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 § 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 pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The limitation “calculate, based on the laser scanning data, a straight line that connects the right and left wall surfaces and that crosses a perpendicular line passing a position at which the laser scanning apparatus is set up” is indefinite as there are infinite number of possible lines. It is unclear shich one need to be calculated.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because
the claimed invention is directed to simple geometrical calculation without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s)
“acquire laser scanning data of right and left wall surfaces of a tunnel, the laser scanning data being obtained by a laser scanning apparatus;”
“a horizontal rotation unit; a vertical rotation unit disposed on the horizontal rotation unit; and an optical unit disposed on the vertical rotation unit and configured to emit and receive laser scanning light, the laser scanning data being obtained by laser scanning that is performed while the horizontal rotation unit is rotated in a limited range and the vertical rotation unit is rotated” are only the standard laser measuring apparatus equipment to obtain lidar scanning data and used only for the collection of the data.
The claimed inventive concept “calculate, based on the laser scanning data, a straight line that connects the right and left wall surfaces and that crosses a perpendicular line passing a position at which the laser scanning apparatus is set up; and calculate a direction orthogonal to the straight line in a horizontal plane, the straight line being a straight line connecting the right and left wall surfaces at a shortest distance or a straight line perpendicular to at least one of the right and left wall surfaces” is just mathematical calculation dan data manipulation. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the calculations are not applied to the technology to improve anything. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because additional equipment which is described above is just simple lidar device for dimensionality measurement and data collection.
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 1 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over D1 US 5999865 A.
Regarding claims bellow D1 teaches
1. A laser scanning data processing device comprising a processor or circuitry configured to:
acquire laser scanning data of right and left wall surfaces of a tunnel, the laser scanning data being obtained by a laser scanning apparatus;(col 2 line 30-40)
calculate, based on the laser scanning data, a straight line that connects the right and left wall surfaces and that crosses a perpendicular line passing a position at which the laser scanning apparatus is set up; (fig. 5)and
the straight line being a straight line connecting the right and left wall surfaces at a shortest distance or a straight line perpendicular to at least one of the right and left wall surfaces.(fig. 5)
Although D1 does not explicitly teach
calculate a direction orthogonal to the straight line in a horizontal plane,
D1 explicitly teach navigation on path which is orthogonal to the straight line in a horizontal plane(fig. 5) and identification f such navigation is safe or not (col 6 line 57-col 7 line 8, col 5 line 43-55, col 1 line 63-col2 line 12)
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 steer safely between the walls according the safest path.
2. The laser scanning data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor or circuitry is further configured to:
calculate the right and left wall surfaces based on the laser scanning data; and
calculate the straight line,(fig. 5) which connects the right and left wall surfaces and that crosses the perpendicular line passing the position at which the laser scanning apparatus is set up(fig. 5), based on the calculated right and left wall surfaces.(fig. 5)
Claim 3-7 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over D1 US 5999865 A in view of D2 US 20140078519 A1.
Regarding claim 3 D1 does not explicitly teach but D2 teaches
3. The laser scanning data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the laser scanning apparatus comprises:
a horizontal rotation unit;[0057]
a vertical rotation unit disposed on the horizontal rotation unit; and[0057]
an optical unit(28) disposed on the vertical rotation unit (fig. 4)and configured to emit and receive laser scanning light, [0057]
the laser scanning data being obtained by laser scanning that is performed while the horizontal rotation unit is rotated in a limited range and the vertical rotation unit is rotated.(fig. 4)[0057]
4. The laser scanning data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the laser scanning apparatus comprises:
the laser scanning data includes a first laser-scanned point cloud and a second laser-scanned point cloud, the first and second laser-scanned point clouds are obtained by laser scanning that is performed while the horizontal rotation unit is rotated in a condition in which an optical axis of the optical unit is fixed in a horizontal direction so as to not move vertically, the first and second laser-scanned point clouds are linearly distributed along the right and left wall surfaces, respectively, and.(fig. 4)[00570061][0097](step by step rotation)
Although D1 and D2 does not explicitly say the processor or circuitry is further configured to:
calculate a first line that fits to the first laser-scanned point cloud and a second line that fits to the second laser-scanned point cloud; and
calculate a straight line connecting the first line and the second line at a shortest distance or a straight line perpendicular to at least one of the first line and the second line, as the straight line.
the processor or circuitry is further configured to:
calculate a first line that fits to the first laser-scanned point cloud; and
calculate a straight line perpendicular to the first line, as the straight line.
It is just repetition of the same procedure for different scanning points and showing midpoints and line perpendicular coming from midpoint as a route(safe passageway)..(for example as presented in fig.8 of US 10859389 B2)
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 in order to obtain the 3D point cloud in the tunnel environment as required by D1.
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645