DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9, 11, and 16-20 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:
Regarding claim 5, prior art alone or as combined fails to teach a recessed portion formed in the second region and the third region and corresponding to a shape of the lens barrel, in a position corresponding to the lens barrel when the lens barrel is accommodated in a lens barrel accommodating portion when considered with all other claim limitations that claim 5 depends on.
Claims 6 and 17 depend on claim 5 and would be allowable due to claim dependency.
Regarding claim 7, prior art alone or as combined fails to teach the second body having a side plate extended vertically from the base with a body portion, a first or second extended portions, when considered with all other claim limitations that claim 7 depends on.
Claims 8-9 and 18-20 would be allowable due to dependency.
Regarding claim 11, prior art alone or as combined, fails to teach an inclined cross-sectional region of the second hole when considered with all other claim limitations that claim 11 depends on.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 10/06/2025 and 2/29/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
The following claimed benefit is acknowledged: 18688048 filed 02/29/2024 is a National Stage entry of PCT/KR2022/013094, international filing date: 09/01/2022
claims foreign priority to 10-2021-0117265, filed 09/02/2021.
Drawings
The drawings filed 02/29/2024 are accepted by the Examiner.
Specification
The specification filed 02/29/2024 is accepted by the Examiner.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-4, 10, 12-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al., US 20200003870 A1 (“Chen”).
Regarding claim 1, Chen teaches a camera module (Fig. 14,See Fig. 11 for detail description for same elements of Fig. 14, [0114]) comprising:
a lens barrel accommodating a lens (receiving assembly 30B);
a sensor configured to receive light passed through the lens (photo sensitive element 31B);
a first substrate having the sensor disposed on a first surface thereof (circuit board 11B);
a second substrate apart from the first substrate and having at least one light source element being disposed thereon (projection assembly circuit board 23B as a second substrate; projecting unit 21B as light source element; See [0078]).
However, Chen in Fig. 14 does not teach a first body comprising a lens barrel accommodating portion comprising a first hole in which the lens barrel is accommodated, and a second hole formed in a light-emitting direction of the light source device;
a second body coupled to the first body;
wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the inner space formed by the first body and the second body.
On the other hand, Chen teaches an outer bracket 200 for a TOF sensor with two openings to allow emitting and receiving of light (Fig. 5, [0092]). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have modified the camera module of Fig. 14 by adding an outer bracket 200 on top of the TOF sensor. The motivation for doing so is to prevent damage of the sensor and fix the position of the projection and receiving assemblies ([0092]).
As modified, Chen teaches a first body comprising a lens barrel accommodating portion comprising a first hole in which the lens barrel is accommodated, and a second hole formed in a light-emitting direction of the light source device (Fig. 5, [0092], bracket 200);
a second body coupled to the first body ([0129], base body 12B, see also, Fig. 2);
wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the inner space formed by the first body and the second body (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 2, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1, comprising: a flexible substrate connecting the first substrate and the second substrate ([0138], conductive element 13B).
Regarding claim 3, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1,
wherein the first body (Fig. 5, bracket 200) comprises:
an upper plate comprising a first region where the lens barrel accommodating portion formed, a second region apart from the first region in an optical axis direction and where the second hole formed, and a third region connecting the first region and the second region ([Fig. 5, as modified for use in Fig. 14, the top with a hole for the receiving side as a first region, the top with a hole for outgoing light as a second region, the connection in between the receiving and transmitting holes is a third region); and
a side plate extended from the upper plate (Fig. 5, side plate shown at least on left end).
Regarding claim 4, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 3, wherein lens barrel accommodating portion is formed by being extended from the first region and the third region (Figs. 5, 16, [0143], one of ordinary skill in the art would have adjusted the shape and height of the connection region between regions 1-3 to accommodate for shape of the openings, and height of opening differences).
Regarding claim 10, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional region of the second hole corresponds to a cross-sectional region of the light source element (Figs. 14, 16, [0140], [0142], the projecting assembly is sized according to the size of the light emitting element 21B).
Regarding claim 12, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 10, wherein an inclined angle of the second hole corresponds to a light emitting angle of the light source element (Fig. 14, the connection between the edge of the emitting hole and the center of the light emitting element 21B will be inclined to the vertical up direction and will have a corresponding light emit light coverage).
Regarding claim 13, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1, wherein the second body comprises a heat sink (Fig. 17, [0144], heat conductive through-hold 120B, one of ordinary skill in the art would have applied this teach to the embodiment Fig. 14 to enhance the heat dissipation effect.).
Regarding claim 15, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a ToF sensor ([0128]).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Official Notice.
Regarding claim 14, Chen teaches the camera module according to claim 1. However, Chen fails to teach explicitly teach wherein the first body and the second body comprise a third hole through which a connector connected to an outside in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis or a power connector where power source is connected passes.
On the other hand, the examiner is taking an Official Notice of the fact that providing a hole to accommodate power and external signal connection using wire for a TOF sensor is notoriously well-known. One of ordinary skill in the art would make this modification to provide power and signal connection to Chen’s camera module. Further, the power and signal connection wire should not interfere with light transmitting and receiving. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to have included a third hole to the first and second body since the electric components are within the second body, and the first body is covering the second body (Fig. 14, [0148], see the rejection in claim 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUQING XIAO whose telephone number is (571)270-3603. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Thomas can be reached at (571)272-8004. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Prosecution Insights