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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 12 recites “a support unit”, “a moveable unit”, “an optical system”, and “a rotationally driving unit”. As claim 1 already recited “a support unit”, “a moveable unit”, “an optical system”, and “a rotationally driving unit” it is unclear whether the limitations of claim 12 are related or not to the limitations of claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 5, 6, 8, and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Byon et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20210176399).
Regarding claim 1, Byon discloses:
A control apparatus configured to control a rotationally driving apparatus that includes a rotationally driving unit (first actuator 621 and/or the second actuator 622) configured to rotate a movable unit (camera module 610) including an optical system relative to a support unit (using the first actuator 621 and/or the second actuator 622, the image stabilizer actuator 620 may actuate the camera module 610 to perform a rotational motion with respect to a first lateral axis 602 orthogonal to the optical axis 601 and/or a second lateral axis 603 orthogonal to the optical axis 601 within the housing of camera 180, where camera module 610 includes a lens carrier 612 (see FIG. 7) for moving the lens assembly 611, par. 94, 100, 104, and 105), the control apparatus comprising:
a memory storing instructions (software (e.g., the program 140) including one or more instructions that are stored in a storage medium (e.g., internal memory 136 or external memory 138) that is readable by a machine, par. 225); and
a processor configured to execute the instructions (a processor (e.g., the processor 120) of the machine (e.g., the electronic device 101) may invoke at least one of the one or more instructions stored in the storage medium, and execute it, with or without using one or more other components under the control of the processor, where the storage medium is a non-transitory storage medium, par. 225) to:
acquire an optical state of the optical system (moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation, par. 124-125, 157),
determine a driving range based on a margin angle (determine a corresponding movement angle range (driving range) of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation, where the position of the lens assembly 611 includes a movement angle (margin angle) (e.g., 1110 in FIG. 11A or 1120 in FIG. 11B) of the camera module 610, par. 150-152) and a rotation angle which is an angle from an initial position to a position where the movable unit interferes with the support unit (maximum movement angle of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation, where the maximum movement angle is a maximum angle to which at least a portion of the camera module 610 can move without contact with at least a portion of a mechanical structure (e.g., the module housing 640 or the container housing 641 in FIG. 10A) inside the electronic device 101 or may be the maximum angle to which the lens assembly 611 can move without contact with a camera window, and where electronic device 101 may identify the focal length to the targeted object in real time and adjust the movement angle of the camera module 610 differently depending on the identified focal length, par. 117-120, 154-156, 169, and Figs. 11C, 11D, and 13), and
control the rotationally driving unit using the driving range (at the operation 1307, the electronic device 101 may tilt the optical axis 521 to match the virtual axis 520 so as to compensate for shake, so that the image sensor 230 may capture an image without blurring due to shake, par. 162),
wherein the margin angle is changed according to the optical state (based on the obtained position of the lens assembly 611, the electronic device 101 may determine the movement angle (e.g., 1110 in FIG. 11A or 1120 in FIG. 11B) of the camera module 610, par. 152).
Regarding claim 5, Byon further discloses:
rotationally driving unit has a first rotation axis and a second rotation axis (using the first actuator 621 and/or the second actuator 622, the image stabilizer actuator 620 may actuate the camera module 610 to perform a rotational motion with respect to a first lateral axis 602 orthogonal to the optical axis 601 and/or a second lateral axis 603 orthogonal to the optical axis 601, par. 105),
wherein the driving range is an angle range that has a center on the second rotation axis (movement angle range (driving range) of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation has a necessarily has a center within the movement angle range, par. 150-152), and
wherein the rotation angle changes according to a direction of the first rotation axis (maximum movement angle of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation, where the maximum movement angle is a maximum angle to which at least a portion of the camera module 610 can move without contact with at least a portion of a mechanical structure changes based on real time adjustment of the movement angle of the camera module 610 depending on the identified focal length, par. 117-120, 154-156, 169, and Figs. 11C, 11D, and 13).
Regarding claim 6, Byon further discloses:
driving range is an angle range that has a center on a rotation axis that is orthogonal to a direction parallel to an optical axis of the optical system and a vertical direction (movement angle range (driving range) of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation is controlled by a first actuator 621 and/or the second actuator 622, and the image stabilizer actuator 620 actuates the camera module 610 to perform a rotational motion with respect to a first lateral axis 602 orthogonal to the optical axis 601 and/or a second lateral axis 603 orthogonal to the optical axis 601, par. 150-152).
Regarding claim 8, Byon further discloses:
processor changes followability to a target position in controlling the rotationally driving unit according to the optical state (the electronic device 101 moves relative to a virtual axis 520 and the camera 180 maintains a position where an optical axis 521, the center of the camera 180 to the object 502, coincides with the virtual axis 520, par. 92).
Regarding claim 10, Byon further discloses:
processor determines the driving range based on a difference between the rotation angle and the margin angle (movement angle range (driving range) of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation is related to the maximum movement angle of the camera module 610 corresponding to the moved position of the lens assembly 611 in the focus operation, where the maximum movement angle is a maximum angle to which at least a portion of the camera module 610 can move without contact with at least a portion of a mechanical structure (e.g., the module housing 640 or the container housing 641 in FIG. 10A) inside the electronic device 101 or may be the maximum angle to which the lens assembly 611 can move without contact with a camera window, par. 117-120, 150-156, and 169).
Regarding claim 11, Byon further discloses:
the movable unit includes an imaging unit (camera module 180 includes an image sensor 230, par. 76, 78).
Regarding claim 12, Byon discloses:
A rotationally driving apparatus (camera 180, par. 92-94) comprising:
the control apparatus according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1);
a support unit (see rejection of claim 1);
a movable unit including an optical system (see rejection of claim 1); and
a rotationally driving unit configured to rotate the movable unit relative to the support unit (see rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 13, see the rejection of claim 1 and note that the limitations of claim 13 were shown.
Regarding claim 14, see the rejection of claims 13 and 1 and note that the limitations of claim 14 were shown.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Byon et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20210176399) in view of Liu et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20230349507).
Regarding claim 2, Byon further discloses:
movable unit can change between a first state and a second state according to the optical state (state (first state) where the lens assembly 611 is close to the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 (e.g., a distant shot mode) as seen in Fig. 11D, and state (second state) where lens assembly 611 moves towards the cover glass 1190 to focus, where the lens assembly 611 is away from the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 (e.g., a close-up shot mode), as seen in Fig. 11C, par. 116 and Figs. 11C and 11D), wherein a distance between a center of gravity of the movable unit and a rotation center position of the rotationally driving unit when viewed from a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the rotationally driving unit in the second state is longer than that in the first state (Fig. 5 shows the rotation center while the center of the camera module 610/camera 180 is within the interior of camera module 610/camera 180, and when the lens assembly 611 is away from the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 the center is moved in the direction that lens assembly 611 moves resulting the center of camera module 610/camera 180 moving away, and therefore having a longer distance, from the rotation center compared to when the lens assembly 611 is close to the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601, par. 92, 160, and Figs. 5, 11C, and 11D), and wherein the margin angle in the first state is smaller than the margin angle in the second state (movement angle (margin angle) in the state where the lens assembly 611 is close to the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 is less than the maximum angle to which the lens assembly 611 can move and is between 0 and the maximum angle, while the movement angle (margin angle) in the state where lens assembly 611 moves towards the cover glass 1190 to focus, where the lens assembly 611 is away from the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 (e.g., a close-up shot mode) Is between 0 and the maximum angle, therefore the movement angle (margin angle) in the state where the lens assembly 611 is close to the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 can be less than the movement angle (margin angle) in the state where lens assembly 611 moves towards the cover glass 1190 to focus, where the lens assembly 611 is away from the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 (e.g., a close-up shot mode), par. 117-120 and 155).
Byon is silent with regards to the center being the center of gravity. Liu discloses in par. 38 the using of a gimbal and placing the center of gravity of a photographing device on a corresponding rotation shaft. As can be seen in par. 38 this is advantageous in that the driving motor of the gimbal does not need to overcome the gravity by providing unnecessary torque output, thereby avoiding serious heating of the motor which may affect the service life of the gimbal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the center being the center of gravity.
Regarding claim 4, Byon further discloses:
rotation angle in the first state is larger than the rotation angle in the second state (the maximum movement angle of the camera module 610 may be the maximum angle to which the lens assembly 611 can move without contact with a camera window, therefore in the state where the lens assembly 611 is close to the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 as seen in Fig. 11D the lens assembly will have a larger maximum movement angle than in the state where lens assembly 611 moves towards the cover glass 1190 to focus, where the lens assembly 611 is away from the image sensor 230 along the optical axis 601 as seen in Fig. 11C, par. 155 and Figs. 11C and 11D).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7, and 9 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.
Regarding claim 3, no prior art could be located that teaches or fairly suggests first state is a state in which the center of gravity and the rotation center position coincide with each other when viewed from the direction parallel to the rotation axis, and wherein the second state is a state in which the center of gravity is separated from the rotation center position when viewed from the direction parallel to the rotation axis, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim and parent claims.
Regarding claim 7, no prior art could be located that teaches or fairly suggests driving range is based on a position of a center of gravity and a moment of inertia of the movable unit according to the optical state, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim and parent claim.
Regarding claim 9, no prior art could be located that teaches or fairly suggests processor changes a driving torque to be generated in the rotationally driving unit based on vibration applied to the movable unit and a position of a center of gravity and a moment of inertia of the movable unit according to the optical state, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim and parent claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS G GILES whose telephone number is (571)272-2824. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:45AM-3:15PM EST (HOTELING).
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/NICHOLAS G GILES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639