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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 04/20/2026 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.
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 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over D1 EP 3489714 A1.
Regarding claim 1 D1 teaches
A surveying instrument comprising:
a distance measuring light projecting module(1) configured to project a distance measuring light to an object(8),
a distance measuring light receiving module(10) having a photodetector configured to receive a reflected distance measuring light from said object,(page 7) and
an arithmetic control module configured to control said distance measuring light projecting module and calculate a distance to said object based on a light reception result of said reflected distance measuring light with respect to said photodetector, (inherent distance measuring device)
wherein said distance measuring light projecting module has a pinhole plate(13) which is insertable or removable with respect to an optical axis of said distance measuring light(page 7), a pinhole having a predetermined diameter is formed in said pinhole plate(implicit), and a light amount and a spread angle of said distance measuring light are changeable based on the insertion or removable of said pinhole plate.(inherent)
but does not explicitly teach
a pinhole having a predetermined diameter with a diffraction effect
Although D1 does not explicitly teach pinhole with diffraction effect one of ordinary skills in the art would realize that any pinhole will have diffraction effect(small or large depending on size of the pinhole ). This is just a matter of simple physics “The diffraction effect from the edges of an aperture is a fundamental concept in optics and physics.” (as evidence one can see courses.physics.ucsd.edu/2009/Spring/physics2c/documents/6.2Singleslitdiffraction.pdf)
Therefore if not explicit then at least It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 than any size of the pinhole will result in diffraction (although sometimes smeared in case of large pinholes)
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
Regarding claim 2 D1 teaches beamsplitter 3
beam splitter having a predetermined reflectance and transmittance is formed on a joined surface of said reflecting part(fig. 1a)
and said reflecting part is configured to deflect said optical axis of said distance measuring light via said beam splitter film so as to coincide with an optical axis of said reflected distance measuring light.(fig. 1a)
But does not explicitly say
The surveying instrument according to claim 1, wherein said distance measuring light projecting module has a reflecting prism having two prisms joined together, a beam splitter film having a predetermined reflectance and transmittance is formed on a joined surface of said reflecting prism, and said reflecting prism is configured to deflect said optical axis of said distance measuring light via said beam splitter film so as to coincide with an optical axis of said reflected distance measuring light.
Although D1 does not explicitly teach limitation above it is very well known beam splitter design and therefore It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 in order to build beamsplitter required for D1.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of D2 US 4569591 A.
Regarding claim 3 D1 does not teach but D2 teaches
The surveying instrument according to claim 2, wherein said reflecting prism is configured to tilt with respect to said optical axis of said reflected distance measuring light, and said distance measuring light is configured to enter at a slight tilt with respect to a projecting surface of said reflecting prism.(claim 3)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 with teaching by D2 for adjustment of the light target in a second direction hereby optical performance of the laser beam expander optical path is maintained after adjusting the light target in the first and second directions and the laser beam expander optics and beam steering optical mechanism are combined for compactness
4, 8, 9 The surveying instrument according to claim 1, wherein said distance measuring light receiving module has a light amount adjusting plate(14 filter) provided on an optical axis of said reflected distance measuring light, and a light amount adjusting surface capable of changing a transmittance of said reflected distance measuring light at an incidence position is configured to be formed on said light amount adjusting plate.(fig. 2 and fig. 7)
Claim(s) 7, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (in view of D2 US 4569591 A for claim 3) further in view of D4 US 6433860 B1.
D1 does not teach but D4 teaches
5, 10-14 The surveying instrument according to claim 1, further comprising a tracking light projecting module(2000 fig. 3) configured to project a tracking light to said object coaxially with said distance measuring light(fig. 3), and a tracking light receiving module having a tracking photodetector configured to receive a reflected tracking light reflected from said object coaxially with said reflected distance measuring light(fig. 3 6600 eyepiece can be considered photodetector but placing any visible light detector is obvious modification), wherein a dichroic mirror(6100) configured to coincide said optical axis of said distance measuring light with an optical axis of said tracking light is provided on a common optical path of said distance measuring light and said tracking light(fig. 3), and a separating surface configured to separate said optical axis of said reflected distance measuring light from an optical axis of said reflected tracking light is provided on a common optical path of said reflected distance measuring light and said reflected tracking light.(fig. 3)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 with teaching by D4 in order to provide visible tracking light for the user in case measuring light is in non visible spectrum.
Claim(s) 6,15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (in view of D2 US 4569591 A for claim 3).
Although D1 does not explicitly teach
6, 15-17 The surveying instrument according to claim 2, wherein a long-pass filter surface configured to reflect a visible light is formed on a projecting surface of said reflecting prism from which said distance measuring light is projected, and an image pickup module is provided on a reflected optical axis of said long-pass filter surface.
Placing different filters on different surfaces of the optical system to limit background is well known in the art and therefore It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 in order to decrease the noise associated with the other sources.
Claim(s) 7, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (in view of D2 US 4569591 A for claim 3) further in view of D3 US 20150185008 A1/ D4 US 6433860 B1.
Although D1 does not teach D3/D4 teaches
7, 18-20 The surveying instrument according to claim 1, further comprising a laser pointer light projecting module configured to project a laser pointer light coaxially with said distance measuring light[0010-0018], and an image pickup module configured to separate said reflected distance measuring light from a visible light.[0058]/ claim 1
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 with teaching by D3 in order to give visual representation of the point of measurement in case the measuring laser is in invisible range.
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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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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