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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 21 February 2024 by the applicant has been considered and is included in the file.
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, 5-6 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki (US 20120013888 A1) in view of Kelly (US 20220166909 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Aoki teaches an electro-optical distance meter comprising:
a first light emitting element configured to transmit a light modulated with a plurality of main modulation frequencies to a distance measurement optical path along which a light travels back and forth to a target reflection object as a distance measurement light ([0014], [0028]; Fig. 2 first light emitting element (13) emits frequency modulated light along path (23) with frequencies F1 and F2);
a second light emitting element configured to transmit a light modulated with adjacent modulation frequencies close to the respective main modulation frequencies to a reference optical path as a reference light ([0014], [0028]; Fig. 2 second light emitting element (14) emits frequency modulated light along path (29) with frequencies which are near to F1 and F2);
a light receiving element configured to receive the light emitted from the first light emitting element and the light emitted from the second light emitting element ([0014], [0028]; Fig. 2 light receiving element (40) receives light from paths (23) and (29));
a frequency converter group that is connected to the light receiving element and is configured to convert received light signals based on the distance measurement light and the reference light into intermediate frequency signals ([0014], [0028] - [0029]; Fig. 2 frequency conversion group includes frequency converters (42, 44, 50, 52));
and an arithmetic processing unit configured to measure a distance to the target reflection object based on the intermediate frequency signals ([0014], [0034]; Fig. 2, distance is calculated within electro-optical distance meter after intermediate frequency signals output to A/D converters (47), (55)),
wherein the frequency converter group is constituted of frequency converters the number of which is equal to the number of the main modulation frequencies, signals of local frequencies corresponding to the respective main modulation signals are respectively input to the respective frequency converters ([0014], [0028] - [0029]; Fig. 2 frequency conversion group includes frequency converters (42, 44, 50, 52) where the number for each is equal to the number of main modulation frequencies),
the respective local frequencies are frequencies close to both the corresponding main modulation frequencies and the corresponding adjacent modulation frequencies close to the main modulation frequencies ([0014]),
each of the frequency converters is configured to generate a distance measurement intermediate frequency signal based on the distance measurement light and a reference intermediate frequency signal based on the reference light ([0014], [0031] - [0034]),
the arithmetic processing unit is configured to calculate the distance to the target reflection object by subtracting the reference intermediate frequency signal from the distance measurement intermediate frequency signal ([0014], [0016]; where distance to target is calculated based on arithmetic combination of intermediate frequency signals).
Aoki is silent on the specific modulation frequencies utilized.
Kelly teaches an optical imaging system where modulated light of at least a first and second frequency are used to determine distance data, where the plurality of main modulation frequencies are equal to or less than 10 MHz ([0178], where light may be modulated at a frequency of, for example, 1kHz, 1 MHz or 10 MHz).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Kelly to use a specific frequency in the range of 10 MHz or less to modulate the emitted light from the system with a reasonable expectation of success. As Kelly notes, there are a plethora of modulation frequency options utilizable for systems, where the exact value is usually determined by the use of the system ([0131], [0178]).
Regarding claim 2, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1, wherein
a deviation between each of the main modulation frequencies and the local frequency corresponding to each of the main modulation frequencies is 10 times or more larger than a deviation between each of the adjacent modulation frequencies and the main modulation frequency close to the each of the adjacent modulation frequencies ([0048], [0058]).
Regarding claim 5, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1, wherein
the first and second light emitting elements are formed of a laser diode ([0028]),
the first light emitting element is configured to transmit, in addition to the plurality of main modulation frequencies, a light modulated with a high-frequency main modulation frequency that is higher in frequency than the plurality of main modulation frequencies to the distance measurement path ([0053], [0068] - [0069], where a third frequency may be added to the main modulation frequencies and increasing the modulation frequency increases range of system),
the second light emitting element is configured to transmit, in addition to the adjacent modulation frequencies close to the plurality of main modulation frequencies, a light modulated with a high-frequency adjacent modulation frequency close to the high-frequency main modulation frequency to the reference optical path ([0053], [0068] - [0069], where a third frequency may be added to the adjacent modulation frequencies and increasing the modulation frequency increases range of system).
Aoki teaches use of a low-pass filter, but does not explicitly utilize it before a frequency-converter group ([0042], [0052]).
Kelly teaches an electro-optical distance meter is configured such that neither a distance measurement signal based on the distance measurement light modulated with the high-frequency main modulation frequency nor a distance measurement signal based on the reference light modulated with the high- frequency adjacent modulation signal is input to the frequency converter group ([0148]; Fig. 13A, optical bandpass filter, such as a high-or low-pass filter, (1018) may be used to block or remove light before it reaches a sensor or other optical component.)
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Kelly to utilize a band-pass filter before a frequency converter group to filter out the emitted high frequency main and reference lights with a reasonable expectation of success. As Aoki teaches use of band-pass filters, specifically low-pass filters to filter out higher frequency signals post frequency-converter group, this would be a simple inclusion of an additional filter at another location in the optical system, and as such would have a predictable result of further controlling the frequencies of signals being transmitted to specific optical or electrical components.
Claim 6 is similarly rejected to claim 5.
Regarding claim 8, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1.
Aoki is silent on the light emitting elements being a light-emitting diode.
Kelly teaches that an option within electro-optical distance meters can include embodiments where he first and second light emitting elements are formed of a light-emitting-diode ([0133], where lasers, laser diodes or light emitting diodes may be the light source for use in a frequency modulation based system).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Kelly to instead use a light-emitting diode, instead of a laser diode or other light emitter option, with a reasonable expectation of success. This is a simple substitution of two elements with predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art, as both laser-diodes and light-emitting diodes would operate to emit light in a similar fashion, as the system of Kelly teaches both as options [0133]).
Claim 9 is similarly rejected to claim 8.
Claim(s) 3-4, 7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki (US 20120013888 A1) in view of Kelly (US 20220166909 A1), and further in view of Niu (WO 2022217407 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 1, further comprising:
an amplifier configured to amplify the received light signal and to input the received light signal to the frequency converter group ([0041], [0065]; Fig. 2 amplifier (41) sits between receiver (40) and frequency converters (42, 44));
and a received light amount adjustment means configured to adjust a received light amount level detected by the light receiving element ([0045]; Fig. 2 neutral density filters (24, 30) adjusts received light amount detected by receiver (40)), wherein
an amplitude of the amplifier is set to a value lower than a proper value ([0045], where intermediate frequency signal levels are used to determine adjustment by neutral density filters (24, 30)).
Aoki and Kelly do not teach a system where the amplitude is set to a level based on the minimum magnitude associated with a reachable limit of the system’s range.
Niu teaches an FMCW system where a level of a distance measurement signal becomes a minimum magnitude that satisfies a reachable limit flight distance of the distance measurement light, and the received light amount adjustment means is set such that, in a state where the amplitude is set lower than the proper value, the level of the distance measurement intermediate frequency signal is set to a value at which the level of the distance measurement intermediate frequency signal becomes the minimum magnitude that satisfies the reachable limit flight distance ([0080] - [0087], where signal strength values related to distances less than a threshold distance , such as 300 meters, are reduced by a denoising algorithm and effectively act to filter the signals to a lowered, optionally minimum, value).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to further modify Aoki and Kelly to incorporate the teachings of Niu to set a signal’s adjusted amplitude based on a minimum associated with a reachable limit flight distance of the system with a reasonable expectation of success. As Aoki teaches use of filters and amplifiers in the system, which are used to modify signal amplitudes at different points in the signal path, incorporation of maximum amplitude values based on a system’s range minimum threshold would have a predictable result of further manipulating collected signals, specifically intermediate frequency signals, in an attempt to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio which is a known sought improvement in the art of range finding.
Claim 4 is similarly rejected to claim 3.
Regarding claim 7, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 3, wherein
the first and second light emitting elements are formed of a laser diode ([0028]),
the first light emitting element is configured to transmit, in addition to the plurality of main modulation frequencies, a light modulated with a high-frequency main modulation frequency that is higher in frequency than the plurality of main modulation frequencies to the distance measurement path ([0053], [0068] - [0069], where a third frequency may be added to the main modulation frequencies and increasing the modulation frequency increases range of system),
the second light emitting element is configured to transmit, in addition to the adjacent modulation frequencies close to the plurality of main modulation frequencies, a light modulated with a high-frequency adjacent modulation frequency close to the high-frequency main modulation frequency to the reference optical path ([0053], [0068] - [0069], where a third frequency may be added to the adjacent modulation frequencies and increasing the modulation frequency increases range of system).
Aoki teaches use of a low-pass filter, but does not explicitly utilize it before a frequency-converter group ([0042], [0052]).
Kelly teaches an electro-optical distance meter is configured such that neither a distance measurement signal based on the distance measurement light modulated with the high-frequency main modulation frequency nor a distance measurement signal based on the reference light modulated with the high- frequency adjacent modulation signal is input to the frequency converter group ([0148]; Fig. 13A, optical bandpass filter, such as a high-or low-pass filter, (1018) may be used to block or remove light before it reaches a sensor or other optical component.)
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Kelly to utilize a band-pass filter before a frequency converter group to filter out the emitted high frequency main and reference lights with a reasonable expectation of success. As Aoki teaches use of band-pass filters, specifically low-pass filters to filter out higher frequency signals post frequency-converter group, this would be a simple inclusion of an additional filter at another location in the optical system, and as such would have a predictable result of further controlling the frequencies of signals being transmitted to specific optical or electrical components.
Regarding claim 10, Aoki as modified above teaches the electro-optical distance meter according to claim 3.
Aoki is silent on the light emitting elements being a light-emitting diode.
Kelly teaches that an option within electro-optical distance meters can include embodiments where he first and second light emitting elements are formed of a light-emitting-diode ([0133], where lasers, laser diodes or light emitting diodes may be the light source for use in a frequency modulation based system).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Aoki to incorporate the teachings of Kelly to instead use a light-emitting diode, instead of a laser diode or other light emitter option, with a reasonable expectation of success. This is a simple substitution of two elements with predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art, as both laser-diodes and light-emitting diodes would operate to emit light in a similar fashion, as the system of Kelly teaches both as options [0133]).
Conclusion
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/K.M.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645