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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 11/30/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2022191182 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 11/28/2023, 5/15/2024, and 4/1/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In ¶ 47, line 1, “A grooves” should read “A groove”
In ¶ 68, lines 10-13, “Substrate terminal member, the portions other than the portion exposed...” is malformed; Examiner suggests replacing “Substrate terminal member” with “In the substrate terminal member” as a possible correction.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 13-14, “in an optical axis orthogonal direction” is not proper and should read “in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis” or similar.
In claim 2, lines 8-9, “extending along two sides adjacent to each other of the housing part” is improperly constructed and should read “extending along two sides of the housing part that are adjacent to each other” or similar.
Claims not specifically addressed in the objections above inherit the indefiniteness of the claim from which they depend. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-7 are 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.
Regarding claims 1, 3, and 4, lines 12 and 15-16 of claim 1 recite “a wire member… the wire member is configured such that a wire group including two or more wire members is disposed…”. This fails to clearly establish/describe the wire member – stating that a single wire member is configured so that two (copies? parts?) of itself are disposed in some fashion – thus confusing the issue of what constitutes a wire member and how many are actually present, as well as rendering the claim indefinite. For examination purposes, the quoted limitation shall be read as “wire members… the wire members are configured such that a wire group including two or more wire members is disposed…” to unambiguously establish multiple wire members.
Examiner notes also that the above further confuses the issue as to what “the wire member (at each of the four corners)” refers to in line 4 of each of claims 3 and 4. For examination purposes, each of these instances shall be read as “the wire members”.
Further regarding claims 1 and 3-4, and also regarding claim 2, lines 9 and 17 of claim 1 recite “a leaf spring member” and then “a common leaf spring member”. It is unclear from this phrasing, however, whether the latter/“common” leaf spring member is introduced as such to distinguish it from, be included in, or elaborate on the structure of the prior. Examiner will therefore interpret there to be at least two distinct leaf spring members, i.e. so that the quoted portion of claim 1’s line 9 reads “leaf spring members”, which will include the later-introduced “common leaf spring member” of line 17; this should be consistent with the disclosed structure (i.e. where both upper/lower leaf spring members 13a/13b are shown in FIG. 7).
Examiner notes also that the above further confuses the issue as to what “the leaf spring member” refers to in line 3 of each of claims 2-4. For examination purposes, each of these instances shall be read as “the common leaf spring member”.
Claims not specifically addressed in the rejections above inherit the indefiniteness of the claim from which they depend.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takimoto (US 20190101771 A1) in view of Park (US 20170146773 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Takimoto discloses (see FIGs. 7-8, ¶s 50-61, 72-80, 124-141, 255-265) an optical element driving apparatus (lens driving device 1), comprising:
a movable part (AF movable part 11 – of OIS movable part 10; see ¶ 56) configured to hold an optical element (¶ 59: “AF movable part 11 includes lens holder 110”);
a housing part (AF fixing part 12 – of OIS movable part 10; see ¶ 56) with a cylindrical shape configured to surround an outer periphery of the movable part (AF movable part 11) and house the movable part (AF movable part 11) (¶ 57: “AF movable part 11 is separated from AF fixing part 12 inside AF fixing part 12”), the housing part (AF fixing part 12) having a rectangular shape in plan view (¶ 73: “Magnet holder 12a [i.e. of AF fixing part 12; see ¶ 72] has a square cylindrical shape”; squares are rectangular);
a fixing part (OIS fixing part 20) disposed on one side in an optical axis (Z) direction with respect to the movable part (AF movable part 11) and the housing part (AF fixing part 12) (¶ 51: “OIS movable part 10 [i.e. with AF movable part 11 and AF fixing part 12; see ¶ 56] is disposed above OIS fixing part 20 on the +side… in the Z direction so as to be separated from the OIS fixing part 20”);
a leaf spring member (lower leaf spring 14) configured to support the movable part (AF movable part 11) such that the movable part (AF movable part 11) is movable in the optical axis (Z) direction with respect to the housing part (AF fixing part 12) (¶ 134: “Lower leaf spring 14 elastically supports AF movable part 11 with respect to AF fixing part 12”, ¶ 58: “AF movable part 11... moves with respect to AF fixing part 12 in the Z direction”); and
a wire member (suspension wires 30A-D) configured to support the housing part (AF fixing part 12) such that the housing part (AF fixing part 12) is movable in an optical axis orthogonal direction with respect to the fixing part (OIS fixing part 20) (¶ 260: "OIS movable part 10 [i.e. with AF movable part 11 and AF fixing part 12; see ¶ 56] is supported by OIS fixing part 20 with suspension wires 30A to 30D in such a manner that OIS movable part 10 can sway in the plane orthogonal to the optical axis."),
wherein the wire member (suspension wires 30A-D) is configured such that a wire member (suspension wires 30A-D) is disposed at each of four corners of the housing part (AF fixing part 12) and connected to a common leaf spring member (upper leaf spring 13) (¶ 73: "Magnet holder 12a [i.e. of AF fixing part 12] includes arc grooves 120a recessed inward in the radial direction at four corners of the outer peripheral surface (see FIG. 6). Suspension wires 30A to 30D are disposed at arc grooves 120a."¶s 255-256: “ends of (upper ends) of suspension wires 30A and 30B are respectively inserted into the pair of wire fixing parts 130a and 130b of upper spring element 13a [i.e. of upper leaf spring 13; see ¶ 124], and fixed by soldering”, “ends (upper ends) of suspension wires 30C and 30D are respectively inserted into the pair of wire fixing parts 130a and 130b of upper spring element 13b [i.e. of upper leaf spring 13; see ¶ 124], and fixed by soldering”).
Takimoto does not disclose a wire group including two or more wire members disposed at each of four corners of the housing part and connected to a common leaf spring member.
Takimoto and Park are commonly related to lens driving devices for camera modules.
Park discloses (see FIGs. 20-21, ¶ 317-320; note, per ¶ 317, this embodiment is based on a primary embodiment of FIGs. 1-17 and ¶s 85-309 – sharing many similar features/numerals. In particular, elastic supporting members 220-1’ to 220-8’ shown in FIGs. 20-21’s embodiment are analogous to elastic supporting members 220a to 220d shown in FIGs. 1-17’s embodiment) a wire group including two or more wire members (elastic supporting members 220-(1’,2’), 220-(3’,4’), 220-(5’,6’), 220-(7’,8’)); note ¶ 309: “suspension wires may be used as the elastic supporting members 220a to 220d”) disposed at each of four corners of the housing part (housing 140 “may be provided in corners... with through recesses 751, into which the elastic supporting members 220a to 220d are inserted” – ¶ 170) and connected to a common leaf spring member (first circuit board 170, or alternatively, upper elastic member 150; see – ¶ 224: “first circuit board 170 is disposed on the upper elastic member 150”
¶ 242: “first circuit board 170 and the upper elastic member 150 may be integrally formed. For example, the first circuit board 170 may be omitted...”
¶ 191: “upper elastic member 150... [may] be a leaf spring”).
It would have therefore been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine teachings of Takimoto and Park and modify the distribution of wire members, in order to reduce the load on a given suspension wire or otherwise redistribute loads with proper consideration of forces and material/elastic properties (see also Park ¶s 314-316, 319) or to accommodate terminals and current paths for alternative circuit configurations/components .
Regarding claim 2, modified Takimoto discloses the optical element driving apparatus according to claim 1.
Park further discloses (see annotated FIG. 20 below) wherein:
the leaf spring member (first circuit board 170) includes a housing part side connecting part connected to the housing part (housing 140) at each of the four corners of the housing part (housing 140) (note: FIG. 21 more directly shows/labels housing 140 in relation to first circuit board 170, especially on the front-facing corner section), and
the housing part side connecting part includes:
two extension parts extending along two sides adjacent to each other of the housing part (housing 140), and
a coupling part configured to couple the two extension parts at a corresponding corner.
[AltContent: textbox (FIG. 20 of Park is annotated to highlight various features, with the bottom right corner of FIG. 20 magnified for refined labeling. Note the bridge parts labeled in the magnified portion can be considered as a whole/single piece (i.e. excluding the dashed line), or as individual parts (i.e. partitioned along the dashed line) so that each corresponds to a connecting part.)]
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Regarding claim 3, modified Takimoto discloses the optical element driving apparatus according to claim 2.
Park further discloses (see annotated FIG. 20 above) wherein:
the leaf spring member (first circuit board 170) includes a wire member side connecting part connected to the wire member (elastic supporting members 220-1’ to 220-8’) at each of the four corners of the housing part (housing 140),
the wire member side connecting part includes:
one bridge part configured to collectively bridge from the coupling part to all wire members included in a corresponding wire group (e.g. elastic supporting members 220-(3’,4’) in annotated FIG. 20), and
a plurality of connecting parts connected at an end portion of the one bridge part to each of all wire members included in the corresponding wire group (e.g. elastic supporting members 220-(3’,4’) in annotated FIG. 20) (note that one can define a single bridge part – i.e. excluding the dashed line – in annotated FIG. 20 above).
Regarding claim 4, modified Takimoto discloses the optical element driving apparatus according to claim 2,
Park further discloses (see annotated FIG. 20 above) wherein:
the leaf spring member (first circuit board 170) includes a wire member side connecting part connected to the wire member (elastic supporting members 220-1’ to 220-8’) at each of the four corners of the housing part (housing 140), and
the wire member side connecting part includes:
a plurality of bridge parts configured to individually bridge from the coupling part to all wire members included in a corresponding wire group (e.g. elastic supporting members 220-(3’,4’) in annotated FIG. 20), and
a plurality of connecting parts connected at end portions of the plurality of bridge parts to each of all wire members included in the corresponding wire group (e.g. elastic supporting members 220-(3’,4’) in annotated FIG. 20) (note that one can define multiple bridge parts – e.g. partitioned along the dashed line – in annotated FIG. 20 above).
Regarding claim 6, modified Takimoto discloses (see FIGs. 1-4, ¶s 40-47) a camera module (A), comprising:
the optical element driving apparatus (lens driving device 1) according to claim 1;
the optical element (“lens part”); and
an image-capturing part (not illustrated, per ¶ 47) configured to capture a subject image formed by the optical element (“lens part”).
Regarding claim 7, modified Takimoto discloses (see FIGs. 1-4, ¶s 40-47, 278) a camera-equipped apparatus (smartphone M) that is an information apparatus or a transport apparatus, the camera-equipped apparatus (smartphone M) comprising:
the camera module (A) according to claim 6; and
an image processing part (“control section” – ¶ 278) configured to process image information obtained by the camera module (A).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takimoto in view of Park, as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Jung et al (KR 101197077 B1, hereinafter “Jung”).
Regarding claim 5, modified Takimoto discloses the optical element driving apparatus according to claim 1.
Park further discloses (see FIG. 20) wherein all wire members (elastic supporting members 220-1’ to 220-8’) included in the wire group are disposed side by side at each of the four corners of the housing part (housing 140).
Modified Takimoto does not disclose wire members disposed in a radial direction.
Takimoto and Jung are commonly related to lens driving devices for camera modules.
Jung discloses (see FIGs. 5-6, 9; ¶s 146-147) wire members (wire springs 800) disposed (i.e. with adjacent inner/outer wire springs 801/802 arranged) in a radial direction.
It would have therefore been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify Takimoto with Jung’s wire member arrangements, in order to tune directional stiffnesses/stability (i.e. resistance to some rotational modes or disturbances) and reduce associated mechanical/electrical interferences, or simply to accommodate different drive apparatus geometries while ensuring wire members are suitably positioned to perform functional tasks (e.g. as in Jung’s ¶ 148-160),
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAI-GA D. HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1624. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 10AM - 6PM E.T..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephone Allen can be reached at (571) 272-2434. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/W.D.H./Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/STEPHONE B ALLEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872