Ex parte COOPER - Page 2




          Appeal No. 1998-0740                                                        
          Application 08/627,838                                                      


          sensor operable to clear the image data from the image sensor               
          responsive to an image clear signal;                                        
          an image memory coupled to the image sensor image area and                  
          operable to receive the image data from the image sensor image              
          area and to store the image data responsive to an image transfer            
          signal, an exposure time associated with the image defined as the           
          time between the image clear signal and the image transfer signal;          
          an electronic iris controller circuit coupled to the image                  
          sensor image area and the image memory and operable to create and           
          transmit the image clear signal and the image transfer signal, the          
          electronic iris controller circuit operable to alter the exposure           
          time in response to the image data by increments having variable            
          length having increasingly smaller duration as the exposure time            
          is decreased and having increasingly greater duration as the                
          exposure time is increased; and                                             
          an accordion clock signal having a constant number of                       
          transitions for a given period of time and having variable periods          
          for at least some of the transitions, the increments having                 
          variable length are derived from the accordion clock signal.                
          The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of                   
          obviousness are:                                                            
          Ishizaki et al. (Ishizaki)     4,701,626         Oct. 20, 1987              
          Nagai et al. (Nagai)           4,742,395         May  03, 1988              
          Nakajima et al. (Nakajima)     5,157,502         Oct. 20, 1992              
          Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12-17 and 19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.               
          § 103 as being unpatentable over Nakajima in view of Nagai.                 
          Claims 6, 11 and 18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as                 
          being unpatentable over Nakajima in view of Nagai and Ishizaki.             
          The respective positions of the examiner and the appellant                  
          with regard to the propriety of these rejections are set forth in           

                                            2                                         




Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  Next 

Last modified: November 3, 2007