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 § 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (US 2003/0213889 A1) in view of Xu et al (US 2020/0344417 A1), and further in view of Nii et al (US 5,574,322).
Miura discloses an optical part assembly (Fig. 1) comprising a mirror (para 54, mirror 1, “extending around the periphery of the mirror 1 and outward from the periphery is mounting flange 3 used for mounting the mirror 1 to the holding device 10”).
However, Miura does not disclose the optical part assembly comprising:
a mirror main body including a base and a mirror support section that is formed integral with the base and having a projected tip;
a mirror mounted on the projected tip of the mirror support section;
a casing that has an opening in which to expose the mirror support section at a tip thereof, that has a rear end closed with a bottom plate, and that accommodates the mirror main body;
a plurality of driving sections that are disposed on the bottom plate of the casing and act on the base to swing the base;
a ring member having an opening and fixed to a front end part of the casing;
a holding member fixed to an inner circumference of the casing;
a plurality of elastic members disposed between the base of the mirror main body and the holding member; and
a magnetic fluid that is disposed between the mirror support section of the mirror main body and the ring member to fill the opening of the ring member.
Xu discloses an optical part assembly (Fig. 2) comprising:
an optical element main body (Fig. 2 and para 60, lens carrier 208) including a base (base that is housing lens 202 as shown in Fig. 2) and an optical element support section (interior support section of lens carrier 208) that is formed integral with the base (single piece) and having a projected tip (see projected tip abutting lens 202);
an optical element mounted on the projected tip of the optical element support section (lens 202 is mounted on the projected tip of the interior support section of the lens carrier 208);
a casing (Fig. 2 and para 63, shield can 232) that has an opening (see opening wherein the lens 202 is mounted) in which to expose the optical element support section at a tip thereof (see the opening of the shield can 232 exposes the optical support section 208 at a tip), that has a rear end (Fig. 2 and para 63, substrate 230) closed with a bottom plate (Fig. 2 and para 63, image sensor 204 and base 228), and that accommodates the optical element main body (see Fig. 2, the casing accommodates the lens 202);
a plurality of driving sections (Fig. 2 and para 63, OIS coils 226) that are disposed on the bottom plate of the casing (see Fig. 2, 226 is disposed on 228; and para 63 “one or more OIS coils 226 on a base 228 and/or a substrate 230”) and act on the base to swing the base (para 63 “the camera module 200 may be configured to provide current to the OIS coils 226, which may cause the OIS coils 226 to magnetically interact with the magnets 214 … to produce Lorentz force that cause the lens carrier 208 to move in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis 206);
a ring member (Fig. 2 and para 61, magnet holder 210) having an opening (the magnet holder 308 shown in Fig. 3 is a ring member with an opening) and fixed to a front end part of the casing (magnet holder 210 is fixed to the front end part of the casing 232 as shown in Fig. 2);
a holding member (Fig. 2 and para 61, interface member 218) fixed to an inner circumference of the casing (218 is fixed an inner circumference of casing 232, see 218 inside of 232 in Fig. 2);
a plurality of elastic members (Fig. 2 and para 62, AF upper spring flexures 222) disposed between the base of the optical element main body (lens carrier 208) and the holding member (interface member 218; spring flexures 222 is disposed between the lens carrier 208 and the interface member 218 as shown in Fig.2); and
a viscoelastic material (Fig. 2 and para 61, viscoelastic material 216) is disposed between the optical element support section of the optical element main body (208) and the holding member (218) that is attached to the ring member (magnet holder 210).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention before the effective filing date use the Xu mounting assembly to mount the Miura mirror, since a viscoelastic material of Xu reference (Fig. 2 and para 61, viscoelastic material 216) is disposed between the optical element support section of the optical element main body (208) and the holding member (218) that is attached to the ring member (210) for the purpose of providing a mounting assembly that absorb vibrations and shocks, preventing the mirror from cracking due to thermal expansion/contraction differences between the materials used for mirror and the mounting assembly and excellent adhesion property, as being motivated provide the mirror assembly with damping properties.
Further, Miura in view of Xu does not disclose a magnetic fluid.
Nii discloses a magnetic fluid (Fig. 1 and column 4, lines 35-36, magnetic fluid seal 13) in addition to a viscoelatic material (Fig. 1 and column 4, line 37, viscous seal 14).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use a magnetic fluid seal of Lii for the purpose of providing additional vibration damping, reducing mechanical stress concentration and providing hermetic sealing.
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (US 2003/0213889 A1) in view of Xu et al (US 2020/0344417 A1), and further in view of Nii et al (US 5,574,322), and further in view Tam (US 4,664,487).
Regarding claim 2, Miura (US 2003/0213889 A1) in view of Xu et al (US 2020/0344417 A1), and further in view of Nii et al (US 5,574,322) discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein each of the driving sections includes a piezo-actuator and a pin which is coupled with the piezo- actuator and a tip of which makes contact with the base.
Tam discloses each of the driving sections (Fig. 1 and column 5, line 43, tip/tilt actuators 18) includes a piezo-actuator (column 5, lines 43-44, PZT) and a pin (column 5, line 46, actuation pin 44) which is coupled with the piezo- actuator and a tip of which makes contact with the base (column 5, lines 47, actuator 18 contacts surface 50 of the reaction plate 24).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to have each of the driving sections including a piezo-actuator and a pin which is coupled with the piezo- actuator and a tip of which makes contact with the base as taught by Tam for the purpose of providing addition movements to the mirror mounting assembly of the prior art, since piezoelectric actuators are extremely compact and lightweight.
Regarding claim 4, in combination, the optical part assembly according to claim 1,
Tam discloses each of the driving sections (Fig. 1 and column 4, line 38, piston actuator assembly 20) that is mounted outside the bottom plate (see Fig. 1, 20 is mounted outside of bottom plate 24), and
a coupling member inserted in a through hole formed in the bottom plate (column 4, lines 45-48, “the forward end 59 of the housing 58 … is mounted with a central hole located at the back end 60) and couples the driving section with the base (column 4, lines 48-57 “the housing 58 is kept securely and precisely in position within the reaction plate 24 in to the cavity 56 where they contact the exterior surface of the housing 58 and establish the radial locations of the piston actuator 20. The linear actuator is further secured to the reaction plate 24 in the axial direction by nut 57 which engages threads on the housing 58 of the linear actuator 20).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 3 is allowable at least for the reason that the prior art does not teach or reasonably suggest the optical part assembly further comprising:
a first ring magnetized in N pole and disposed at the opening of the ring member; and
a second ring magnetized in S pole and disposed at the opening of the ring member,
wherein the magnetic fluid is disposed between the first and second rings and the mirror support section as set forth in the claimed combination.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNCHA P CHERRY whose telephone number is (571)272-2310. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 7am to 3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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11/26/2025
/EUNCHA P CHERRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872