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 .
Claims 1-11 are currently pending in the present application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS dated 05 February 2024 has been considered by the examiner.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US 20190253596) in view of Yu (US20210231968).
Re: claim 1, Wang discloses an optical lens (Fig. 1, lens of image pick up device 1); an image pickup device 1 (para. 49 discloses camera) through which an optical axis 16 of the optical lens passes (Fig. 1); a connection part 2 configured to support the optical lens (capability disclosed in at least Figs. 1, 2); and a first drive device 3 (Figs. 2, 4) including one end to which the connection part is fixed (Fig. 4), and configured to rotate, via the connection part, the lens about a first axis 14 (capability to rotate disclosed in at least Fig. 2) substantially orthogonal to the optical axis 16 (orthogonal disclosed in Fig. 2).
Wang does not explicitly disclose a zoom lens barrel configured to change a focal length by moving the optical lens in a direction of the optical axis; and that in the direction of the optical axis with reference to the image pickup device, as a center of gravity of an assembly formed of all components connected to one end side of the first drive device moves due to the change in the focal length, the connection part moves to follow a direction of the movement of the center of gravity.
Yu discloses a zoom lens barrel 501 (Fig. 5) configured to change a focal length by moving the optical lens in a direction of the optical axis (para. 66 discloses a zoom lens that is movable); and, in the direction of the optical axis with reference to the image pickup device (para. 66 discloses “the counterweight may move along any direction or orientation as previously described (e.g., parallel to the optical axis…)”), as a center of gravity 508 of an assembly moves due to the change in the focal length, the connection part 512 moves to follow a direction of the movement of the center of gravity (Fig. 5; para. 65 discloses “the one or more counterweights 512 may be coupled to a housing of the imaging device and may move in correspondence with a movement of the zoom lens 501 to maintain a center of gravity 508 of an imaging system comprising the imaging device. While one possible position of the counterweight 512 is illustrated, it is to be understood that the counterweight may be located elsewhere [e.g., on top of, on a side of, behind, in-front of, below the imaging device, etc.]. Moreover, while a single orientation and movement of the counterweight is illustrated [e.g., parallel movement to a movement of the optical axis], it is to be understood that the counterweight may move along any direction or orientation as previously described [e.g., along the optical axis, perpendicular to the optical axis, rotationally about an axis, at an angle to the optical axis, etc.].”
While Yu does not explicitly disclose that the assembly is formed of all components connected to one end side of the first drive device, the counterweighting function of the counterweight 512 of Yu performs the same counterweighting function as the all components connected to one end side of the first drive device 3 of Wang; i.e. the components connected to the drive device 3 of Wang are the counterweight since they have a known, fixed weight. A person of ordinary skill in the art at a time prior to the effective date would have applied the teaching of Yu regarding the use of counterweights and optimized the weight of the components of the device disclosed by Wang to achieve a counterweight function. Hence, the claim limitation is the obvious application of a known method to a known device that yields predictable results.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a zoom lens barrel configured to change a focal length by moving the optical lens in a direction of the optical axis; and that in the direction of the optical axis with reference to the image pickup device, as a center of gravity of an assembly formed of all components connected to one end side of the first drive device moves due to the change in the focal length, the connection part moves to follow a direction of the movement of the center of gravity, as disclosed by Yu, as applied to the device disclosed by Wang for the purpose of minimizing the amount of shake or vibration in the lens so that images viewed by a viewer do not appear blurred.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-11 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
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/ANGELA M. MEDICH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871