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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Oba (JP 2011072025 A).
Regarding claim 1, Oba teaches a method of
manufacturing an air waveguide antenna (see paras. 27, 29, and 45 for evidence of Oba’s antenna being manufactured, where the use of slot antennas with the waveguide structures described by Oba is specified; see para. 5 for evidence that the waveguide lines are hollow and are thus air waveguides without the presence of a vacuum-creating component; see Palomares-Caballero page 2 for a further example of an air waveguide antenna [array] and the manufacturing thereof)
formed of a first antenna portion including a first surface having a first air waveguide portion therein and a second antenna portion including a second surface having a second air waveguide portion therein (Fig. 1, Examiner is construing first conductor plate 1a as a first surface having a first air waveguide portion in the form of waveguides 5a-5c in addition to the corresponding halves of waveguide lines 2a-2c which are all part of a first antenna portion, and second conductor plate 1b as a second surface having a second air waveguide portion in the form of the corresponding halves of waveguide lines 2a-2c which are all part of a second antenna portion; see paras. 19-21; see Fig. 4 for an embodiment with analogous features), the method comprising:
forming one or more cavities in one or both of the first and second surfaces (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are formed as cavities in the first antenna portion, and the waveguide lines 2a-2c are formed as cavities in both antenna portions), and
fitting the first and second antenna portions together with the first and second surfaces facing each other such that the first and second air waveguide portions oppose each other to form an air waveguide (Fig. 1, antenna portions face each other such that their respective waveguide portions oppose each other to form an air waveguide),
wherein the one or more cavities are such that parallel plate mode energy leakage of an electromagnetic wave guided by the air waveguide, through an air gap between the fitted first and second surfaces, is redirected (para. 10, “Here, the choke structures 23a to 23d are formed on both sides of the long side of each waveguide cross-section perpendicular to the direction of electromagnetic wave propagation […] This suppresses performance degradation caused by electromagnetic wave leakage and reflection from the divided surface of the conductor plate.”; para. 21, “Furthermore, a transmission line 4a is formed between waveguide line 2a and waveguide line 2b by the gap 7 created when the first conductor plate 1a and the second conductor plate 1b are separated.”; see para. 3 for prevention of the propagation mode being disturbed by the gap; Fig. 1, gap 7 redirects wave propagation into choke structures 3a and 3b).
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 and the air waveguide antenna of claim 13 respectively
wherein the one or more cavities include a cavity disposed adjacent to the respective first or second air waveguide portion such that the parallel plate mode energy leakage is reflected back into the air waveguide (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are adjacent to the first waveguide portion and are formed such that any energy leaked is reflected back into the air waveguide; see para. 10).
Regarding claim 3, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 further comprising
forming the one or more cavities to have dimensions in accordance with a frequency of the electromagnetic wave to be guided by the air waveguide such that a reflected energy is in phase with the guided electromagnetic wave (para. 20, “The choke structures 3a and 3b are formed at positions approximately 1/4 of the propagation wavelength in free space at the operating frequency, and with a depth of approximately 1/4 of the propagation wavelength in free space at the operating frequency, from the outside of the waveguide lines 2a and 2c at both ends of the waveguide lines 2a and 2c.”; looking at Fig. 1 as a reference, when entering a choke structure, a wave would shift 90° in forward propagation, 180° at point of reflection, and 90° in backward propagation, becoming in-phase with the incoming guided wave).
Regarding claim 4, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 further comprising
forming the one or more cavities on the first and/or second surfaces at positions to reduce crosstalk between the air waveguide and one or more further air waveguides of one or more respective further antennas (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are adjacent to the first waveguide portion and are formed such that any energy leaked is reflected back into the air waveguide, reducing crosstalk; see para. 10; para. 29, “In the above embodiment 1, coupling slots 6a to 6c are provided as additional structures that disrupt the current distribution flowing through the side walls of waveguide lines 2a to 2c, but the embodiment is not limited to this. Additional structures include […] radiating slots that function as antennas […].”; in view of the embodiment of Fig. 4, the coupling slots 25a-c which are analogous to coupling slots 6a-6c may also be each a slot antenna with choke structures 23b and 23b between pairs of adjacent slots).
Regarding claim 5, Oba teaches the method of claim 4 further comprising
forming the one or more cavities to extend at an orientation along the first and/or second surfaces such that parallel plate mode energy leakage in a direction perpendicular to the one or more cavities is blocked (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are formed perpendicular to the gap 7 such that leakage perpendicular to the choke structures is blocked).
Regarding claim 7, Oba teaches the method of claim 1
wherein the one or more cavities have a depth of 0.5 mm to 0.9 mm (para. 6, “Conventional waveguide plates have multiple waveguide lines, and on both sides of the long side of each waveguide cross-section perpendicular to the direction of electromagnetic wave propagation, a choke structure is formed at a distance of approximately 1/4 [λ/4] of the propagation wavelength in free space at the operating frequency from the end of the waveguide line, with a depth of approximately 1/4 [λ/4] of the propagation wavelength in free space at the operating frequency [see, for example, Patent Document 1]”.; see para. 11 for Oba’s incorporation of Patent Document 1 which is Suzuki [JP 2003188601 A], which is incorporated for examples of an operating frequency range, which is described in Suzuki para. 18 as a range of 30GHz – 300GHz, which results in a range of wavelength values and thus choke structure depths that satisfy the claimed range of depth; see para. 7 of Suzuki for further evidence of similar choke structure specifications as to what is described in para. 6 of Oba; if Applicant disagrees that this feature is anticipated by virtue of incorporation of Suzuki, Examiner will say that the feature is obvious in order to expedite prosecution, with the motivation of specifying a cavity depth range for use with a specific operating frequency or wavelength range).
Regarding claim 8, Oba teaches the method of claim 1
wherein the one or more cavities have a depth of approximately 0.7 mm (see para. 6 and the rejection of claim 7; see para. 11 for Oba’s incorporation of Patent Document 1 which is Suzuki [JP 2003188601 A], which is incorporated for examples of an operating frequency range, which is described in Suzuki para. 18 as a range of 30GHz – 300GHz, which results in a range of wavelength values and thus choke structure depths that satisfy the claimed approximate depth).
Regarding claim 9, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 further comprising
forming the one or more cavities adjacent to a transition portion of the air waveguide for guiding an electromagnetic wave out of the antenna to either free space or to a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) (Figs. 1 and 4, choke structures are adjacent to gap 7 which is a transition portion of the air waveguide; see para. 29 for evidence that waveguide lines are connected to free space).
Regarding claim 10, Oba teaches the method of claim 9 wherein:
the first antenna portion is an upper antenna portion, the second antenna portion is a lower antenna portion (Fig. 1, first antenna portion as construed is depicted as an upper antenna portion, and likewise the second antenna portion as construed is depicted as a lower antenna portion), and
a vertical center of each of the one or more cavities, in a direction extending between the upper and lower antenna portions, is aligned, in a horizontal direction, with the vertical center of the transition portion of the air waveguide (Fig. 1, the vertical center axes of the choke structures 3a and 3b extend between both antenna portions and are parallel with the vertical center axis of gap 7 which is depicted as that of waveguide line 2b, and thus horizontally aligned).
Regarding claim 11, Oba teaches the method of claim 1
wherein a transition between the first or second surface and a sidewall of a cavity is curved (Fig. 1, it can be seen that the transitions between the first surface and the sidewalls of choke structures 3a and 3b are slightly curved).
Regarding claim 12, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 but fails to teach further comprising
forming the one or more cavities using injection molding (para. 45, “Instead of using a conductor plate, the transmission line plate may be constructed by molding plastic or resin to create a shape, and then plating the surface that functions as a transmission line with a conductor.”; Fig. 1, the cavities are formed with the formation of the transmission line plate that comprises the two antenna portions).
Regarding claim 13, Oba teaches an air waveguide antenna (see para. 29 for evidence of Oba’s use of slot antennas with the waveguide structures described; see para. 5 for evidence that the waveguide lines are hollow and are thus air waveguides without the presence of a vacuum-creating component; see Palomares-Caballero page 2 for a further example of an air waveguide antenna [array]) comprising:
a first antenna portion including a first surface having a first air waveguide portion therein, a second antenna portion including a second surface having a second air waveguide portion therein (Fig. 1, Examiner is construing first conductor plate 1a as a first surface having a first air waveguide portion in the form of waveguides 5a-5c in addition to the corresponding halves of waveguide lines 2a-2c which are all part of a first antenna portion, and second conductor plate 1b as a second surface having a second air waveguide portion in the form of the corresponding halves of waveguide lines 2a-2c which are all part of a second antenna portion; see paras. 19-21; see Fig. 4 for an embodiment with analogous features), and
one or more cavities in one or both of the first and second surfaces (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are formed as cavities in the first antenna portion, and the waveguide lines 2a-2c are formed as cavities in both antenna portions),
wherein the first and second antenna portions are arranged to fit together with the first and second surfaces facing each other such that the first and second air waveguide portions oppose each other to form an air waveguide (Fig. 1, antenna portions face each other such that their respective waveguide portions oppose each other to form an air waveguide), and
wherein the one or more cavities are such that parallel plate mode energy leakage of an electromagnetic wave guided by the air waveguide, through an air gap between the fitted first and second surfaces, is redirected (para. 10, “Here, the choke structures 23a to 23d are formed on both sides of the long side of each waveguide cross-section perpendicular to the direction of electromagnetic wave propagation […] This suppresses performance degradation caused by electromagnetic wave leakage and reflection from the divided surface of the conductor plate.”; para. 21, “Furthermore, a transmission line 4a is formed between waveguide line 2a and waveguide line 2b by the gap 7 created when the first conductor plate 1a and the second conductor plate 1b are separated.”; see para. 3 for prevention of the propagation mode being disturbed by the gap; Fig. 1, gap 7 redirects wave propagation into choke structures 3a and 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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oba in view of Palomares-Caballero et al. (Millimeter-Wave 3D Printed Antenna Array based on Gap-Waveguide Technology and Split E-plane Waveguide [2021]), hereinafter Palomares-Caballero.
Regarding claim 6, Oba teaches the method of claim 1 but fails to teach wherein:
forming the one or more cavities includes forming one or more cavities in the first surface and one or more cavities in the second surface, and
none of the one or more cavities in the first surface is aligned with a cavity in the second surface when the first and second antenna portions are fitted together.
However, Palomares-Caballero teaches wherein:
forming the one or more cavities includes forming one or more cavities in the first surface and one or more cavities in the second surface, and none of the one or more cavities in the first surface is aligned with a cavity in the second surface when the first and second antenna portions are fitted together (Fig. 6a, the cavities of plate 1 and plate 2 are completely non-aligned).
Oba and Palomares-Caballero are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electromagnetic air waveguide antennas. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Oba with the teachings of Palomares-Caballero with the motivation of optimizing space usage.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oba in view of Chen et al. (US 20180034140 A1), hereinafter Chen.
Regarding claim 15, Oba teaches
the air waveguide antenna of claim 13 (see rejection of claim 13),
wherein the air waveguide antenna includes a transition portion for guiding an electromagnetic wave out of the antenna to either free space or to a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), and wherein at least one of the one or more cavities is disposed adjacent to the transition portion of the air waveguide (Figs. 1 and 4, choke structures are adjacent to gap 7 which is a transition portion of the air waveguide; see para. 29 for evidence that waveguide lines are connected to free space), but fails to teach
an automotive radar comprising an air waveguide antenna.
However, Chen teaches
an automotive radar comprising an air waveguide antenna (para. 24, “The radar antenna architecture may include a plurality of ‘dual open-ended waveguide’ [DOEWG] antennas.”; para. 57, “While the example antenna illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be suitable for autonomous-vehicle purposes (e.g., six elongated segments, with five DOEWGs per segment), other embodiments may be possible as well, and such other embodiments may be designed/molded for various applications, including, but not limited to, automotive radar.”; see paras. 42-43 and Figs. 1B and 1C for further evidence of a two-portioned and cavity-utilizing antenna waveguide structure, similar to what is taught by Oba).
Oba and Chen are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electromagnetic air waveguide antennas. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Oba with the teachings of Chen with the motivation of applying the EM energy leakage-reduced antenna waveguide structure similar to Oba’s to an automotive radar system.
Regarding claim 16, Oba teaches
a plurality of the air waveguide antennas of claim 13 (see para. 29 for evidence of Oba’s use of multiple slot antennas with the waveguide structures described; see rejection of claim 13; see Chen para. 6 for further example of a plurality of waveguide antenna arrays),
wherein the one or more cavities are arranged between each of the plurality of antennas to reduce crosstalk between the plurality of antennas (Fig. 1, choke structures 3a and 3b are adjacent to the first waveguide portion and are formed such that any energy leaked is reflected back into the air waveguide, reducing crosstalk; para. 29, “In the above embodiment 1, coupling slots 6a to 6c are provided as additional structures that disrupt the current distribution flowing through the side walls of waveguide lines 2a to 2c, but the embodiment is not limited to this. Additional structures include […] radiating slots that function as antennas […].”; in view of the embodiment of Fig. 4, the coupling slots 25a-c which are analogous to coupling slots 6a-6c may also be each a slot antenna with choke structures 23b and 23b between pairs of adjacent slots), but fails to teach
an automotive radar comprising an air waveguide antenna.
However, Chen teaches
an automotive radar comprising an air waveguide antenna (para. 24, “The radar antenna architecture may include a plurality of ‘dual open-ended waveguide’ [DOEWG] antennas.”; para. 57, “While the example antenna illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be suitable for autonomous-vehicle purposes (e.g., six elongated segments, with five DOEWGs per segment), other embodiments may be possible as well, and such other embodiments may be designed/molded for various applications, including, but not limited to, automotive radar.”; see paras. 42-43 and Figs. 1B and 1C for further evidence of a two-portioned and cavity-utilizing antenna waveguide structure, similar to what is taught by Oba).
Oba and Chen are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electromagnetic air waveguide antennas. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Oba with the teachings of Chen with the motivation of applying the EM energy leakage-reduced antenna waveguide structure similar to Oba’s to an automotive radar system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure:
Suzuki (JP 2003188601 A), which is incorporated into Oba to provide example of an operating frequency range, teaches an air waveguide antenna array, making use of choke structures (also known as cavities) to limit EM energy leakage.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC K HODAC whose telephone number is (571) 270-0123. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE can be reached at (571) 270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ERIC K HODAC/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights