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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US PGPub 2022/0187616 A1, cited by applicant)
With regard to claim 1: Lee discloses a motor in Figures 17-22 which comprises: a base (housing 5000); an image stabilization (IS) bracket (“base” 3000 which carries an image sensor and is able to move to correct for shake, see ¶0279) a first IS magnetic piece 6110, a second IS magnetic piece 6310; a first IS coil 6130, a second IS coil 6310 and a guide bracket 4000. Please refer to this annotated portion of Figure 20 for the discussion of the corners and sides of the IS bracket:
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In Lee the IS bracket includes a first corner (annotation 1), a first edge portion (annotation A), a second corner portion (annotation 2), a second edge portion (annotation B), and a third corner portion (annotation 3) which are sequentially connected, with the first and second edge portion arranged at an included angle. As drawn in Figure 20 and noted in ¶0304 Lee discloses a configuration where the first IS magnetic piece is fastened to the first edge portion and the second IS magnetic piece is fastened to the second edge portion. Lee discloses that the IS bracket is movably connected to the base and the first IS coil and second IS coil are fastened to the base (see ¶0288 and ¶0300) such that they are disposed to face the first and second IS magnetic pieces, respectively, such that the first and second IS coils are configured to drive the IS bracket to move relative to the base in first and second directions (see ¶0322 and ¶0325). The arrangement is such that the first IS coil and first IS magnetic piece and the second IS coil and second IS magnetic piece are arranged along a third direction (the Z-direction, see cross sections of Figures 21-22 showing the coils being arranged above the magnetic pieces in the Z-axis direction). The motor of Lee is configured such that the guide bracket has an L-shape and comprises three support portion that are spaced apart (the sections of 4000 which receive bearing members B4 and B5, best visible in Figure 20), the support portions of Lee being arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd corner portions such that the support portions are connected to the base with a plurality of first support pieces (B4) and connected to the IS bracket with a plurality of second support pieces (B5) arranged such that a relative movement direction of the IS bracket and the guide bracket is different from a relative movement direction of the guide bracket and the base (see ¶0314-0327, the first support pieces B4 only allow movement between the base and the guide in the X-axis direction and the second support pieces only allow movement between the guide and the IS bracket in the Y-axis direction.).
With regard to claim 6: Lee discloses the inclusion of an IS magnetic-attractive piece 9000 which is fastened to the base and is disposed facing the first IS magnetic piece and the second IS magnetic piece to generate magnetic forces between the IS magnetic-attractive piece and the IS magnetic pieces to cause the base, the first support piece, the guide bracket, the second support piece, and the IS bracket to keep in contact (see ¶0336).
With regard to claim 9: The base of Lee includes a bottom plate and a side frame (the bottom plate is the flat section of 5000 which holds the coils 6500 and yokes 9000, the side frame is the vertical walls which surround the bottom plate which are best visible in the inset portion of Figure 18). The first and second IS coils and magnetic attractive pieces are fastened to the bottom plate (see ¶0337, ¶0290, and ¶0300), and when assembled the IS bracket is located on an inner side of the side frame with he three support portions being located between the IS bracket and the bottom plate (see cross section of Figure 21 showing positioning of 3000 between the side walls with the support portions of the guide member between 3000 and the coil-carrying portion of 5000).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 18 and 20: are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee.
As noted in the rejection of Claim 1 above, Lee discloses a motor system which meets the structural requirements of the claims, and Lee further discloses incorporating that motor into a camera module with a lens and image sensor (see ¶0435 disclosing that the device is part of a camera with a lens module and image sensor) which can be part of an electronic device (see ¶0081). The embodiment of Lee which includes the guide bracket configuration of Figure 20 however is not disclosed as having the lens be mounted to the motor as claimed.
Lee however teaches that the motor configurations disclosed can be used in an alternate configuration where the image sensor is stationary and the motor drives movement of the lens, see Figure 31 and ¶0436-0438. In this configuration the image sensor is stationary, and does not move during image stabilization and focusing.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the camera module of Lee shown in the embodiment of Figures 17-22 with the guide structure of Figure 20 to have a lens mounted to the IS bracket of the motor such that the motor drives the lens to perform optical image stabilization in order to allow for the image sensor to remain fixed during operation, eliminating the need to provide a flexible signal connection to the sensor capable of withstanding repeated rapid motion of the image sensor.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Jun (US Patent 11,226,539 B2).
With regard to claim 19: Lee does not disclose the inclusion of the inclusion of a variable aperture stop positioned on a light entrance side of the lens.
It is known in the art to provide a variable aperture stop in a camera module in order to control the amount of light incident upon the image sensor of the camera module, and further that such aperture stops may be positioned on the light entrance side of the lens of a lens-shift optical image stabilization system. Jun teaches such an arrangement, with an aperture stop module being positioned on the lens system in order to prevent any changes in the position of the aperture relative to the lens entrance, see column 8 lines 10-27.
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to have included an aperture stop as in Jun in the camera module of Lee in order to control the amount of light incident upon the sensor in high illumination and low illumination environments.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 7-8, and 10-17 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 regard to claims 2-3: While Lee discloses the inclusion of a focusing arrangement, the focusing unit of Lee does not position the focusing bracket inside of the IS bracket but instead is positioned outside the IS bracket and shifts the entire IS bracket and motor to focus the assembly.
With regard to claims 4-5: The IS bracket of Lee does not include a movement space which can be backed by (bounded by) the edge position as claimed, as the focusing movement of the module is provided external to the IS bracket and any optical element is fixedly positioned relative the IS bracket.
With regard to claims 7-8 and 10-17: Lee does not has a structure as is claimed, and the claimed structural arrangements would require substantial modification to the overall structure and functioning of the apparatus of Lee without any indication in the prior art that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found such modifications would have been advantageous or otherwise obvious to perform.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sato (US Patent 8,086,097 B2), Hwang et al (US PGPub 2024/0419013 A1), and Lim et al (US Patent 8,446,682 B2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Leon W Rhodes Jr whose telephone number is (571)270-5774. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM - 6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LEON W RHODES, JR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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