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 § 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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. US 2017/0289457 in view of Topliss et al. US 2015/0350507 and Ikeda US 2021/0136290 and Morita et al. US 2009/0002825.
Regarding claim 20, Hu teaches an optical instrument (see para 0040: camera module disposed in an electronic device such as camera, a tablet computer or a cell phone) comprising:
a camera device (see at least Fig. 1) comprising
a fixed unit (Fig. 1: frame 20 and holder 30, i.e., U2),
a moving unit (see para 0041: U1 is movable unit) spaced apart from the fixed unit (U2), the moving unit comprising an image sensor (see para 0041 and Fig. 1: image sensor IM is part of the moving unit U1).
Hu fails to teach: a position sensor configured to detect rolling of the moving unit; and a controller configured to generate a correction value for correction of amount of rotation of the camera device due to hand shaking and to control movement of the moving unit using the correction value when the correction value is equal to or less than a predetermined angle, wherein, when the correction value is greater than the predetermined angle, the amount of rotation of the camera device due to hand shaking is compensated by a compensation method, and wherein the predetermined angle ranges from 0.5 degrees to 2 degrees.
Topliss teaches a controller (see para 0034: OIS controller determines a time-varying desired position of a moving body to compensate for the handshake), configured to generate a correction value for correction of amount of rotation of the camera device due to hand shaking and to control movement of the moving unit using the correction value when the correction value is equal to or less than a predetermined angle (para 0034-0035: the OIS controller determines a time varying desired position of a moving body…, “desire position” is a computed correction value generated by the controller). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to recognized that the desired position determined by the OIS controller represents as target correction amount, and that applying such correction only when the correction amount falls within a predefined angular range is a known control practice to ensure stable operation and avoid actuator saturation or instability in electromagnetic OIS actuators. Configuration the controller to conditionally apply the correction based on the magnitude of the correction amount merely introduces a control constraint on the already-computed desired position, without changing the underlying correction algorithm or hardware configuration taught by Topliss.
The combination of Hu and Topliss fails to teach: wherein, when the correction value is greater than the predetermined angle, the amount of rotation of the camera device due to hand shaking is compensated by a compensation method, and wherein the predetermined angle ranges from 0.5 degrees to 2 degrees.
In the same field of endeavor, Ikeda teaches generating a correction value for hand-shake compensation based on detected shake amount and controlling image stabilization according to correction limits or maximum correction amount (see paras. 0009, 0035, 0052-053 and 0096). Morita further teaches that the pitch rotation angle and yaw rotation angle required for image stabilization are around 0.5 to 1.5 degrees, which overlaps the claimed predetermined angle range (see para 0233). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the predetermined angle of Ikeda with the range taught by Morita because Morita teaches such rotational ranges are suitable for image stabilization and hand-shake correction. The combination would have predictably provided effective image stabilization while remaining within the mechanical operating range of the OIS actuator.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 5-19 and 21-22 are allowed.
Prior art of records: Hu et al. US 2017/0289457 in view of Park et al. US 2019/0094565
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Hu teaches a camera device (see at least Fig. 1) comprising: a fixed unit (Fig. 1: frame 20 and holder 30, i.e., U2) comprising
a first magnet unit and a second magnet unit facing each other in a first horizontal direction (see at least in Figs. 1, 2 and 4: four magnets M on each corner, see also annotated figure below i.e., first and second magnets are facing in X-axis direction i.e., X-axis is first direction),
a third magnet unit facing the second magnet unit in a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction (see annotated figure second and third magnets are facing in Y-axis, Y-axis is second direction), and
a fourth magnet unit facing the first magnet unit in the second horizontal direction (see annotated figure fourth and first magnets are facing in Y-axis, Y-axis is second direction);
a moving unit (see para 0041: U1 is movable unit) spaced apart from the fixed unit (U2), the moving unit comprising an image sensor (see para 0041 and Fig. 1: image sensor IM is part of the moving unit U1);
a coil disposed at the moving unit to move the moving unit through interaction with the first to fourth magnet units (see para 0046 and Fig. 4: “It should be understood that the first driving coils C3 disposed on the four sides of the circuit board F respectively correspond to the four magnetic elements M disposed on the four sides of the frame 20. Thus, driving signals can be independently applied to the respective first driving coils C3 by an external power source, and a magnetic force can be provided by the interaction between the first driving coils C3 and the magnetic elements M, so that the plate 10 and the image sensor IM can be forced to move linearly relative to the frame 20 and the holder 30”).
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[AltContent: textbox (3rd magnet)][AltContent: textbox (2nd magnet)][AltContent: textbox (4th magnet)][AltContent: textbox (1st magnet)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
Hu fails to teach: a position sensor disposed at the moving unit, the position sensor comprising first to fourth sensor units, wherein at least a portion of each of the first and second sensor units overlaps the first magnet unit in an optical-axis direction, the third sensor unit overlaps the second magnet unit in the optical-axis direction, and the fourth sensor unit overlaps the third magnet unit in the optical-axis direction.
Park teaches in particular para 00295 that the centers of a magnet, a coil and a positional sensor aligned with one another and overlapped in the optical axis direction, thereby explicitly teaching an optical axis overlapping arrangement between a position sensor and a corresponding magnet. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the camera device of Hu to incorporate the optical axis-overlapping sensor-magnet arrangement taught by Park in order to improve the accuracy and stability of position detection for optical image stabilization control.
The combination of Hu and park fails to teach: wherein the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit are disposed so as to be spaced apart from each other in one of the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction and wherein the first sensor and the second sensor unit detect rotation.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EPHREM ZERU MEBRAHTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8386. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am -6 pm (M-F).
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/EPHREM Z MEBRAHTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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