DETAILED ACTION
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections of claims 1-4 and 7-10 under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
As to any other arguments not specifically addressed, they are the same as those discussed above and/or are described in the AIA 35 U.S.C 103 Rejection section below.
Response to Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this section can be found in a prior Office action.
4. Claims 1-4 and 7-10 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hubert et al. (US Publication 2019/0141248) in view of Feldman et al. (US Publication 2022/0163706), and further in view of Chang et al. (US Publication 2022/0011537).
Regarding claim 1, Hubert discloses a camera module comprising:
a fixed base; a movable carrier disposed on the fixed base; a lens system fixed to the movable carrier (Hubert, para. 0052, fig’s 1 and 2 illustrate an example camera 100 having an actuator module or assembly that may, for example, be used to provide autofocus through optics assembly movement and/or optical image stabilization through image sensor movement in small form factor cameras. Camera 100 may include an optics assembly 102. The optics assembly 102 may carry one or more lenses 104. The optics assembly may be moveably connected to an actuator base. The lens 104 may be held with a lens barrel, which may in turn be connected to a lens carrier 106. The camera 100 includes an image sensor 108 for capturing a digital representation of light transiting the lens 104. Camera 100 may include an axial motion (autofocus) voice coil motor 110 for focusing light from the lens 104 on the image sensor 108 by moving the optics assembly 102 containing the lens 104 along an optical axis of the lens 104. In some examples, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 includes a suspension assembly 112 for moveably mounting the lens carrier 106 to an actuator base 114. Furthermore, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 may include a plurality of shared magnets 116 mounted to the actuator base 114, and a focusing coil 118 fixedly mounted to the lens carrier 106 and mounted to the actuator base 114 through the suspension assembly 112);
an image sensor disposed on an image surface of the camera module and configured to receive optical image signal from the camera module (Hubert, fig’s 1 and 2, para. 0052, camera 100 includes an image sensor 108 for capturing a digital representation of light transiting the lens 104);
an auto focus driving device comprising a first magnet element and a first coil element disposed corresponding to each other, wherein one of the first magnet element and the first coil element is disposed on the lens system or the movable carrier, another one of the first magnet element and the first coil element is disposed on the fixed base, and the auto focus driving device is configured to provide a driving force for auto focusing of the lens system (Hubert, fig’s 1 and 2, para. 0052, camera 100 may include an axial motion (autofocus) voice coil motor 110 for focusing light from the lens 104 on the image sensor 108 by moving the optics assembly 102 containing the lens 104 along an optical axis of the lens 104. In some examples, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 includes a suspension assembly 112 for moveably mounting the lens carrier 106 to an actuator base 114. Furthermore, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 may include a plurality of shared magnets 116 mounted to the actuator base 114, and a focusing coil 118 fixedly mounted to the lens carrier 106 and mounted to the actuator base 114 through the suspension assembly 112); and
an image stabilization driving device configured to provide a driving force for image stabilization of the image sensor (Hubert, fig’s 1 and 2, para. 0053, camera 100 includes a transverse motion (optical image stabilization (OIS)) voice coil motor 120);
wherein the image stabilization driving device comprises a second magnet element and a second coil element, the second magnet element is fixed to the fixed base, and the second magnet element is disposed corresponding to the second coil element (Hubert, fig’s 1 and 2, para. 0053, the transverse motion voice coil motor for optical image stabilization may include an image sensor frame member 122, one or more flexible members 124 for mechanically connecting the image sensor frame member 122 (also referred to herein as the “dynamic platform” or “inner frame”) to a frame of the transverse motion voice coil motor 126 (also referred to herein as the “static platform” or “outer frame”), and a plurality of OIS coils 132. As indicated in FIG. 2, the OIS coils 132 may be mounted to the dynamic platform 122 within the magnetic fields 138 of the shared magnets 116, for producing forces 140 for moving the dynamic platform 122 in a plurality of directions);
wherein the first magnet element and the second magnet element are separate components wherein the camera module further comprises a reflection element fixed to the fixed base, and an object-side surface and an image-side surface of the reflection element respectively correspond to the lens system and the image sensor
Hubert does not explicitly disclose:
wherein a distance between a center of the image sensor and the optical axis is D, a height of the first accommodation portion in a direction parallel to the optical axis is H1, a height of the second accommodation portion in the direction parallel to the optical axis is H2, and the following condition is satisfied: 4 mm < D < 18 mm and 0.3<H1/H2<3.3; wherein the fixed base has four gate traces, a first accommodation portion, and a second accommodation portion, the four gate traces are respectively disposed on corners of two sides of the fixed base, the reflection element is disposed in the first accommodation portion, and the movable carrier is disposed in the second accommodation portion;
Feldman discloses wherein a distance between a center of the image sensor and the optical axis is D, a height of the first accommodation portion in a direction parallel to the optical axis is H1, a height of the second accommodation portion in the direction parallel to the optical axis is H2 and the following conditions are satisfied: 4 mm < D < 18 mm, and 0.3<H1/H2<3.3 (Feldman, para’s 0039-0041, the optical system for cameras may include a parallelogram prism, as shown in FIG’S 1A and 3, first surface S1 of prism 100 is object-side and fourth surface S4 is image-side; angle θ is between first surface S1 and second surface S2 of prism 100, wherein 25<θ<45 degrees; prism 100 and the one or more lenses of lens group 305, e.g., lens 306, 307 and 308, may be made from various optically transmitting materials including plastic; the prism four surfaces (e.g., surfaces S1, S2, S3 and S4) may fold light within the prism at least four times to guide the light passing through the prism from the one or more lenses to the image sensor. For a given shape, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. It can be seen from various embodiments above that a range of distance D between a center of the image sensor and the optical axis can be calculated or approximated according to a design choice. Using the tangent function of angle θ wherein 25<θ<45 degrees, the partial Z-height in the range of 3.57mm and 5.6mm, prism thickness between 2.07 and 4.1, and the folding of at least 4 times within the prism, a range of distance D between a center of the image sensor and the optical axis can be calculated or approximated, and is well within 4mm and 18mm; further, Feldman, para. 0040, the folding of prism 100 may effectively increase the focal length between lens group 305 and image sensor 315 of optical system 300. For instance, in some embodiments, a ratio between the optical path length in prism 100 approximately from light entering prism 100 through the first surface (S1) to exiting prism 100 out of the third prism (S3) and the focal length of lens group 305 may be in a range between 0.6 and 1.0 - e.g., 0.6 < (optical path length in prism×power of lens group) <1.0, where power is the reciprocal of the focal length of lens group 305. Therefore, optical system 300 may use a thinner prism (e.g., having a small thickness approximately between the surface S1 and surface S3 of prism 100) yet provide a long effective focal length for telephoto cameras. For instance, in some embodiments, a ratio between a partial Z-height (e.g., measured approximately between the first surface (S1) to the image plane 330 of image sensor 315 along the optical axis or Z-axis) and a total Z-height (e.g., measured approximately between the front surface of the first lens 306 of lens group 305 to the image plane of image sensor 315 along the optical axis or Z-axis) of optical system 300, as shown in FIG. 3, may be in a range between 0.2 and 0.6 - e.g., 0.2 < (partial Z-height/total Z-height) < 0.6, and a ratio between the thickness of prism 100 (e.g., measured approximately from the surface S1 to surface S3 of prism 100) and the thickness of lens group 305 (e.g., measured approximately from the front surface of the first lens 306 and the rear surface of the last lens 308 of lens group 305) may be in a range from 0.2 to 0.8 - e.g., 0.2 < (thickness of prism 100/thickness of lens group 105) < 0.8, according to some embodiments. If the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too high, prism 100 may be too large and heavy and may not effectively reduce the size of optical system 300, or lens group 305 may be too thin and may not achieve good light capture performance, according to some embodiments. Alternatively, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too low, prism 100 may be too thin and may not capture sufficient light from the entire field of view (FOV). Therefore, designing optical system 300 to have appropriate parameters may reduce at least the partial Z-height and/or total Z-height of optical system 300 but still maintain high-quality optical performance. The reduction of the Z-heights may accordingly decrease the size of optical system 300 and thus benefit the design and integration of small form factor telephoto cameras (using optical system 300). In some embodiments, the partial Z-height of optical system 300 may be in a range between 3.57 and 5.6 millimeters. In some embodiments, the thickness of prism 100 of optical system 300 may be in a range of 2.07 and 4.1 millimeters. In some embodiments, the effective focal length of optical system 300 may be in a range between 17.2 and 27.2 millimeters. In some embodiments, the F-number of optical system 300 may be in a range between 2.2 and 2.8; further, para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. It can be seen from various embodiments above that a range thickness ratio can be configured for a desired performance according to a design choice).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Feldman’s features into Hubert’s invention for providing a long effective focal length for telephoto cameras by using a thinner parallelogram-shaped prism for a desired performance.
Hubert-Feldman does not explicitly disclose but Chang discloses wherein the fixed base has four gate traces, the four gate traces are respectively disposed on corners of two sides of the fixed base (Chang, para. 0062, fig’s 2 and 3 illustrate the base 122 having four gate traces 1225 respectively located at four chamfered corners of the base 122; as such, the four gate traces 1225 are respectively disposed on corners of two sides of the fixed base, two gate traces on each side).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Chang’s features into Hubert-Feldman’s invention for producing cost-effective telephoto cameras by forming camera base structure using specifically arranged plastic injection molding process.
Regarding claims 2, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein a maximum field of view of the lens system is FOV, and the following condition is satisfied: 1 degree < FOV < 45 degrees (Feldman, para. 0040, as described above, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too high, prism 100 may be too large and heavy and may not effectively reduce the size of optical system 300, or lens group 305 may be too thin and may not achieve good light capture performance, according to some embodiments. Alternatively, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too low, prism 100 may be too thin and may not capture sufficient light from the entire field of view (FOV). Therefore, designing optical system 300 to have appropriate parameters may reduce at least the partial Z-height and/or total Z-height of optical system 300 but still maintain high-quality optical performance. In some embodiments, the reduction of the Z-heights may accordingly decrease the size of optical system 300 and thus benefit the design and integration of small form factor telephoto cameras. In some embodiments, the partial Z-height of optical system 300 may be in a range between 3.57 and 5.6 millimeters. In some embodiments, the thickness of prism 100 of optical system 300 may be in a range of 2.07 and 4.1 millimeters. In some embodiments, the effective focal length of optical system 300 may be in a range between 17.2 and 27.2 millimeters. In some embodiments, the F-number of optical system 300 may be in a range between 2.2 and 2.8; para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. For instance, in some embodiments, when prism 100 includes a parallelogram prism, as shown in FIG. 3, the angle θ between the first surface (S1) and second surface (S2) of prism 100 may be in a range of 25 and 45 degrees (e.g., 25<θ<45 degrees).
The motivation to combine the references and obviousness arguments are the same as claim 1.
Regarding claims 3, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein a focal length of the lens system is EFL, and the following condition is satisfied: 10 mm < EFL < 35 mm (Feldman, para. 0040, in some embodiments, the effective focal length of optical system 300 may be in a range between 17.2 and 27.2 millimeters. In some embodiments, the F-number of optical system 300 may be in a range between 2.2 and 2.8; para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. For instance, in some embodiments, when prism 100 includes a parallelogram prism, as shown in FIG. 3, the angle θ between the first surface (S1) and second surface (S2) of prism 100 may be in a range of 25 and 45 degrees (e.g., 25<θ<45 degrees; further, para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. It can be seen from various embodiments above that a range of effective focal length can be configured for a desired performance according to a design choice; Feldman, para. 0040, as described above, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too high, prism 100 may be too large and heavy and may not effectively reduce the size of optical system 300, or lens group 305 may be too thin and may not achieve good light capture performance, according to some embodiments. Alternatively, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too low, prism 100 may be too thin and may not capture sufficient light from the entire field of view (FOV). Therefore, designing optical system 300 to have appropriate parameters may reduce at least the partial Z-height and/or total Z-height of optical system 300 but still maintain high-quality optical performance. In some embodiments, the reduction of the Z-heights may accordingly decrease the size of optical system 300 and thus benefit the design and integration of small form factor telephoto cameras. In some embodiments, the partial Z-height of optical system 300 may be in a range between 3.57 and 5.6 millimeters. In some embodiments, the thickness of prism 100 of optical system 300 may be in a range of 2.07 and 4.1 millimeters. In some embodiments, the effective focal length of optical system 300 may be in a range between 17.2 and 27.2 millimeters. In some embodiments, the F-number of optical system 300 may be in a range between 2.2 and 2.8; para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. For instance, in some embodiments, when prism 100 includes a parallelogram prism, as shown in FIG. 3, the angle θ between the first surface (S1) and second surface (S2) of prism 100 may be in a range of 25 and 45 degrees (e.g., 25<θ<45 degrees).
The motivation to combine the references and obviousness arguments are the same as claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein the first coil element of the auto focus driving device is disposed on the fixed base, the first magnet element of the auto focus driving device is disposed on the lens system or the movable carrier, and the second coil element of the image stabilization driving device and the first magnet element of the auto focus driving device are movable relative to the fixed base (Hubert, fig’s 1 and 2, para. 0052, camera 100 may include an axial motion (autofocus) voice coil motor 110 for focusing light from the lens 104 on the image sensor 108 by moving the optics assembly 102 containing the lens 104 along an optical axis of the lens 104. In some examples, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 includes a suspension assembly 112 for moveably mounting the lens carrier 106 to an actuator base 114. Furthermore, the axial motion voice coil motor 110 may include a plurality of shared magnets 116 mounted to the actuator base 114, and a focusing coil 118 fixedly mounted to the lens carrier 106 and mounted to the actuator base 114 through the suspension assembly 11; para. 0053, the transverse motion voice coil motor for optical image stabilization may include an image sensor frame member 122, one or more flexible members 124 for mechanically connecting the image sensor frame member 122 (also referred to herein as the “dynamic platform” or “inner frame”) to a frame of the transverse motion voice coil motor 126 (also referred to herein as the “static platform” or “outer frame”), and a plurality of OIS coils 132. As indicated in FIG. 2, the OIS coils 132 may be mounted to the dynamic platform 122 within the magnetic fields 138 of the shared magnets 116, for producing forces 140 for moving the dynamic platform 122 in a plurality of directions; design variation can be achieved as is well-known in the art without changing the function of the camera components).
Regarding claims 7, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein the height of the first accommodation portion in the direction parallel to the optical axis is H1, the height of the second accommodation portion in the direction parallel to the optical axis is H2, and the following condition is satisfied: 0.5 <H1/H2 <2.5 (Feldman, para. 0040, the folding of prism 100 may effectively increase the focal length between lens group 305 and image sensor 315 of optical system 300. For instance, in some embodiments, a ratio between the optical path length in prism 100 approximately from light entering prism 100 through the first surface (S1) to exiting prism 100 out of the third prism (S3) and the focal length of lens group 305 may be in a range between 0.6 and 1.0 - e.g., 0.6 < (optical path length in prism×power of lens group) <1.0, where power is the reciprocal of the focal length of lens group 305. Therefore, optical system 300 may use a thinner prism (e.g., having a small thickness approximately between the surface S1 and surface S3 of prism 100) yet provide a long effective focal length for telephoto cameras. For instance, in some embodiments, a ratio between a partial Z-height (e.g., measured approximately between the first surface (S1) to the image plane 330 of image sensor 315 along the optical axis or Z-axis) and a total Z-height (e.g., measured approximately between the front surface of the first lens 306 of lens group 305 to the image plane of image sensor 315 along the optical axis or Z-axis) of optical system 300, as shown in FIG. 3, may be in a range between 0.2 and 0.6 - e.g., 0.2 < (partial Z-height/total Z-height) < 0.6, and a ratio between the thickness of prism 100 (e.g., measured approximately from the surface S1 to surface S3 of prism 100) and the thickness of lens group 305 (e.g., measured approximately from the front surface of the first lens 306 and the rear surface of the last lens 308 of lens group 305) may be in a range from 0.2 to 0.8 - e.g., 0.2 < (thickness of prism 100/thickness of lens group 105) < 0.8, according to some embodiments. If the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too high, prism 100 may be too large and heavy and may not effectively reduce the size of optical system 300, or lens group 305 may be too thin and may not achieve good light capture performance, according to some embodiments. Alternatively, if the Z-height ratio and/or the thickness ratio is too low, prism 100 may be too thin and may not capture sufficient light from the entire field of view (FOV). Therefore, designing optical system 300 to have appropriate parameters may reduce at least the partial Z-height and/or total Z-height of optical system 300 but still maintain high-quality optical performance. In some embodiments, the reduction of the Z-heights may accordingly decrease the size of optical system 300 and thus benefit the design and integration of small form factor telephoto cameras (using optical system 300). In some embodiments, the partial Z-height of optical system 300 may be in a range between 3.57 and 5.6 millimeters. In some embodiments, the thickness of prism 100 of optical system 300 may be in a range of 2.07 and 4.1 millimeters. In some embodiments, the effective focal length of optical system 300 may be in a range between 17.2 and 27.2 millimeters. In some embodiments, the F-number of optical system 300 may be in a range between 2.2 and 2.8; further, para. 0041, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. It can be seen from various embodiments above that a range thickness ratio can be configured for a desired performance according to a design choice).
The motivation to combine the references and obviousness arguments are the same as claim 1.
Regarding claims 8, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein the reflection element has at least two reflection surfaces configured to reflect an imaging light (Feldman, para. 0041, the parallelogram prism, as shown in FIG. 3, has multiple reflection surfaces).
The motivation to combine the references and obviousness arguments are the same as claim 1.
Regarding claims 9, Hubert-Feldman-Chang discloses the camera module of claim 1, wherein the distance between the center of the image sensor and the optical axis is D, and the following condition is satisfied: 5mm<D<15 mm (Feldman, para. 0041, the prism may include at least four surfaces (e.g., surfaces S1, S2, S3 and S4) which may fold light within the prism at least four times to guide the light passing through the prism from the one or more lenses to the image sensor, further para. 0041, For a given shape, the angles between individual surfaces of prism 100 may also be designed for desired performance. It can be seen from various embodiments above that a range of distance D between a center of the image sensor and the optical axis can be calculated for a desired performance according to a design choice)
The motivation to combine the references and obviousness arguments are the same as claim 1.
Claim 10 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1 above (see Hubert, para. 0145, an electronic device).
Conclusion
5. 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.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOI H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5645. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00AM-5:00PM PST FIRST FRIDAY OF BIWEEK OFF.
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/LOI H TRAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484