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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on September 4, 2024 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form PTO-1449).
Drawings
Eighteen sheets of drawings were filed on September 4, 2024 and have been accepted by the examiner.
Inventorship
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 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 1, and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naganuma et al. (JP-02082212-A, herein “Naganuma”) in view of Shikama et al. (JP-2015152692-A, herein “Shikama”).
Regarding claim 1, Naganuma discloses an optical coupling (Fig. 1a, 1b, 2, 3, and 6) comprising:
a first ferrule (Fig. 1b: ferrule 15) in which core centers of one or a plurality of single-core fibers (fiber 12, cross sectional view in Fig. 4 shows cores 24, 25, 26) are disposed on the same circumference from a center in a ferrule cross section,
a second ferrule (ferrule 16) in which the core centers of the plurality of single-core fibers (fiber 12, cross sectional view in Fig. 4 shows cores 29, 30, 31) are disposed on a circumference having the same diameter as the circumference on which the core centers of the single-core fibers are disposed in the first ferrule (15) from the center in the ferrule cross section,
a cylindrical sleeve (17) that has a hollow portion (“hollow cylindrical sleeve”, machine-translation on line 65) into which the first and second ferrules are inserted such that the ferrule center axes of the first ferrule and the second ferrule (15, 16) match (lines 67-78), and in which a predetermined gap is provided between an outer diameter of each of the first ferrule and the second ferrule (15, 16) and an inner diameter of the hollow portion so that the first ferrule and the second ferrule are able to rotate. Naganuma implicitly discloses “a predetermined gap” since Naganuma discloses the first and second ferrule can rotate with respect to one another within the “hollow cylindrical sleeve”. Naganuma further discloses having the ability to accurately manufacture ferrule cylindrical outer shape and hollow cylindrical sleeve and rotational direction of the ferrule so as to obtain high optical coupling efficiency (lines 73-81).
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However, Naganuma do not disclose the first ferrule has an end face of a convex spherical shape in a direction of a ferrule center axis together with an end face of the single-core fiber; the second ferrule has an end face of a convex spherical shape in the direction of the center axis of the ferrule together with the end face of the single core fiber, and the convex spherical end faces are opposite to each other.
Shikama teaches the first ferrule (multicore fiber (MCF) ferrule 30) has an end face of a convex spherical shape and the second ferrule (MCF ferrule 30) has an end face of convex spherical shape, and the convex spherical end faces are opposite to each other disposed within a cylindrical sleeve (split sleeve 34).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the multicore fiber ferrules of Naganuma can be polished into a convex spherical shape as taught by Shikama (“First Embodiment”) such that all cores in the opposing ferrules, even cores away from the circuit center, are completely coupled to each other with a small axial pressing force (PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED). One would be motivated to couple all cores in the multicore fiber ferrule to increase coupling efficiency.
Claim 4. Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 1, Shikama further teaches the core pitch (a distance of the core center of each single core fiber from the ferrule center) is 45 micron (See “First embodiment”).
Claim 5. Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 1, Shikama further teaches in an embodiment the radius of curvature in the convex spherical shape of the ferrule (Rs) is 5mm. Naganuma / Shikama do not explicitly teach the radius of curvature is 0.5 mm to 3.2 mm. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to increase the polish time such that the radius of curvature would converge on the predetermined smaller radius, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C.C.P.A. 1955). One motivation for polishing the radius of curvature down to 0.5 mm to 3.2 mm so that the convex spherical shape is more flat thus ensuring physical contact of all cores in the multicore fiber in opposing ferrules.
Claim 6. Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 1, and Naganuma further teaches a rotational mechanism (cam 33, gear 35, and shaft 38 in Fig. 2) configured to rotate one of the first and second ferrules of optical coupler about the ferrule center axis.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naganuma in view of Shikama (herein “Naganuma / Shikama”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Fusco et al. (US 2016/0033325 A1, herein “Fusco”).
Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 1 and Naganuma also teaches the coupling ferrules can be 1xN or NxN (Figs. 6a and 6b).
Naganuma / Shikama do not teach each of the first ferrule and the second ferrule, an angle formed by a cross section perpendicular to the ferrule center axis and an end face of the single core fiber is 4.5 degrees or more.
Fusco teaches the end face of the first and second single core fiber (62R, 62D) in the first and second ferrule (90R, 90D) are polished at an angle of 8 degrees with respect to the perpendicular cross section of the ferrule to prevent back-reflection of the emitted light (Figs. 27-28 and Paras [0257]-[0258]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize polishing the fiber end face at an angle to prevent backreflection is well-known in the art. Thus, the combine teaching of Naganuma / Shikama of the embodiment of NxN coupling wherein N =1, it would have been obvious to polish the first and second fiber ferrules at an angle as taught by Fusco to prevent backreflection. One motivation would be in a laser source application wherein the laser source is coupled to a singlemode fiber and preventing backreflection at the emitting end of the fiber would prevent the back reflected light from destabilizing the laser source.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naganuma / Shikama as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Naganuma (JP-H0291609, herein “JP patent ‘609).
Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 1, but Naganuma / Shikama do not teach a gap between the end face of the single core fiber of the first ferrule and the end face of the single core fiber of the second ferrule whose axis matches with the single core fiber is 22 micron or less.
JP patent ‘609 teach an end face 13a of a ferrule 13 and an end face 17a of a ferrule 17 are ground to spherical faces with a proper curvature and a proper space of about 10 micron is formed between optical fibers exposed on end faces (CONSTITUTION and Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the gap between the end faces of the two ferrules in Naganuma / Shikama can be polished to a value of about 10 micron, as taught by JP patent ‘609 as it has been determined polishing the ferrule end faces with a gap of 10 micron would allow the two ferrules to rotatably mate and the cores be in contact. One would be motivated to polish the two end faces to have a gap of less than 22 microns for the rotating force of the two ferrules may press the two end faces into physical contact for efficient optical coupling of multicore fibers.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naganuma / Shikama as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Teraya (JP-2004291177-A, herein “Teraya”).
Naganuma / Shikama teach the invention of claim 6, but Naganuma / Shikama do not teach an actuator configured to rotate the rotational mechanism and a bearing forming the rotational mechanism.
Teraya teaches holding a ferrule W in a chuck sleeves 13 and the sleeves that hold the ferrule W are rotatably supported by ball bearings 11a provided on the inner peripheral surface of the work chuck 11 and are configured to rotate at high speed (Fig. 2 and Para [0027]). Teraya teaches the ball bearings is the rotational mechanism of the work chuck 11, thus the examiner considers Teraya implicitly teaches rotate the rotational mechanism at a given angular rotation (angular step) and stop the rotational mechanism at an arbitrary angular rotation (angular step). The mechanism for controlling the rotational mechanism at a given angular step is performed by the motor and drive belt (14) (Para [0026]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the work chuck configured to rotate the ferrule with a ball bearing forming the rotation mechanism would be modifiable to the rotational mechanism of Naganuma / Shikama by placing the ferrule of Naganuma / Shikama in the work chuck 11 of Teraya, thus changing the cam/gear rotational mechanism to a ball bearing rotational mechanism. One would be motivated to employ the work chuck of Teraya to perform polishing to the fiber or ferrule.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PTO-892:A-B.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erin D Chiem whose telephone number is (571)272-3102. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am - 6 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas A. Hollweg can be reached at (571) 270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIN D CHIEM/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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