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 .
Claims 1-10 are cancelled.
Claims 11-19 are new and pending.
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) 11-12, 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Eggers (DE 10-2011-109440).
Regarding Claims 11 and 17, Eggers discloses a method and control device for calibrating a first lighting device, a second lighting device, and an optical sensor [Fig 10; 0101; 0134-35], comprising the steps of: controlling the first lighting device , the second lighting device, and the optical sensor in a temporally coordinated manner [Fig 12; 0153]; associating the controlling with a visible distance range; capturing a first recorded image with the optical sensor by the controlling during an illumination by the first lighting device [0146]; capturing a second recorded image with the optical sensor by the controlling during an illumination by the second lighting device [Fig 12; 0153] ; forming a differential recorded image as a difference between the first recorded image and the second recorded image [Fig 11-13; 0153]; and evaluating and/or changing the coordinated controlling and/or the first lighting device and/or the second lighting device on a basis of the differential recorded image [0157].
Regarding Claim 12, Eggers also discloses wherein: a plurality of first recorded images and a plurality of second recorded images are alternately captured [0148]; an average first recorded image is determined from the plurality of first recorded images [0148]; an average second recorded image is determined from the plurality of second recorded images [0154]; and the differential recorded image is formed as a difference between the average first recorded image and the average second recorded image [0153-54].
Regarding Claim 18, Eggers also discloses a calibrating device [Fig 10], comprising: a first lighting device; a second lighting device; an optical sensor; and a control device configured to perform the method according to claim 11 [0101; 0134].
Regarding Claim 19, Eggers also teaches at least one of a communication device, a first cleaning device for the first lighting device , and a second cleaning device for the second lighting device [0101; 0134-35; 0146-48; 0153-57]- as it would be common in the art to use the control device for cleaning or controlling headlamps.
Claim(s) 11, 13, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Goetting (DE 10-2010-051602).
Regarding Claims 11 and 17, Goetting discloses a method and control device for calibrating a first lighting device, a second lighting device, and an optical sensor [Fig 1; 0008-09; 0041; 0052], comprising the steps of: controlling the first lighting device , the second lighting device, and the optical sensor in a temporally coordinated manner [0041; 0052; 0060; 0119; 0126; 0152; 0238]; associating the controlling with a visible distance range; capturing a first recorded image with the optical sensor by the controlling during an illumination by the first lighting device [0041; 0052; 0060; 0119; 0126;]; capturing a second recorded image with the optical sensor by the controlling during an illumination by the second lighting device [0041; 0052; 0060; 0119; 0126; 0152; 0238] ; forming a differential recorded image as a difference between the first recorded image and the second recorded image [0060; 0119; 0126; 0152; 0238]; and evaluating and/or changing the coordinated controlling and/or the first lighting device and/or the second lighting device on a basis of the differential recorded image [0060; 0119; 0126; 0152; 0238].
Regarding Claim 13, Goetting also discloses the step of capturing a third recorded image with the optical sensor during a time with no illumination by the first lighting device or the second lighting device , wherein the differential recorded image is formed from the first recorded image, the second recorded image, and the third recorded image [0052; 0238].
Regarding Claim 15, Goetting also discloses the step of calibrating at least one recorded image, from which the differential recorded image is formed, with a rim light fall-off correction, wherein the rim light fall-off correction is determined based on a rim light fall-off of the optical sensor [0060].
Regarding Claim 16, Goetting also discloses wherein the first lighting device, the second lighting device, and the optical sensor are included in the controlling with an intrinsic speed of a motor vehicle which has the first lighting device the second lighting device, and the optical sensor [0146].
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) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eggers (DE 10-2011-109440), as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Fujimoto (US 2009/0251534).
Regarding Claim 14, Eggers also teaches the step of calibrating at least one recorded image, from which the differential recorded image is formed with a lighting factor [0146; 0153; 0157]. Eggers does not explicitly teach – but Fujimoto does teach wherein the lighting factor is determined based on a difference of a luminous intensity between the first lighting device and the second lighting device [Fig 7; 0093; 0099-0107]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Eggers to include different luminous intensities between the lighting devices in order to optimize exposure time for either of the images, or maximize the signal to noise ratio of the difference image.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goetting (DE 10-2010-051602), as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Fujimoto (US 2009/0251534).
Regarding Claim 14, Goetting also teaches the step of calibrating at least one recorded image, from which the differential recorded image is formed with a lighting factor [0041; 0052; 0060; 0119; 0126; 0152; 0238]. Goetting does not explicitly teach – but Fujimoto does teach wherein the lighting factor is determined based on a difference of a luminous intensity between the first lighting device and the second lighting device [Fig 7; 0093; 0099-0107]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Goetting to include different luminous intensities between the lighting devices in order to optimize exposure time for either of the images, or maximize the signal to noise ratio of the difference image.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R HULKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7553. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 9am-6pm, F: 10am-2pm.
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JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645