DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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.
Claims 1-7, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Chen (US 2010/0188742 A1, Published July 29, 2010) in view of Shick (US 2014/0218731 A1, Published August 7, 2014).
As to claim 1, Chen discloses a distance measuring apparatus, comprising:
a light source, configured to emit a detection light within a set wavelength range (Chen at Fig. 7, light source 300);
a beam splitter, configured to allow the detection light to pass through and to output a transmitted light corresponding to the detection light (Chen at Fig. 7, beam splitter 34),…
a lens group comprising at least one dispersing lens, the lens group being configured to disperse the transmitted light, which is transmitted from the beam splitter to the lens group, to focus light rays of different wavelengths to various focusing positions (Chen at Figs. 3-4, 7, chromatic dispersion objective lens 31);
a first light limiter, having a light passage region allowing a first reflected light to pass through (Chen at Figs. 5, 7, spatial filter 35),
wherein the first reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced on a second surface of the beam splitter when a second reflected light is transmitted from the lens group to the second surface of the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7, light reflected from object 100 and traveling from chromatic dispersion objective lens 31 to beam splitter 34),
the second reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced by a light focused on a surface of a to-be-measured object being reflected on the surface of the to-be-measured object (Chen at Fig. 7, light reflected from object 100; ¶ [0038]), and the second surface [of the beam splitter] is opposite to the first surface (Chen at Fig. 7); and
a spectral sensor, configured to output first information in response to the first reflected light being received (Chen at Fig. 7, image sensor 321; ¶ [0039]),
wherein the first information at least represents a light intensity corresponding to a wavelength of the first reflected light, the first information is configured to determine a distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Chen at Fig. 6-7; ¶ [0006]).1
Chen does not disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter.
However, Shick does disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter (Shick at Fig. 1, beam splitter element 15c has light entering from its first surface).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
As to claim 2, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light passage region of the first light limiter is a through hole (Chen at Figs. 5B; Claim 4), and
the spectral sensor is a dot-array spectral sensor correspondingly (Chen at ¶ [0041] discloses a CMOS sensor).2
As to claim 3, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first lens and a second light limiter disposed between the light source and the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7, lens set 302 and filter 303);3
wherein the first lens is configured to convert a first detection light entering the first lens into a corresponding second detection light, the second detection light represents parallel beams corresponding to the first detection light (Chen at Fig. 7, linear light 90);4 and
the second light limiter has a slit allowing the second detection light to pass through, the second detection light that passes through the slit of the second light limiter is configured to enter to the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7).
As to claim 4, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first lens comprises at least one collimator and at least one cylindrical lens opposite to the at least one collimator; the collimator is configured to convert the first detection light into the parallel beams; and the cylindrical lens is configured to converge the parallel beams into the corresponding second detection light (Shick at Fig. 1, collimating lens 12 and cylindrical lens arrangement 13; ¶ [0038]).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
As to claim 5, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the light passage region of the first light limiter is a slit (Shick at Fig. 4),
the spectral sensor is an area-array spectral sensor correspondingly (Shick at Fig. 3);
the first information further represents a position where the second reflected light corresponding to the first reflected light is focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object (Chen at Figs. 3, 4, 7, 8).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
As to claim 6, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lens group comprises at least two dispersing lenses, the lens group is further configured to adjust a dispersing range; and the dispersing range represents a range of distances from the focusing positions of the lights of different wavelengths in the corresponding transmitted light to the lens group when the transmitted light is transmitted to and dispersed by the lens group (Chen at Fig. 3B, 3C).
As to claim 7, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transmittance of the first surface of the beam splitter is greater than a reflectance of the first surface (Chen at Fig. 7. Examiner takes an official notice that this claim aspect is well-known in the art).
As to claim 9, the combination of Chen and Shick discloses the distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises a spectral pattern, the spectral pattern represents a correspondence between a wavelength of the first reflected light and a light intensity of the first reflected light (Chen at Fig. 6, steps 43-44).5
Claims 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Chen (US 2010/0188742 A1, Published July 29, 2010) in view of Shick (US 2014/0218731 A1, Published August 7, 2014) and Yonggang (US 2008/0297795 A1, Published December 4, 2008).
As to claim 10, Chen discloses a distance measuring method performed by a distance measuring apparatus, wherein the distance measuring apparatus comprises: a light source, configured to emit a detection light within a set wavelength range (Chen at Fig. 7, light source 300);
a beam splitter, configured to allow the detection light to pass through and to output a transmitted light corresponding to the detection light (Chen at Fig. 7, beam splitter 34),…
a lens group comprising at least one dispersing lens, the lens group being configured to disperse the transmitted light, which is transmitted from the beam splitter to the lens group, to focus light rays of different wavelengths to various focusing positions (Chen at Figs. 3-4, 7, chromatic dispersion objective lens 31);
a first light limiter, having a light passage region allowing a first reflected light to pass through (Chen at Figs. 5, 7, spatial filter 35),
wherein the first reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced on a second surface of the beam splitter when a second reflected light is transmitted from the lens group to the second surface of the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7, light reflected from object 100 and traveling from chromatic dispersion objective lens 31 to beam splitter 34),
the second reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced by a light focused on a surface of a to-be-measured object being reflected on the surface of the to-be-measured object (Chen at Fig. 7, light reflected from object 100; ¶ [0038]), and the second surface [of the beam splitter] is opposite to the first surface (Chen at Fig. 7); and
a spectral sensor, configured to output first information in response to the first reflected light being received (Chen at Fig. 7, image sensor 321; ¶ [0039]),
wherein the first information at least represents a light intensity corresponding to a wavelength of the first reflected light, the first information is configured to determine a distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Chen at Fig. 7; ¶ [0006]);6 and
wherein the method comprises: determining at least one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object based on the first information (Chen at Fig. 6, steps 43-44); and
determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength (Chen at Figs. 6-7; ¶ [0006]).7
Chen does not disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter.
However, Shick does disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter (Shick at Fig. 1, beam splitter element 15c has light entering from its first surface).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
The combination of Chen and Shick strongly suggests (Chen at Fig. 7; ¶ [0006]) but does not expressly disclose that for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum.
However, Yonggang does disclose that for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum (Yonggang at Fig. 7; ¶ [0084]).
The combination of Chen and Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Chen and Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 11, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the method according to claim 10, wherein when the spectral sensor is a dot-array spectral sensor, one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object is determined (Chen at Fig. 7; ¶ [0041] discloses a CMOS sensor);8 and the
determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength, comprises: determining a rust calibration distance corresponding to the first wavelength based on the set correspondence between wavelengths and calibration distances; wherein the first calibration distance represents the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Yonggang at Fig. 7; ¶ [0084]).
The combination of Chen and Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Chen and Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 12, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the method according to claim 10, wherein when the spectral sensor is an area-array spectral sensor (Shick at Figs. 1, 3, 5), at least two first wavelengths of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object are determined (Chen at Figs. 8B, 8D); and
the determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength, comprises: determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on distribution characteristics of the at least two first wavelengths and based on the set correspondence between wavelengths and calibration distances (Yonggang at Fig. 7; ¶ [0084]).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
The combination of Chen and Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Chen and Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 13, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the method according to claim 10, further comprising: clustering the at least two first wavelengths to obtain a clustering result; and determining distribution characteristics corresponding to the at least two first wavelengths based on the clustering result (Chen at Figs. 5, 7).9
As to claim 14, Chen discloses an electronic device, comprising: a processor, a memory configured to store a computer program capable of being run on the processor (Chen at Fig. 7, processor 33), and
a camera, wherein the camera comprises: a lens group,… and a distance measuring apparatus (Chen at Fig. 7, image sensor 321; ¶ [0006]);
the distance measuring apparatus comprises: a light source, configured to emit a detection light within a set wavelength range (Chen at Fig. 7, light source 300; ¶ [0038]);
a beam splitter, configured to allow the detection light to pass through and to output a transmitted light corresponding to the detection light (Chen at Fig. 7, beam splitter 34),…
a lens group comprising at least one dispersing lens, the lens group being configured to disperse the transmitted light, which is transmitted from the beam splitter to the lens group, to focus light rays of different wavelengths to various focusing positions (Chen at Fig. 7, chromatic dispersion objective lens 31; ¶ [0038]);
a first light limiter, having a light passage region allowing a first reflected light to pass through (Chen at Fig. 7, spatial filter 75),
wherein the first reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced on a second surface of the beam splitter when a second reflected light is transmitted from the lens group to the second surface of the beam splitter, the second reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced by a light focused on a surface of a to-be-measured object being reflected on the surface of the to-be-measured object, and the second surface is opposite to the first surface (Chen at Fig. 7, light incident upon then reflected from object 100; ¶ [0038]); and
a spectral sensor, configured to output first information in response to the first reflected light being received (Chen at Fig. 7, image sensor 321; ¶ [0039]),
wherein the first information at least represents a light intensity corresponding to a wavelength of the first reflected light, the first information is configured to determine a distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Chen at Fig. 7; ¶ [0006]).
Chen does not disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter.
However, Shick does disclose that the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter (Shick at Fig. 1, beam splitter element 15c has light entering from its first surface).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
The combination of Chen and Shick does not disclose a focusing motor, wherein the focusing motor is configured to drive the lens group to move to a corresponding focusing position based on a focusing distance; the focusing distance is determined based on a position relationship between the lens group and the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and based on a first distance; and the first distance represents the distance between the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and the to-be-measured object; and wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the computer program, perform operations of: determining at least one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object based on the first information; and determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength; wherein for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum.
However, Yonggang does disclose a focusing motor, wherein the focusing motor is configured to drive the lens group to move to a corresponding focusing position based on a focusing distance (Yonggang at Figs. 6-7, camera 128 and DC Motor 142; ¶ [0078] discloses “The camera 128 includes a DC motor 142 operable to control the focus of the camera in response to focal plane information output from the focal plane sensor 129. “);
the focusing distance is determined based on a position relationship between the lens group and the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and based on a first distance; and the first distance represents the distance between the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and the to-be-measured object (Yonggang at Fig. 7-8); and
wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the computer program, perform operations of: determining at least one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object based on the first information; and determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength (Yonggang at Figs. 7-8);
wherein for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum (Yonggang at Figs. 7-8 lambda 5).
The combination of Chen and Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to The combination of Chen and Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 14, Shick at an electronic device, comprising:… and a camera (Shick at ¶ [0020]),
a distance measuring apparatus; the distance measuring apparatus comprises: a light source, configured to emit a detection light within a set wavelength range (Shick at Fig. 1, light source 110 emits light ostensibly in the visible wavelength range);
a beam splitter, configured to allow the detection light to pass through and to output a transmitted light corresponding to the detection light, wherein the detection light enters a first surface of the beam splitter (Shick at Figs.1-2, beam splitter element 120);
a lens group comprising at least one dispersing lens, the lens group being configured to disperse the transmitted light, which is transmitted from the beam splitter to the lens group, to focus light rays of different wavelengths to various focusing positions (Shick at Figs. 1-2, optical imaging system 130; ¶ [0033]-[0034]);
a first light limiter, having a light passage region allowing a first reflected light to pass through (Shick at Fig. 1, diffraction grating 151),
wherein the first reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced on a second surface of the beam splitter (Shick at Fig. 1, light beam 112, 152 reflected from surface to be measured 140 and incident on the bottom surface of beam splitter 120) when a second reflected light is transmitted from the lens group to the second surface of the beam splitter, the second reflected light represents a reflected light that is produced by a light focused on a surface of a to-be-measured object being reflected on the surface of the to-be-measured object, and the second surface is opposite to the first surface (Shick at Fig. 1, measured light 152 reflected from bottom surface of beam splitter 120 to color detector 150); and
a spectral sensor, configured to output first information in response to the first reflected light being received (Shick at Fig. 1, color detector 150),
wherein the first information at least represents a light intensity corresponding to a wavelength of the first reflected light, the first information is configured to determine a distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Shick at Fig. 1; ¶ [0033]-[0034] discloses “In this way the color of the light detected by the point detector is a measure of the distance between the distance sensor 100 and the surface of the measurement object.” ¶ [0035]).
Shick does not disclose a processor, a memory configured to store a computer program capable of being run on the processor,… wherein the camera comprises: a lens group, a focusing motor.
Shick does not disclose that the focusing motor is configured to drive the lens group to move to a corresponding focusing position based on a focusing distance; the focusing distance is determined based on a position relationship between the lens group and the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and based on a first distance; and the first distance represents the distance between the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and the to-be-measured object; and wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the computer program, perform operations of: determining at least one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object based on the first information; and determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength; wherein for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum.
However, Yonggang does disclose a processor, a memory configured to store a computer program capable of being run on the processor (Yonggang at Figs. 6-7, processor 370), and a camera, wherein the camera comprises: a lens group, a focusing motor (Yonggang at Figs. 6-7, camera 128 and DC Motor 142; ¶ [0078] discloses “The camera 128 includes a DC motor 142 operable to control the focus of the camera in response to focal plane information output from the focal plane sensor 129. “).
Yonggang does disclose that the focusing motor is configured to drive the lens group to move to a corresponding focusing position based on a focusing distance; the focusing distance is determined based on a position relationship between the lens group and the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and based on a first distance; and the first distance represents the distance between the light source in the distance measuring apparatus and the to-be-measured object; and wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the computer program, perform operations of: determining at least one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object based on the first information; and determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength (Yonggang at Figs. 7-8);
wherein for one focusing position on the surface of the to-be-measured object, a light intensity corresponding to the at least one first wavelength is maximum (Yonggang at Figs. 7-8 lambda 5).
Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 15, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, wherein when the spectral sensor is a dot-array spectral sensor (Yonggang at ¶ [0031]),
one first wavelength of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object is determined; and the determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength, comprises: determining a first calibration distance corresponding to the first wavelength based on the set correspondence between wavelengths and calibration distances; wherein the first calibration distance represents the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object (Shick at Fig. 1)10.
Shick discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Yonggang discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Shick the teachings of Yonggang for the predictable result of focusing the camera on the plane of interest for successful imaging (Yonggang at ¶ [0008]).
As to claim 16, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, wherein when the spectral sensor is an area-array spectral sensor, at least two first wavelengths of the light focused on the surface of the to-be-measured object are determined (Shick at ¶ [0020])11; and
the determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on a set correspondence between wavelengths and calibrated distances and based on the determined at least one first wavelength, comprises: determining the distance between the light source and the to-be-measured object based on distribution characteristics of the at least two first wavelengths and based on the set correspondence between wavelengths and calibration distances (Shick at Fig. 1)12.
As to claim 17, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to perform operations of: clustering the at least two first wavelengths to obtain a clustering result; and determining distribution characteristics corresponding to the at least two first wavelengths based on the clustering result (Chen at Figs. 5, 7).13.
As to claim 18, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the distance measuring apparatus further comprises a first lens and a second light limiter disposed between the light source and the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7, lens set 302 and filter 303);14
wherein the first lens is configured to convert a first detection light entering the first lens into a corresponding second detection light, the second detection light represents parallel beams corresponding to the first detection light (Chen at Fig. 7, linear light 90);15 and
the second light limiter has a slit allowing the second detection light to pass through, the second detection light that passes through the slit of the second light limiter is configured to enter to the beam splitter (Chen at Fig. 7).
As to claim 19, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the first lens comprises at least one collimator and at least one cylindrical lens opposite to the at least one collimator; the collimator is configured to convert the first detection light into the parallel beams; and the cylindrical lens is configured to converge the parallel beams into the corresponding second detection light (Shick at Fig. 1, collimating lens 12 and cylindrical lens arrangement 13; ¶ [0038]).
Chen discloses a base confocal spectrometer system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Shick discloses a comparable confocal spectrometer system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Chen the teachings of Shick for the predictable result of permitting mechanical selection of a wavelength, to be imaged, of the reflected light (Shick at ¶ [0011]).
As to claim 20, the combination of Chen, Shick, and Yonggang discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the lens group comprises at least two dispersing lenses, the lens group is further configured to adjust a dispersing range; and the dispersing range represents a range of distances from the focusing positions of the lights of different wavelengths in the corresponding transmitted light to the lens group when the transmitted light is transmitted to and dispersed by the lens group (Chen at Fig. 3B, 3C).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 8, none of the prior art found by the Examiner discloses the claimed aspect of: wherein the first surface of the beam splitter is coated with at least one layer of a transmission-enhancing film, and the second surface of the beam splitter is coated with at least one layer of a reflection-enhancing film.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tan (US 2019/0302016 A1, Published October 3, 2019) is made of record for its relevance to claim 9 by its disclosure of the following at ¶ [0042]:
“The detectors 12 can measure the reflected light from the sensing ends of the optical assemblies 14, and then output spectral interference patterns in real time that are a function of wavelengths and light intensity at each wavelength.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sanjiv D Patel whose telephone number is (571)270-5731. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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, William Boddie can be reached at 571-272-0666. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Sanjiv D. Patel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
11/25/2025
1 See also Shick2 (US 2004/0109170 A1, Published June 10, 2004) provided on IDS at Fig. 1, Claim 1.
2 Shick at Fig. 3; ¶ [0044]-[0045].
3 Shick at Fig. 1, dispersion element 21 and focusing lens 22; ¶ [0042]-[0043].
4 Shick at ¶ [0038] discloses “The light emitted by the light source 11 may be collimated by a lens 12 to form a parallel ray bundle and directed onto a first aperture device 14.”.
5 See also Tan in Conclusion Section below.
6 See also Shick2 (US 2004/0109170 A1, Published June 10, 2004) provided on IDS at Fig. 1, Claim 1.
7 See also Yonggang at Figs. 7-8; ¶ 0024].
8 Shick at Fig. 3; ¶ [0044]-[0045].
9 See also Shick at Fig. 9.
10 Yonggang at Figs. 7-8.
11 Yonggang at ¶ [0031].
12 Chen at Figs. 8B, 8D. Yonggang at Figs. 6-7.
13 See also Shick at Fig. 9.
14 Shick at Fig. 1, dispersion element 21 and focusing lens 22; ¶ [0042]-[0043].
15 Shick at ¶ [0038] discloses “The light emitted by the light source 11 may be collimated by a lens 12 to form a parallel ray bundle and directed onto a first aperture device 14.”.