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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 9-11, 14-16, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasutake et al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2019/0068892).
Regarding claim 1, Yasutake discloses a posture adjustment device (FIGS. 1-10) comprising: a base ((2), [0020, 0021]) having a rotation axis that extends through a center of the base (vertical axis that extends through the center of (2)); 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]); and at least one peripheral camera assembly (composed of (9)/(11), [0025-0029]) coupled to the base and configured to revolve around the rotation axis (FIG. 4, “…movable in a circumferential direction…”, [0025]; [0031]).
Regarding claim 2, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein the base comprises a base ring ((6), [0021]) providing a movement path ((7), [0021]) for the at least one peripheral camera assembly ([0027, 0028]).
Regarding claim 3, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 2, wherein the at least one peripheral camera assembly comprises a plurality of peripheral camera assemblies ((9), [0025]), and wherein each of the plurality of peripheral camera assemblies is configured individually move along the base ring (FIG. 4, “…each of the plurality of imaging units integrally moves with a corresponding one of the plurality of illumination units.”, [0005]; “…imaging range can be automatically changed…”, [0031]; wherein each “imaging unit” (9) is individually movable in the direction indicated by arrows “B” as shown in FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 4, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 2, wherein the at least one peripheral camera assembly comprises: a moving body ((11), [0027]) configured to move along the base ring ([0027]; “…holding member 11 to slide along the first guide 7…”, [0028]); and a peripheral camera ((9), [0025]) coupled to the moving body (“…imaging unit 9 is fixed to the holding member 11.”, [0025]).
Regarding claim 9, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein the base ring comprises: a ring body (FIGS. 3, 6, the disk portion of (6), [0021]) having a central axis that corresponds to the rotation axis of the base (FIGS. 3, 6); and a guide ring (FIGS. 3, 6, the protruded “first guide” (7) from the disk portion of (6), [0021]) protruding from an outer surface of the ring body (FIGS. 3, 6), and wherein the moving body comprises an engaging portion ((11a), [0027, 0029]) configured to engage with the guide ring ([0027, 0029]).
Regarding claim 10, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 9, wherein the engaging portion comprises an engaging protrusion (indicated below) protruding toward a first surface of the guide ring (indicated below).
PNG
media_image1.png
334
901
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
451
502
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 11, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 10, wherein the moving body comprises a body protrusion (indicated above) protruding toward a second surface of the guide ring that is opposite the first surface of the guide ring that the engaging protrusion protrudes toward (indicated above).
Regarding claim 14, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 4, wherein the base further comprises a base cylinder (indicated below) provided at a center of the base ring (FIG. 6).
PNG
media_image3.png
380
451
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 15, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 14, wherein the central camera assembly is rotatably coupled to the base cylinder (“pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera apparatus” (15), [0032-0035]).
Regarding claim 16, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 14, wherein the base cylinder comprises: a cylinder body (indicated below); and a cylinder ring (indicated below; FIG. 3, (8), [0024]) protruding from an outer surface of the cylinder body (FIGS. 3, 6), and wherein the moving body comprises an engaging protrusion ((11b), [0027]) supported by the cylinder ring and protruding toward the cylinder body (FIGS. 3, 6).
PNG
media_image4.png
560
530
media_image4.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image5.png
552
522
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 18, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 1, wherein the central camera assembly comprises: a central camera (indicated below); and a camera housing accommodating the central camera (indicated below, [0032-0035]).
PNG
media_image6.png
384
490
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 19, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 18, wherein the central camera is rotatable with respect to the camera housing (“pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera apparatus” (15), [0032-0035]).
Regarding claim 20, Yasutake further discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 1, further comprising a sealing cover coupled to the base and configured to seal the at least one peripheral camera assembly from an outside environment ((3)/(4), [0020, 0022, 0023]).
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) 5 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasutake et al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2019/0068892) as applied to claims 1-4, 9-11, 14-16, and 18-20 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. Publication No.: 2021/0058556).
Regarding claim 5:
Yasutake discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 4.
Yasutake does not specifically disclose that the base ring comprises a ring gear, and wherein the at least one peripheral camera assembly further comprises: a first power gear coupled to the ring gear; and a first power motor configured to generate a rotational force to rotate the first power gear.
Kim teaches a multi-camera apparatus (FIGS. 1-7), wherein the base ring comprises a ring gear (FIGS. 3, 5, (110), [0086, 0087]), and wherein the at least one peripheral camera assembly further comprises: a first power gear coupled to the ring gear (“Each of the power transmitters 250…may include a gear member to interlock with the gear 110…”, [0086]); and a first power motor configured to generate a rotational force to rotate the first power gear (“…power transmitters 250…may be mounted in respective ones of the camera mounting bodies 210…”, [0084]; “The power transmitters 250 may each include a motor generating rotational power…”, [0085]; [0093, 0094]).
Since Yasutake already discloses that the imaging range can be automatically changed (Yasutake: [0031]), 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 Kim’s with the posture adjustment device taught by Yasutake for the purpose of enabling the peripheral camera assemblies to move rapidly on the movement path formed on the base at relatively high speed (Kim: [0094]).
Regarding claim 13:
Yasutake discloses the posture adjustment device of claim 4.
Yasutake does not specifically disclose that the peripheral camera is rotatably coupled to the moving body.
Kim teaches a multi-camera apparatus (FIGS. 1-7), wherein the peripheral camera is rotatably coupled to the moving body (FIG. 4, “…the camera module 10 may be mounted in the camera mounting body 210…and the camera module 10 may tilt on the camera mounting body 210.”, [0068]).
Since Yasutake already discloses a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera ([0032-0035]), 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 Kim’s with the posture adjustment device taught by Yasutake for the purpose of enabling the peripheral cameras to capture/monitor wider range of views to ensure valuable information is captured.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8, 12, 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.
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