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 information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/13/2024 and 6/5/2025 were considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) in view of Kim et al. (US 10,144,137).
Regarding Claim 13, Cooke discloses a tunable lens (Fig. 4) comprising:
a lens element having a periphery (Fig. 4, lenses 460-A and 460-B, Col. 7, lines 9-61);
a ring-shaped chassis (Fig. 4, displacement rings 430-A and 430-B in the housing 450, Col. 7, lines 9-61) that extends around the periphery; and
an actuator (Fig. 4, actuator 410, Col. 7, lines 9-61) in the ring-shaped chassis configured to adjust a position of the lens element, wherein the actuator comprises:
a screw (Fig. 4, lead screw 420-A, Col. 7, lines 9-29);
a nut (Fig. 7, drive nuts 710-A and 710-B, Col. 10, lines 30-67) that is aligned with the screw and that is attached to the lens element,
an inner gear (Fig. 6, Gear 414, Col. 7, lines 47-50) that is connected to the screw.
Cooke does not specifically disclose an outer gear that surrounds the inner gear, wherein the inner gear and the outer gear have a different number of teeth; and positioning equipment that is configured to rotate the inner gear by moving the outer gear in a circular path without rotating the outer gear.
However, Kim, in the same field of endeavor, teaches an outer gear (Fig. 1, main moving body 150, Col. 3, lines 55-67) that surrounds the inner gear (Fig. 1, rotating body 170, Col. 3, lines 55-67), wherein the inner gear and the outer gear have a different number of teeth (Fig. 1, rotating body 170 has 8 teeth and the main moving body 150 has 9 teeth, Col. 3, lines 55-67); and positioning equipment (Fig. 1, actuator 140, Col. 3, lines 55-67) that is configured to rotate the inner gear by moving the outer gear in a circular path without rotating the outer gear (Fig. 5, Col. 9, lines 18-29), for the purpose of providing rotational motion by converted a series of linear motions.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the tunable lens of Cooke with the an outer gear that surrounds the inner gear, wherein the inner gear and the outer gear have a different number of teeth; and positioning equipment that is configured to rotate the inner gear by moving the outer gear in a circular path without rotating the outer gear, of Kim, for the purpose of providing rotational motion by converted a series of linear motions.
Regarding Claim 16, Cooke in view of Kim discloses as is set forth above and Kim further discloses wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator (Fig. 1, actuator 140 may employ wire made of shape memory alloy, Col. 5, lines 15-19), for the purpose of providing rotational motion by converted a series of linear motions.
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) in view of Kim et al. (US 10,144,137), further in view of Lo (US 2010/0039709).
Regarding Claim 14, Cooke in view of Kim discloses as is set forth above but doesn’t specifically disclose wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one piezoelectric actuator.
However, Lo, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one piezoelectric actuator (Paragraph 0116, lines 19-20, piezoelectric actuator), for the purpose of controlling the pressure inside a fluidized liquid lens.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the tunable lens of Cooke in view of Kim with the wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one piezoelectric actuator, of Lo, for the purpose of controlling the pressure inside a fluidized liquid lens.
Regarding Claim 15, Cooke in view of Kim discloses as is set forth above but doesn’t specifically disclose wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one electrostatic actuator.
However, Lo, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one electrostatic actuator (Paragraph 0116, lines 19-20, micro-electro-mechanical-system, MEMS, actuator), for the purpose of controlling the pressure inside a fluidized liquid lens.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the tunable lens of Cooke in view of Kim with the wherein the positioning equipment comprises at least one electrostatic actuator, of Lo, for the purpose of controlling the pressure inside a fluidized liquid lens.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-18 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: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, with respect to claim 17, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach a tunable lens including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein the actuator further comprises a guide rod and wherein the nut has a portion aligned with the guide rod.
Specifically, with respect to claim 18, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach a tunable lens including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein further comprising: a lens shaping element that is attached to the lens element, wherein the lens shaping element has a tab that extends into a recess in the nut.
Examiner’s Statement/Reasons for Allowance
Regarding Claim 1, Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) discloses a tunable lens (Fig. 4) comprising:
a lens element having a periphery (Fig. 4, lenses 460-A and 460-B, Col. 7, lines 9-61);
a ring-shaped chassis (Fig. 4, displacement rings 430-A and 430-B in the housing 450, Col. 7, lines 9-61) with a length that extends around the periphery; and
an actuator (Fig. 4, actuator 410, Col. 7, lines 9-61) in the ring-shaped chassis configured to adjust a position of the lens element, wherein the actuator comprises:
a screw (Fig. 4, lead screw 420-A, Col. 7, lines 9-29);
a nut (Fig. 7, drive nuts 710-A and 710-B, Col. 10, lines 30-67) that is aligned with the screw and that is attached to the lens element,
an inner gear (Fig. 6, Gear 414, Col. 7, lines 47-50) that is connected to the screw.
Kim et al. (US 10,144,137) further discloses four shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators (Fig. 3A, actuators 140a, 140b, 140c, and 140d, Col. 8, lines 15-20) that are configured rotate the inner gear by moving the outer gear (Fig. 1, rotating body 170 has 8 teeth and the main moving body 150 has 9 teeth, Col. 3, lines 55-67), wherein each one of the four SMA actuators has a respective SMA wire (Fig. 1, actuator 140 may employ wire made of shape memory alloy, Col. 5, lines 15-19).
However, neither Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) nor Kim et al. (US 10,144,137) disclose “… each one of the four SMA actuators has a respective SMA wire that extends parallel to the length of the ring-shaped chassis.”.
Regarding Claim 19, Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) discloses an actuator (Fig. 4, actuator 410, Col. 7, lines 9-61) comprising:
a screw (Fig. 4, lead screw 420-A, Col. 7, lines 9-29);
a nut (Fig. 7, drive nuts 710-A and 710-B, Col. 10, lines 30-67) that is aligned with the screw and that is attached to the lens element,
an inner gear (Fig. 6, Gear 414, Col. 7, lines 47-50) that is connected to the screw, wherein rotation of the inner gear causes rotation of the screw (Col. 7, lines 47-50).
Kim et al. (US 10,144,137) further discloses an outer gear that surrounds the inner gear, wherein the inner gear and the outer gear have a different number of teeth (Fig. 1, rotating body 170 has 8 teeth and the main moving body 150 has 9 teeth, Col. 3, lines 55-67); a first shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator comprising a first SMA wire; a second SMA actuator comprising a second SMA wire; a third SMA actuator comprising a third SMA wire; and a fourth SMA actuator comprising a fourth SMA wire (Fig. 3A, actuators 140a, 140b, 140c, and 140d, Col. 8, lines 15-20, Fig. 1, actuator 140 may employ wire made of shape memory alloy, Col. 5, lines 15-19), and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth SMA actuators are configured to rotate the inner gear by moving the outer gear in a circular path (Fig. 5, Col. 9, lines 18-29).
However, neither disclose “… wherein the first, second, third, and fourth SMA wires are parallel ...”.
Additionally, neither Hollands et al. (US 2025/0085461), Jacoby et al. (US 2024/0345401), Jacoby et al. (US 2021/0033871) Fox et al. (US 2013/0222899), Hubert (US 2015/0177477), nor Topliss et al. (US 8,073,320) meet the deficiencies of Cooke et al. (US 11,378,806) and Kim et al. (US 10,144,137).
Claims 1-12 and 19-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, regarding the allowability of independent claim 1: The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest a tunable lens comprising “… each one of the four SMA actuators has a respective SMA wire that extends parallel to the length of the ring-shaped chassis.”, along with other claim limitations. Claims 2-12 are allowable due to pendency on independent claim 1.
Specifically, regarding the allowability of independent claim 19: The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest an actuator comprising “… wherein the first, second, third, and fourth SMA wires are parallel ...”, along with other claim limitations. Claim 20 is allowable due to pendency on independent claim 19.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R ALEXANDER whose telephone number is (571)270-7656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM.
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/WILLIAM R ALEXANDER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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