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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 1: “the steps of” lack antecedent basis. “the object” should by “the target object”; “the spot” in the second paragraph of the claim can refer back to either the preamble or the first paragraph and for this reason has unclear antecedent basis. Correction is required.
Claim 2: “the steps of” lacks antecedent basis and unclear if it is an extension of the steps of claim 1.
Claim 7: “a pinhole” has unclear antecedent basis as the claim depends from language already including “a movable pinhole”
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by JP200585708 (“Watanabe”).
Claim 1
Watanabe discloses a method for non-contact temperature measurement of a spot on a target object comprising the steps of: imaging a thermal image of a target area on the object and projecting the thermal image to an image plane (page 3, paragraphs 11-13, thermal image detected and projected); selecting an image spot in the image plane corresponding to the spot to allow light rays of the thermal image corresponding to the image spot to pass through while blocking passages of light rays corresponding to other parts of the thermal image (page 3, paragraphs 12-13, masking); measuring a thermal radiation strength of the light rays corresponding to the image spot (page 4, paragraph 6, temperature detected from heating); and determining a temperature from the measured thermal radiation strength of the light rays corresponding to the image spot according to a calibration relation (page 4, paragraphs 6-11).
Claim 2
Watanabe discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the calibration relation is established from a calibration method comprising the steps of: imaging a reference thermal image of a reference area of a known uniform temperature on a reference object and projecting the reference thermal image to the image plane (page 4, paragraph 6, optimum temperature compared); selecting a reference spot in the image plane to allow light rays corresponding to the reference spot to pass through while blocking passages of light rays corresponding to other parts of the reference thermal image (page 3, paragraph 12, light mask); and measuring a thermal radiation strength of the light rays corresponding to the reference spot (page 4, paragraph 6, temperature transmitted).
Claim 3
Watanabe discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the thermal radiation strength of the light rays corresponding to the image spot is a first thermal radiation strength measured at a first wavelength; the calibration relation is established based on a dual-wavelength method comprising the step of: measuring a second thermal radiation strength of the light rays corresponding to the image spot at a second wavelength (page 4, paragraph 2, wavelengths established by low and high pass filters).
Claim 4
Watanabe discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising a step of changing a location of the image spot in the image plane such that the image spot scans over a certain area to obtain a temperature map of the target area on the target object (page 4, paragraph 11, grid scanning).
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.
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP200585708 (“Watanabe”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2008/0218849 (“Uhl”).
Claim 5
Watanabe discloses a system for non-contact temperature measurement of a spot on a target object comprising: a set of imaging optics for imaging a thermal image of a target area on the target object and projecting the thermal image to an image plane (page 3, paragraphs 11-13, thermal image detected and projected); a pinhole mask at the image plane for selecting an image spot in the image plane corresponding to the spot to allow light rays of the thermal image corresponding to the image spot to pass through while blocking passages of light rays corresponding to other parts of the thermal image (page 3, paragraphs 12-13, masking); a set of collecting optics collecting the light rays passing the pinhole mask (page 4, paragraph 6, temperature detected from heating); a thermal radiation detector for measuring a thermal radiation strength of the light rays collected by the set of collecting optics (page 4, paragraphs 6-11).
Watanabe discloses using a mask but does not appear to explicitly disclose the mask being a pinhole mask.
Uhl discloses using a Nipkow disk pinhole mask (paragraph [0007]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated a pinhole mask, as disclosed by Uhl, into the system of Watanabe, for the purpose of providing adjustable light throughput through the mask (Uhl, paragraph [0007]).
Claim 6
Watanabe in view of Uhl discloses the system of claim 5, wherein the pinhole mask comprises a movable pinhole (Uhl, paragraph [0007]).
Claim 7
Watanabe in view of Uhl discloses the system of claim 6, wherein the movable pinhole comprises a movable slab with a pinhole (Uhl, paragraph [0007]).
Claim 8
Watanabe in view of Uhl discloses the system of claim 6, wherein the movable pinhole comprises a reflective type Nipkow disk (Uhl, paragraph [0007]).
Claim 9
Watanabe in view of Uhl discloses the system of claim 6.
Watanabe in view of Uhl discloses using a Nipkow disk but does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the movable pinhole comprises a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD).
Uhl discloses using micromirrors (paragraphs [005-0060]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated a Digital Micromirror Device, as disclosed by Uhl, into the system of Watanabe, for the purpose of removing the need for scale ration requirements in adjustment (Uhl, paragraph [0059]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERICA S Y LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7911. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4, TW M,W.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ERICA S LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853