DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 03/20/2026 has been entered and accepted. The amendment with regard to the claim objection has been accepted and the objection has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. A new rejection has been made in view of YOSHIDA (US 20060152705 A1) in view of KAJI (US 20220279627 A1), Costello (US 20100327164 A1), and Bernal (US 11086092 B2).
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOSHIDA (US 20060152705 A1) in view of KAJI (US 20220279627 A1), Costello (US 20100327164 A1), and Bernal (US 11086092 B2).
Regarding claim 1, YOSHIDA (US 20060152705 A1) teaches a distance measurement device for measuring a distance to an object (Figure 1, radar apparatus 100; Paragraph 28, detect a distance from an object), the distance measurement device comprising:
a detection module (light radiating part 10 and light receiving part 20) comprising an irradiation unit (Figure 1 Paragraph 31, laser diode 11) configured to radiate radiation light for performing scanning along a scanning direction set in advance (Paragraph 32, polygon mirror scans the laser diode at a predetermined angle from the centerline of the vehicle to predetermined angle of the vehicle), and a detection unit configured to detect reflected light from the object, arriving from a scanning region (Figure 1 Paragraphs 33-34, light receiving part 20 has a photo diode that receives a reflected light reflected from an object exiting in the scanning area);
a casing configured to store the detection module (Figure 1 Paragraph 30, preceding parts 10, 20, and 30 are housed in the housing 40);
a transparent window which is part of the casing and disposed so as to face the detection module, and through which the radiation light and the reflected light pass (Figure 1 Paragraph 35, housing 40 has a window part that allows the laser beam and reflected beam to pass through and which is directed toward the light radiation pat 10 and light receiving part 20; Paragraph 71, first window 41a and second window 41b can be constructed of a single cover glass);
a heater wire that heats the transparent window (Paragraphs 54-56, heating member 54 which is electrically conducted to generated heat during the vehicle running and which is facilitated by heating wires which heat without interfering with the laser beam and reflected light)
YOSHIDA fails to explicitly teach:
a flexible substrate on which a heater wire that heats the transparent window is formed,
wherein the flexible substrate comprises a heater portion in which the heater wire is formed and which is fixed to the transparent window, and a wiring portion in which a wiring to the heater wire is formed and which extends to a rear side of the casing with a side on which the transparent window is provided in the casing being a front side, and
the distance measurement device further comprises:
a fixing member configured to fix the wiring portion within the casing; and
a light shielding member configured to shield stray light, the stray light being the radiation light or object reflected light that was reflected by the transparent window and then further reflected by the fixing member toward the detection unit.
KAJI (US 20220279627 A1) teaches a heater device and imaging device for a vehicle, comprising:
a flexible substrate (Paragraph 21, transparent substrate 101 is a substrate that is transparent as high as possible and has a flexibility to follow the shape of a glass surface of a vehicle is used) on which a heater wire that heats the transparent window is formed (Paragraph 34, heating wire 120 is formed on the side of the first surface of the transparent substrate),
wherein the flexible substrate comprises a heater portion in which the heater wire is formed (Paragraph 26, heating wire 120 contains a first line 120 wherein first line 121 is routed in the heating targeted area on the target substrate 101) and which is fixed to the transparent window (Paragraph 21, transparent substrate 101 is transparent as high as possible and has a flexibility to follow the shape of a glass surface of a vehicle is used), and a wiring portion in which a wiring to the heater wire is formed and which extends to a rear side of the casing (Paragraph 28, retreating area 101 is formed on the transparent substrate wherein power supply terminals 111 and 112 and a portion of the second line 122 are connected to the power supply terminals are placed in a retreating area 101a) with a side on which the transparent window is provided in the casing being a front side (Figure 1 Paragraph 21, transparent substrate 101 is transparent as high as possible and has a flexibility to follow the shape of a glass surface of a vehicle is used),
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YOSHIDA with KAJI and have a heating wire which is fixed to the window by means of a flexible transparent substrate. This would have been done to provide a defrosting and anti-fogging means for window glass (KAJI Paragraph 3) while also providing a safety device for avoiding overheating (KAJI Paragraph 31).
YOSHIDA modified with KAJI fails to teach:
the distance measurement device further comprises:
a fixing member configured to fix the wiring portion within the casing; and
a light shielding member configured to shield stray light, the stray light being the radiation light or object reflected light that was reflected by the transparent window and then further reflected by the fixing member toward the detection unit.
Costello (US 20100327164 A1) teaches an optical proximity sensor package with molded infrared light rejection barrier, wherein:
the distance measurement device (Figure 7) further comprises:
a light shielding member configured to shield stray light (Paragraph 31, non-transmissive infrared barrier component 33 reduces interval reflection between the various internal components), the stray light being the radiation light or object reflected light that was reflected by the transparent window (Paragraph 31, light rays that are reflected from window 23 are also blocked by molded substantially optically non-transmissive infrared light barrier component 33) and then further reflected by the fixing member toward the detection unit (Paragraph 31, infrared barrier component 33 reduces the total internal reflection between the internal components).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YOSHIDA with Costello and have distance measurement device further comprise a light shielding member configured to shield stray light which are reflected from both the window and the various internal components. This would have been done to improve the performance of the sensor by reducing crosstalk and interference caused by undesired reflected, refracted, or diffracted light rays (Costello Paragraph 31).
YOSHIDA modified with Costello fails to explicitly teach:
a fixing member configured to fix the wiring portion within the casing
Bernal (US 11086092 B2) teaches a camera lens heater, wherein:
a fixing member configured to fix the wiring portion within the casing (Column 4 Lines 51-59, heater wire 10” connected to the heating element 10 by a connector 10’ is inserted out of an aperture or slot in an outer portion of the lens barrel wherein a sealing glue is applied in to where the connecting heater wire is inserted)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YOSHIDA with Bernal and used sealing glue to secure the wiring portion within the casing. This would have been done to ensure that the wiring portion is in its proper place (Bernal Column 4 Lines 55-66).
Regarding claim 2, YOSHIDA as modified teaches the distance measurement device according to claim 1.
Bernal further teaches:
the light shielding member comprises a guide surface configured to guide the wiring portion to the rear side of the casing (Figure 6 Column 4 Lines 51-57, apertures or slots positioned within an outer portion of the base portion of the lens barrel and front housing are used to guide the heater wire to the PCB located in the rear housing).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
KAJI further teaches:
a guide surface configured to guide the wiring portion to the rear side of the casing (Paragraph 28, retreating area 101 is formed on the transparent substrate wherein power supply terminals 111 and 112 and a portion of the second line 122 are connected to the power supply terminals are placed in a retreating area 101a; retreating area 101a extends away from the glass surface which extends toward the rear side of the casing).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Costello further teaches:
the light shielding member comprises a guide surface configured to guide the wiring portion to a rear side of the casing (Paragraph 33, entire PCB panel 41 is sheet case such as to form a substantially optically non-transmissive infrared light barrier components such that only the individual sensors are singulated by sawing techniques; the entire PCB panel is encapsulated by the non-transmissive infrared light barrier and thus the wiring portion would also be encapsulated by the non-transmissive infrared light barrier such as to reduce internal reflections between internal components; KAJI Figure 1 shows that retreating area 101a extends to a rear side and thus the non-transmissive infrared light barrier would also encapsulate and guide the power supply terminals on the retreating area 101a to a rear portion)
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
The Office further notes that it is well known in the art that power connectors are positioned in the rear of radar devices as evidenced by Figure 3 of KANSEI (JP H05157830 A) and Figure 1 of Bayha (US 20140320845 A1). Thus, the wiring portion would also be encapsulated by the non-transmissive infrared light barrier such as to reduce internal reflections between internal components, and additionally would guide the wiring portion to the rear side of the casing where the power connectors are located
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOSHIDA (US 20060152705 A1) in view of KAJI (US 20220279627 A1), Costello (US 20100327164 A1), and Bernal (US 11086092 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bayha (US 20140320845 A1)
Regarding claim 3, YOSHIDA as modified teaches the distance measurement device according to claim 1.
KAJI further teaches:
the fixing member is provided in the integrated portion (Figure 1 Paragraphs 26-30, first and second power supply terminals are supplied in a retreating area 101a wherein said power terminals supply power to the heating wire at each of the loops; glue/fixing member of Bernal would be applied to said retreating area wherein the power supply terminals are located)
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
YOSHIDA as modified fails to explicitly teach:
the heater wire comprises:
an irradiation side heater wire configured to heat a region through which the radiation light passes; and
a detection side heater wire configured to heat a region through which the reflected light to be detected by the detection unit passes,
the flexible substrate is divided into an irradiation side heater portion in which the irradiation side heater wire is formed, and a detection side heater portion in which the detection side heater wire is formed in the heater portion,
the wiring portion comprises an integrated portion obtained by integrating a portion extending from the irradiation side heater portion and a portion extending from the detection side heater portion, and
the fixing member is provided in the integrated portion.
Bayha (US 20140320845 A1) teaches an optical measuring device for LIDAR, wherein:
the heater wire (Paragraph 32, at least one heating connector 24, 24.1, 24.2 can be embodied as a heating wire) comprises:
an irradiation side heater wire configured to heat a region through which the radiation light passes (Figure 3 Paragraphs 27 and 35, emission window 10 is framed by heating conductors 24, 24.1, and 24.2 such as to heat the region through which the emission beam is emitted through)1; and
a detection side heater wire configured to heat a region through which the reflected light to be detected by the detection unit passes (Figure 3 Paragraph 36, multiple electrical heating conductors extend directly in the region of the reception window 7),
the flexible substrate is divided into an irradiation side heater portion in which the irradiation side heater wire is formed, and a detection side heater portion in which the detection side heater wire is formed in the heater portion (Figures 2-3, heating conductors are divided into conductors which extend in the region of the reception window 7 and the conductors which frame the emission window 10; Figure 2 Paragraph 31, elastic carrier 22 on which the electrical heating conductors is formed on the reception window),
the wiring portion comprises an integrated portion obtained by integrating a portion extending from the irradiation side heater portion and a portion extending from the detection side heater portion (Figure 3, electrical heating conductor 24.1 is a vertical portion which connects the various conductors 24 and 24.2 extending from the irradiation side heater portion and from the detection side heater portion), and
the fixing member is provided in the integrated portion (Paragraph 4, adhesive layer is applied to the film to ensure contact of at least one electrical heating conductor with the cover disc).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YOSHIDA with Bayha and split the heater wire into a detection side heater portion and an irradiation side heater portion as well as an integrated portion which connects both portions. This would have been done to simplifying installation of the heating assembly on the window while saving space by providing a power line on the edge of the reception window (Bayha Paragraph 18).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANKLIN JEFFERSON WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7782. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM (E.S.T).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/F.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
1 While the Bayha states that the region of the emission window is left out, Paragraphs 27 and 35 of Bayha still teaches indirect heating of the emission window through the use of heating wire, which frames the window and thus it would be reasonable under BRI to consider those wires as the irradiation side heater portion. The Office further notes that placing heating wires at both the emission and receiving portions of the window of a LIDAR system such as to provide heating to both is well known in the art as evidenced by Figure 2 of Beuth (US 20220357457 A1).
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