DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Claim 3 is cancelled.
Claims 1-2 and 4-12 are amended and pending.
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(s) 1-2, 5-6, 8, 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN 110,361,718) in view of Okuni (US 2020/0300988).
Regarding Claims 1, 11, and 12 Zhang teaches a distance measuring sensor, system, and electronic equipment comprising: an illumination device configured to irradiate… [#13-#17 of Fig 1; 0091-94]; a pixel array section that includes a plurality of pixels in a 2D arrangement [#13, #17 of Fig 1; 0092-93; 0095-96]; wherein the plurality of pixels is configured to receive reflected light returned after irradiation light from an illumination device [#14, #15 of Fig 1; 0091-94] is reflected by an object and that output detection signals based on an amount of received reflected light [#13, #17 of Fig 1; 0092-93; 0095-97]; and a control unit that detects occurrence of an error of the illumination device [S42 – S47 of Fig 3; Fig 4; 0092-94; 0097; 0134]. Zhang does not explicitly teach – but Okuni does teach restart the illumination device based on the detection of the occurrence of the error of the illumination device [0166-0171]. It would have been obvious to modify the sensor of Zhang to include restarting in case of error detection to cope with the case where the light source does not emit pulsed light, or the improper light sequence due to failure or the like.
Regarding Claim 2, Zhang also teaches a wherein the control unit stops output of a light emission pulse to the illumination device based on the detection of the occurrence of the error… [S42 of Fig 3; 0132-36]. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Regarding Claim 5, Zhang also teaches a wherein the control unit stops output of distance measuring data based on the detection of the occurrence of the error…[S42 of Fig 3; 0132-36]. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Regarding Claim 6, Zhang also teaches a wherein the control unit is further configured to output, based on the detection of the occurrence of the error… distance measuring data with an error flag added thereto [S45-S46 of Fig 3; 0132-36]. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171]. It would have been obvious for the control processor to report a "failure code" and "a depth map or a point group map" is outputted to the outside to indicate to the user a possible error.
Regarding Claim 8, Zhang also discloses wherein the control unit is further configured to acquire type information of the error of the illumination device and execute a control operation based on the type information [S42-S46 of Fig 3; 0094-97; 0132-36]. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN 110,361,718) and Okuni (US 2020/0300988), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Imai (US 2021/0103054).
Regarding Claim 4, Zhang does not explicitly teach – but Imai does teach wherein the control unit is further configured to restart the illumination device at a start timing of a distance measuring data unit based on the detection of the occurrence of the error… [0062]. It would have been obvious to modify the sensor of Zhang to restart the device after an error, in order to cease collection of false data at the detector array. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Claim(s) 7, 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN 110,361,718) and Okuni (US 2020/0300988), as applied to claims 1 and 8 above, and further in view of Ito (JP 2002-308545).
Regarding Claim 7, Zhang does not explicitly teach – but Ito does teach wherein the control unit is further configured to count the number of times of the occurrence of the error and, in a case where the number of times of the occurrence of the error is equal to or larger than a specific number of times, notify a host control unit of the occurrence of the error of the illumination device [0006; 0028]. It would have been obvious to modify the sensor of Zhang to do a notification after a specific error or series of errors, in order to cease collection of false data at the detector array, or to alert the user that the output may include erroneous data. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Regarding Claim 9, Zhang does not explicitly teach – but Ito does teach wherein, in a case where the type information indicates a specific error, the control unit is further configured to notify a host control unit of the occurrence of the error of the illumination device [0006; 0028]. It would have been obvious to modify the sensor of Zhang to do a notification after a specific error or series of errors, in order to cease collection of false data at the detector array, or to alert the user that the output may include erroneous data. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Regarding Claim 10, Zhang does not explicitly teach – but Ito does teach wherein the control unit is further configured to count the number of times of the occurrence of the error and, in a case where the number of times of the occurrence of the error is equal to or larger than a specific number of times, notify a host control unit of the occurrence of the error of the illumination device [0006; 0028]. It would have been obvious to modify the sensor of Zhang to do a notification after a specific error or series of errors, in order to cease collection of false data at the detector array, or to alert the user that the output may include erroneous data. Okuni also teaches this limitation in [0166] – [0171].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2 and 4-12 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the specific combination of the references being used in the current rejection.
Applicant's remaining arguments amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645