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 § 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.
Claim(s) [1-5 and 7-12] is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakahara (US. 2007/0140676) in view of Matsuzawa(US. 2012/0327290).
Reclaim [1] Nakahara discloses a focus control apparatus (see fig. 1) comprising: one or more processors that execute a program stored in a memory (CPU 15 fig. 1), the one or more processors operating to function as: a focus detection unit that operates to perform a focus detection (see ¶0041, The CPU 15 repeats this process (contrast AF process) while moving the focusing lens group L1 stepwise in the direction from the near extremity toward the far extremity (from one movable extremity toward the other movable extremity of the focusing lens group L1)); and a control unit that operates to control a driving of a focus lens included in an optical system based on a focus detection result obtained by the focus detection (see ¶0032, he motor driver 27 operates on a command from a CPU 15), wherein the control unit (CPU 15 as depicted in fig. 1
Nakahara don’t see to explicitly disclose i) performs control to cause a relationship between a rotation direction of a ring member that operates to be rotated and a driving direction of the focus lens to correspond to a relationship between the rotation direction of the ring member and a search direction, and (ii) starts a search operation in which the focus detection is performed at predetermined intervals while the focus lens is moved based on a rotation amount of the ring member.
Nonetheless in the same field of endeavor Matsuzawa disclose a focus control apparatus as Nakahara (see Matsuzawa fig. 1). Nakahara further discloses i) performs control to cause a relationship between a rotation direction of a ring member that operates to be rotated and a driving direction of the focus lens to correspond to a relationship between the rotation direction of the ring member and a search direction (see ¶0008, when the ring member has been subjected to a slide operation between the first position and the second position, moving a photographing lens at a first speed or a second speed up to a distance corresponding to an operation position [movement of the focus lens for focus poison location at a given speed based on the ring circumferential position]) and (ii) starts a search operation in which the focus detection is performed at predetermined intervals while the focus lens is moved based on a rotation amount of the ring member (see¶0010, having a ring member which is arranged to be rotatable with respect to a lens barrel, and also slidable in an optical axis direction, comprises determining whether or not there has been slide movement of the ring member in the optical axis direction, and, if the result of the determination is that there has been slide movement of the ring member between the first position and the second position, making drive speed of the photographing lens that is driven by a lens drive section different for when shooting a movie and when in shooting standby, [driving the focus lens at a given speed when the ring is rotated to a given radial distance).
Hence it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have been motivated to modify Nakahara before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for example by reconfiguring and modifying the device of Nakahara in order to adapt the functionality as taught in Matsuzawa since this would allow to switch drive speed of a focusing lens in accordance with camera state and subject state.
Reclaim [2] Nakahara as modified further discloses, wherein, in a case where the ring member is rotated by a user and the rotation amount of the ring member is less than a predetermined amount, the control unit does not start the search operation of the focus lens (see Matsuzawa ¶0007, the ring member is at the second position, and a control section for, when the ring member has been subjected to slide movement between the first position and the second position, making drive speed of the photographing lens that is driven by the lens drive section different for when shooting a movie and when in shooting standby, [implies when no slide movement of the ring there will be no movement of the optical lens for focus]) .
Reclaim [3] Nakahara as modified further discloses, wherein, in a case where the ring member is rotated by a user and a rotation speed of the ring member is lower than a predetermined speed, the control unit does not start the search operation of the focus lens (see Matsuzawa ¶0010, Also, a control method for an optical instrument of the present invention, having a ring member which is arranged to be rotatable with respect to a lens barrel, and also slidable in an optical axis direction, [for example, when there is only rotation of the ring without a slide movement no movement of optical lenses for focus]).
Reclaim [4] Nakahara as modified further discloses, wherein the control unit determines a driving speed of the focus lens based on a rotation speed of the ring member (see Matsuzawa ¶0069, when the ring member has been subjected to a slide operation between the first position and the second position, the photographing lens is moved at a first speed or a second speedup to a distance corresponding to an operation position) .
Reclaim [5] Nakahara as modified further discloses, wherein the control unit starts a first search operation for starting the search operation based on the rotation amount of the ring member (Matsuzawa ¶ 0042, By carrying out a rotation operation at a first position where the MF ring 204 having been slid toward the front of the interchangeable lens 200 (toward the subject), a manual focus operation is possible), and, in a case where the ring member is operated during the first search operation or after the first search operation, the control unit starts a second search operation based on the rotation amount of the ring member (see Matsuzawa ¶ 0042, By carrying out a rotation operation at a first position where the MF ring 204 having been slid toward the front of the interchangeable lens 200 (toward the subject), a manual focus operation is possible. Also, by performing a rotation operation at the second position where the MF ring 204 has been slid to the rear of the interchangeable lens 200 (toward the photographer), a range focus operation is possible).
Reclaim [7] Nakahara as modified further discloses, further comprising a reception unit that operates to receive a manual focus operation, wherein, in a case where the manual focus operation is received, the control unit does not start the search operation of the focus lens (see Matsuzawia ¶0040, the user operating the MF ring 204, drive control etc. for the focusing lens 203 and the aperture 205 is carried out. Various lens information, such as focal length, set length, and aperture value, is sent in response to a request from the camera control circuit 101, [ when a user operates MF ring for example various lens information is set before performing focusing]).
Reclaim [8] Nakahara as modified further discloses, further comprising a display control unit that operates to control a display unit to display an item that indicates an execution status of the search operation (see Matsuzawa, ¶0052 , The display circuit 128 is connected to the display monitor 105, and carries out live view display, playback display of taken images that have been stored in a storage medium, and display of various shooting information such as menu screens).
Reclaim [9] Nakahara as modified further discloses, further comprising a display control unit that operates to control a display unit to display an item that indicates a position of a focusing ring of the focus lens (see Matsuzawa, fig. 11A and ¶0052 , The display circuit 128 is connected to the display monitor 105, and carries out live view display, playback display of taken images that have been stored in a storage medium, and display of various shooting information such as menu screens).
Reclaim [10] Nakahara as modified further discloses. An imaging apparatus comprising: the focus control apparatus according to claim 1 (see Nakahara fig. 1 and Matsuzawa fig. 1); and an imaging element that operates to image an object through the optical system (see Nakahara fig. 1 and Matsuzawa fig. 1).
Reclaim [11], except a few changes in wording has substantially same limitation as claim [1] above, and thus analyzed and rejected by the same reasoning.
Reclaim[12] is a program for performing a function of claim [1] and a step of claim [11], and thus analyzed and rejected by the same reasoning.
.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims [6] is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yasuda (US. 8, 289,439) discloses a determination unit which determines an in-focus position search direction based on changes in a size of the region of the particular object detected by the detection unit; and a control unit which carries out focus detection by driving the focus lens based on the in-focus position search direction determined by the determination unit. In col. 1 lines 62-67.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED A BERHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5094. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00Am-5:00pm (MAX- Flex).
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/AHMED A BERHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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