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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 6 and 7 of Remarks, filed July 8, 2026, with respect to claims 1, 3, 7-10, 12, 13 and 18-22 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of 1, 3, 7-10, 12, 13 and 18-22 has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hori (US Patent # 10,043,839) and Tu et al. (US PGPUB 20110024861).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8-10, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hori (US Patent # 10,043,839).
[Claim 1]
A camera comprising:
an image sensor package (Figs. 3 and 4, Package substrate) including an image pixel array (fig. 3, image sensor chip 124) and support circuitry (capacitor and resistor components 127) disposed around the image pixel array (col. 4 lines 14-19);
a lens assembly including a lens barrel disposed around lens elements configured to focus image light to the image pixel array (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder. Lens is known to be used for focusing);
an adhesive (126) adhering to the lens barrel to bond the lens barrel to the support circuitry in an inactive area of the image sensor package (col. 4 lines 33-40); and
a dam compound (mold 122) disposed between the adhesive and the inactive area of the image sensor package (mold 122 is in between adhesive 126 and support circuitry 127 which is the inactive area of the image sensor package).
[Claim 8]
The camera of claim 1, wherein the lens barrel is sized substantially similar to a length and width of the image sensor package (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder. Lens is known to be used for focusing).
[Claim 9]
The camera of claim 1, wherein the image sensor package has a length and a width, and wherein the lens barrel is sized no larger than 10% more than an area of the length multiplied by the width of the image sensor package (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder. Lens is known to be used for focusing and wherein the lens barrel is sized no larger than 10% more than an area of the length multiplied by the width of the image sensor package because image sensor package and the lens barrel are the same size).).
[Claim 10]
The camera of claim 1, wherein the adhesive is configured to block ambient light from becoming incident on the image pixel array (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder. Since the legs of the lens holder are in contact with a seal surface and the adhesive, no amount of light can pass through the adhesive).
[Claim 12]
The camera of claim 1, wherein the image pixel array is an active region of the image sensor package and the support circuitry is an inactive area of the image sensor package (since image sensor receives light and generates an image signal it is considered an active area and capacitors and resistors are inactive areas).
[Claim 13]
The camera of claim 1, wherein the image pixel array is a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image pixel array (col. 1 lines 20-23).
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.
Claim(s) 7 and 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hori (US Patent # 10,043,839) in view of Tu et al. (US PGPUB 20110024861).
[Claim 7]
Hori fails to teach wherein a ball grid array of the image sensor package is configured to be the sole mechanical support of the lens assembly between a circuit board and the lens assembly.
However Tu teaches a step of placing solder balls. Referring to FIGS. 4C and 5D, solder balls 50 may be attached to the lower surface 114 of the substrate 11. The solder balls 50 are also electrically connected to the first conductive contacts 112 on the carrying surface 111 by way of the circuit structure of the substrate 11, which allows the image sensor package structure to electrically connect with external circuit devices (Paragraph 48, fig. 4c).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Hori and Tu, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have a ball grid array of the image sensor package is configured to be the sole mechanical support of the lens assembly between a circuit board and the lens assembly uses an array of tiny solder balls on its underside instead of traditional outer pins, providing significantly higher connection density and better electrical performance.
[Claim 18]
Hori teaches a fabrication method comprising: receiving an image sensor package (Figs. 3 and 4, Package substrate), wherein the image sensor package includes: (1) an image pixel array(fig. 3, image sensor chip 124) (2) support circuitry (capacitor and resistor components 127) disposed around the image pixel array (col. 4 lines 14-19); disposing a dam compound (mold 122) along an outer boundary of the support circuitry of the image sensor package (mold 122 is in between adhesive 126 and support circuitry 127 which is the inactive area of the image sensor package and is disposed along an outer boundary of the support circuitry).
Hori fails to teach a ball grid array configured to electrically couple the support circuitry to a circuit board and applying a removeable protection shield on the dam compound to seal the image pixel array from contaminants.
However Tu teaches a step of positioning the half-finished image sensor within a mold (S30), referring to FIGS. 4A and 5B, the mold comprises a lower mold half 31 and an upper mold half 32 (removable protection shield). Therein the lower mold half 31 is settled at the lower surface 114 of the substrate 11 and contacts the lower surface 114 of the substrate 11, while the upper mold half 32 has its lateral wall 321 mounted on the upper surface of the substrate 11 so that the substrate 11 has its carrying surface 111 and lower surface 114 sandwiched between the upper mold half 32 and the lower mold half 31 (Paragraph 45, fig. 4a) and the upper mold half 32 directly presses upon the dam 20 so as not to directly contact the transparent lid 13, thereby protecting the transparent lid 13 from damage or surface contamination. (Paragraph 46, fig. 4b). In the step of molding the image sensor package structure, opening the mold and conducting the post mold cure process (S50), the upper mold half 32 and the lower mold half 31 help the mold compound 40 to undergo transfer molding. After the mold is opened, a post mold cure process is conducted as to produce an image sensor package structure as shown in FIG. 4C. During the progress of post mold cure, the dam 20 also becomes completely cured (Paragraph 47, fig. 4c, removing the protective shield). The disclosed method may further include a step of placing solder balls. Referring to FIGS. 4C and 5D, solder balls 50 may be attached to the lower surface 114 of the substrate 11. The solder balls 50 are also electrically connected to the first conductive contacts 112 on the carrying surface 111 by way of the circuit structure of the substrate 11, which allows the image sensor package structure to electrically connect with external circuit devices (Paragraph 48, fig. 4c).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Hori and Tu, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have a ball grid array configured to electrically couple the support circuitry to a circuit board and applying a removeable protection shield on the dam compound to seal the image pixel array from contaminants and a Ball Grid Array (BGA) package uses an array of tiny solder balls on its underside instead of traditional outer pins, providing significantly higher connection density and better electrical performance.
[Claim 19]
Tu teaches placing the image sensor package onto the circuit board by electrically coupling the ball grid array to the circuit board (Paragraph 48, fig. 4c) removing the removeable protection shield from the dam compound after the image sensor package has been placed onto the circuit board (Paragraph 47, fig. 4c) and Hori bonding a lens assembly to the dam compound subsequent to the removeable protection shield being removed (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder).
Hori in view of Tu fails to teach a surface mount technology (SMT) machine. However Official Notice is taken that it is very well known to have a surface mount technology (SMT) machine in order to place a chip on a circuit board making it faster, smaller, and cheaper than older through-hole methods.
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Hori and Tu, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have a surface mount technology (SMT) machine in order to place a chip on a circuit board making it faster, smaller, and cheaper than older through-hole methods.
[Claim 20]
Hori teaches wherein a lens barrel of the lens assembly is sized substantially similar to a length and width of the image sensor package (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder).
[Claim 21]
Tu teaches removing the removeable protection shield from the dam compound (Paragraph 47, fig. 4c, In the step of molding the image sensor package structure, opening the mold and conducting the post mold cure process (S50), the upper mold half 32 and the lower mold half 31 help the mold compound 40 to undergo transfer molding. After the mold is opened, a post mold cure process is conducted as to produce an image sensor package structure as shown in FIG. 4C. During the progress of post mold cure, the dam 20 also becomes completely cured).
Hori teaches bonding a lens assembly to the dam compound with an adhesive, the dam compound disposed between the adhesive and an inactive area of the image sensor package (col. 5 lines 65-col. 6 line 6, a lens holder that fixes a lens formed of the glass or translucent member may be disposed on the mold instead of directly disposing the glass or translucent member on the mold. For example, legs of the lens holder may be in contact with the seal surface of the mold and the above-mentioned protrusions 122a may be in contact with the legs of the lens holder, such that a space can be formed between the seal surface of the mold 122 and the legs of the lens holder).
[Claim 22]
Tu teaches wherein the removeable protection shield is disposed above the image sensor package without touching the image sensor package (Paragraph 45, The upper mold half 32 has its lateral wall 321 mounted on the upper surface of the substrate 11 so that the substrate 11 has its carrying surface 111 and lower surface 114 sandwiched between the upper mold half 32 and the lower mold half 31. Additionally, the upper mold half 32 has a planar inner upper surface for contacting the upper surface of the dam 20 so as to define a mold cavity 33 between the upper mold half 32 and the lower mold half 31 in order to remove the shield so as not to directly contact the transparent lid, thereby protecting the transparent lid from damage or surface contamination.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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 prior art fails to teach or suggest “wherein the dam compound includes glass fibers configured to bridge a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the image sensor package and the lens assembly”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOGESH K AGGARWAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 5712727564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOGESH K AGGARWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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