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 Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 18 references, “…in the barrel-less lens assembly,” yet claim 1 does not mention a “barrel-less lens assembly.” Appropriate correction to satisfy antecedent basis is required.
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.
Claims 1, 5, 7, 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0184899 to McKinley (“McKinley”).
Regarding claim 1, McKinley teaches a camera module comprising:
a printed circuit (the camera module includes an image sensor is coupled to a printed circuit to carry electronic signals that include digital images captured by the image sensor, see paragraph [0031]);
an image sensor (reference number 201, image sensor, see paragraph [0073]);
a lens assembly configured to focus image light to the image sensor (the lens assembly is seen in Figure 2B and focuses light through the optical axis 208 to the sensor 201); and
a multi-layer shield disposed around the lens assembly and around the image sensor (Figure 7 shows a multi-layer shield including 708 and 702), wherein the multi-layer shield includes:
a shielding layer configured to block electromagnetic interference (EMI), wherein the shielding layer includes conductive material (reference number 701 is an EMI housing layer to block EMI, see paragraph [0096], the EMI housing is made of conducting or semiconducting material); and
a light-blocking layer configured to block ambient light from becoming incident on the image sensor and the lens assembly (reference number 702 is a layer that blocks undesired stray light from entering or exiting the camera module, see paragraph [0098]).
Regarding claim 5, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1, wherein the light-blocking layer includes an interference layer that selectively transmits or reflects the ambient light (the light leak baffle, reference number 702, includes a layer of conductive material such as carbon feather, 2D carbon or graphene, or a thin conducting polymer, see paragraph [0098] to selectively adjust the level of light transmission).
Regarding claim 7, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1 further comprising: an additional light-blocking layer, wherein the shielding layer is disposed between the light-blocking layer and the additional light-blocking layer, and wherein the light-blocking layer is disposed on the lens assembly (paragraph [0080] teaches that the optical surface can also serve as a light blocking filter, for example an IR absorbing material may be used and applied to the glass of the lens.
Regarding claim 12, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 10, wherein the metal track is formed of copper, and wherein the shielding layer is soldered to the copper of the metal track (paragraph [0020] teaches many different ways of achieving contact and includes using copper tape).
Regarding claim 13, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 10, wherein conductive glue couples the metal track to the shielding layer (paragraph [0020] further teaches using conductive adhesive as one example of forming electrical contact).
Regarding claim 14, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 10, wherein a metal coating couples the metal track to the shielding layer (paragraph [0019] teaches that a material that may be used is metal for the conductive material allowing electrical energy to flow therethrough to create the Faraday cage).
Regarding claim 15, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1, wherein the printed circuit is a printed circuit board or a flexible circuit board (paragraph [0048] teaches the printed circuit is a printed circuit board, either rigid or flexible).
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.
Claims 4, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McKinley.
Regarding claim 4, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1, but is silent on wherein the light-blocking layer absorbs the ambient light that includes ultraviolet light, visible light, and infrared light. McKinley teaches that undesired stray light is blocked from entering the camera module. One of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that undesired light may include frequencies within ultraviolet, visible, and infrared, depending on what the intended image data result is. Light within undesired portions of the spectrum would alter the appearance of visible or other desired frequency ranges.
It 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 to modify the teaching of McKinley to includes blocking or absorbing light including UV, IR, or visible light in order to produce a desired image quality or resulting image.
Regarding claim 6, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1, but is silent on wherein the shielding layer includes at least one of acrylic conductive paint, conductive epoxy, conductive urethane, or conductive acrylic-urethane. One of ordinary skill in the art would realize that the specific type of material used for the shielding layer may be any of well-known types of material for the relevant use. It 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 to modify the teaching of McKinley to use a commonly used material from the above list to satisfy the requirement of the shielding layer to shield the sensitive device parts from noise and interference signals.
Claim 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McKinley as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0241761 to Garcia (“Garcia”).
Regarding claim 9, McKinley teaches the camera module of claim 1, but is silent on wherein the shielding layer is coupled to a ground plane of the printed circuit to provide a Faraday cage around the image sensor. Garcia teaches a similar lens and actuator housing designed to increase system functionality by robustly shielding the camera and internal components from EMI by forming a Faraday cage about the image sensor. The lower edges are in direct contact with the circuit board 200 along a ground trace that extends along the perimeter of the housing 240. See paragraphs [0008], [0020].
It 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 to modify the teaching of McKinley with that of Garcia to create a Faraday cage around the image sensor and camera circuitry components to form a shield from EMI and improve image quality.
Regarding claim 10, McKinley in view of Garcia teach the camera module of claim 9, Garcia further teaches wherein the printed circuit includes a metal track sized to tie in the shielding layer, wherein the metal track is electrically coupled to a ground plane of the printed circuit (paragraph [0019] of Garcia further teaches that the outer walls include a conductive material and the ground plane 220 includes a conductive material such as metal).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 8, 11, 16-18 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.
Claims 19-20 are allowed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY R HSU whose telephone number is (571)270-3012. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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AMY R. HSU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/AMY R HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638