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) 1-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Berlant (US 4496021, IDS 3/4/25).
Regarding claim 9, Berlant teaches an omnidirectional loudspeaker (360° dispersion of audio energy, col 1, ln 6-13), comprising:
a lower horn member having a generally convex, upwardly-facing outer wall (lower horn element 12 is upwardly facing convex, col 6, ln 66-67, fig 3b);
an upper horn member spaced from the lower horn member and having a generally convex, downwardly-facing outer wall (upper annular horn element 11a is downwardly facing convex, col 6, ln62-67, fig 3b); and
at least one compression driver connected to one of the lower or the upper horn members along a central axis and including a magnet assembly (Considering first, the embodiment of the dome driver assembly of FIG. 3a, the dome 40 has depending from it a voice coil assembly 41. The voice coil assembly has a resilient compliance element 42 attached to it which centers the diaphragm 40 and voice coil 41 within annular magnetic gap 55. Magnetic gap 55 is excited by a magnet 54 disposed and centered between pole pieces 51 and 52. The positioning of a voice coil in a magnetic gap in this fashion is well known., col 6, ln 27-35, fig 3b),
a diaphragm operably connected to the magnet assembly (diaphragm 40 is excited by electrical audio signals applied to voice coil 41, the diaphragm moves vertically up and down on the axis of its center of sphericity, constrained by the resilient compliance element 4, col 6, ln 40-44, fig 3b), a phasing plug adjacent the diaphragm (concavity 21 acts as a phasing plug, col 6, ln 36-50, fig 3a), and a compression chamber defined between the diaphragm and the phasing plug (space above the dome 40 formed by the concavity 21, 24 is a loading cavity upon the domed diaphragm 40, col 6, ln 38-50, fig 3a; compression chamber, col 6, ln 51-55, fig 3a), wherein the lower and the upper horn members are coupled via the at least one compression driver in spaced relationship along the central axis to define a passageway for radiating sound waves generated by the compression driver in a generally horizontal 360° radiation pattern (the 360° radial orthospectral tweeter assembly of this invention achieves the distribution of all its acoustic energy uniformly through 360° in the horizontal plane, col 3, ln 34-39, figs 3a & 3b).
Regarding claim 10, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 9, wherein at least one of the lower or the upper horn members includes a recess for at least partially receiving the at least one compression driver (concavities 21 and 24 of upper and lower horn, col 6, ln 36-55, fig 3a).
Regarding claim 11, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 9, wherein the at least one compression driver includes a first compression driver disposed in the lower horn member (concavity 24 lower horn, col 6, ln 36-55, fig 3a) and a second compression driver disposed in the upper horn member (concavity 21 upper horn, col 6, ln 36-55, fig 3a) in opposed axial orientations (fig 3a).
Regarding claim 12, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 11, wherein the first compression driver and the second compression driver have different frequency outputs (multi-flare rate techniques for uniform output across the spectral output, col 9, ln 31-39).
Regarding claim 13, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 9, wherein the phasing plug includes a base portion having a first side (concavity 24, fiog3a) and an opposed second side facing the diaphragm (concavity 21, fig 3a), the base portion including a plurality of apertures that extend therethrough and are arranged generally circumferentially about the central axis (horn aperture 23, col 6, ln 9-14, fig 3a).
Regarding claim 14, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 13, wherein the phasing plug includes a raised portion extending upwardly from the base portion and defining a plurality of radially-expanding channels acoustically connected to the apertures (horn aperture 23, col 6, ln 9-14, fig 3a), wherein actuation of the diaphragm by the magnet assembly generates sound waves within the compression chamber which travel through the plurality of apertures and the radially-expanding channels (space between the spheroidal surface of dome 40 and the spherical concavity 21, 24 is a compression chamber with a volume predetermined by the effective arc of the vibrating diaphragm and the concavity 21-24, col 6, ln 51-55).
Regarding claim 15, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 14, wherein the raised portion has a generally constant height above the base portion (the height of concavity is uniform is a circumferential axis, fig 3a).
Regarding claim 16, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 14, wherein the raised portion has a central section and a plurality of arms extending outwardly therefrom (spaced apart and held by at least rigid vane-like members 15 disposed at 120° positions, col 5, ln 64-67, fig 2), wherein a pair of adjacent arms defines one of the plurality of radially-expanding channels therebetween (annular horn-like aperture 20, col 5, ln 64-67, fig 2), and wherein the apertures are disposed along an edge of the central section with one arm disposed on each side of each aperture (aperture 20 has a rigid vane-like member 15 on each side thereof, col 5, ln 64-67, fig 2).
Regarding claim 17, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 9, wherein the lower horn member includes generally concave, downwardly-facing inner wall defining a lower cavity (lower circular element 12, col 5, ln 58-61, fig 3b), and wherein the upper horn member includes a generally concave, upwardly-facing inner wall defining an upper cavity (upper circular element 11, col 5, ln 58-61, fig 3b).
Regarding claim 18, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 17, further comprising at least one cover arranged to enclose the lower and the upper cavities of the lower and the upper horn members, respectively (cover of upper horn member shown in fig 2 and cover of lower horn member showed screwed in with flathead screws in fig 3a).
Regarding claim 9, Berlant teaches an omnidirectional loudspeaker (360° dispersion of audio energy, col 1, ln 6-13), comprising:
a lower horn member having a generally convex, upwardly-facing outer wall (lower horn element 12 is upwardly facing convex, col 6, ln 66-67, fig 3b);
an upper horn member spaced from the lower horn member and having a generally convex, downwardly-facing outer wall (upper annular horn element 11a is downwardly facing convex, col 6, ln62-67, fig 3b); and
at least one compression driver connected to one of the lower or the upper horn members along a central axis and including a magnet assembly (Considering first, the embodiment of the dome driver assembly of FIG. 3a, the dome 40 has depending from it a voice coil assembly 41. The voice coil assembly has a resilient compliance element 42 attached to it which centers the diaphragm 40 and voice coil 41 within annular magnetic gap 55. Magnetic gap 55 is excited by a magnet 54 disposed and centered between pole pieces 51 and 52. The positioning of a voice coil in a magnetic gap in this fashion is well known., col 6, ln 27-35, fig 3b),
a diaphragm operably connected to the magnet assembly (diaphragm 40 is excited by electrical audio signals applied to voice coil 41, the diaphragm moves vertically up and down on the axis of its center of sphericity, constrained by the resilient compliance element 4, col 6, ln 40-44, fig 3b), a phasing plug adjacent the diaphragm (concavity 21 acts as a phasing plug, col 6, ln 36-50, fig 3a), and a compression chamber defined between the diaphragm and the phasing plug (space above the dome 40 formed by the concavity 21, 24 is a loading cavity upon the domed diaphragm 40, col 6, ln 38-50, fig 3a; compression chamber, col 6, ln 51-55, fig 3a), wherein the lower and the upper horn members are coupled via the at least one compression driver in spaced relationship along the central axis to define a passageway for radiating sound waves generated by the compression driver in a generally horizontal 360° radiation pattern (the 360° radial orthospectral tweeter assembly of this invention achieves the distribution of all its acoustic energy uniformly through 360° in the horizontal plane, col 3, ln 34-39, figs 3a & 3b).
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) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berlant.
Regarding claim 19, Berlant teaches the omnidirectional loudspeaker of claim 9.
Although Berlant does not further comprising a support stand coupled to the lower horn member for supporting the omnidirectional loudspeaker on a surface, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a support stand with the motivation of protecting the bottom of the speaker from damage.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berlant and Button (US 20170353786).
Regarding claim 20, Berlant teaches a speaker array, comprising:
an omnidirectional loudspeaker (360° dispersion of audio energy, col 1, ln 6-13), each omnidirectional loudspeaker including
a lower horn member having a generally convex, upwardly-facing outer wall with a circumferential edge (lower horn element 12 is upwardly facing convex, col 6, ln 66-67, fig 3b); an
upper horn member spaced from the lower horn member and having a generally convex, downwardly-facing outer wall with a circumferential edge (upper annular horn element 11a is downwardly facing convex, col 6, ln62-67, fig 3b); and
at least one compression driver connected to one of the lower or the upper horn members along a central axis and including a magnet assembly (Considering first, the embodiment of the dome driver assembly of FIG. 3a, the dome 40 has depending from it a voice coil assembly 41. The voice coil assembly has a resilient compliance element 42 attached to it which centers the diaphragm 40 and voice coil 41 within annular magnetic gap 55. Magnetic gap 55 is excited by a magnet 54 disposed and centered between pole pieces 51 and 52. The positioning of a voice coil in a magnetic gap in this fashion is well known., col 6, ln 27-35, fig 3b),
a diaphragm operably connected to the magnet assembly diaphragm 40 is excited by electrical audio signals applied to voice coil 41, the diaphragm moves vertically up and down on the axis of its center of sphericity, constrained by the resilient compliance element 4, col 6, ln 40-44, fig 3b),
a phasing plug adjacent the diaphragm (concavity 21 acts as a phasing plug, col 6, ln 36-50, fig 3a), and a compression chamber defined between the diaphragm and the phasing plug (space above the dome 40 formed by the concavity 21, 24 is a loading cavity upon the domed diaphragm 40, col 6, ln 38-50, fig 3a; compression chamber, col 6, ln 51-55, fig 3a), wherein the lower and the upper horn members are coupled via the at least one compression driver in spaced relationship along the central axis to define a passageway for radiating sound waves generated by the compression driver in a generally horizontal 360° radiation pattern (the 360° radial orthospectral tweeter assembly of this invention achieves the distribution of all its acoustic energy uniformly through 360° in the horizontal plane, col 3, ln 34-39, figs 3a & 3b).
Although Berlant does not teach a plurality of omnidirectional loudspeakers wherein adjacent omnidirectional loudspeakers are assembled via the circumferential edges of the lower and the upper horn members to form the speaker array, Button teaches an array of compression drivers (drivers 122 may be compression drivers, Button, [0040]) with adjacent drivers assembled on circumferential edges (drivers 122, Button, [0040], fig 2) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a plurality of omnidirectional loudspeakers wherein adjacent omnidirectional loudspeakers are assembled via the circumferential edges of the lower and the upper horn members to form the speaker array since doing so is the use of a known technique to improve a similar system in the same way.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kile Blair whose telephone number is (571)270-3544. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/KILE O BLAIR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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