a bending signal based on a bending state of the connection member (Par.[0031] “strain gauge 224 that is located on the arch of the headset 222 may provide a series of data measurements that indicate when the headset 222 is in a first position (e.g., a retracted or fully worn position) and stretched to in a second position (e.g., an extended or partially worn position)”); and
a processing circuit (fig.1 #130; Par.[0021]) configured to determine a placement state of the earphone based on the bending signal, wherein the placement state includes one of a normal wearing state (Par.[0030-0031] “fully worn position”), an abnormal wearing state (Par.[0030-0031] “extended or partially worn position”), or a free placement state (Par.[0034-0035] “fully, not worn position”), wherein at least one of the two ear hook assemblies includes an earphone compartment (As shown in figures 1-3 each speaker #122,124 includes an earpod or “earphone compartment”), and the earphone further includes:
a contact sensor (#142,226) disposed within the earphone compartment and configured to identify whether the earphone compartment is in contact with the user (Par.[0031] “The proximity sensor 226 may provide a series of data measurements that indicate whether one or multiple areas of the headset 222 is located in proximity to a user's body (e.g., when a speaker of an earpod is positioned next to a user's head”), and
the processing circuit is further configured to determine the placement state of the earphone based on the bending signal of the bending sensor and a contact signal of the contact sensor (Par.[0028][0031] “The data from the strain gauge 224 and the proximity sensor 226 may be provided to a logic function operating on the headset 222, to determine if the strain gauge and proximity sensor meet a sensor data condition (e.g., a predefined condition), and headset movement is detected if the sensor data condition is met. In further examples, the headset movement detection 220 protocol may be coordinated with data combined from multiple types of environmental sensors, including proximity and temperature sensors in addition to or in place of sensor data from the strain gauge sensor”).
Cavarra does not disclose expressly wherein the connection member includes a housing with an accommodation cavity.
Justin discloses an earphone comprising an connection member (#210 “headband”), wherein the connection member includes a housing with an accommodation cavity (fig.5 #510) for accommodating a bending sensor (fig.5 #220)(col.6 ln.9-16 “flex sensor”).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to mount the bending sensor of Cavarra within an accommodation cavity of the connection member, as performed by Justin. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a protective housing for accommodating the bending sensor.
With respect to claim 2, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the connection member includes two ear hook assemblies (Par.[0031] “earpod”; fig.1 #122,124) and a rear hanging assembly (Par.[0031] “arch of headset”), the two speaker assemblies are connected to the rear hanging assembly through the two ear hook assemblies, respectively, and the bending sensor is disposed in the accommodation cavity formed by the rear hanging assembly (Par.[0031] “strain gauge 224 that is located on the arch of the headset 222). Examiner’s Note: The term “ear hook assembly” does not define a specific structure as to differentiate from the earpods of Cavarra.
With respect to claim 3, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 2, wherein a sensitivity direction of the bending sensor is the same as a bending direction of the rear hanging assembly. It is inherent that the strain gauge #224 is sensitive in the bending direction of the arch portion of the headset. The gauge must be sensitive in this bending direction in order to perform the collection of sensor data described by Cavarra (Par.[0031]).
With respect to claim 4, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 2, wherein the bending sensor is disposed at a position where a symmetrical surface of the rear hanging assembly intersects the rear hanging assembly (As shown in figure 1; the arch portion of the headset comprises symmetrical surfaces on each side of the arch portion).
With respect to claim 5, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 2, however does not disclose expressly wherein the rear hanging assembly further includes a skeleton structure, wherein the bending sensor is fitted to the skeleton structure.
Justin discloses an earphone comprising a rear hanging assembly (#210 “headband”), wherein the rear hanging assembly further includes a skeleton structure (As shown in figure 5A/B, assembly #210 comprises a skeleton structure), wherein the bending sensor (#220) is fitted to the skeleton structure.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to mount the bending sensor of Cavarra within a skeleton structure of the rear hanging assembly, as performed by Justin. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a protective housing for accommodating the bending sensor.
The combination of Cavarra and Justin do not disclose expressly a stiffness of the skeleton structure is greater than a stiffness of the bending sensor in the bending direction of the rear hanging assembly.
It would have been an obvious design choice before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to experiment with different materials and stiffness properties of the skeleton structure of the rear hanging assembly of Cavarra and Justin, such that a stiffness of the skeleton structure is greater than a stiffness of the bending sensor. The motivation for doing so would have been to find a stiffness that allows for proper comfortable fitting on a user’s head.
With respect to claim 6, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 2, wherein the bending signal reflects an equivalent curvature radius of the rear hanging assembly (Par.[0031] “For example, the strain gauge 224 that is located on the arch of the headset 222 may provide a series of data measurements that indicate when the headset 222 is in a first position (e.g., a retracted or fully worn position) and stretched to in a second position (e.g., an extended or partially worn position)”).
With respect to claim 7, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 6 however does not disclose expressly, wherein when the bending signal indicates that the equivalent curvature radius of the rear hanging assembly is greater than an equivalent curvature radius of the earphone when the earphone is freely placed and is less than a preset threshold, the processing circuit determines that the earphone is in the abnormal wearing state; or when the bending signal indicates that the equivalent curvature radius of the rear hanging assembly is greater than the equivalent curvature radius of the earphone when the earphone is freely placed and is greater than the preset threshold, the processing circuit determines that the earphone is in the normal wearing state.
Justin discloses wherein when the bending signal indicates that the equivalent curvature radius of the rear hanging assembly is greater than an equivalent curvature radius of the earphone when the earphone is freely placed and is less than a preset threshold, the processing circuit determines that the earphone is in the abnormal wearing state; or when the bending signal indicates that the equivalent curvature radius of the rear hanging assembly is greater than the equivalent curvature radius of the earphone when the earphone is freely placed and is greater than the preset threshold, the processing circuit determines that the earphone is in the normal wearing state (Justin: col.7 ln.15-35, as shown in the flow chart of figure 10A, voltage across the flex sensor is dependent upon the flexed curvature of the sensor, wherein the voltage is compared to a threshold value to determine a wearing state of the earphone).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to compare data such as voltage data from the bending sensor of Cavarra to a threshold as performed by Justin. The motivation for doing so would have been to determine a current wearing state of the earphone.
With respect to claim 10, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the earphone includes one or more electronic assemblies, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to adjust an operating state of the one or more electronic assemblies according to the placement state of the earphone, including: controlling the one or more electronic assemblies to be in an awake state when the earphone is in the normal wearing state; and controlling the one or more electronic assemblies to be in a low-power operating state when the earphone is in the abnormal wearing state or in the free placement state (Par.[0032][0036] an action may be taken upon determining the wearing state).
With respect to claim 13, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 6, wherein the earphone further includes: a second contact sensor disposed within a shell of at least one speaker assembly of the two speaker assemblies and configured to identify whether the at least one speaker assembly is in contact with the user (Par.[0022] “The headset device 120 may include a set of integrated sensors (e.g., integrated within the housing, assembly, or unit of the headset device 120) including a proximity sensor 142”).
With respect to claim 16, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the contact sensor includes at least one of a capacitive proximity sensor (Par.[0015] “proximity sensor”), a film pressure sensor, and an infrared sensor.
Claim(s) 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavarra et al (US 20170280223 A1) in view of Justin et al (US 11509988 B1) and in further view of Tseng et al (US 20210120329 A1).
With respect to claim 18, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 1, however does not disclose expressly wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determine a head circumference of the user based on the bending signal; determine forces between the two speaker assemblies and the head or an ear of the user based on the head circumference of the user; and adjust an audio output signal of the earphone based on the forces between the two speaker assemblies and the head or the ear of the user.
Tseng discloses a processing circuit configured to: determine a head circumference of the user based on a bending signal from a strain gauge (#136) ; determine forces between two speaker assemblies (#134) and the head or an ear of the user based on the head circumference of the user; and adjust an audio output signal of the earphone (#140) based on the forces between the two speaker assemblies and the head or the ear of the user (Par.[0082-0083]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the output of the earphone according the size of a user’s head in the earphone of Cavarra and Justin, as performed by Tseng. The motivation for doing so would have been to compensate for the force applied to the user’s head by the speaker assemblies.
With respect to claim 19, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 18, wherein to adjust the audio output signal of the earphone, the processing circuit is further configured to: in response to determine that the forces between the two speaker assemblies and the head or the ear of the user is less than a certain value, increase an output gain of low and medium frequency signals of the two speaker assemblies (Tseng: Par.[0084]).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavarra et al (US 20170280223 A1) in view of Justin et al (US 11509988 B1) and in further view of Lin et al (US 20240348966 A1).
With respect to claim 20, Cavarra discloses the earphone of claim 1 in view of Justin, wherein a cable (Justin fig.5A-B unlabeled cable) is also accommodated in the accommodation cavity, a gap between the cable and the bending sensor, or a gap between the cable or the bending sensor and an inner wall of the accommodation cavity (Justin: col.6 ln.9-16; See figs.5A/B).
The combination of Cavarra with Justin does not disclose expressly wherein the accommodation cavity is filled using a filler, the filler including silicone or sponge.
Lin discloses a connection member (fig.1 #100) comprising an accommodation cavity (fig.1 #102) that is filled using a filler (fig.1 #104), the filler including silicone or sponge (Par.[0064 “foam padding #104”).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the filler of Lin in the accommodation cavity of Cavarra and Justin. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide comfortable fit for a user.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9, 11-12, 14-15 and 17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yao et al (US 20220360879 A1) discloses a neckband earphone.
Yi et al (US 10354651 B1) discloses a head-mounted device control based on wearer information.
Otsuki et al (US 20100020252 A1) discloses a head band earphone with bending sensor.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON R KURR whose telephone number is (571)270-5981. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivian Chin can be reached at (571-272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JASON R. KURR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2695
/JASON R KURR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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