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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/4/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1, 5, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schumann (US 2016/0154104 A1) and Kakizawa (EP 0229840 A1; related to WO 8606838 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Schumann teaches an ultrasonic sensor which measures a distance to an object, the sensor comprising:
a transmitter outputting an ultrasonic signal [[abstract] vehicle includes at least one transceiver unit emitting a frequency-modulated signal and receiving echo signals of the emitted frequency-modulated signal; [0004] ultrasonic-based measuring systems are used for measuring a distance];
a receiver receiving a reflected wave of the output ultrasonic signal as reflected by the object [[0004] echo signal. The distance between the sensor and the object is computed over the measured echo transit time and the speed of sound; [0007] signal reflected by an object and received is fed to a correlator in order to correlate it with the code signal delayed by a delaying element]; and
a signal processor providing an ultrasonic signal command to be output to the transmitter and calculating the distance to the object by using the reflected wave received by the receiver [[0004] distance between the sensor and the object is computed over the measured echo transit time and the speed of sound; [0028] ultrasonic system also includes a control device associated with each group, and a signal processing device],
wherein the signal processor controls the transmitter to transmit the ultrasonic signal as a pulse train having a frequency changed based on time [[0012] time-limited pulses (FM pulse, frequency-modulated pulse) are preferred, since the sensor, shortly after sending the pulse on the same signal path, is again ready to receive the echo; [0025] this relates, in particular, to ultrasonic systems, but also to radar systems and Lidar systems. Typically in such systems, sensors are used which are able to emit pulses as well as receive pulses, so-called transceiver units; [0047] emitted frequency-modulated signal 26 includes one first section 30 having an increasing frequency, i.e., having a chirp up. Emitted frequency-modulated signal 26 also includes one second section 32 having a decreasing frequency, i.e., having a chirp-down. Received echo signal 28 at point in time t1 includes one first section 34, which corresponds to first section 30 of emitted frequency-modulated signal 26, and one second section 36, which corresponds to second section 32 of emitted frequency-modulated signal 26],
wherein the signal processor: transmits intermittent pulse group signals of the pulse train [[abstract] transceiver unit emitting a frequency-modulated signal and receiving echo signals of the emitted frequency-modulated signal. The received echo signals are associated with reflection sources; [0012] time-limited pulses (FM pulse, frequency-modulated pulse) are preferred, since the sensor, shortly after sending the pulse on the same signal path, is again ready to receive the echo.], and controls each of the pulse groups to be changed to a frequency band of 40 to 60 kHz based on the time [[0047] emitted frequency-modulated signal 26 includes one first section 30 having an increasing frequency, i.e., having a chirp up. Emitted frequency-modulated signal 26 also includes one second section 32 having a decreasing frequency, i.e., having a chirp-down. Received echo signal 28 at point in time t1 includes one first section 34, which corresponds to first section 30 of emitted frequency-modulated signal 26; [0061] fig. 7 shows, by way of example, the frequency curve over time of a received signal. The frequency curve includes one first section 34 having an increasing frequency and one second section 36 having a decreasing frequency … ultrasonic transducers having resonance frequencies in the range of 40 kHz to 60 kHz are preferred, for example, as depicted, an ultrasonic transducer having a resonance frequency of 48 kHz.].
Schumann does not explicitly teach and yet Kakizawa teaches wherein: the signal processor includes a first band pass filter (BPF) configured to pass only frequency components of the reflected wave that are within a pass band applied to the reflected wave, and the signal processor, by the first BPF, filters the reflected wave by changing the pass band applied to the reflected wave according to a reception-time region of the reflected wave, such that different reception-time regions of the reflected wave are filtered using different pass bands [[pg. 3] when a dynamic filter in which the frequency pass band gradually moves from a high-pass band to a low-pass band with the elapse of the receiving time is used in order to effect the optimum filtering of a reception signal in accordance with the change in frequency component of the echo signal which depends on the distance of the echo source, the frequency components in the low-pass band of the reception signal of the short-distance echo at the initial stage of reception are cut off or greatly attenuated by the dynamic filter in which the pass band is then a high-pass band].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the pulse train with a frequency which changes based on time as taught by Schumann, with the dynamic filter as taught by Kakizawa because it allows frequency components which are included in the reception signal of an echo from a short distance to sufficiently pass … [while attenuating frequency components most of which are noise] (Kakizawa) [[pgs. 9-10]].
Regarding claim 5, Schumann teaches the sensor of claim 1, wherein the signal processor passes: a frequency only in a range of 40 to 48 kHz when a reception time of the reflected wave is zero to T1, a frequency only in a range of 48 to 60 kHz when the reception time of the reflected wave is T1 to T2, and a frequency in a range of 40 to 60 kHz when the reception time of the reflected wave is greater than T2 [[0061] implementation depicted includes a chirp-up having a pulse duration of 1 ms, one first cutoff frequency 102 of 45 kHz and one second cutoff frequency 104 of 54 kHz, followed by a chirp-down with 1 ms of 54 kHz after 45 kHz. In first section 34, a first slope 98 may be associated with the chirp-up and in second section 36, a second slope 100 may be associated with the chirp-down, which is also referred to as steepness. In the case of an ultrasonic system, ultrasonic transducers having resonance frequencies in the range of 40 kHz to 60 kHz are preferred, for example, as depicted, an ultrasonic transducer having a resonance frequency of 48 kHz. The chirp is preferably formed having cutoff frequencies 102, 104 in the range of 5% to 30%, preferably 5% to 10% below and above the resonance frequency of the ultrasonic transducer. At a resonance frequency of 48 kHz, preferred ranges are, for example, 2.5 kHz to 10 kHz, preferably 2.5 kHz to 5 kHz below and above the resonance frequency].
Regarding claim 7, Schumann teaches the sensor of claim 1, wherein the signal processor includes a signal generator generating a cross-correlation signal to cross-correlate the ultrasonic signal and the reflected wave [[0018] evaluation of the echo signal is essential in determining the useful signal components in the echo signal. After a suitable filtering section, for example, a piece of amplitude information in the form of a cross correlation function xcorr(t) , and a piece of phase information in the form of a cross correlation coefficient R(t), may be provided for an assessment of the signal quality; [0022] e(t) being the received signal, s(t) the expected signal].
Regarding claim 8, Schumann teaches the sensor of claim 7, wherein the signal processor further includes a second band pass filter (BPF) passing only the ultrasonic signal in a predetermined frequency band, and the predetermined frequency band is in common with a frequency band of the reflected wave [[0043] received signals are processed in pre-filter 6, for example, amplified, digitized, sampled, filtered through low-pass, high-pass or band-pass filters].
Regarding claim 9, Schumann teaches the sensor of claim 7, wherein the signal processor further includes a time of flight (TOF) compensator calculating a TOF compensation value based on Δt, which is a difference between a time when a specific frequency occurs in the ultrasonic signal and a time when the specific frequency is measured in the reflected wave and performing TOF compensation on the cross-correlation signal [[0005-0006] modulated waveform and its time-delayed replica are processed in a correlator in order to determine the distance between the system and an obstacle. In a relative movement between the system and the obstacle, the value of the frequency shift is determined from … the Doppler frequency ωDO is computed from a rate of change of a correlation function; [0054] in the absence of a doppler shift … having a basic time difference; [0055] in the case of a doppler shift … time difference based on total filter response amplitude to frequency curve].
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schumann (US 2016/0154104 A1) and Kakizawa (WO 8606838 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chen (US 2021/0286075 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Schumann does not explicitly teach and yet Chen teaches the sensor of claim 1, wherein the signal processor calculates each distance to an object reflecting the output ultrasonic signal positioned in any of a plurality of predetermined regions [[0012] magnitudes of echo signals generated by ultrasonic reflection of GS at different distances away from the sensor are different. Generally, the reflection is the strongest from 70 centimeters to 1 meter away from the sensor, and the generated echo signal SAG1 is the strongest (the amplitude is the highest). With the increase in distance, the strengths of echo signals SAG2 . . . SAGn generated by the GS at different distances decrease gradually; [0041] plurality of ultrasonic sensors are divided into gradually decreasing levels from the far end to the near end of the side lane blind area, and the near-end ultrasonic sensor with the lowest level at the nearest end does not produce a ground misdetection and misinformation signal on the ground].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the ultrasonic sensing of Schumann, with the plurality of divided areas as taught by Chen so that misdetections from the ground/ground gravels will be less likely (Chen) [[0011]].
Regarding claim 3, Schumann does not explicitly teach and yet Chen teaches the sensor of claim 2, wherein the signal processor calculates each distance to an object positioned in at least one of a near field, a medium distance, and a far field [[0012][0041]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the ultrasonic sensing of Schumann, with the plurality of divided areas as taught by Chen so that midsections from the ground/ground gravels will be less likely (Chen) [[0011]].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 6-10, filed 7/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kakizawa (EP 0229840 A1).
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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