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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed limitation of claims 5 and 6 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-18 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.
Applicant uses unconventional interpretation of the term “phase”. Phase in signal processing has specific meaning but Applicant uses it instead of frame. Applicant need to clarify the term.
Also It is unclear how evaluation unit recognize the dazzling. it is unclear what is dazzling , is it radiation coming from outside or can be simple detector malfunction when detector fires due to the some problems. Examiner interpretation is abnormal detector reading.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 17 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 US 20190011541 A1 .
Regarding claims 1, 17 D1 teaches
An optoelectronic sensor for detecting objects in a monitored zone,
that has a light transmitter for transmitting at least one light beam(fig. 4B), a movable deflection unit for the periodic scanning of the monitored zone by the at least one light beam[0013],
a light receiver for generating a received signal from the light beam remitted by the objects(fig. 4b), and a control and evaluation unit that is configured to acquire information on the objects in the monitored zone from the received signal,(fig. 4B)
wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to recognize first phases with dazzling and second phases without dazzle and to decide with reference to the distribution of the first phases and second phases whether dazzle prevents the safe detection.[0122+0010]
2. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the optoelectronic scanner is a laser scanner.(fig. 20)
3. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the information acquired by the control and evaluation unit
comprises measuring a distance by means of a time of flight process [0073]and recognizing dazzling of the light receiver and switching into a dazzle state in the case of dazzle preventing safe detection.([0122-0125])
4. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to count the first phases over a time interval and/or to determine an accumulated duration of the first phases over the time interval.[0123](error couner)
7. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with that has an additional light receiver for dazzle recognition.(fig. 15C)
8. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to recognize a dazzling using the received signal.[0122-0125]
9. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to recognize dazzle
with reference to a level determination of the received signal[0122-0125] or a determination of the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal.
10. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to set a reflector bit
when the level is higher than a reflector threshold [0122]and/or to set a noise flag when the signal-to-noise ratio is smaller than a noise threshold.
11. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to recognize a
phase as a first phase with dazzle when the level of the received signal is higher than a reflector threshold [0122] and/or the signal-to-noise ratio is smaller than a noise threshold and at the same time no object is detected.
12. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with any wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to determine whether an object is located in a protected field configured within the monitored zone and to initiate a safety related response in this case.[0129] with [0122-0125]
13. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to determine the first phases and second phases in dependence on an angular position of the deflection unit.[0128]
14. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to trigger a safety related response in the dazzle state or on the transition into the dazzle state.[0122-0127]
15. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the control and evaluation unit is configured to output a restriction signal that indicates a restricted detection capability of the optoelectronic sensor. [0122-0127]
18. The method of The method of
wherein the acquired information on the objects in the monitored zone comprises measuring a distance by means of a time of flight process. [0073]
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) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
Regarding claim 16 D1 teaches
16. The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with The optoelectronic sensor in accordance with wherein the restriction signal comprises a reduced state[0132]
But does not explicitly say reduced range.
Although D1 does not explicitly say reduced range term “reduced state” is including reduced range possibility and although not explicit It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 to operate in reduced range in order to make sure that no object in long distance is accidentally missed due to the malfunctioning detector dead zone.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5, 6 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.
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645