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 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, ll. 7, “the button” should be “a button.”
Claim 1, ll. 9, “a button” should be “the button.”
Claim 1, ll. 12, please spell out “FPC” as flexible printed circuit.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amin-Shahidi et al. (US 2020/0103969) in view of Ma et al. (US 2022/0200427).
Regarding claim 1, Amin-Shahidi discloses a button motor (200, 300) comprising:
a frame (206), having a receiving space (haptic engine is in the frame);
a stator (302, 304) received in the receiving space;
a vibrator (306) moving along a first direction relative to the stator (302, 304; FIG. 4A-C), comprising:
an iron core (¶ [0082] rotor’s core) fixedly connected with the button (316); and
a button (316) fixed on the vibrator (306);
a FPC (1314, 1316) mounted on the frame and electrically connected with the coil (¶ [0087] flex circuits are connected electrically to the haptic engine);
a sensor (1302a) configured to detect the displacement of the vibrator (306); and
an unmetallic elastic member (314; elastomer or silicon).
Amin-Shahidi does not disclose the stator comprising a magnet unit mounted on the frame;
a coil wound on the iron core and arranged opposite to the magnet unit;
the elastic member sandwiched between the iron core and the frame, configured to deform along the first direction.
Ma discloses the stator (30) comprising a magnet unit (31) mounted on the frame (11, 32);
a coil (22) wound on the iron core (21) and arranged opposite to the magnet unit (31);
the elastic member (41) sandwiched between the iron core (21) and the frame (11), configured to deform along the first direction (¶ [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma to disclose the stator comprising a magnet unit mounted on the frame; a coil wound on the iron core and arranged opposite to the magnet unit; an unmetallic elastic member sandwiched between the iron core and the frame, configured to deform along the first direction, for the advantages of providing a linear motor with high reliability.
Regarding claim 2/1, Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma was discussed above in claim 1. Amin-Shahidi further discloses wherein the unmetallic elastic member (314) is made of silicone or rubber (¶ [0056]).
Regarding claim 3/1, Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma was discussed above in claim 1. Amin-Shahidi further discloses the unmetallic elastic member (314) is a blocky structure (FIG. 3);
Amin-Shahidi does not disclose a connection member integrally-formed with the elastic member; the elastic member is mounted on the iron core through the connection member.
Ma discloses a connection member (60) integrally-formed with the elastic member (41); the elastic member (41) is mounted on the iron core (21) through the connection member (60; FIG. 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma to disclose a connection member integrally-formed with the elastic member; the elastic member is mounted on the iron core through the connection member, for the advantages of providing a linear motor with high reliability.
Regarding claim 4/3, Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma was discussed above in claim 3. Ma further discloses wherein a groove (between elastic member 41 and connection 42) is provided on the elastic member (41) by depressing from a surface of the elastic member (41) facing the iron core (21) away from the iron core (21); the connection member (60) is formed inside the groove (FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 10/1, Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma was discussed above in claim 1. Amin-Shahidi further discloses an electronic device (100), comprising a cover (102, 104, 106) and the button motor (200, 300) as described in claim 1 received in the cover (102, 104, 106); wherein a receiving groove (214) provided on the cover (102, 104, 106) comprises a bottom surface (FIG. 2A) and a through hole (218) penetrating the bottom surface; the frame (206) is mounted on an inner side of the cover (102, 104, 106); the button (204) is partially received in the receiving groove (214) and fixed on the vibrator (306) through the through hole (218).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amin-Shahidi et al. (US 2020/0103969) in view of Ma et al. (US 2022/0200427) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Huang et al. (CN 116436248).
Regarding claim 5/1, Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma was discussed above in claim 1. Ma further discloses wherein the stator (30) comprises two magnet units (31) respectively arranged on both sides of the coil (22) along a second direction perpendicular with the first direction (FIG. 2);
Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma does not disclose each of the two magnet units comprises three magnets arranged at intervals and fixed on the frame and magnetized along the second direction; adjacent two of the three magnets are magnetized along opposite direction.
Huang discloses each of the two magnet units (left and right unit) comprises three magnets (22) arranged at intervals (FIG. 3) and magnetized along the second direction; adjacent two of the three magnets (22) are magnetized along opposite direction (the middle magnet has poles in the opposite direction).
Huang’s magnets can be implemented into Ma such that the three magnets are on the frame on each side.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Amin-Shahidi in view of Ma, further in view of Huang to disclose each of the two magnet units comprises three magnets arranged at intervals and magnetized along the second direction; adjacent two of the three magnets are magnetized along opposite direction, for the advantages of allowing the magnet to attract and repel the coil in an efficient way, as the current in the coil alternates to create magnetic flux in opposite directions, the magnets in opposite directions would stay the same act on the coil.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 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.
Regarding claim 6/5, the specific limitation of “wherein the FPC (3) comprises a first support segment (31) located on a side of the iron core (222) away from the button (4), and a bending segment (32) bended and extended from an end of the first support segment (31); two ends of the first support segment (31) are fixed on the frame (1); the first support segment (31) and the iron core (222) are arranged at an interval along the first direction; the bending segment (32) is fixed on the frame (1); the sensor (5) is mounted on the first support segment (31) and spaced apart from the iron core (5)” in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
The closest prior art Amin-Shahidi discloses a flexible printed circuit located on a side of an iron core away from a button attached to the iron core, but does not disclose the bending segment of the flexible printed circuit is attached to the frame, and the flexible printed circuit is spaced apart from the iron core.
Claims 7-9 are allowable for depending upon claim 6.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINKI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0521. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/MINKI CHANG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
