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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 10/24/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims and specification in the submission dated 01/12/2026 in response to the office action mailed 10/17/2025 are acknowledged and accepted.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s Remarks, filed 01/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1, 9, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Chen et al., US 10,877,244 B1 (hereinafter referred to Chen), and Dai et al., US 2019/0187446 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Dai).
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-11, 13-17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al., US 10,877,244 B1 (hereinafter referred to Chen), and further in view of Dai et al., US 2019/0187446 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Dai).
As to claim 1, Chen teaches an optical lens (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 37-38, “optical photographing system”), comprising:
a first component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” the first lens is considered the first component) and a second component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 17, lines 58-59, “a second lens element 220, a third lens element 230, a fourth lens element 240,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 39-41, “in order of an optical path sequentially”),
the first component comprising a first component object-side surface facing the object side and a first component image-side surface facing the image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 214, column 17, lines54-55, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side,” lines 64-65, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side”), the first component having positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive) and comprising at least a first optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” thus the first component comprises the first optical element),
the second component comprising a second component object-side surface facing the object side and a second component image-side surface facing the image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 221, 222, column 18, lines 23-24, “object-side surface 221… image-side surface 222”), the second component having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, Table 3, f2, f3, f4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -5.44 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 3) and comprising a second optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, column 17, line 43, “a second lens element 220”), a third optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 230, column 17, lines 43-44, “a third lens element 230”) and a fourth optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 240, column 17, line 44, “a fourth lens element 240”) each having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 18, lines 19-20, “the second lens element 220 with negative refractive power,” line 30, “the third lens element 230 with negative refractive power,” lines 42-43, “the fourth lens element 240 with negative refractive power”),
the first optical element comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light plural times within the reflex optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, 213, column 17, lines 49-51, “a first reflective surface 212… a second reflective surface 213,” column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface, the first reflective surface, the second reflective surface and the second refractive surface,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and a first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”),
the second optical element comprising a transmissive optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, the ray diagram traces show that the second optical element is a transmissive optical element and consists of “lens elements” indicating the second optical element is transmissive),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 63 gives TL/f=0.43), wherein
TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 31-32, “the axial distance between the second reflective surface and the image surface is TL”), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 32-33, “the focal length of the optical photographing system is f”).
Chen does not teach a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches an optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0070] “optical imaging system”), comprising:
a first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0072], “first lens E1”) and a second component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0071], “E1-E4 arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis”),
the first component comprising a first component object-side surface facing the object side and a first component image-side surface facing the image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0072], “an object-side surface of the first lens E1… an image-side surface of the first lens E1”), the first component having positive focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0076], “the first lens E1 has a positive refractive power”) and comprising at least a first optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0076], “the first lens E1”),
the second component comprising a second component object-side surface facing the object side and a second component image-side surface facing the image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0073]-[0075], object-side surfaces S3, S5, and S7, and image-side surfaces S4, S6, and S8) the second component having negative focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -2.85 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 4) and comprising a second optical element, a third optical element and a fourth optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,”),
the first optical element comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light plural times within the reflex optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, S2-1, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “first reflection surface S2-1… second reflection surface S1-2,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “the second reflection surface S1-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the object-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a first transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-1, paragraph [0072], “the first transmission surface S1-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an object-side surface of the first lens E1”), a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a second reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1,” thus the image-side surface of the reflex optical element is a common surface for both the second transmission region S2-2 and the second reflection region S2-1),
the second optical element comprising a transmissive optical elements (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, the ray diagram traces show that the second optical element is a transmissive optical element),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow TTL/EFL=0.46), wherein TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, TTL=5.10), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
As to claim 2, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1. Chen does not teach the optical lens, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow |f1/f|=0.21), wherein
f1 is a focal length of the first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f1=7.86), and f is a total focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the optical lens configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens of Dai, because the total length of the lens assembly is effectively shortened, ensuring miniaturization of the lens assembly; at the same time, various aberrations are corrected, and the resolution and imaging quality of the lens assembly are improved (Dai, paragraph [0065]).
As to claim 3, Chen in view of Dai teaches the optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprises the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the first transmission region disposed around the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), the image-side surface of the reflex optical element has a positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive) and comprises the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 214, column 17, lines 64-66, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side and is in a central area of the image-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 17, lines 57-60, “the first reflective surface 212 faces toward the object side and is in a peripheral area of an image-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), a projection of the first transmission region on the image-side surface of the reflex optical element in an optical axis direction is located in the second reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212]”), and light is incident through the first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211],” shown by the solid arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), then reflected in the second reflection region to the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dashed arrow in the annotated figure 3 below) and reflected again in the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dotted arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), and then emitted from the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213], and the second refractive surface [214],” shown by the dot-dash arrow in the annotated figure 3 below).
Chen does not teach the optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches an optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1… the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1,” Table 4, radius of curvature column, S2-1=-9.0432 and S2-2=-4.2569).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
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As to claim 5, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 3, and Chen further teaches the optical lens according to claim 3, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤OBS≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, given the values that follow OBS=0.469), wherein
OBS is a ratio of a diameter of the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YM2, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 61 gives YM2=2.02 mm, thus the diameter of the first reflection region is 4.04 mm) to a diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YR1o, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 57 gives YR1o=4.31 mm, thus the diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element is 8.62 mm).
As to claim 6, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Chen further teaches the optical lens according to claim 1, wherein both an object-side surface and an image-side surface of each of the second optical element and the third optical element of the second component define aspheric surfaces (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 221, 222, 231, 232, column 18, lines 22-25, “the second lens element 220 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 221 and the image-side surface 222 being both aspheric,” lines 33-37, “the third lens element 230 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 231 and the image-side surface 232 being both aspheric”).
As to claim 7, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Chen further teaches the optical lens according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of an optical element with a largest diameter in the optical lens ranges from 7 mm to 10 mm (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YR1o, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 57 gives YR1o=4.31 mm, thus the diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element is 8.62 mm).
As to claim 8, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1. Chen’s 2nd Embodiment does not teach the optical lens according to claim 1, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.05≤IH/EFL≤0.15 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line53 gives ImgH/f=0.21), wherein
IH is a maximum image height of the optical lens, and EFL is the effective focal length of the optical lens.
However, in the same field of endeavor Chen teaches the optical lens that satisfies the following expression: ImgH/f<0.25 (Chen, column 9, lines 24-30).
It has been held that in the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976). See MPEP §2144.05(I) first paragraph.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the ratio of the maximum image height of the optical lens and the focal length of the optical photographing system such that 0.05≤IH/EFL≤0.15, which overlaps the disclosed range of ImgH/f<0.25, since it has been held that in the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976). See MPEP §2144.05(I) first paragraph. In the current instance, ImgH/f is an art recognized results effective variable in that it is favorable for effectively controlling the viewing angle of the optical photographing system so as to provide a telephoto configuration for various applications as taught by Chen (Chen, column 9, lines 24-30). Thus one would have been motivated to optimize the ratio of the maximum image height of the optical lens and the focal length of the optical photographing system because it is an art-recognized result-effective variable and it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art, In re Antonie, 559 F.2d 618, 195 USPQ 6 (CCPA 1977). See MPEP §2144.05(II)(B) “after KSR, the presence of a known result-effective variable would be one, but not the only, motivation for a personal of ordinary skill in the art to experiment to reach another workable product or process.” Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success when making this modification because it is favorable for effectively controlling the viewing angle of the optical photographing system so as to provide a telephoto configuration for various applications (Chen, column 9, lines 24-30).
As to claim 9, Chen teaches a camera module (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 11, column 35, lines 60-61, “image capturing unit 11 includes the optical photographing system”), comprising:
a photosensitive element (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 11, column 35, lines 60-61, “image capturing unit 11 includes the optical photographing system… an image sensor”), and
an optical lens having an object side and an image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 1, lines 39-40, “an object side… an image side”),
the optical lens (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 37-38, “optical photographing system”), comprising a first component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” the first lens is considered the first component) and a second component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 17, lines 58-59, “a second lens element 220, a third lens element 230, a fourth lens element 240,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 39-41, “in order of an optical path sequentially”),
the first component comprising a first optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” thus the first component comprises the first optical element) having positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive),
the second component having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, Table 3, f2, f3, f4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -5.44 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 3) and comprising a second optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, column 17, line 43, “a second lens element 220”), a third optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 230, column 17, lines 43-44, “a third lens element 230”) and a fourth optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 240, column 17, line 44, “a fourth lens element 240”) each having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 18, lines 19-20, “the second lens element 220 with negative refractive power,” line 30, “the third lens element 230 with negative refractive power,” lines 42-43, “the fourth lens element 240 with negative refractive power”),
the first optical element and the second optical element each comprising an object-side surface facing the object side and an image-side surface facing the image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 214, 221, 222, column 17, lines54-55, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side,” lines 64-65, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side,” column 18, lines 23-24, “object-side surface 221… image-side surface 222”),
the first optical element comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light plural times within the reflex optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, 213, column 17, lines 49-51, “a first reflective surface 212… a second reflective surface 213,” column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface, the first reflective surface, the second reflective surface and the second refractive surface,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and a first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”),
all optical elements of the second component comprising transmissive optical elements (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, the ray diagram traces show that all the optical elements are transmissive optical elements and consist of “lens elements” indicating the second, third, and fourth optical elements are transmissive),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 63 gives TL/f=0.43), wherein
TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 31-32, “the axial distance between the second reflective surface and the image surface is TL”), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 32-33, “the focal length of the optical photographing system is f”); and
the photosensitive element being located on the image side of the optical lens on a focal plane of the optical lens (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 270, column 18, lines 57-59, “image sensor 270 is disposed on or near the image surface 260 of the optical photographing system”).
Chen does not teach a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches a camera module (Dai, paragraph [0003], “camera lens assemblies”), comprising:
a photosensitive element (Dai, paragraph [0003], “photosensitive elements”), and
an optical lens having an object side and an image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0071] “the optical imaging system includes four lenses E1-E4 arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis”),
a first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0072], “first lens E1”) and a second component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0071], “E1-E4 arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis”),
the first component comprising a first optical element having positive focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0076], “the first lens E1 has a positive refractive power”),
the second component having negative focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -2.85 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 4) and comprising a second optical element, a third optical element and a fourth optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,”),
each optical element comprising an object-side surface facing the object side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-1, S1-2, S3, S5, S7, paragraphs [0072]-[0075], S1-1 and S1-2 are on the object-side surface of the first lens E1, the second lens E2 has an object-side surface S3, the third lens E3 has an object-side surface S5, the fourth lens E4 has an object-side surface S7) and an image-side surface facing the image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, S2-2, S4, S6, S8, paragraphs [0072]-[0075], S2-1 and S2-2 are on the image-side surface of the first lens E1, the second lens E2 has… an image-side surface S4, the third lens E3… has an image-side surface S6, the fourth lens E4 has… an image-side surface S8),
the first optical element comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light plural times within the reflex optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, S2-1, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “first reflection surface S2-1… second reflection surface S1-2,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “the second reflection surface S1-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the object-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a first transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-1, paragraph [0072], “the first transmission surface S1-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an object-side surface of the first lens E1”), a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a second reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1,” thus the image-side surface of the reflex optical element is a common surface for both the second transmission region S2-2 and the second reflection region S2-1),
all optical elements of the second component comprising transmissive optical elements (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, Table 4, paragraphs [0078]-[0079], “light from an object sequentially passes through the surfaces S1-1 to S8 and finally forms an image on the image plane S9”),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow TTL/EFL=0.46), wherein TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, TTL=5.10), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
As to claim 10, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 9, respectively. Chen does not teach the optical lens, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow |f1/f|=0.21), wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f1=7.86), and f is a total focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the optical lens configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens of Dai, because the total length of the lens assembly is effectively shortened, ensuring miniaturization of the lens assembly; at the same time, various aberrations are corrected, and the resolution and imaging quality of the lens assembly are improved (Dai, paragraph [0065]).
As to claim 11, Chen in view of Dai teaches the optical lens according to claim 9, wherein the object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprises the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the first transmission region disposed around the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), the image-side surface of the reflex optical element has a positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive) and comprises the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 214, column 17, lines 64-66, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side and is in a central area of the image-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 17, lines 57-60, “the first reflective surface 212 faces toward the object side and is in a peripheral area of an image-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), a projection of the first transmission region on the image-side surface of the reflex optical element in an optical axis direction is located in the second reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212]”), and light is incident through the first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211],” shown by the solid arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), then reflected in the second reflection region to the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dashed arrow in the annotated figure 3 below) and reflected again in the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dotted arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), and then emitted from the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213], and the second refractive surface [214],” shown by the dot-dash arrow in the annotated figure 3 below).
Chen does not teach the optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches an optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1… the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1,” Table 4, radius of curvature column, S2-1=-9.0432 and S2-2=-4.2569).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
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As to claim 13, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11, and Chen further teaches the camera module according to claim 11, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤OBS≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, given the values that follow OBS=0.469), wherein
OBS is a ratio of a diameter of the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YM2, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 61 gives YM2=2.02 mm, thus the diameter of the first reflection region is 4.04 mm) to a diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YR1o, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 57 gives YR1o=4.31 mm, thus the diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element is 8.62 mm).
As to claim 14, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 9, and Chen further teaches the camera module according to claim 9, wherein both an object-side surface and an image-side surface of each of the second optical element and the third optical element of the second component define aspheric surfaces (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 221, 222, 231, 232, column 18, lines 22-25, “the second lens element 220 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 221 and the image-side surface 222 being both aspheric,” lines 33-37, “the third lens element 230 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 231 and the image-side surface 232 being both aspheric”).
As to claim 15, Chen teaches an electronic device (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 10, column 35, line 56, “electronic device 10”), comprising a housing (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 10, 11, column 36, lines 44-45, “the optical photographing system of the present disclosure installed in an electronic device,” thus the optical lens is housed in the electronic device) and a camera (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 11, column 35, lines 60-61, “image capturing unit 11 includes the optical photographing system”) further comprising:
an optical lens (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 37-38, “optical photographing system”), comprising a first component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” the first lens is considered the first component) and a second component (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 17, lines 58-59, “a second lens element 220, a third lens element 230, a fourth lens element 240,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 17, lines 39-41, “in order of an optical path sequentially”),
the first component having positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive) and including an optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, column 17, line 41, “first lens element 210,” thus the first component comprises the first optical element),
the second component having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, Table 3, f2, f3, f4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -5.44 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 3) and comprising at least three optical elements each having negative focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, column 18, lines 19-20, “the second lens element 220 with negative refractive power,” line 30, “the third lens element 230 with negative refractive power,” lines 42-43, “the fourth lens element 240 with negative refractive power”),
each optical element comprising an object-side surface facing the object side and an image-side surface facing the image side (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 214, 221, 222, 231, 232, 241, 242, column 17, lines54-55, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side,” lines 64-65, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side,” column 18, lines 23-24, “object-side surface 221… image-side surface 222,” column 18, lines 34-35, “object-side surface 231… image-side surface 232,” column 18, lines 46-47, “object-side 241 surface… image-side surface 242”),
the first component comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light in the reflex optical element plural times (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, 213, column 17, lines 49-51, “a first reflective surface 212… a second reflective surface 213,” column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface, the first reflective surface, the second reflective surface and the second refractive surface,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and a first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”),
all optical elements of the second component comprising transmissive optical elements (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 220, 230, 240, the ray diagram traces show that all the optical elements are transmissive optical elements and consist of “lens elements” indicating the second, third, and fourth optical elements are transmissive),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 63 gives TL/f=0.43), wherein
TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 31-32, “the axial distance between the second reflective surface and the image surface is TL”), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (column 9, lines 32-33, “the focal length of the optical photographing system is f”); and
the photosensitive element being located on the image side of the optical lens on a focal plane of the optical lens (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 270, column 18, lines 57-59, “image sensor 270 is disposed on or near the image surface 260 of the optical photographing system”);
the optical lens is disposed in the housing (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 10, 11, column 36, lines 44-45, “the optical photographing system of the present disclosure installed in an electronic device,” thus the optical lens is housed in the electronic device); and
an optical axis of the camera is coincident with a thickness direction of the electronic device (Chen, 8th Embodiment, Fig. 15, 10, 11, the optical axis of the camera is in the direction of the thickness of the electronic device as can be seen in Fig. 15).
Chen does not teach a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches an optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0070] “optical imaging system”), comprising:
a first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0072], “first lens E1”) and a second component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,” the second through fourth lenses are considered the second component) arranged from an object side to an image side (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, paragraph [0071], “E1-E4 arranged in sequence from an object side to an image side along an optical axis”),
the first component having positive focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0076], “the first lens E1 has a positive refractive power”) and comprising at least a first optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, paragraph [0076], “the first lens E1”),
the second component having negative focal power (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, the second component consists of the second through fourth lenses, the combined focal length is -2.85 which shows a negative focal power, this focal length is calculated utilizing the paraxial ABCD matrix method utilizing the lens system data for the 2nd Embodiment shown in Table 4) and comprising a at least three optical elements (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, paragraphs [0073]-[0074], “second lens E2… third lens E3… fourth lens E4,”),
the first optical element comprising a reflex optical element configured to reflect light plural times within the reflex optical element (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E1, S2-1, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “first reflection surface S2-1… second reflection surface S1-2,” the reflex optical element is configured to reflect two times), an object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a first reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-2, paragraph [0072], “the second reflection surface S1-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the object-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a first transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S1-1, paragraph [0072], “the first transmission surface S1-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an object-side surface of the first lens E1”), a common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1”) and a second reflection region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1,” thus the image-side surface of the reflex optical element is a common surface for both the second transmission region S2-2 and the second reflection region S2-1),
the second optical element comprising a transmissive optical elements (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, E2, E3, E4, the ray diagram traces show that the second optical element is a transmissive optical element),
the optical lens being configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.25≤TTL/EFL≤0.5 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow TTL/EFL=0.46), wherein TTL is a total track length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, TTL=5.10), and EFL is an effective focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface of the reflex optical element comprising a second transmission region and a second reflection region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
As to claim 16, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 15, respectively. Chen does not teach the optical lens, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8 (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, given the values that follow |f1/f|=0.21), wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f1=7.86), and f is a total focal length of the optical lens (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Table 6, f=11.02).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the optical lens configured to meet the following relational expression: 0.3≤|f1/f|≤0.8, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first component, and f is a total focal length of the optical lens of Dai, because the total length of the lens assembly is effectively shortened, ensuring miniaturization of the lens assembly; at the same time, various aberrations are corrected, and the resolution and imaging quality of the lens assembly are improved (Dai, paragraph [0065]).
As to claim 17, Chen in view of Dai teaches the optical lens according to claim 15, wherein the object-side surface of the reflex optical element comprises the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 17, lines 60-62, “the second reflective surface 213 faces towards an image side and is in a central area of the object-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the first transmission region disposed around the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 17, lines 54-57, “the first refractive surface 211 faces toward an object side and is in a peripheral area of an object-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), the image-side surface of the reflex optical element has a positive focal power (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 210, Table 3, the dashed line in figure 3 shows incoming parallel light that is converged by the first element, indicating a positive focal power. Also, given the focal length of the overall system f=12.29 and the focal lengths of the other lenses f2=-7.40, f3=-59.24, and f4=-44.97, the first lens must be positive) and comprises the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 214, column 17, lines 64-66, “the second refractive surface 214 faces toward the image side and is in a central area of the image-side surface of the first lens element 210”) and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 17, lines 57-60, “the first reflective surface 212 faces toward the object side and is in a peripheral area of an image-side surface… of the first lens element 210”), a projection of the first transmission region on the image-side surface of the reflex optical element in an optical axis direction is located in the second reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212]”), and light is incident through the first transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 211, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211],” shown by the solid arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), then reflected in the second reflection region to the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dashed arrow in the annotated figure 3 below) and reflected again in the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213]” shown by the dotted arrow in the annotated figure 3 below), and then emitted from the second transmission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, column 4, lines 56-58, “the optical path can sequentially pass by the first refractive surface [211], the first reflective surface [212], the second reflective surface [213], and the second refractive surface [214],” shown by the dot-dash arrow in the annotated figure 3 below).
Chen does not teach the optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region.
However, in the same field of endeavor Dai teaches an optical lens wherein the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region (Dai, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, S2-1, S2-2, paragraph [0072], “the first reflection surface S2-1 is disposed on an outer circumference of an image-side surface of the first lens E1… the second transmission surface S2-2 is disposed at a paraxial region of the image-side surface of the first lens E1,” Table 4, radius of curvature column, S2-1=-9.0432 and S2-2=-4.2569).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen with the common image-side surface comprises a continuous surface having a curvature radius defining both the second transmission region and the second reflection region surrounding the second transmission region of Dai, because doing so achieves a good imaging quality (Dai, paragraph [0080]).
As to claim 19, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 17, and Chen further teaches the camera module according to claim 17, wherein the optical lens is configured to meet the following relational expression:
0.25≤OBS≤0.5 (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, given the values that follow OBS=0.469), wherein
OBS is a ratio of a diameter of the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YM2, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 61 gives YM2=2.02 mm, thus the diameter of the first reflection region is 4.04 mm) to a diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 17, YR1o, column 20, 2nd Embodiment table, line 57 gives YR1o=4.31 mm, thus the diameter of the object-side surface of the reflex optical element is 8.62 mm).
As to claim 20, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 15, and Chen further teaches the camera module according to claim 15, wherein both an object-side surface and an image-side surface of each of the second optical element and the third optical element of the second component define aspheric surfaces (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 221, 222, 231, 232, column 18, lines 22-25, “the second lens element 220 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 221 and the image-side surface 222 being both aspheric,” lines 33-37, “the third lens element 230 is made of plastic material and has the object-side surface 231 and the image-side surface 232 being both aspheric”).
Claims 4, 12, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al., US 10,877,244 B1 (hereinafter referred to Chen), in view of Dai et al., US 2019/0187446 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Dai), and further in view of Qu et al., CN 107942416 A (hereinafter referred to as Qu and where reference will be made to the attached machine translation).
As to claim 4, 12, and 18, Chen in view of Dai teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 3, 11, and 17 respectively, and Chen further teaches the optical lens, wherein the first reflection region is a concave surface bent towards the second emission region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 213, 214, column 17, lines 60-61, “the second reflective surface 213 faces toward an image side,” column 17, lines 52, “a second reflective surface 213 being convex,” the reflective surface 213 is convex facing towards the image side, thus is concave along the optical axis and is bent towards the second emission region 214 as shown in figure 3), and both the second reflection region and the second transmission region are convex surfaces protruding in a direction away from the first reflection region (Chen, 2nd Embodiment, Fig. 3, 212, 214, column 17, lines 57-58, “the first reflective surface 212 faces toward the object side,” column 17, lines 49-50, “first reflective surface 212 being concave,” the reflective surface 212 is concave facing towards the object side, thus is convex along the optical axis direction, column 17, lines 49-50, “a second refractive surface 214 being convex in a paraxial region thereof”).
Chen does not teach the optical lens wherein the first reflection region, second reflection region, and second transmission region are freeform surfaces.
However, in the same field of endeavor Qu teaches an optical element (Qu, Fig. 1, A, translation, paragraph [0041], “an annular free-form surface lens A”) wherein the first reflection region (Qu, Fig. 1, 13, translation, paragraph [0041], “second reflection band 13”), second reflection region (Qu, Fig. 1, 21, translation, paragraph [0041], “third reflection band 21”), and second transmission region (Qu, Fig. 1, 23, translation, paragraph [0041], “second transmission band”) are freeform surfaces (Qu, Fig. 1, 1, 2, translation, paragraph [0038], “the first surface 1 is a concave circular annular free-form surface, the second surface 2 is a convex circular annular free-form surface,” thus the first reflection region, second reflection region, and second transmission region are free-form surfaces).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical lens of Chen wherein the first reflection region, second reflection region, and second transmission region are freeform surfaces of Qu, because doing so reduces the volume of the optical system, and provide a ring-shaped free-form surface optical element with simple structure, light weight, wide imaging spectrum, high optical transfer function and low imaging distortion (Qu, translation, paragraph [0007]).
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 JENNIFER A JONES whose telephone number is (703)756-4574. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM.
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JENNIFER A JONES
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
/JENNIFER A JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/THOMAS K PHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872