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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/1/2024 and 11/7/2024 were considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715).
Regarding Claim 1, Fujii discloses a lens unit comprising a first lens and a second lens arranged in this order from an image side toward an object side (Fig. 16, first lens 71 and second lens 72),
wherein the second lens includes an annular contacting portion in contact with the first lens on an outer peripheral side of a lens surface on the image side (see annotated Fig. 16, lens 72, below),
the first lens includes an annular contacted portion in contact with the contacting portion on an outer peripheral side of a lens surface on the object side (see annotated Fig. 16, lens 71, below),
the contacting portion and the contacted portion are in line contact with each other (portions are in line, see annotated Fig. 16, below), and
a contact line along which the contacting portion and the contacted portion are in contact with each other has an annular shape coaxial with an optical axis of the first lens and is located on a virtual perpendicular plane that is perpendicular to the optical axis of the first lens (see annotated Fig. 16, below, this side view, if seen rotated at a right angle, the contacting portion and the contacted portion would have a coaxial annular shape with respect to the optical axis).
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Regarding Claim 5, Fujii discloses as is set forth above and further discloses further comprising a lens barrel to house the first lens and the second lens inside,
wherein the lens barrel includes, on an inner peripheral surface, a plurality of first fitting projections that projects to an inner peripheral side from a first inner peripheral surface portion located outside the first lens in a radial direction and is pressure-bonded to the first lens (see annotated Fig. 16, below, lenses are pressure-fitted into the barrel, Paragraph 0005),
the first lens is positioned in the radial direction by the plurality of first fitting projections (see annotated Fig. 16, below, lens 71), and
the second lens is separated to the inner peripheral side from the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel (see annotated Fig. 16, below, lens 72).
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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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715) in view of Teramoto (US 2011/0298075).
Regarding Claim 4, Fujii discloses as is set forth above but doesn’t specifically disclose wherein the first lens and the second lens are fixed to each other with a first adhesive layer provided between the first lens and the second lens on an outer peripheral side of the contact line.
However, Teramoto, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the first lens and the second lens are fixed to each other with a first adhesive layer provided between the first lens and the second lens on an outer peripheral side of the contact line (Paragraph 0049, the peripheral portions of lenses 10 and 20 are bonded with adhesive around the periphery), for the purpose of maintaining lenses along the optical axis.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the lens unit of Fujii with the wherein the first lens and the second lens are fixed to each other with a first adhesive layer provided between the first lens and the second lens on an outer peripheral side of the contact line, of Teramoto, for the purpose of maintaining lenses along the optical axis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-12 are allowed.
Regarding Claim 10, Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715) discloses a
lens alignment method for aligning a first lens and a second lens adjacent to each other in an optical axis direction, the lens alignment method comprising:
providing an annular contacting portion in contact with the first lens on an outer peripheral side of a lens surface of the second lens on the first lens side and providing an annular contacted portion in contact with the contacting portion on an outer peripheral side of a lens surface of the first lens on the second lens side (Fig. 16, first lens 71 and second lens 72, see annotated Fig. 16),
bringing the contacting portion and the contacted portion into line contact with each other (Fig. 16, first lens 71 and second lens 72, portions are in line, see annotated Fig. 16, below); and
Sakai et al. (US 2009/0244726) further discloses
vibrating one of the first lens and the second lens (Paragraph 0039, lines 1-8)
Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715) additionally discloses
until an annular contact line along which the contacting portion and the contacted portion are in contact with each other is located on a virtual perpendicular plane that is coaxial with an optical axis of the first lens and is perpendicular to the optical axis (see annotated Fig. 16, below, this side view, if seen rotated at a right angle, the contacting portion and the contacted portion would have a coaxial annular shape with respect to the optical axis),
wherein a cross-section of the contacting portion cut along the optical axis is an arc that is curved in a direction away from the first lens toward the outer peripheral side {see annotated Fig. 16, below).
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Neither Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715) nor Sakai et al. (US 2009/0244726) further disclose “… and the contacted portion is a tapered surface extending to the second lens side toward the outer peripheral side.”.
Additionally, neither Teramoto (US 2011/0298075), Wu (US 8,736,989), Wu (US 2014/0078606), Hirata (US 2021/0141291), Yan et al. (US 2015/0198777), Wei (US 2020/0049932), Ohara et al. (US 2022/0377214), Yoshida et al. (US 2021/0302805), Sakaguchi et al. (US 2025/0328008), Komiyama (US 2024/0402470), nor the prior art of record remedy the deficiencies of Fujii et al. (US 2021/0018715) and Sakai et al. (US 2009/0244726).
Reasons for Allowance/Examiner’s Comments
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, regarding the allowability of independent claim 10: The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest a lens alignment method comprising “… and the contacted portion is a tapered surface extending to the second lens side toward the outer peripheral side.”, along with other claim limitations. Claims 11-12 are allowable due to pendency on independent claim 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 6, and 7-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, with respect to claim 2, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a lens unit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein a cross-section of the contacting portion cut along the optical axis is an arc that is curved to the object side toward the outer peripheral side, and the contacted portion is a tapered surface extending to the object side toward the outer peripheral side.
Specifically, with respect to claim 6, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a lens unit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein further comprising: a third lens provided on the object side of the second lens; and an annular holder provided on an outer peripheral side of the second lens, wherein the first lens is supported from the image side at a predetermined position in an optical axis direction along the optical axis of the first lens, the lens barrel includes, on the inner peripheral surface, a plurality of second fitting projections that projects to the inner peripheral side from a second inner peripheral surface portion located outside the holder in the radial direction and is pressure-bonded to the holder, the holder is stacked on the object side of the first lens and is positioned in the radial direction by the plurality of second fitting projections, a clearance is provided between the second lens and an inner peripheral surface of the holder, the second lens is fixed to the holder with a second adhesive layer provided in the clearance, and the third lens is stacked on the object side of the holder.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R ALEXANDER whose telephone number is (571)270-7656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached on (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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/WILLIAM R ALEXANDER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872