DETAILED ACTION
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.
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 information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/05/24 comply with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner considered the information disclosure statements.
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 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US 20210072496).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches an optical component driving apparatus (¶36, a lens module comprises a frame 2, a first circuit board 3 arranged on the frame 2, a lens base 6 for mounting a lens, a support device for supporting the lens base 6 on the first circuit board 3, and a driving device; note: the lens module is an optical component driving apparatus) comprising, a base member (first circuit board 3 (together with frame 2 as the stationary structure); ¶36, a first circuit board 3 arranged on the frame 2; ¶36, a support device for supporting the lens base 6 on the first circuit board 3); an optical component holding member (lens base 6 (lens support 61 and base 62)) provided movably with respect to the base member (3) having an opening penetrating therethrough in a vertical direction, the opening being configured to accommodate an optical component therein (¶36, a lens base 6 for mounting a lens; Movable feature: ¶36, the driving device is used for driving the lens base 6 to move relative to the frame 2 in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the lens; ¶39, suspended movably by suspending wires 51; Opening: ¶40, circular holes formed in the lens base 6 (accommodating the lens along the optical axis, i.e., the vertical direction)); a cover member (housing 9) having a top plate facing the base member in the vertical direction, with the optical component holding member (6) interposed therebetween, the cover member (9) having an upper outer peripheral wall part including a plurality of upper lateral plates extending downward from an outer edge of the top plate (¶37, housing 9 used for covering the frame 2 and the lens base 6; note: fig. 1 shows housing 9 as a box-type cover having a top plate (with lens aperture) facing first circuit board 3 / substrate 8, with the lens base 6 interposed therebetween, and four side walls (upper lateral plates) depending downward from the outer edge of the top plate); and a plurality of shape memory alloy wires (SMA wires 41 (41a-41d)) arranged inside the upper outer peripheral wall part (¶36, the driving device comprises shape memory alloy wires 41; ¶37, At least two shape memory alloy wires 41 are included and are symmetrically arranged at the periphery of the lens base 6. Because housing 9 covers frame 2 and lens 6 (¶37), the wires 41 are inside the housing’s peripheral wall), an end of each of which being fixed to a fixed member including the base member (ends 311 / wire clips 23; ¶36, Each shape memory alloy wire 41 comprises two ends 411 connected to the frame 2; ¶37, The ends of the shape memory alloy wires 41 are respectively fixed by the wire clips 23 and are electrically connected to the first circuit board 3 through the wire clips 23), another end of each of which being fixed to a movable member including the optical component holding member (6) (driving end 412 / hook parts 63 / wire slots 631; ¶36, a driving end 412 positioned between the two ends … the driving ends are supported on the lens base 6; ¶37, the hook parts 63 sleeve the driving ends in a matching manner; ¶46, the driving ends of the shape memory alloy wires 41 are accommodated into the wire slots 631), and each of which being configured to move the optical component holding member with respect to the base member (¶50, energizing the shape memory alloy wire 41a and the shape memory alloy wire 41b to contract, so as to drive the lens base 6 to move in the Y direction; ¶51, note: single wire actuation in
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directions) wherein the fixed member (first circuit board 3, frame 2 and substrate 8 is the stationary assembly) includes a case member (frame 2 and substrate 8) with an open top configured to house the base member (first circuit board 3; ¶36, The frame 2 is in an annular form and is arranged around the periphery of the lens base (open top); ¶37, a substrate 8 located below the first circuit board 3), wherein the case member (2, 8) has a bottom plate (8) arranged at a bottom of the base member (3; fig. 1; ¶37, a substrate 8 located below the first circuit board 3) and a lower outer peripheral wall part (frame 2 wall structure) including a plurality of lower lateral plates (first side walls 22a and second side walls 22b of frame 2) extending upward from an outer edge of the bottom plate (8) ( ¶36, The frame 2 comprises oppositely arranged first side walls 22a and oppositely arranged second side walls 22b connected between the first side walls 22a; and the first side walls 22a and the second side walls 22b are enclosed into a ring; note: the frame sits on the first circuit board 3 / substrate 8 and its walls extend upward around the periphery), and wherein the plurality of lower lateral plates (22a, 22b) are positioned between the plurality of shape memory alloy wires (41) and the plurality of upper lateral plates (the side walls of housing 9) constituting the upper outer peripheral wall part (side walls of 9), and face the plurality of shape memory alloy wires (41) (fig. 2, 9, and 10; ¶37, wires 41 run inside frame 2’s ring: wire clips 23 are clamped between the frame and the first circuit board 3; ¶46, wire slots 631 are on one sides toward the frame 2 of the hook parts, ¶37, i.e., the wires face the frame side walls 22a/22b. Housing 9 covers the frame externally; note: thus side walls 22a/22b lie between wires 41 and the housing’s lateral walls, facing the wires).
Regarding claim 8, Li teaches a camera module comprising, the optical component driving apparatus of claim 1 (lens module of ¶36-¶51; ¶3, an image pickup optical system); a lens body (the “lens” mounted in lens base 6) as the optical component held by the optical component holding member (6) (¶36, a lens base 6 for mounting a lens; ¶40, lens outside diameter accommodated in the circular hole of lens base 6); and an imaging sensor arranged so as to face the lens body (¶3, an image pickup optical system, ¶40, imaging system; ¶37 a substrate 8 located below the first circuit board 3, which is the conventional mounting location of the sensor on the optical axis; note: an image pickup optical system inherently includes an image sensor facing the lens ).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 20210072496) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Topliss et al. (US 20130002933).
Regarding claim 2, Li teaches the invention as set forth above but does not specifically teach wherein, for each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires, a first point at a position where the one end is fixed to the fixed member and a second point at a position where the other end is fixed to the movable member have different heights in the vertical direction; and the plurality of lower lateral plates extend to a position higher than a midpoint between the first point and the second point. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Topliss teaches the optical component driving apparatus, wherein, for each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires, a first point at a position where the one end is fixed to the fixed member and a second point at a position where the other end is fixed to the movable member have different heights in the vertical direction (¶7, the SMA actuator wires inclined with respect to a notional primary axis; ¶31, each SMA actuator wire 1-8 comprises a piece of SMA wire connected at each end to a respective one of the movable element 11 and the support structure 12, possibly via an intermediate component. Any suitable means that provides mechanical connection may be used, for example a crimping member; note: the SMA wires are inclined with respect to a notional primary axis, each mechanically connected between the movable element and the support structure by crimp members. A wire inclined to the vertical ais and connected at both ends necessarily has its two crimp / fixing points at different heights – that is what “inclined” means; the inclination is what produces the force component in opposite directions along the primary axis, abstract); and the plurality of lower lateral plates extend to a position higher than a midpoint between the first point and the second point (the full height wall extends above the midpoint, and as in combination with Li, fig. 2, 4, and 9, the frame side walls 22a / 22b surround the full periphery of lens base 6 (¶36) and span part the wire attachment region (¶37, 44)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the apparatus of Li with each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires, a first point at a position where the one end is fixed to the fixed member and a second point at a position where the other end is fixed to the movable member have different heights in the vertical direction; and the plurality of lower lateral plates extend to a position higher than a midpoint between the first point and the second point of Topliss, for the purpose of reducing the overall size (¶8 and ¶12).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 20210072496) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 9,097,958).
Regarding claim 4, Li teaches the invention as set forth above but does not specifically teach wherein the cover member and the case member are both formed of one or more metal plates, and are electrically connected to each other. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Kim teaches the optical component driving apparatus, wherein the cover member and the case member are both formed of one or more metal plates (col 1, lines 30-35, a shield can formed of metal is used; col. 2, lines 25-35, a first shield can coupled to the housing and a second shield can covering the first shield can; note: a first shield can coupled to the housing and a second shield can covering the first shield can is nested inner/outer shield cans; shield cans are metal plate EMI components), and are electrically connected to each other (col. 1, lines 60-65. The second shield can is provided with protrusion parts pressing an outer surface of the first shield can; note: the second shield can is provided with protrusion parts pressing an outer surface of the first shield can which means direct pressed metal to metal contact between the two cans which is an electrical connection). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the apparatus of Li with the cover member and the case member are both formed of one or more metal plates, and are electrically connected to each other of Kim, for the purpose of decreasing electrical resistance to increase shielding efficiency of electromagnetic waves (col. 6, lines 50-60).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-7 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: the prior art does not disclose the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Regarding claim 3, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical component driving apparatus specifically including as the distinguishing feature in combination with the other limitations of the claimed “wherein the lower outer peripheral wall part has a corner plate positioned between adjacent two of the plurality of lower lateral plates, and wherein the corner plate extends to a position higher than the plurality of lower lateral plates.”
Regarding claim 5, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical component driving apparatus specifically including as the distinguishing feature in combination with the other limitations of the claimed “wherein, the one end of each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires is fixed to a fixed metal member provided in the base member; the other end of each of the plurality of shape memory alloy wires is fixed to a movable metal member provided in the optical component holding member; the fixed metal member and the movable metal member face different portions of the lower outer peripheral wall part in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction; the base member is formed of a synthetic resin and has a fixing part bonded and fixed to an inner surface of the lower outer peripheral wall part; the fixing part is arranged to adjoin the fixed metal member, and has an adhesive reservoir formed of a groove or an inclined part formed so as to be separated from the inner surface of the lower outer peripheral wall part; the plurality of shape memory alloy wires extend over the fixing part, and an adhesive is provided between the adhesive reservoir and the inner surface of the lower outer peripheral wall part.”
Specifically, with respect to claim 6, is objected to for the same reason as claim 5.
Specifically, with respect to claim 7, is objected to for the same reason as claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY DUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0534. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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/HENRY DUONG/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872 07/08/26
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