Appeal No. 2003-0047
Application No. 09/350,335
apparatus (abstract). The frequency of the clock signal applied
to the anti-blooming gate, as relied on by the Examiner, is
increased from f1 to f0 when the shutter reaches a desired
aperture and the flash device is used causing an increase in the
amount of incident light (col. 7, lines 56-68). As depicted in
Figure 6, the increase in signal frequency occurs during the
middle part of the shutter operation and when the flash device is
operating in order to remove excessive charges generated during
the fully open aperture and the flash operation (col. 8, lines
17-32). Therefore, instead of the claimed operating judging
means for determining the operating condition of the imaging
apparatus and lowering the sweep-out signal frequency, Kondo
provides for a system controller which changes the frequency of
anti-blooming to a higher level when the flash device is being
operated.
We further find Appellants’ arguments distinguishing the
claimed operating judging means over Kondo’s control system for
applying the anti-blooming gate signal, to be persuasive. As
discussed above, what the Examiner characterizes in Kondo as the
change of the frequency being a reduction in response to the
shutter closure (answer, page 5), is actually an increase in the
frequency when the flash device is operating and the amount of
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