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 July 01, 2026. Claims 1, 3-5, 7, and 8 are amended. Claims 2 and 6 are cancelled. Claims 1, 3-5, and 7-20 are pending.
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, 3-5, 9, 10, 13-16, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii (JP 2021190830), and further in view of Yasutake et al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2019/0068892).
Regarding claim 1:
Fujii discloses a posture adjustment device (FIGS. 1-8) comprising: a base ((300), [0013]) having a rotation axis (FIG. 8, (301), [0015]) that extends through a center of the base (FIGS. 1, 2, 8); and at least one peripheral camera assembly ((400)/(500)/(600)/(700), [0011]) coupled to the base and configured to revolve around the rotation axis (FIGS. 1, 2, 8, [0015, 0033]), wherein the base comprises a base ring ((330), [0014]) providing a movement path for the at least one peripheral camera assembly ([0015]) and a ring gear ((330a), [0014]), and wherein the at least one peripheral camera assembly comprises a moving body ((441), [0022-0024]) configured to move along the base ring ([0032-0033]), a first power gear ((454), [0025, 0026, 0033]) coupled to the ring gear ([0033]), and a force providing assembly ((452), [0025, 0026]) configured to generate a force to bring the first power gear into contact with the ring gear (when pressing force of (452) is applied, (451) is biased toward (454), [0025, 0026]; thus pressing (454) against (330a)).
Fujii does not specifically disclose a central camera assembly coupled to the base and configured to rotate about the rotation axis.
Yasutake teaches an image capturing apparatus (FIGS. 1-10), comprising: a central camera assembly (FIGS. 5, 6, (15), [0032-0035]) coupled to the base and configured to rotate about the rotation axis (“…rotatable in a pan direction and a tilt direction…”, [0034]).
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 Yasutake’s with the posture adjustment device taught by Fujii since it is well known in the art for a surveillance camera to have an imaging unit positioned at the center and for the purpose of capturing more images with different field of views to further minimize image distortion for 360° images while still enabling miniaturization of the imaging device.
Regarding claim 3:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein Fujii further discloses that the at least one peripheral camera assembly comprises a plurality of peripheral camera assemblies (FIGS. 1, 2, 7, 8, (400)/(500)/(600)/(700), [0011]), and wherein each of the plurality of peripheral camera assemblies is configured individually move along the base ring ([0015]).
Regarding claim 4:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein Fujii further discloses that the at least one peripheral camera assembly comprises: a peripheral camera (FIG. 4, (410), [0019]) coupled to the moving body (FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 5:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein Fujii further discloses that the at least one peripheral camera assembly further comprises: a first power motor (FIGS. 5, 6, (451), [0025, 0026]) configured to generate a rotational force to rotate the first power gear ([0025, 0026, 0033]).
Regarding claim 9:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein Fujii further discloses that the base ring comprises: a ring body (FIG. 2, (330), [0014]) having a central axis that corresponds to the rotation axis of the base (FIG. 8, (301), [0015]); and a guide ring ((334d), [0014, 0033]) protruding from an outer surface of the ring body (FIG. 2), and wherein the moving body comprises an engaging portion (FIG. 4, (441b) of (441a), [0033]) configured to engage with the guide ring (FIG. 8, [0033]).
Regarding claim 10:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 9, wherein Fujii further discloses that the engaging portion comprises an engaging protrusion protruding toward a first surface of the guide ring (FIG. 8, wherein (441a) protrudes towards a surface of (334d)).
Regarding claim 13:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein Fujii further discloses that the peripheral camera is rotatably coupled to the moving body (FIG. 4, tilt unit (420), pan unit (430), [0018, 0020, 0021]).
Regarding claim 14:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein Fujii further discloses that the base further comprises a base cylinder (FIGS. 1, 2, (340), [0013, 0032]) provided at a center of the base ring (FIGS. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 15:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 14, wherein Yasutake further discloses that the central camera assembly is rotatably coupled (“pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera apparatus” (15), [0032-0035]) to the base cylinder (indicated below).
PNG
media_image1.png
380
451
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 16:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 14, wherein Fujii further discloses that the base cylinder comprises: a cylinder body (indicated below); and a cylinder ring (indicated below) protruding from an outer surface of the cylinder body (FIG. 1), and wherein the moving body comprises an engaging protrusion ((441a), [0022, 0032, 0033, 0036]) supported by the cylinder ring and protruding toward the cylinder body (FIGS. 1, 2, 8, wherein (441a) is sandwiched between (330) and (340), [0032], and protrudes toward the cylinder body as shown below).
PNG
media_image2.png
403
611
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 18:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein Yasutake further discloses that the central camera assembly comprises: a central camera (indicated below); and a camera housing accommodating the central camera (indicated below, [0032-0035]).
PNG
media_image3.png
384
490
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 19:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 18, wherein Yasutake further discloses that the central camera is rotatable with respect to the camera housing (“pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera apparatus” (15), [0032-0035]).
Regarding claim 20:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein Fujii further discloses: a sealing cover (FIG. 2, (200), [0012]) coupled to the base and configured to seal the at least one peripheral camera assembly from an outside environment (FIG. 2, [0012]).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii (JP 2021190830) and Yasutake et al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2019/0068892) as applied to claims 1, 3-5, 9, 10, 13-16, and 18-20 above.
Regarding claim 12:
Fujii and Yasutake disclose and teach of the posture adjustment device of claim 9.
Fujii and Yasutake do not specifically disclose that the engaging portion is detachable from the moving body.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the engaging portion to be detachable from the moving body, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. Nerwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8, 11, and 17 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-5, and 7-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection/objection.
Conclusion
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FANG-CHI CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
/STEPHANIE E BLOSS/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Prosecution Insights