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 .
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the amendment filed on April 09, 2026. Claims 1 and 11 are amended. Claims 1-20 are pending, with claims 2-4 and 15-18 being withdrawn.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-14, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai el al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2012/0076486), and further in view of Gong et al. (CN110703534).
Regarding claim 1:
Bai discloses a blade driving device (FIGS. 1-6) in which a central axis (FIG. 1, represented by the vertical line in the middle passing through the centers of the openings of (40)/(30)/(10)) is defined, comprising: a base ((10), [0025]); a plurality of blades ((20), [0025]) arranged around the central axis (FIG. 4); and a plurality of groups each comprising a magnet (FIGS. 2-6, (31), [0026]) and a coil ((11), [0026]), and arranged at intervals along a circumference of a circle centered on the central axis (FIGS. 2-6), wherein a winding axis direction of the coil coincides with a normal direction of a facing surface of the magnet facing the coil (FIG. 3), when viewed from the winding axis direction, magnetic poles formed on the facing surface are reversed at a position corresponding to a center of the coil (FIG. 4, indicated below), each of the groups generates an electromagnetic force along a circumference direction of the circle to drive the blades ([0014, 0026]).
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Bai does not specifically disclose that each group comprises at least two coils; a base with embedded metal members; wherein each of the metal members has one end portion that protrudes outward from the outer edge of the base and is supported by and electrically connected to an external receiving portion, and the other end portion that is electrically connected to the coil.
Gong teaches a variable aperture device (FIGS. 1-6), comprising a group comprising a magnet (FIG. 5, (11), [0030]) and at least two coils (FIG. 4, (9), [0030]), wherein a winding axis direction of the coil coincides with a normal direction of a facing surface of the magnet facing the coil (FIGS. 3, 6), when viewed from the winding axis direction, magnetic poles formed on the facing surface are reversed at a position corresponding to a center of the coil (FIG. 3, indicated below), the group generates an electromagnetic force along a circumference direction of the circle to drive the blades ([0030, 0032, 0038, 0039]);
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and a base (FIG. 1, (1), [0033]) with an embedded metal member (FIGS. 3, 4, wherein (8) is attached/fixed to (1), [0037]); wherein the metal member has one end portion (indicated below) that protrudes outward from the outer edge of the base (shown in FIG. 3, wherein the one end portion of (8) protrudes outward from (1)) and is supported by and electrically connected to an external receiving portion (wherein the device is for implementing into mobile phones, [Abstract, 0017, 0026, 0042]; electrically connected to the rest of the mobile phones through the terminal/connector portion of (8) that protrudes outward from (1)), and the other end portion (indicated below) that is electrically connected to the coil ((9) is electrically connected, [Abstract, 0005, 0024, 0029, 0038]).
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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 feature of Gong’s with the blade driving device taught by Bai to enable each group of coils to be electrically connected through a PCB as taught by Gong for the purpose of providing a continuously variable aperture device without affecting the thickness (Gong: [0004, 0031]) and providing a miniaturized continuously variable aperture technology that can achieve full exposure in the shortest time within a limited installation space to enhance user’s photography experience (Gong: [0017, 0026, 0042]).
Regarding claim 5:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 1, wherein Gong further discloses that when viewed from the central axis direction, two or more coils are linearly connected and aligned (FIGS. 3, 4, 6).
Regarding claim 6:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 1, wherein Gong further discloses that in an alignment direction of the coils, areas of portions magnetized to one magnetic pole at both ends of the magnet are smaller than areas of other portions magnetized to one magnetic pole (indicated below).
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Regarding claim 7:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 1, wherein Gong further discloses that in an alignment direction of the coils, end portions of the magnet are located at positions corresponding to centers of the coils (indicated below).
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Regarding claim 8:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 1, wherein Bai further discloses: a fixed portion (FIG. 1, (40)/(10), [0025]); and a movable ring ((30), [0025, 0043]) which is supported so as to be rotatable about the central axis with respect to the fixed portion and drives the blades by rotation (FIGS. 2-5, [0025, 0045, 0047]), wherein one of the coils and the magnets are arranged at the fixed portion (FIG. 1, (11) is arranged at (10), [0026]), and the other is arranged on the movable ring (FIG. 1, (31) is arranged at (30), [0026]).
Regarding claim 9:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 1, wherein Gong further discloses that a winding axis direction of the coil and a normal direction of a facing surface of the magnet facing the coil face a radial direction centered on the central axis as a whole (illustrated below).
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Regarding claim 10:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 9, wherein Gong further discloses that when viewed from the central axis direction, the at least two coils are linearly connected and aligned (FIGS. 3, 4, 6), and the magnetic poles are reversed at a position corresponding to a center of each coil (indicated below).
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Regarding claim 11:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of the blade driving device according to claim 9, wherein Gong further discloses that when viewed from the central axis direction, the at least two coils are connected and aligned along the circumference direction of the circle (FIGS. 3, 6), and the magnetic poles are reversed at a position corresponding to a center of each coil (indicated in claim 10 above).
Regarding claim 12:
Claim 12 is similarly rejected as in claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 13:
Claim 13 is similarly rejected as in claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 14:
Claim 14 is similarly rejected as in claim 8 above.
Regarding claim 19:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of a camera device comprising the blade driving device according to claim 1 (Bai: FIG. 7, “imaging elements inside the main unit 110”, [0076-0078]).
Regarding claim 20:
Bai and Gong disclose and teach of an electronic apparatus comprising the camera device according to claim 19 (Bai: FIG. 7, “surveillance camera” (100), [0076-0078]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 8, filed April 09, 2026, with respect to the objection of claim 11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of claim 11 as point 4(a) has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed April 09, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:
Applicant stated on page 9 of the arguments that Gong “…fails to disclose the above-mentioned distinguishing limitations related to the base and embedded metal members.”
In response, this new limitation is addressed in claim 1 above.
Applicant stated on page 9 of the arguments that “Gong does not provide any teaching or suggestion to modify the device of Bai to incorporate such an embedded metal member structure…”.
In response, the motivation and reasoning for combining are also addressed in claim 1 above.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 5-14, 19, and 20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FANG-CHI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5299. The examiner can normally be reached MRF 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEPHANIE BLOSS can be reached at 5712723555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FANG-CHI CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
/STEPHANIE E BLOSS/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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