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
Claims 21 and 19 are amended and claims 24-28 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on pages 8-10 that the combination of Inaba and Yashima does not disclose a lens unit in which the relationship between linear expansion of the first and second substrates is a1/a2 <= 0.24.
Examiner disagrees and has cited “a difference between the two linear expansion coefficients is allowed to be 40*10-6 /K (m) or more” Inaba paragraph [0090]. Which allows a case where a1/a2 <= 0.24 shown by Yashima example 1. The third optical component 13 fig. 1 has a linear expansion coefficient of a1 = 6.6*107 (table 1) and the second optical component 12 fig. 1 has a linear expansion coefficient of a2 = 7.28*107 (table 1). Where a1/a2<0.24 (as a result of the values above al/a2 = 0.091) is satisfied and the difference of a2-a1 is 6.8*106 which is less than 40*10-6 disclosed by Inaba.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended limitations of claim 21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 21-23, 29-30 and 32-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.103 as being unpatentable over Inaba et al. {US 20220146777 A1) in view of Yashima (US 20190238733 A1), Tanaka (US 20210318512 A1) and Kamiya (JP 5235271 B2).
Regarding claim 21, Inaba discloses in at least embodiment 1, an optical element comprising (lens unit 11 fig.1):
a first transparent member (first lens 13 paragraph [0060]) including a first transparent substrate (first lens 13 is a spherical glass lens paragraph [0060]) and having a linear expansion coefficient a1 (the first lens 13 has a linear expansion coefficient paragraph [0090]);
a second transparent member including a second transparent substrate (second lens 14 is
made of resin paragraph [0060] and is part of lens group 11 that transmits the image to the image sensor 304 paragraph [0070], so it is transparent to the image/light in this application) and having a linear expansion coefficient a2 (the second lens 14 has a linear expansion coefficient paragraph [0090]),
and a bonding member (adhesion medium 40 paragraph [0074]) configured to bond the first transparent member and the second transparent member to each other (the first lens 13 and second lens 14 are bonded by an adhesion medium 40 paragraph [0074]);
wherein the first transparent member has a first main surface (first lens 13 has a main surface
concave image side fig.1),
the second transparent member has a second main surface that is partially in contact with the first main surface (the first lens 13 and the second lens 14 are attached to each other by an adhesion between the mutually facing surfaces of the first lens 13 image side and the second lens 14 object side paragraph [0061]).
Inaba does not disclose, such that a1/a2 <= 0.24,
wherein the second transparent member includes a projection portion
that is in contact with the first main surface and that projects from a part of the second transparent member, and
the bonding member is separated from the projection portion with a gap between a side surface of the projection portion and the bonding member,
a bonding member containing N,N-dimethylacrylamide
wherein where an elastic modulus of the bonding member at a temperature of-300C is represented by E (GPa) and a thickness of part of the bonding member between the first transparent member and the second transparent member is represented by T (mm), E <= 52.3 x T+ 2.5 is satisfied.
However Yashima discloses in at least example 1, wherein in a case where a linear expansion coefficient of the first transparent substrate is represented by al (third optical component 13 fig. 1 al= 6.6*107 table 1) and a linear expansion coefficient of the second transparent substrate is represented by a2 (second optical component 12 fig. 1 a2 = 7.28*107 table 1), al/a2<0.24 (as a result of the values above al/a2 = 0.091) is satisfied.
Therefore it would be obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use optical components with linear expansion coefficients as taught by Yashima as the transparent members of Inaba. The values for the linear expansion coefficients are preferred to have
small volume changes due to temperature (paragraph [0024]).
Additionally Tanaka discloses in at least figure 10, wherein the second transparent member (second lens as shown below in fig. 10) includes a projection portion (second projection portion as shown below fig. 10) that is in contact with (the second projection portion is in contact with the first main surface as shown below in fig. 10) the first main surface (first main surface as shown below in fig. 10) and that projects from (the second projection portion projects from the second lens as shown below
in fig. 10) a part of the second transparent member (second lens as shown below in fig. 10), and
the bonding member (adhesive 215 fig. 10) is separated from the projection portion (second projection portion as shown below fig. 10) with a gap (a gap is created between the side surface and the adhesive 215 as shown below in fig. 10) between a side surface (side surface as shown below in fig. 10) of the projection portion (second projection portion as shown below fig. 10) and the bonding member (the adhesive 215 is in glue containing groove 213 separated from a side of the second lens protrusion as shown below in fig.10).
Therefore it would be obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the
claimed invention to separate the adhesive from the protrusion as taught by Tanaka in the lens of Inaba. The adhesive 215 can be distributed at multiple points in an annular shape when it is located in the containing groove 213 (paragraph [0072]).
Further Kamiya discloses, a bonding member containing N,N-dimethylacrylamide (The composition of the pressure sensitive adhesive contains an acrylic emulsion polymer paragraph [0010] of translation including monomers such as N-dimethylacrylamide paragraphs [0022] – [0023] of translation)
wherein where an elastic modulus (modulus of elasticity paragraph [0011] of translation) of the bonding member (pressure sensitive adhesive paragraph [0011] of translation) at a temperature of -300C (the acrylic emulsion polymer has the glass transition temperature has a glass transition temperature of -70 to -30° C paragraph [0011] of translation) is represented by E (GPa) (E = 0.20 to 1.50 MPa paragraph [0011] of translation, which is 0.0002 to 0.0015 GPa) and a thickness (thickness of the pressure sensitive adhesive paragraph [0048] of translation) of part of the (bonding member pressure sensitive adhesive paragraph [0011] of translation) between the first transparent member (the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition is applied to a substrate or release liner paragraph [0024] of translation, the first transparent member taught above by Inaba) and the second transparent member (the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition is applied to a substrate or release liner paragraph [0024] of translation, the second transparent member taught above by Inaba) is represented by T (mm) (T = 5 to 100 um paragraph [0048] of translation, which is 0.005 to 0.1mm),
E <= 52.3 x T+ 2.5 is satisfied (.0002 to 0.0015 <= 2.76 to 7.73mm) as a result of the values above).
Therefore it would be obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the
claimed invention to use an adhesive as taught by Kamiya in the lens of Inaba. The properties of the adhesive lead to a high resistance to water penetration paragraph [0010]).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, wherein the bonding member bonds the first main surface and the second main surface to each other (the adhesion medium 40 used for bonding together the main
surfaces of first lens 13 and second lens 14 at their faces 13a and 14a fig.11).
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, wherein the second transparent member has an outer peripheral surface, and the bonding member is in contact with the outer peripheral surface (second lens 14 has an outer surface face 14a paragraph [0074]), and the bonding member is in contact with the outer peripheral surface (adhesive 40 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface 14a to bond it to first lens face 13a fig. 11).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, wherein a distance between a center axis of the second main surface and the projection portion in a radial direction is represented by r (mm)r [mm], E < 2.3 x T - 0.08 x r + 2.5 is satisfied.
Inaba does not explicitly disclose, wherein a distance between a center axis of the second main surface and the projection portion in a radial direction is represented by r (mm)r [mm], E < 2.3 x T - 0.08 x r + 2.5 is satisfied.
However, r corresponds to a result-effective variable, i.e., a variable which achieves a recognized result, in the instant case r directly impacts the e.g. the distance between a center axis of the second main surface and the projection portion in a radial direction. Further, as a result -effective variable, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges of such things involves only routine skill in the a rt, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C. C. P.A. 1955 ). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify r for the purpose of e.g. optimizing the distance between a center axis of the second main surface and the projection portion in a radial direction to satisfy the equation E < 2.3xT-0.08xr+2.5.
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, an optical device comprising (camera module 300 fig. 2):
a casing (upper case 301 paragraph [0068]);
and the optical element according to claim 21 disposed inside the casing (lens unit 11 paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 32, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, an image pickup apparatus comprising (camera module 300 paragraph [00068)):
the optical element according to claim 21 (lens unit 11 paragraph [0067]); and
an image sensor configured to receive light having passed through the optical element (the package sensor 304 is disposed at a position capable of receiving an image of an object formed by the lens unit 11 paragraph [0070]).
Regarding claim 33, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 21 and Inaba further discloses, a device (camera module 300 fig. 2) comprising:
a casing (lens barrel 12 fig. 2); and
the optical element (lens unit 11 fig. 2) according to claim 21 (see rejection of claim 21 above) disposed inside the casing (the lens unit 11 is in the lens barrel 12 fig. 2).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inaba et al. (US 20220146777 A1) in view of Tanaka (US 20210318512 A1) and Kamiya (JP 5235271 B2) as applied to claim 30 above in view of Noguchi {US 20210320142 A1).
Regarding claim 31, the combination of Inaba, Yashima, Tanaka and Nakajima discloses all the limitations of claim 30.
Inaba does not disclose, wherein the optical device is a lens barrel attachable to and detachable
from a body of an image pickup apparatus.
However Noguchi discloses in at least figure 10, wherein the optical device is a lens barrel attachable to and detachable from a body of an image pickup apparatus (the image pick up apparatus camera 100 has a camera body 200 and an interchangeable lens barrel 300 that is detachable from the camera body 200 paragraph [0077]).
Therefore it would be obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to use a detachable lens barrel as taught by Noguchi as the lens barrel of Inaba. When the lens barrel 300 is attached to the casing 201 the image is captured by the sensor module 14 though the plurality of lenses in system 311 (paragraph [0080]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Watanabe et al. (US 20210032506 A1) discloses an adhesive tape with and elastic modulus made from N-dimethylacrylamide.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW R WRIGHT whose telephone number is (703)756-5822. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 7:30-5 Friday 8-12.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at 1-571-270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW R WRIGHT/Examiner, Art Unit 2872 /PINPING SUN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872