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 statement (IDS) submitted on 8/1/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “at least one of the first magnetic member or the second magnetic member is formed of a magnet, a magnetic force is generated between the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member, the magnetic force exerts a force to push the guide and the guided part against each other in the direction crossing the direction of the optical axis, and the guide and the guided part are arranged to be in a contacted state regardless of a position of the lens holder in the direction of the optical axis”. In Applicant’s originally-filed Figs. 22-23, the magnetic forces between first and second magnetic members are shown as substantially parallel to the y-axis and the optical axis is substantially parallel to the z-axis. While it can be said that the y-axis “crosses” the z-axis, it cannot be said that every direction parallel to the y-axis crosses every direction parallel to the z-axis. Rather, there are mathematical intersections that would be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art “crossing” though the spatial offset between the optical axis and the magnetic force direction do not allow for intersection. The only “crossing” of the optical axis and magnetic force direction would be a matter of perception in a particular plane. For example, the view in Fig. 23 of the y-z plane along the x-axis and in this view a line representing the magnetic force direction crosses a line representing the optical axis. This requirement of crossing through a particular view appears to be a trivial limitation on the claimed invention that is not consistent with embodiments of the disclosure.
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 1-6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Pat. 12,407,236 to Duan, et al. (hereinafter Duan).
Regarding claim 1, Duan discloses a lens drive device (“structure of the motor 50 provided in the third implementation is substantially the same as that of the motor 20 provided in the first implementation, except that the eccentricity-prevention elastic structure is omitted in the motor 50”; Figs. 5-7 and 14-17; [0091]-[0094]), comprising: a support (base 51, Figs. 5-7 and 14-17); a lens holder (a support base 52, Figs. 5-7 and 14-17) that includes a cylinder configured to arrange a lens body in the cylinder (Figs. 5-7 and 14-17), and that is movable with respect to the support in a direction of an optical axis (Figs. 5-7 and 14-17); and a plurality of shape memory alloy wires (shape memory alloy actuator 25; Figs. 5-7 and 14-17; [0059]-[0085]) that are provided between the support and the lens holder, and that are configured to move the lens holder in the direction of the optical axis (Figs. 5-7 and 14-17; [0059]-[0085]), wherein the support includes a guide (groove 5131, Figs. 14-17) and a first magnetic member (a second eccentricity-prevention member 573, Figs. 14-17), the guide being configured to guide the lens holder to move in the direction of the optical axis (Figs. 14-17), the lens holder includes a guided part (a second limiting portion 533, Figs. 14-17) and a second magnetic member (a first eccentricity-prevention member 571, Figs. 14-17), the guided part being configured to slide with the guide and be guided by the guide, and the second magnetic member being arranged at a position apart from the first magnetic member in a direction crossing the direction of the optical axis (Figs. 14-17), and at least one of the first magnetic member or the second magnetic member is formed of a magnet ([0091]-[0094]), a magnetic force is generated between the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member, the magnetic force exerts a force to push the guide and the guided part against each other in the direction crossing the direction of the optical axis (Figs. 14-17; [0091]-[0094]), and the guide and the guided part are arranged to be in a contacted state regardless of a position of the lens holder in the direction of the optical axis (Fig. 14-17).
Regarding claim 2, Duan discloses the shape memory alloy wires are configured to contract so as to reduce the force to push the guide and the guided part against each other in a case in which a current flows through the shape memory alloy wires, compared to a case in which no current is flowing through the shape memory alloy wires (“When the motor 50 is in a powered-on state, at least one of shape memory alloy actuators is energized to contract to provide a driving force to the support base 53, pulling the support base 53 to overcome the magnetostatic forces, and the support base 53 is separated from the base 51, as shown in FIG. 1”, Figs. 14-17; [0091]-[0094]).
Regarding claim 3, Duan discloses the shape memory alloy wires include a first wire including one end supported by the support and another end supported by the lens holder, the one end being disposed at a lower position in the direction of the optical axis than the another end, and a second wire including one end supported by the support and another end supported by the lens holder, the one end being disposed at a higher position in the direction of the optical axis than the another end, and in each of the first wire and the second wire, the one end is fixed to a first metal member provided in the support, and the another end is fixed to a second metal member provided in the lens holder, and in the direction crossing the direction of the optical axis, a position at which the one end is fixed to the first metal member is farther from the guide than is a position at which the another end is fixed to the second metal member (Figs. 5-7, 10, 14-17; [0059]-[0085]).
Regarding claims 4-6, Duan discloses the second magnetic member and the guided part are arranged at positions next to each other in the lens holder (Figs. 14-17).
Regarding claim 7, Duan discloses both of the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member are formed of a magnet (Figs. 14-17; [0091]-[0094]), and the magnetic force is an attractive force (Figs. 16-17; [0091]-[0094]).
Regarding claim 8, Duan discloses the first magnetic member is attached to the support through a slip-off preventer (first eccentricity-prevention member 571 and a second eccentricity-prevention member 573 are enclosed by material, Figs. 15-17), and the second magnetic member is attached to the lens holder by a slip-off preventer (first eccentricity-prevention member 571 and a second eccentricity-prevention member 573 are enclosed by material, Figs. 15-17).
Regarding claims 9-11, Duan discloses the guide includes a projection that has a curved surface projecting toward the guided part (second limiting portion 533 is curved by wrapping around 180⁰, Figs. 14-17), and the guided part includes a recess configured to receive the projection (Figs. 14-17).
Regarding claims 12-14, Duan discloses the support includes two guides each being the guide, and the lens holder includes two guided parts each being the guided part (Figs. 14-17).
Regarding claim 15, Duan discloses he two guides are arranged so as to face each other across the optical axis (Figs. 14-17), and the two guided parts are arranged so as to face each other across the optical axis (Figs. 14-17).
Regarding claim 16, Duan discloses a single first wire being the first wire and a single second wire being the second wire are arranged so as to cross each other in a side view viewed from a direction perpendicular to the direction of the optical axis, to form a wire pair (Figs. 5-7 and 10), and the shape memory alloy wire includes two wire pairs each being the wire pair, and one of the wire pairs and another of the wire pairs are arranged so as to face each other across the optical axis (Figs. 5-7 and 10).
Regarding claim 18, Duan discloses a camera module, comprising: the lens drive device according to claim 1; the lens body held by the lens holder; and an imaging element arranged so as to face the lens body (Figs. 1, 5-7, 10, 14-17).
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of WO 2019/034860 to Brown, et al. (hereinafter Brown).
Regarding claim 17, Duan discloses a driver configured to drive the support in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the optical axis (“the second eccentricity-prevention member 273 and the elastic force provided by the eccentricity-prevention elastic structure 29, to drive the support base 23 to move relative to the base 21”, Fig. 5; [0061]).
Duan discloses the claimed invention as cited above though does not explicitly disclose: a fixed-side member that includes an outer guide configured to guide the support in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Brown discloses a fixed-side member (a screening can 15, Fig. 2) that includes an outer guide configured to guide the support in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis (Fig. 2).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide an outer guide as taught by Brown with the system as disclosed by Duan. The motivation would have been to “protects the camera lens assembly 1 against physical damage and the ingress of dust”.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cited art generally relates to voice coil motors with magnetic means for guiding the lens holder relative to the base and shape memory allow actuation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J STANFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-3337. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-4PM PST 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, Ricky Mack can be reached at (571)272-2333. 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.
/CHRISTOPHER STANFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
Prosecution Insights