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(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 3, 11, and 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 3, 11, and 19 includes the first and second reflected lasers are generated by a first and second lasers whereas claim 1, 9, and 17 respectively includes the limitation that the first and second reflected lasers are from the same laser. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen (20190132572) in view of Day (20190324147).
Referring to claims 1, 9, and 17, Shen shows a detection apparatus (corresponding method and control apparatus), comprising: at least one laser (see figure 3 Ref 401), at least one planar array detector (see figure 3 Ref 409), at least one lens assembly (see paragraph 36 note the zoom lens and dichroic filter)), at least one optical detector (see figure 3 Ref 403), and
the lens assembly is configured to focus reflected light of at least one first laser light beam to the planar array detector (see figure 3 note Ref 405 and 409, also see paragraph 16), and the reflected light of the at least one first laser light beam is located within a detection range of the lens assembly (see figure 3 also see figure 5 Ref 603); and
a scanner (see paragraph 18 ) is configured to reflect reflected light of at least one second laser light beam to the optical detector, and the reflected light of the at least one second laser light beam is within a detection range
the at least one first laser light beam and the at least one second laser light beam are emitted by using the at least one laser (see figure 3 Ref 401 also note the split reflected light going to Ref 403 and 409, also note the other embodiment shown in figure 4 that includes the lidar sensor 403 and the camera 503 that both receive the reflected laser beam).
While Shen shows the use of a scanning device in the optical detector (see paragraph 18), Shen fails to show the use of a MEMS device to direct light to the optical detector.
Day shows a similar device that includes the use of a MEMS device to direct light to the optical detector (see figure 3C note the RX mirror). It would have been obvious to include the MEMS device to direct light from the field of view to the optical detector as shown by Day because this allows for the adjustment of the FOV of the optical detector to match the FOV of the planar detector as required by Shen (see figure 5).
Referring to claims 2, 10, and 18, Shen shows a focal length of the lens assembly is adjustable, and when the focal length of the lens assembly is increased, a laser scanning density within the detection range of the lens assembly is increased (see the zoom lens in paragraph 46).
Referring to claims 3, 11, and 19, Shen fails to show a first and second laser however Day shows a similar device that includes a first and second laser (see figure 2B). It would have been obvious to include the first and second lasers as shown by Day because this allows for simultaneous scanning of multiple fields of view as shown by Day.
Referring to claims 4, 12, and 20, Shen shows wherein there is no blind region between the detection range of the lens assembly and the detection range of the MEMS micromirror (note the same FOV for each of the detectors).
Referring to claims 5 and 13, the combination of Shen and Day renders obvious adjustment of the detection range of the lens assembly matches adjustment of the detection range of the MEMS micromirror, wherein there is no overlapping between the detection range of the lens assembly and the detection range of the MEMS micromirror (note the same FOV of each detector is maintained for both detectors regardless of scanning a zoom lens as shown in figure 5). It would have been obvious when modifying the scanning system of Shen with the MEMS device of Day to continue to maintain the same FOV for each of the detectors as shown by Shen.
Referring to claims 6 and 14, the combination of Shen and Day shows the MEMS micromirror is further configured to reflect the at least one second laser light beam, to scan the detection range of the MEMS micromirror (see the scanner that scans the laser beam as shown by Shen in paragraph 18, also see the scanning of the TX mirror and the RX mirrors as shown by Day in figure 3C).
Referring to claims 7 and 15, the combination of Shen and Day shows there are a plurality of MEMS micromirrors, and directions of the plurality of MEMS micromirrors are the same when the reflected light of the at least one second laser light beam is reflected (see figure 3C Ref 312). It would have been obvious to include the directions of the plurality of MEMS micromirrors to be the same because this allows for the directional scanning of a field of view.
Referring to claims 8 and 16, the combination of Shen and Day shows the MEMS micromirror is further configured to reflect the at least one first laser light beam, to scan the detection range of the lens assembly (note the scanning as shown by Shen also see the modification of the MEMS as shown by Day in figure 3C).
Conclusion
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/LUKE D RATCLIFFE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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