Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION. The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointingout and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as theinvention.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 5, 9 each recite ‘according to a phase difference between a desired control signal and the control signal’ whereby ‘a control signal’ was not previously defined. Appropriate clarification is required.
Claims 2, 6, 10 each recite ‘the MMS mirror’ whereby ‘a MMS mirror’ was not previously defined for each of the dependent claims. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claims 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IIDA et al. (Pub. No: US 2018-0106903) in view of SETH et al. (Pub. No: US 2010-0277246).
As per Claim 1 IIDA discloses A measurement device comprising (Figs. 1-2, 12 [Abstract]):
a memory (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 [Abstract] storage devices [0151]); and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 [Abstract] processor [0006] storage devices and CPU [0142-0145] [0151]):
generate a drive signal with a sine wave, according to a clock signal (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 generation unit 271 [0084] [0125]); control a reflection direction of output light of a light emitting device (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 mirror driving unit 240 drives the MEMS mirrors 212 to control reflection – laser beam to hit the object [0041-0043] [0110] [0123-0125]), by utilizing a resonance frequency, according to the drive signal (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 resonance direction [0044] resonance frequency [0057] [0068-0069] more on corresponding frequency [0123-0125]);
control a timing at which the drive signal is generated (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 generate the timing signal [0030, 0040] [0099]); according to a phase difference between a desired control signal and the control signal (Figs. 1-2, 11-12 phase differences in the drive signals and drive angles [0104-0105])
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses add or remove a pulse of a reference clock signal configured to generate the clock signal (Figs. 1-5 altering pulses [0012-0015] [0032] [0035-0036] pulse remover circuit [0052]),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include add or remove a pulse of a reference clock signal configured to generate the clock signal as taught by SETH into the system of IIDA because of the benefit taught by SETH to include additional clock adjustment techniques by changing the pulse count values whereby IIDA relies upon precision clock signal values to achieve accurate distance measurements and would benefit from the ability to control the pulse count for the clock control used for timing in distance measurement devices.
As per Claim 2 IIDA discloses The measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the desired control signal is a signal (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 generate the timing signal [0030, 0040] [0099]) that controls the timing at which measurement device generates the drive signal configured to drive the MEMS mirror (Figs. 1-2, 12, 19 mirror driving unit 240 drives the MEMS mirror 212 to control reflection – laser beam to hit the object [0041-0043] [0110] [0123-0125])
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses another measurement device (Figs. 1-5 intra/inter connected MMS devices [0005]); MEMS mirror included in the another measurement device (Figs. 1-5 intra/inter connected MMS devices [0005]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 1 applies equally to Claim 2)
As per Claim 3 IIDA discloses The measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the processor (See said analysis for Claim 1): instruction from the phase difference (Figs. 1-2, 11-12 phase differences in the drive signals and drive angles [0104-0105])
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses generates a clock switching instruction (Figs. 1-5 output clock signal and changing pulse counts via switching [0027, 0029] [0032]); generates a switching clock for adjustment, according to the reference clock signal (Figs. 1-5 adjustments via changing pulse counts via switching [0027, 0029] [0032] [0034-0036]); and switches a clock of the clock signal, by using the switching clock, according to the clock switching instruction (Figs. 1-5 switch oscillators [0027, 0029] [0032] [0034-0036]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 1 applies equally to Claim 3)
As per Claim 4 IIDA discloses The measurement device according to claim 1, wherein a maximum value is designated (Figs. 1-2, 12 [0069] [0096-0097] [0107])
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses designated for a clock adjustment amount (Figs. 1-5 [0032]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 1 applies equally to Claim 4).
As per Claim 5 IIDA discloses A measurement method comprising (Figs. 1-2, 12 [Abstract]): generating a drive signal with a sine wave, according to a clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 1); controlling a reflection direction of output light of a light emitting device, by utilizing a resonance frequency (See said analysis for Claim 1), according to the drive signal (See said analysis for Claim 1); controlling a timing at which the drive signal is generated (See said analysis for Claim 1); according to a phase difference between a desired control signal and the control signal (See said analysis for Claim 1)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses and adding or removing a pulse of a reference clock signal configured to generate the clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 1)
As per Claim 6 IIDA discloses The measurement method according to claim 5, wherein the desired control signal is a signal that controls the timing at which measurement device generates the drive signal configured to drive the MEMS mirror (See said analysis for Claim 2)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses another measurement device (See said analysis for Claim 2); MEMS mirror included in the another measurement device (See said analysis for Claim 2)
As per Claim 7 IIDA discloses The measurement method according to claim 5, further comprising: instruction from the phase difference (See said analysis for Claim 3)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses generating a clock switching instruction (See said analysis for Claim 3); generating a switching clock for adjustment, according to the reference clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 3); and switching a clock of the clock signal, by using the switching clock, according to the clock switching instruction (See said analysis for Claim 3)
As per Claim 8 IIDA discloses The measurement method according to claim 5, wherein a maximum value is designated (See said analysis for Claim 4)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses designated for a clock adjustment amount (See said analysis for Claim 4)
As per Claim 9 IIDA discloses A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a measurement program causing a computer to execute a processing, the processing comprising (Figs. 1-2, 12 [0151-0152]): generating a drive signal with a sine wave, according to a clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 1); controlling a reflection direction of output light of a light emitting device (See said analysis for Claim 1), by utilizing a resonance frequency, according to the drive signal (See said analysis for Claim 1); controlling a timing at which the drive signal is generated (See said analysis for Claim 1); according to a phase difference between a desired control signal and the control signal (See said analysis for Claim 1)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses adding or removing a pulse of a reference clock signal configured to generate the clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 1)
As per Claim 10 IIDA discloses The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 9, wherein the desired control signal is a signal that controls the timing at which measurement device generates the drive signal configured to drive the MEMS mirror (See said analysis for Claim 2)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses another measurement device (See said analysis for Claim 2); MEMS mirror included in the another measurement device (See said analysis for Claim 2)
As per Claim 11 IIDA discloses The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 9, further comprising: instruction from the phase difference (See said analysis for Claim 3)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses generating a clock switching instruction (See said analysis for Claim 3); generating a switching clock for adjustment, according to the reference clock signal (See said analysis for Claim 3); and switching a clock of the clock signal, by using the switching clock, according to the clock switching instruction (See said analysis for Claim 3)
As per Claim 12 IIDA discloses The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 9, wherein a maximum value is designated (See said analysis for Claim 4)
IIDA does not disclose but SETH discloses designated for a clock adjustment amount (See said analysis for Claim 4)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eileen Adams whose telephone number is 571-270-3688. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Friday from 8:30-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4688.
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/EILEEN M ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481