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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy of foreign patent application number 10-2021-0026736, filed in Korea on February 26, 2021, and application number 10-2021-0073616, filed in Korea on June 7, 2021, have been received and made of record.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (lDS) submitted on March 6, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and is being considered by the Examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 3 of claim 15 states “configured to refractive light”. Please correct to an appropriate English verb tense, such as “configured to refract light”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0363626 to Seo et al. (hereinafter “Seo”).
Regarding claim 1, Seo teaches a camera module comprising a housing having an internal space (e.g., fig. 11, elements 210 and 230; [0080-81]), a carrier disposed in the housing (e.g., fig. 11, element 250; [0080]) and rotatable around a first axis (e.g., fig. 11, around Y axis), a first ball group disposed between the housing and the carrier (e.g., fig. 11, elements 212 and 213; [0082]), a rotation holder (e.g., fig. 11, element 270; [0080]) on which a reflective member is mounted (e.g., fig. 11, element 273; [0079]) and rotatable around a second axis perpendicular to the first axis (e.g., fig. 11, around X axis), and a second ball group disposed between the carrier and the rotation holder (e.g., element 272a; [0089]), wherein the rotation holder is supported in a first axis direction parallel to the first axis by a magnetic attraction (e.g., [0084-85]).
Regarding claim 2, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 2 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) including teaching wherein the rotation holder includes a magnetic member disposed on a surface of the rotation holder perpendicular to the first axis (e.g., fig. 11, element 241a; [0094-99]).
Regarding claim 3, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 3 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) including teaching wherein the magnetic member is provided as a pulling magnet (e.g., fig. 11, element 241a).
Regarding claim 4, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 4 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 3, supra) including teaching the camera module further comprising a pulling yoke disposed to face the pulling magnet in the first axis direction (e.g., fig. 11, element 241b).
Regarding claim 5, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 5 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) including teaching wherein the first ball group comprises a first ball member including one ball member through which the first axis passes (e.g., fig. 11, element 212), and a second ball member including a plurality of ball members spaced apart from the first ball member (e.g., fig. 11, elements 213).
Regarding claim 6, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 6 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 5, supra) including teaching wherein the first ball member is configured to maintain a fixed position with respect to the housing and the carrier (e.g., fig. 11, ).
Regarding claim 7, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 7 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 6, supra) including teaching wherein the carrier includes a main guide groove partially accommodating the first ball member (e.g., fig. 11, groove 251a; [0083]).
Regarding claim 8, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 8 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 5, supra) including teaching wherein the second ball member is configured to perform a rolling motion while the carrier rotates (e.g., fig. 11; [0082]).
Regarding claim 9, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 9 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 8, supra) including teaching wherein the housing and the carrier include auxiliary guide grooves partially accommodating the second ball member, respectively (e.g., figs. 11 and 12, elements 222a; [0082]).
Regarding claim 10, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 10 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) including teaching wherein the second ball group includes a plurality of ball member spaced apart in a direction parallel to the second axis (e.g., fig. 11, elements 272a).
Regarding claim 11, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 11 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) including teaching the camera module further comprising a first driver including a first magnet (e.g., fig. 11, element 243a) and a first coil (e.g., fig. 11, element 243b) disposed to face the first magnet and configured to generate a driving force to rotate the carrier (e.g., figs. 15-17), and a second driver including a second magnet (e.g., fig. 11, element 241a) and a second coil (e.g., fig. 11, element ) disposed to face the second magnet and configured to generate a driving force to rotate the rotation holder (e.g., figs. 12-14).
Regarding claim 12, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 12 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 11, supra) including teaching wherein the first magnet and the second magnet are disposed in the internal space of the housing (e.g., fig. 11), and the first coil and the second coil are disposed in the housing (e.g., fig. 11).
Regarding claim 13, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 13 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 12, supra) including teaching wherein the first coil and the second coil are disposed on a substrate disposed on an exterior of the housing (e.g., fig. 11, element 230; [0081]).
Regarding claim 14, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 14 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 13, supra) including teaching wherein the housing includes an opening (e.g., fig. 11, open space of housing), and the first coil and the second coil are exposed to the internal space in which the first magnet and the second magnet are disposed through the opening (e.g., fig. 11, open space of housing).
Regarding claim 16, Seo teaches a camera module comprising a housing having an internal space (fig. 11, elements 210 and 230; [0080-81]), a carrier disposed in the housing (e.g., fig. 11, element 270; [0080]) and rotatable around a first axis with respect to the housing (e.g., fig. 11, around X axis), and a rotation holder (e.g., fig. 11, element 250; [0080]) on which a reflective member is mounted (e.g., fig. 11, element 273; [0079]) and rotatable around a second axis perpendicular to the first axis with respect to the carrier (e.g., fig. 11, around Y axis), wherein the rotation holder includes a driving magnet (e.g., fig. 11, element 243a) and a pulling magnet disposed on different surfaces each other (e.g., fig. 11, element 255; [0085]).
Regarding claim 17, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 17 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 16, supra) including teaching wherein a surface of the rotation holder in which the driving magnet is disposed is perpendicular to a surface of the rotation holder in which the pulling magnet is disposed (e.g., fig. 11).
Regarding claim 18, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 18 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 16, supra) including teaching wherein the housing includes a driving coil disposed to face the driving magnet in a direction perpendicular to both the first axis and the second axis (e.g., fig. 11, element 241b; faces element 243a; not required to magnetically interact with the driving magnet).
Regarding claim 19, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 19 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 16, supra) including teaching the camera module further comprising a pulling yoke disposed to face the pulling magnet in a first axis direction parallel to the first axis (e.g., fig. 11, element 215; [0085]).
Regarding claim 20, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 20 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 16, supra) including teaching the camera module further comprising a first ball group disposed between the housing and the carrier and configured to support a rotation of the carrier (e.g., fig. 11, elements 272a; the Examiner notes that between and support are broadly claimed and open to broad interpretation), and a second ball group disposed between the carrier and the housing and configured to support a rotation of the rotation holder (e.g., fig. 11, elements 213).
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0400464 to Yedid et al. (hereinafter “Yedid”).
Regarding claim 15, Seo teaches all of the limitations of claim 15 (see the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claim 1, supra) except for being found by the Examiner to expressly disclose teaching the camera module further comprising a lens module including one or more lenses disposed in an optical axis direction and configured to refractive light emitted from the reflective member, and an image sensor module including an image sensor configured to convert light emitted from the lens module into an electrical signal.
Nevertheless, the use of a lens module and an image sensor module in combination with a folded optics module is well-known in the imaging arts. For example, Yedid teaches a similar camera module that includes a lens module including one or more lenses disposed in an optical axis direction and configured to refractive light emitted from a reflective member (e.g., figs. 1A and 1B, element 102; [0094]), and an image sensor module including an image sensor configured to convert light emitted from the lens module into an electrical signal (e.g., figs. 1A and 1B, element 106; [0096]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to have incorporated the lens module and image sensor module as taught by Yedid with the camera module as taught by Seo in order to create a camera to capture images that takes advantage of the space saving functionality of folded optics.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0121103 to Bachar et al. teaches a similar camera module.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0124145 to Zhang teaches a similar camera module.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY C VIEAUX whose telephone number is (571)272-7318. The examiner can normally be reached Increased Flex.
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/GARY C VIEAUX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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