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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuda (US 20240411403) in view of Kim et al. (KR 20220160255).
1. Matsuda teaches:
A haptic actuator module/input device 100A using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation, the haptic actuator module comprising:
a dielectric elastomer 103;
a first electrode/2nd electrode 120 disposed to adjoin a lower surface region that is a lower surface of the dielectric elastomer (fig 7);
a second electrode/1st electrode 110 disposed to adjoin a first upper surface region that is a partial region of an upper surface of the dielectric elastomer (fig 7); but does not teach that the haptic actuator module uses pin stimulation and a module housing having therein an accommodation region configured to accommodate the dielectric elastomer, the first electrode, and the second electrode, the module housing being configured such that an outer surface region, which is an outer surface of the dielectric elastomer, adjoins an inner surface of the accommodation region.
Kim et al. teach that the haptic actuator module 100a uses pin stimulation (via pin 150) and a module housing 110 having therein an accommodation region/inner space 112 configured to accommodate the dielectric elastomer (of Matsuda but in this example a hydraulic fluid 130), the first electrode (of Matsuda but in this example a 1st lower electrode 126a), and the second electrode (of Matsuda but in this example a 2nd upper electrode 124a), the module housing being configured such that an outer surface region, which is an outer surface of the dielectric elastomer (of Matsuda but in this example a hydraulic fluid 130), adjoins/abuts an inner surface of the accommodation region (see fig 2). This configuration makes it easier to create an array-based texture forming apparatus as opposed to the configuration of Matsuda which would improves the versatility of the haptic actuator of Matsuda.
As a result, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the invention being effectively filed to modify the invention of Matsuda such that the haptic actuator module uses pin stimulation and a module housing having therein an accommodation region configured to accommodate the dielectric elastomer, the first electrode, and the second electrode, the module housing being configured such that an outer surface region, which is an outer surface of the dielectric elastomer, adjoins an inner surface of the accommodation region, as taught by Kim et al., so as to improve the versatility of the actuator module.
2. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 1, further comprising: a third electrode/shield electrode 160 disposed to adjoin a third upper surface region that is a partial region of a second upper surface region that is an upper surface of the dielectric elastomer (see fig 7) that does not adjoin/abut the second electrode (fig 7); and a protruding pin 150 having a predetermined thickness and disposed above the third electrode (Kim et al. fig 13).
3. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 2, wherein the module housing (of Kim et al.) has a module cover 160 configured to open or close (fig 10) the accommodation region, and an upper surface of the protruding pin adjoins/abuts a lower surface of the module cover (fig 10).
4. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 3, further comprising: a power source 170 (of Kim et al.) configured to supply a voltage (inherent since it is an electrostatic device, MPEP 2112) between the first electrode (of Kim et al.) and the second electrode (of Kim et al.), wherein a first elastomer region of the dielectric elastomer (of Matsuda but in this example a fluid 130) , which is disposed below the first upper surface region and between the first electrode (of Kim et al.) and the second electrode (fig 11), is compressed and decreased in thickness (the thickness between the electrodes has been reduced) by electrostatic attraction when a voltage is applied between the first electrode (of Kim et al.) and the second electrode (of Kim et al. fig 11) .
5. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 4, wherein a second elastomer region (of Matsuda) of the dielectric elastomer (of Matsuda), which is disposed below the second upper surface region (of Matsuda) and is the remaining region other than the first elastomer region (of Matsuda), increases in thickness while corresponding to the decrease in thickness of the first elastomer region (the dielectric fluid of Kim et al. meets this limitation, see Kim et al. figs 7 & 8) when the voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode the dielectric fluid of Kim et al. meets this limitation, see Kim et al. figs 7 & 8).
6. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 5, wherein the third electrode (of Kim et al.) and the protruding pin (of Kim et al.) are raised by the increase in thickness of the second elastomer region (of Kim et al.) when the voltage is applied between the first electrode (of Kim et al.) and the second electrode (of Kim et al.) (see Kim et al. fig 7).
7. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
The haptic actuator module of claim 5, wherein the module cover (of Kim et al.) protrudes upward as the third electrode (of Kim et al.) and the protruding pin (of Kim et al.) are raised by the increase in thickness of the second elastomer region (of Kim et al.) when the voltage is applied between the first electrode (of Kim et al.) and the second electrode (of Kim et al.) (see Kim et al. figs 7, 10 & 11).
8. Matsuda in view of Kim et al. teach:
A haptic actuator assembly using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation (re claim 1 above), the haptic actuator assembly comprising: a plurality of haptic actuator modules 120 (of Kim et al.) using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation according to claim 1; and an assembly controller (implied by figure 14, MPEP 2112) configured to provide haptics by applying voltages between first and second electrodes of one or more haptic actuator modules (this is also implied by fig 14, MPEP 2112) using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation among the plurality of haptic actuator modules using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation, wherein the plurality of haptic actuator modules using electrostatic attraction and pin stimulation are disposed adjacent to one another (see Kim et al. fig 14).
Conclusion
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/TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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