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 Objections
Claims 1, 2 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claimed limitation “…to generate first voltage monotonically…to generate second voltage monotonically” in lines 4 and 8 of claim 1 should be changed to “…to generate a first voltage monotonically…to generate a second voltage monotonically”. The claimed limitation “…by dividing power supply voltage” in line 2 of claim 2 should be changed to “…by dividing a power supply voltage”. The claimed limitation “…by dividing power supply voltage” in line 2 of claim 9 should be changed to “…by dividing a power supply voltage”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 8 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Delfs et al. (US PG Pub 2014/0153599) in view of Yamane et al. (US 6,061,173).
Regarding claim 1, Delfs et al. disclose: a first terminal (anode) and a second terminal (cathode) being capable of connecting a semiconductor laser diode (10a) (Fig. 5, [0063]); a current monitor unit (laser driver) configured to generate first voltage monotonically decreasing relative to an increase in drive current flowing through the semiconductor laser diode connected between the first terminal and the second terminal (paragraph [0048] to [0050] and Figs. 2 and 3 discloses that the electrical voltage applied to the laser diode decreases when the drive current increases, I1 > I2 > I3 while U1 > U2, the drive current (I, shown in Fig. 2) is increased to compensate for temperature increase due to laser self-heating, the voltage (U shown in Fig. 3) is monotonically decreased as the drive current increases) (Fig. 5, [0038], [0048]-[0050]).
Delfs et al. do not disclose: a reference voltage generation unit configured to generate second voltage monotonically decreasing relative to a rise in ambient temperature; and a control unit configured to control the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the first voltage and the second voltage.
Yamane et al. disclose: a reference voltage generation unit (variable reference voltage inherently requires a generation unit) configured to generate a variable reference voltage; and a control unit configured to control the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the detected electric signal and the reference voltage (Fig. 10, col. 8, lines 28-38). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Delfs by adding a photosensor and reference voltage generation unit to generate a second voltage (reference voltage) monotonically decreasing relative to a rise in ambient temperature in order to control the laser diode based on the difference between the reference voltage and detected electric signal (detected electric signal is proportional to first voltage and control unit would adjust the drive signal to reduce the difference between the first and second voltage).
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Figs. 2 and 3 of Delfs
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Fig. 5 of Delfs
Regarding claim 8, Delfs et al. disclose: generating first voltage (using laser driver) monotonically decreasing relative to an increase in drive current of a semiconductor laser diode (paragraph [0048] to [0050] and Figs. 2 and 3 discloses that the electrical voltage applied to the laser diode decreases when the drive current increases, I1 > I2 > I3 while U1 > U2, the drive current (I, shown in Fig. 2) is increased to compensate for temperature increase due to laser self-heating, the voltage (U shown in Fig. 3) is monotonically decreased as the drive current increases) (Figs. 2, 3 and 5, [0038], [0048]-[0050]).
Delfs et al. do not disclose: generating second voltage monotonically decreasing relative to a rise in ambient temperature; and controlling the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the first voltage and the second voltage.
Yamane et al. disclose: a reference voltage generation unit (variable reference voltage inherently requires a generation unit) configured to generate a variable reference voltage; and a control unit configured to control the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the detected electric signal and the reference voltage (Fig. 10, col. 8, lines 28-38). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Delfs by adding a photosensor and reference voltage generation unit to generate a second voltage (reference voltage) monotonically decreasing relative to a rise in ambient temperature in order to control the laser diode based on the difference between the reference voltage and detected electric signal (detected electric signal is proportional to first voltage and control unit would adjust the drive signal to reduce the difference between the first and second voltage).
Regarding claim 15, Delfs et al. disclose: a tangible and non-transitory recording medium for control program for causing a computer included in a control unit (laser driver 15 or compensation device 16) (Fig. 5, [0063], [0064], claim 14) of drive current to execute: a procedure of acquiring first voltage monotonically decreasing relative to drive current (paragraph [0048] to [0050] and Figs. 2 and 3 discloses that the electrical voltage applied to the laser diode decreases when the drive current increases, I1 > I2 > I3 while U1 > U2, the drive current (I, shown in Fig. 2) is increased to compensate for temperature increase due to laser self-heating, the voltage (U shown in Fig. 3) is monotonically decreased as the drive current increases) (Figs. 2, 3 and 5, [0038], [0048]-[0050]).
Delfs et al. do not disclose: a procedure of acquiring second voltage monotonically decreasing relative to ambient temperature; and a procedure of controlling the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the first voltage and the second voltage.
Yamane et al. disclose: a reference voltage generation unit (variable reference voltage inherently requires a generation unit) configured to generate a variable reference voltage; and a control unit configured to control the drive current in such a way as to reduce a difference between the detected electric signal and the reference voltage (Fig. 10, col. 8, lines 28-38). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Delfs by adding a photosensor and reference voltage generation unit to generate a second voltage (reference voltage) monotonically decreasing relative to a rise in ambient temperature in order to control the laser diode based on the difference between the reference voltage and detected electric signal (detected electric signal is proportional to first voltage and control unit would adjust the drive signal to reduce the difference between the first and second voltage).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 and 9-14 are 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.
Claim 2 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…wherein the reference voltage generation unit generates the first voltage by dividing power supply voltage by use of a functional element in which a temperature characteristic of a voltage drop is a negative value.”
Claim 6 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…wherein, as a change amount of the second voltage relative to a change in the ambient temperature, a value that suppresses fluctuation of optical output of the semiconductor laser diode resulting from a change in the ambient temperature is selected.”
Claim 9 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…further comprising generating the first voltage by dividing power supply voltage by use of a functional element in which a temperature characteristic of a voltage drop is a negative value.”
Claim 13 is allowable as the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “…further comprising selecting, as a change amount of the second voltage relative to a change in the ambient temperature, a value that suppresses fluctuation of optical output, of a semiconductor laser diode driven by the drive current, resulting from a change in the ambient temperature.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ishida et al. (US PG Pub 2003/0035451) disclose: Referring to FIG. 5, it can be seen that there is caused a voltage drop VLDDOWN of about 1.4V when a drive current of only 250 .µA is supplied to the laser diode. Further, it can be seen that the magnitude of the voltage drop VLDDOWN increases generally linearly when the magnitude of the drive current is increased further beyond the foregoing value of 250 µA ([0113]). Nishida et al. (US PG Pub 2007/0115227) disclose: FIG. 6 shows input/output characteristics of the driving circuit 100 according to the second preferred embodiment. In the present preferred embodiment, the specified voltage Vlim that sets the specified current Ilim of the current limiter 20 continuously changes in accordance with the operation voltage Vop. Specifically, when the temperature decreases at the time of driving the semiconductor laser LD1 with constant current, the operation voltage Vop increases, and the output voltage Vs2 of the temperature detection circuit 40 decreases. As a result, as the temperature decreases, the specified voltage Vlim and the specified current Ilim decrease ([0063]). Kubo (US PG Pub 2008/0056318) discloses: One aspect of the present invention can include a laser light output control apparatus having a plurality of laser light output control systems including a laser light source capable of receiving supplying of current via a power supplying path from a power source and irradiating laser light, a photo-detecting device capable of receiving the light irradiated from the laser light source and outputting a monitor current dependent on the amount of light received, a conversion circuit capable of converting the monitor current into a voltage value, a control circuit capable of controlling the current supplied to the laser light source based on the voltage value outputted from the conversion circuit so that the intensity of laser light irradiated from the laser light source changes to a predetermined value, the respective conversion circuits of each said output control system have a fixed resistor and a variable resistor connected in series to each other, and at least one of the fixed resistors of each said plurality of laser light output control system has a resistance value different from the fixed resistors of the other plurality of laser light output control systems (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINNING(TOM) NIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1437. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-6:00pm.
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/XINNING(Tom) NIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828