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) 10, 12-13, 15-20 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) 10, 17 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 CN110535028A in view of D01 US 20080094643 A1 .
Regarding claims 17 D1 teaches
A laser emission drive circuit(210+ part of the 220 without D2), configured to be coupled to a laser device(D2) and an energy storage unit(C1), (fig. 1)
wherein the laser emission drive circuit comprises a drive unit,
a switch unit(M2+ S1+S2) , and
a detection unit(230),
wherein the drive unit(everything but D2) is configured to strobe a light-emitting circuit(fig. 1 Vpulse) of the laser device based on a laser emission trigger signal of a first control terminal, to cause the laser device to emit light;(page 6)
the switch unit is configured to strobe a voltage supply path in response to a switch signal of a second control terminal, and to charge the energy storage unit(c1);
a first terminal of the energy storage(C1) unit is coupled to the laser device(D2) and the switch unit(M2), and a second terminal of the energy storage unit is grounded,(fig. 2) the energy storage unit forms the voltage supply path with a supplied voltage and the switch unit and forms the light-emitting circuit of the laser with the drive unit and the ground, (fig. 2)the energy storage unit being configured to perform charging based on the switch signal of the second control terminal and perform discharging based on the laser emission trigger signal of the first control terminal; and(page 6,7)
control unit comprising a processor, configured to: output a switch signal to control a switch unit in the laser emission drive circuit to strobe a voltage supply path to charge the energy storage unit; output a laser emission trigger signal to control a drive unit in the laser emission drive circuit to strobe a light-emitting circuit of the laser device, to cause the laser device to emit light; and receive a state feedback signal generated by the laser emission drive circuit; (page 6, 7)
wherein the energy storage unit is configured to perform discharging based on the laser emission trigger signal outputted by the control unit, and to perform charging based on the switch signal outputted by the control unit..(page 6, 7)
but does not teach while D01 teaches
process a determination of whether the state feedback signal is received and a type of the state feedback(maximum and minimum operation amount) signal received [0006][0207], fig. 96
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D01 in order to operate laser within the appropriate operational parameters.
11. The lidar according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is further configured to perform corresponding processing based on a determination that the state feedback signal is received and a type of the state feedback signal. (page 6, 7)
12. The lidar according to claim 11, wherein the state feedback signal comprises a first state feedback signal, and the control unit is further configured to generate a laser device turn-off signal in response to the first state feedback signal, to control the laser device to stop operating. (page 6, 7, page 9)
13. The lidar according to claim 11, wherein the state feedback signal comprises a first state feedback signal, and the control unit is further configured to:
control a first terminal of the energy storage unit to be grounded;
set an emission channel corresponding to the laser device as a light-emission-prohibited channel; and
output human eye safety alarm information in response to the first state feedback signal.(page 7)
16. The lidar according to claim 10, wherein the laser emission drive circuit comprises a detection unit that is configured to detect a signal of a second terminal of the energy storage unit during discharging and generate a corresponding state feedback signal based on a comparison of the signal with a preset threshold.(page 6, 7)
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the preset emission control parameter comprises at least one of an emission time sequence, an emission power(page 8), a pulse width, and a quantity of continuously transmitted pulse signals of the laser device.(page 6, 7)
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the energy storage unit is configured to perform discharging based on the laser emission trigger signal. (page 6, 7)
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the state feedback signal is generated based at least in part on a comparison of a signal of the energy storage unit with a preset threshold. (page 6, 7)
Regarding claims 15 D1 does not explicitly teach while D01 teaches
15. The lidar according to claim 11, wherein the state feedback signal comprises a third state feedback signal, and the control unit is further configured to output a corresponding excessive light intensity alarm signal when receiving the third state feedback signal.[0212-0213]
But teaches using threshold voltage for safe operation. And therefore It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 to use different threshold settings in order to ensure proper operation of the device at different conditions .(just simple multiplication of the elements to include multiple thresholds with alarming user that safe operation parameters are not met)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 5-9 allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Applicants arguments are persuasive that the specific connection of the detection modules is not taught by the art .
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claim 14 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
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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