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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for priority based on provisional application filed on 7/26/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements have been considered and placed in the record on file and are in compliance with USPTO requirements.
Drawings
The Drawings have been considered and placed in the record on file and are in compliance with USPTO requirements.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 7-9, 12, 15-15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirakawa et al. (US 2024/0019947 A1 hereinafter Hirakawa) in view of Orita et al. (US 2023/0409117 A1 hereinafter Orita).
In regards to claim 1, Hirakawa discloses an input device, comprising:
a display panel having a sensing region with a set of sensing electrodes (see figure 1 and paragraphs 0031 and 0061, display panel having a plurality of sensing electrodes);
a rotatable interface (see figure 1 and paragraph 0024, input device with a rotatable knob interface), comprising:
a first plurality of interface electrodes configured to signal rotation of the rotatable interface (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob);
a processing system (see figure 1, processing system 110) configured to:
drive, during a second sensing period, a second plurality of sensing electrodes of the set of sensing electrodes with second sensing signals (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob); and
determine, from second resulting signals, rotation of the rotatable interface (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob).
However, Hirakawa fails to disclose a processing system configured to:
drive, during a first sensing period, a first plurality of sensing electrodes of the set of sensing electrodes with first sensing signals;
determine, from first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface.
Orita teaches a processing system configured to:
drive, during a first sensing period, a first plurality of sensing electrodes of the set of sensing electrodes with first sensing signals (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m));
determine, from first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and include determining the knob is being touched as taught by Orita, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results, resulting in power and processing savings by only determining rotation of the knob when it is sensed that is being touched.
In regards to claim 4, as recited in claim 1, Hirakawa further discloses wherein, during the second sensing period, the processing system transmits a reference signal to one or more of the first plurality of sensing electrodes (see paragraph 0018, providing, by a processing system of the input device, a reference signal to the reference electrodes of the panel and sensing signals to the knob sensing electrodes of the panel).
In regards to claim 7, as recited in claim 1, Hirakawa further discloses wherein the sensing region is configured for capacitive sensing (see figure 1 and paragraph 0044, the electrodes 125 are sensor electrodes of a capacitive sensing device).
In regards to claim 8, as recited in claim 1, Hirakawa further discloses wherein the first plurality of interface electrodes are disposed on a fixed base (see figure 3 and paragraphs 0075 and 0076, fixed based 231 with conductive regions 237 and 238 which are connected to a sensing signal).
In regards to claim 9, Hirakawa discloses a rotatable interface, comprising:
a first plurality of interface electrodes configured to signal rotation of the rotatable interface (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob);
a processing system (see figure 1, processing system 110) configured to:
drive, during a second sensing period, a second plurality of sensing electrodes of the set of sensing electrodes in the sensing region with second sensing signals (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob); and
determine, from second resulting signals, rotation of the rotatable interface (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob).
However, Hirakawa fails to disclose a processing system configured to:
drive, during a first sensing period, a first plurality of sensing electrodes of a set of sensing electrodes in a sensing region with first sensing signals;
determine, from first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface.
Orita teaches a processing system configured to:
drive, during a first sensing period, a first plurality of sensing electrodes of a set of sensing electrodes in a sensing region with first sensing signals (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m));
determine, from first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and include determining the knob is being touched as taught by Orita, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results, resulting in power and processing savings by only determining rotation of the knob when it is sensed that is being touched.
In regards to claim 12, as recited in claim 9, Hirakawa further discloses wherein, during the second sensing period, the processing system transmits a reference signal to one or more of the first plurality of sensing electrodes (see paragraph 0018, providing, by a processing system of the input device, a reference signal to the reference electrodes of the panel and sensing signals to the knob sensing electrodes of the panel).
In regards to claim 15, as recited in claim 9, Hirakawa further discloses wherein the sensing region is configured for capacitive sensing (see figure 1 and paragraph 0044, the electrodes 125 are sensor electrodes of a capacitive sensing device).
In regards to claim 16, Hirakawa discloses a method for a detecting user input to a rotatable interface, which at least partially overlaps a sensing region of a display, the method comprising:
transmitting, during a second sensing period, second sensing signals to a second plurality of sensing electrodes of the set of sensing electrodes in the sensing region (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob, therefore signals are sent to the electrodes);
receiving second resulting signals, wherein the second resulting signals correspond to the second sensing signals (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob, therefore receiving resulting signals); and
determining, from the second resulting signals, rotation of the rotatable interface (see figure 4A and paragraph 0079, electrodes 410, 411, and 420 sense rotation of the knob).
However, Hirakawa fails to disclose transmitting, during a first sensing period, first sensing signals to a first plurality of sensing electrodes of a set of sensing electrodes in the sensing region;
receiving first resulting signals, wherein the first resulting signals correspond to the first sensing signals;
determining, from the first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface.
Orita teaches transmitting, during a first sensing period, first sensing signals to a first plurality of sensing electrodes of a set of sensing electrodes in the sensing region (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m));
receiving first resulting signals, wherein the first resulting signals correspond to the first sensing signals (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m));
determining, from the first resulting signals, a grasp of the rotatable interface (see paragraphs 0165 and 0167, in the touch detection period P1, the control signal expressing the first conversion timing is outputted from the touch detection control circuit to the excitation pulse generation circuit and the touch coordinated calculation circuit determines whether there is a touch by the indicator based on the charge detection result of the mutual capacitance inputted from the charge detection circuit and held to correspond to each of the excitation electrodes Ty(1) to Ty(m)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and include determining the knob is being touched as taught by Orita, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results, resulting in power and processing savings by only determining rotation of the knob when it is sensed that is being touched.
In regards to claim 18, as recited in claim 16, Hirakawa further discloses further comprising: transmitting, during the second sensing period, a reference signal to one or more of the first plurality of sensing electrodes (see paragraph 0018, providing, by a processing system of the input device, a reference signal to the reference electrodes of the panel and sensing signals to the knob sensing electrodes of the panel).
Claims 2, 3, 10, 11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirakawa and Orita in view of Amano (US 2024/0281092 A1 hereinafter Amano).
In regards to claim 2, as recited in claim 1, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose wherein the processing system is further configured to: determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region.
Amano teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to: determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region (see paragraph 0093, detected object proximity points B detected when the user grips the knob member).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include proximity detection of griping the knob as taught by Amano, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 3, as recited in claim 1, Hirakawa discloses wherein the rotatable interface further comprises a second plurality of interface electrodes configured to signal a click of the rotatable interface and wherein the processing system is further configured to:
determine, from the second resulting signals, the click of the rotatable interface (see paragraph 0079 and figure 4A, the third set, including electrode 420, is configured to sense a “click” or the closing of the switches 220, for example, when a user pushes the knob interface into its compressed state).
However, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region.
Amano teaches determine, from the second resulting signals, the click of the rotatable interface (see paragraph 0093, detected object proximity points B detected when the user grips the knob member).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include proximity detection of griping the knob as taught by Amano, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 10, as recited in claim 9, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose wherein the processing system is further configured to: determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region.
Amano teaches determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region (see paragraph 0093, detected object proximity points B detected when the user grips the knob member).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include proximity detection of griping the knob as taught by Amano, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 11, as recited in claim 9, Hirakawa further discloses wherein the rotatable interface further comprises a second plurality of interface electrodes configured to signal a click of the rotatable interface and wherein the processing system is further configured to: determine, from the second resulting signals, the click of the rotatable interface (see paragraph 0079 and figure 4A, the third set, including electrode 420, is configured to sense a “click” or the closing of the switches 220, for example, when a user pushes the knob interface into its compressed state).
However, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region.
Amano teaches determine, from the first resulting signals, location of an input object proximate to the sensing region (see paragraph 0093, detected object proximity points B detected when the user grips the knob member).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include proximity detection of griping the knob as taught by Amano, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 17, as recited in claim 16, Hirakawa further discloses further comprising: determining, from the second resulting signals, a click of the rotatable interface (see paragraph 0079 and figure 4A, the third set, including electrode 420, is configured to sense a “click” or the closing of the switches 220, for example, when a user pushes the knob interface into its compressed state).
However, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose determining, from the first resulting signals, proximity of an input object to the sensing region.
Amano teaches determining, from the first resulting signals, proximity of an input object to the sensing region (see paragraph 0093, detected object proximity points B detected when the user grips the knob member).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include proximity detection of griping the knob as taught by Amano, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
Claims 5, 13, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirakawa and Orita in view of Saukko et al. (US 2014/0168135 A1 hereinafter Saukko).
In regards to claim 5, as recited in claim 1, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose wherein determination of the grasp of the rotatable interface is detection of a gloved input object.
Saukko teaches wherein determination of the grasp of the rotatable interface is detection of a gloved input object (see paragraph 0053, the user’s grip is detected even if the user is wearing gloves using 3-D capacitive sensing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include 3-D capacitive sensing to detect the user’s grip even while wearing gloves as taught by Saukko, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 13, as recited in claim 9, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose wherein determination of the grasp of the rotatable interface is detection of a gloved input object.
Saukko teaches wherein determination of the grasp of the rotatable interface is detection of a gloved input object (see paragraph 0053, the user’s grip is detected even if the user is wearing gloves using 3-D capacitive sensing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include 3-D capacitive sensing to detect the user’s grip even while wearing gloves as taught by Saukko, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
In regards to claim 19, as recited in claim 16, the combination of Hirakawa and Orita fails to disclose further comprising: detecting of a gloved input object.
Saukko teaches detecting of a gloved input object (see paragraph 0053, the user’s grip is detected even if the user is wearing gloves using 3-D capacitive sensing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirakawa and Orita and include 3-D capacitive sensing to detect the user’s grip even while wearing gloves as taught by Saukko, thereby using known techniques to yield predictable results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 14, and 20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J KOHLMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5503. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER J KOHLMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628