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 .
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 1-3, 5-7, 9, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0191064 to Imai et al. (“Imai”).
Regarding claim 1, Imai teaches a lens holder for an optics unit of an image capturing device, the lens holder having a body extending in a lens holder plane (see Figure 3) and comprising:
a lens mount arranged on the body configured to support a lens of the optics unit and extending along a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the lens holder plane (the lens unit 70 houses the optical lens unit and extends along the O axis which is perpendicular to the plane of the based of 70, as seen in Figure 5) ; and
support posts extending from the body of the lens holder along the longitudinal axis and configured to support a sensor unit aligned with the optics unit (reference number 53 are support posts that extend from part 50 which is part of the body of the lens holder 70 and supports a sensor unit 21 which is aligned along the optical axis, see seen in Figures 3-4, see also paragraph [0062]),
wherein each support post has a first end adjoining the body of the lens holder, and a free second end, and wherein the first end of one or more support posts adjoins a respective displacement portion of the body of the lens holder, which displacement portion is configured to be displaced out of the lens holder plane in response to a thermally induced force acting on the support post (the support posts 53 have one end that adjoins a displacement portion of the body of the lens holder, reference number 43, paragraph [0110] teaches that the ribs move along the slit 43 due to thermal expansion and contraction of the lens tube to move substantially parallel to the optical axis and prevent the optical axis being inclined due to thermal expansion and contraction caused due to a change in temperature. The displacement direction is “out of the lens holder plane” as it is not along the lens holder plane but in a different direction that the lens holder plane) and
wherein each displacement portion is defined by one or more slits (the displacement portion to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction is reference number 43 which is a slit opening, see paragraph [0076]).
Regarding claim 2, Imai teaches the lens holder according to claim 1, wherein each displacement portion is defined by a single slit forming a tongue (Figure 4 shows the tongue of the displacement portion)
Regarding claim 3, Imai teaches the lens holder according to claim 2, wherein the tongues have a linear extension (the tongues of the displacement portion extend linearly parallel to the optical axis, as seen in Figure 4).
Regarding claim 5, Imai teaches the lens holder according to claim 1, wherein each support post is integrally formed with the body of the lens holder (seen in Figure 3, part 50).
Regarding claim 6, Imai teaches the lens holder according to claim 1, wherein the support posts are distributed along a periphery portion of the lens mount (see Figure 4, showing the support posts 53 along the periphery of the lens mount portion 50).
Regarding claim 7, Imai teaches the lens holder according to claim 1, wherein the lens holder is formed of a polymer material (paragraph [0088] teaches the material of the lens tube 50 may be plastic).
Claim 9 is rejected similarly to claim 1, where Imai further teaches the lens holder within an image capturing device with sensor unit.
Regarding claim 12, Imai teaches the image capturing device according to claim 9, wherein the lens is configured to focus a light onto the image sensor (light front reference number 33 is focused through the lens onto the image sensor, as seen in Figure 2) .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 10-11, 13-14 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY R HSU whose telephone number is (571)270-3012. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lin Ye can be reached at (571)272-7372. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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AMY R. HSU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/AMY R HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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