DETAILED ACTION
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, 4, 10, 15, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ledbetter (US 2020/0150247) in view of Chen (US 2012/0281996).
Regarding Claim 1, Ledbetter teaches apparatus comprising a light source coupled to a reflector having a plurality of facets [0007; 0058; 0064], a controller connected to the light source [0007; 0058; 006. Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Chen does teach directed to map at least one of the plurality of facets [0012; 0035-41]. It would have been obvious to modify the apparatus of Ledbetter to map facets in order to effectively calibrate or determine whether a correction is needed.
Regarding Claim 4, Ledbetter teaches method comprising: coupling a light source [0007; 0058; 0064] to a reflector having a plurality of facets [0007; 0058; 0064]; directing light energy to the reflector, as directed by a controller [0007; 0058; 0064]. Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Chen does teach mapping at least one facet of the reflector in response to the light energy reflected by the reflector [0012; 0035-41]. It would have been obvious to modify the apparatus of Ledbetter to map facets in order to effectively calibrate or determine whether a correction is needed.
Regarding Claim 15, Ledbetter teaches a method comprising: coupling a light source to a reflector having a plurality of facets [0007; 0058; 0064]; directing light energy to the reflector, as directed by a controller [0007; 0058; 0064]; and bouncing light energy off the reflector [0007; 0058; 0064]; and sensing, with a detector connected to the controller, a downrange target [0007; 0039-41; 0058; 0064]. Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Chen does teach calibrating, with the controller, the reflector to accurately identify a downrange target [0012; 0035-41]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Ledbetter to map facets in order to effectively calibrate or determine whether a correction is needed.
Regarding Claim 2, Ledbetter also teaches wherein the controller is connected to a segmented detector as part of a light detection and ranging system [0007; 0058; 0064].
Regarding Claim 10, Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Chen does teach wherein the controller assigns a reflection signature to at least one facet of the reflector [0007; 0058; 0064]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Ledbetter to map facets with a specific signature in order to effectively calibrate or determine whether a correction is needed.
Regarding Claim 18, Ledbetter also teaches wherein the calibration involves varying a speed of rotation of the reflector over time [0081].
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ledbetter (US 2020/0150247) and Chen (US 2012/0281996), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cho (US 2022/0276350).
Regarding Claim 3, Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Cho does teach wherein the reflector is a non-symmetric polygon [0052; 0067-73]. It would have been obvious to modify the device of Ledbetter to include a non-symmetrical polygon reflector to scan the interested area with a resolution higher than a resolution of other area.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ledbetter (US 2020/0150247) and Chen (US 2012/0281996), as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Wang (US 2022/0334228).
Regarding Claim 19, Ledbetter does not explicitly teach – but Wang does teach wherein the calibration involves changing a position of the light source relative to the reflector [0102-0108; 0131]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Ledbetter to include adjusting light source position relative to the reflector to compensate the facet non-uniformity differences and assembly errors associated with light steering device.
Claim Objections
Claims 5-9, 11-14, 16-17 and 20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R HULKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7553. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 9am-6pm, F: 10am-2pm.
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, Robert Hodge can be reached at 5712722097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Prosecution Insights