Detailed Office 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 .
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 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.
Response to Arguments
Regarding claims 1-14, the prior art combination Qiu et al. (2015/0260520; “Qiu”) in view of Poletti et al. (2017/0160467; “Poletti-PGPUB”), as applied in the 16 January 2026 Office action, is bolstered by this Office action’s evidentiary inclusion of Francesco Poletti (Nested antiresonant nodeless hollow core fiber, Opt. Express 22, 23807-23828; 2014; “Poletti-NPL) and Kiarash Zamani Aghaie (MODELING AND MEASUREMENT OF THE MODAL PROPERTIES OF HOLLOW CORE PHOTONIC-BANDGAP FIBERS, Dissertation, Stanford University; 2013; “Aghaie”).
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-14
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu et al. (2015/0260520; “Qiu”) in view of Poletti et al. (2017/0160467; “Poletti-PGPUB”), as evidenced by Francesco Poletti (Nested antiresonant nodeless hollow core fiber, Opt. Express 22, 23807-23828; 2014; “Poletti-NPL) and Kiarash Zamani Aghaie (MODELING AND MEASUREMENT OF THE MODAL PROPERTIES OF HOLLOW CORE PHOTONIC-BANDGAP FIBERS, Dissertation, Stanford University; 2013; “Aghaie”).
Regarding claim 1, Qiu discloses in figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text, a resonant fibre optical gyroscope (RFOG) 100/400 comprising: an optical resonator coil 102 comprising a first coil port and a second coil port; a resonance loop coupler 110/112 optically coupled to the first coil port and the second coil port; a laser system optically coupled to the resonance loop coupler and configured to generate a clockwise (CW) optical signal configured to propagate around the optical resonator coil in a clockwise direction and (b) a counterclockwise (CCW) optical signal configured to propagate around the optical resonator coil in a counterclockwise direction, a CW detector 116 optically coupled to the resonance loop coupler and configured to detect a portion of the CW optical signal emitted, through the resonance loop coupler, from the optical resonator coil; and a CCW detector 114 optically coupled to the resonance loop coupler and configured to detect a portion of the CCW optical signal emitted, through the resonance loop coupler, from the optical resonator coil; wherein rotation of the optical resonator coil around winding axis of the optical resonator coil creates a difference between a CW resonance frequency of the CW optical signal and a CCW resonance frequency of the CCW optical signal, and wherein the difference between the CW resonance frequency and the CCW resonance frequency is proportional to a rate of angular rotation around the winding axis. Qiu, paragraph [0002] (“[0002] One embodiment is directed to a resonator fiber optic gyroscope (RFOG). The RFOG includes one or more light sources to produce a first light and a second light and an optical fiber resonator. The optical fiber resonator includes an optical fiber having a first end and a second end; a first input/output coupling element to couple at least a portion of the first light into the optical fiber as clockwise propagating light; a second input/output coupling element to couple the second light into the optical fiber as counter-clockwise propagating light; one or more optical filters that suppresses the noise light in the resonator; one or more variable optical attenuators (VOAs) that can adjust the loss of the resonator with fast response; and one or more optical gain elements that provide amplification of light to offset part of the losses of the resonator. The RFOG also includes a first detector configured to sense the portion of the counter-clockwise propagating light and provide a signal based thereon to resonance tracking electronics, and a second detector configured to sense the portion of the clockwise propagating light and provide a signal based thereon to the resonance tracking electronics. The resonance tracking electronics are configured to determine a rotation rate of the optical fiber resonator based on the signals from the first and second detector. The RFOG also includes one or more pump lasers to produce one or more pump beams for the gain elements in the resonator and control electronics configured to control the one or more pump lasers and the one or more variable optical attenuators, such that the round-trip loss of the resonator is a substantially constant, positive value.”).
Qiu – Figures 1, 3, and 4
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Further regarding claim 1, Poletti-PGPUB discloses in figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text, embodiments of anti-resonant hollow-core fibers comprising a first tubular, cladding element which defines an internal cladding surface, a plurality of second tubular elements which are attached to the cladding surface and together define a core with an effective radius, the second tubular elements being arranged in spaced relation and adjacent ones of the second tubular elements having a spacing therebetween, and a plurality of third tubular elements, each nested within a respective one of the second tubular elements. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text.
Regarding the embodiment disclosed in figure 23, Poletti-PGPUB discloses in paragraph [0163], “As with the previously-described embodiments, the structure of this embodiment reduces the confinement loss (CL) through the provision of reflecting anti-resonance layers from the inner tubular elements 7, 15 of the nested tubular arrangements 11a-d and the elimination of glass nodes in the clad structure, but significantly, through the wall thickness t.sub.2 of the outer tubular elements 5 of the one pair of the nested tubular arrangements 11b, d being different and providing for operation at an edge of resonance, introduces a strong phase bi-refringence (PB) for the orthogonal polarizations of the fundamental mode (OPFM), through introducing an effective index difference in the direction of the one pair of the nested tubular arrangements 11b, d.” Poletti-PGPUB, paragraph [0163].
Poletti-PGPUB – Figures 1, 16, 18, and 20
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Regarding Qui in view of Poletti’s embodiments,
Poletti-NPL evidences at page 23819, and related text and figures, “the fact that all the core boundaries operate in antiresonance and that no nodes are present, all the fibers have a very low fraction of power guided in the glass.”
Aghai evidences at page 5, and related text and figures:
“The limited understanding of loss and backscattering in PBFs highlights the need for a numerical tool for modeling these properties. This tool circumvents the need for experimental measurements, which requires expensive equipment. Most importantly, it can provide us with a physical understanding of these properties. In addition, if PBFs are ever going to be used in future telecommunication networks, we need to explore methods to lower their current loss as much as possible. By finding the physical parameters that most influence the loss and backscattering of a PBF, we can hopefully design fibers with lower loss and/or lower backscattering, and determine the ultimate limit for these two parameters.”
“Backscattering and loss in a PBF originate from mode coupling caused by the longitudinal perturbations of the core wall. This roughness develops on glass surfaces during the manufacturing process. PBFs are fabricated using a stack and draw technique. In this method, a preform is formed by stacking high-purity glass capillary tubes together. This preform is then heated in a furnace, and drawn in a tower. When the glass is soft, mechanical capillary waves form on the glass surfaces. As the glass cools down, these waves freeze on the surfaces. When light propagates in the fiber core, the core wall’s nanometric surface roughness scatters a portion of the forward-propagating fundamental mode into higher-order core, cladding, and surface modes, both forward- and backward-propagating. Coupling to all these modes accounts for much of the propagation loss of a PBF [15]. Coupling to the backward-propagating fundamental mode is the main source of backscattering.”
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Qiu’s gyro embodiments to incorporate embodiments of Poletti-PGPUB’s anti-resonant hollow-core optical fiber embodiment such that the optical resonator coil comprises a hollow core optical fibre, wherein the hollow core optical fibre comprises a tubular outer jacket comprising an inner surface, a hollow core, and a cladding, wherein the cladding comprises a plurality of glass cladding capillaries, wherein the hollow core is bounded by inwardly facing portions of outer surfaces of the plurality of glass cladding capillaries, wherein the plurality of glass cladding capillaries are arranged in a ring around the hollow core, and wherein each glass cladding capillary is bonded to the inner surface of the tubular outer jacket; wherein each of the CW optical signal and the CCW optical signal have a wavelength which the optical fibre is configured to guide by an antiresonant optical guidance effect; wherein each of the CW optical signal and the CCW optical signal are linearly polarized in the optical fibre, and wherein the optical fibre has a backscatter that is less than a backscatter of a photonic bandgap fibre; Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text, because the resulting configuration would facilitate achieving bend robustness. Poletti-PGPUB, paragraph [0075] (“The fiber of the present invention can be configured such that less than 0.1%, and in some configurations less than 0.01%, of the optical power is guided in the glass, and the output mode field diameter (MFD) of which is easily tailorable to that of a fiber laser operating at any wavelength, e.g. 0.8 μm, 1 μm, 1.55 μm and 2 μm. The fibers also have a bend robustness which is significantly superior to that of any solid fiber with a comparable effective area, and are effectively single moded. These features enable application as a power delivery fiber for high-power fiber lasers in industrial manufacturing, especially for pulsed operation where the peak powers involved induce detrimental non-linear spectral broadening and temporal pulse distortion, or could even exceed the damage threshold of the material. The considerable reduction in cross-sectional complexity as compared to PBGFs would also enable the stacking of arrays of such fibers to transmit undistorted ultra-short, high peak power pulses from multiple laser sources for subsequent coherent recombination, which would have use in laser-driven particle acceleration applications.”).
Regarding claims 2-11, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the embodiments of Qiu in view of Poletti-PGPUB, as evidenced by Poletti-NPL and Aghai, as applied in the rejection of claim 1, to disclose:
2. The RFOG of claim 1, wherein outer surfaces of adjacent glass cladding capillaries are spaced apart from one another around the inner surface of the tubular outer jacket, and are not in contact. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
3. The RFOG of claim 1, further comprising one or more secondary glass cladding capillaries bonded to the inner surface of each glass cladding capillary. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
4. The RFOG of claim 3, further comprising one or more tertiary glass cladding capillaries bonded to the inner surface of each of the one or more secondary glass cladding capillaries. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
5. The RFOG of claim 1, comprising glass cladding capillaries of more than one cross-sectional size or shape. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
6. The RFOG of claim 1, in which the hollow core optical fibre has a transverse cross-sectional structure with rotational symmetry at one or more angles less than 180°. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
7. The RFOG of claim 1, in which the hollow core optical fibre has a transverse cross-sectional structure including a feature or features which differ along two orthogonal transverse axes. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
8. The RFOG of claim 7, in which the feature which differs along the two orthogonal transverse axes is a wall thickness of the plurality of glass glass cladding capillaries, such that glass cladding capillaries with a first wall thickness are positioned on a first transverse axis and glass cladding capillaries with a second wall thickness different from the first wall thickness are positioned on a second transverse axis orthogonal to the first transverse axis. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
9. The RFOG of claim 8, in which the first wall thickness determines a first wavelength at which the hollow core optical fibre is configured to guide by the antiresonant optical guidance effect and the second wall thickness determines a second wavelength at which the hollow core optical fibre is configured to guide by the antiresonant optical guidance effect; wherein a CW wavelength of the CW optical signal and a CCW wavelength of the CCW optical signal are each between the first wavelength and the second wavelength. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
10. The RFOG of claim 1, wherein the hollow core optical fibre has the backscatter that is less than the backscatter of the hollow core photonic bandgap fibre due to the hollow core optical fibre having fewer nodes and surface modes than the hollow core photonic bandgap fibre. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein there is no physical contact between two glass glass cladding capillaries except at the inner surface of the tubular outer jacket. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
because the resulting configurations would facilitate achieving bend robustness. Poletti-PGPUB, paragraph [0075].
Regarding methods claims 12-14, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Qiu in view of Poletti-PGPUB’s embodiments, as evidenced by Poletti-NPL and Agahi, as applied in the rejection of device claims 1-11, to define steps constituting:
12. A method of sensing a rotation rate around a winding axis of an optical resonator coil comprising a hollow core optical fibre, the method comprising: propagating a clockwise (CW) optical signal, which is linearly polarized, in the hollow core optical fibre and around the optical resonator coil in a clockwise direction; propagating a counterclockwise (CCW) optical signal, which is linearly polarized, in the hollow core optical fibre and around the optical resonator coil in a counterclockwise direction, wherein the hollow core optical fibre comprises a tubular outer jacket comprising an inner surface, a hollow core, and a glass cladding, wherein the cladding comprises a plurality of glass cladding capillaries, wherein the hollow core is bounded by inwardly facing portions of outer surfaces of the plurality of glass cladding capillaries, wherein the plurality of glass cladding capillaries are arranged in a ring around the hollow core, wherein each glass cladding capillary is bonded to the inner surface of the tubular outer jacket, and wherein the hollow core optical fibre has a backscatter that is less than a backscatter of a hollow core photonic bandgap fibre; determining a CW resonance frequency of the optical resonator coil in the CW direction; determining a CCW resonance frequency of the optical resonator coil in the CCW direction; and determining a rate of rotation around the winding axis of the optical resonator coil based upon a difference between the CW resonance frequency and the CCW resonance frequency. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the hollow core optical fibre has the backscatter that is less than the backscatter of the hollow core photonic bandgap fibre due to the hollow core optical fibre having fewer nodes and surface modes than the hollow core photonic bandgap fibre. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein there is no physical contact between two glass glass cladding capillaries except at the inner surface of the tubular outer jacket. Poletti-PGPUB, figures 1, 16, 18, and 20, and related figures and text; Qiu; figures 1, 3, and 4, and related text; Poletti-NPL, page 23819, and related text and figures; Aghai, page 5, and related text and figures.
because the resulting method embodiments would facilitate achieving bend robustness. Poletti-PGPUB, paragraph [0075].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER RADKOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-1613. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-5.
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/PETER RADKOWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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