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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
[0036, Lines 5 and 6]: “subregion 62” should read “subregion 32”
[0054, Lines 2 and 4]: “FIG. 4” should read “FIG. 7”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show that the angle between the outgoing beam and the first mirror is reduced as the mirror rotates, and the angle between the echo beam and the second mirror increases. Comparing Fig 6 to Fig 5, it can be seen that the included angle of the first and second mirror do not change as the second scanning apparatus rotates. This is only possible if the emission module and the receiving module rotate with the rotating mirror, which contradicts what is described in the specifications. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xie et al. (WO2022110210A1).
Regarding claim 1, Xie teaches an emission module, a beam adjustment module, and a receiving module [Fig 4; 0037] wherein the beam adjustment module comprises a first scanning apparatus and a second scanning apparatus [Fig 4, 20 and 30; 0037], and the second scanning apparatus comprises a first mirror and a second mirror [Fig 7, 30; 0046], wherein: the emission module comprises at least one emission device, the emission device is configured to emit a laser beam, the laser beam is sequentially reflected by the first scanning apparatus and the first mirror of the second scanning apparatus and then directed toward a detection region [Fig 8; 0049], the first scanning apparatus is rotated in a first set direction to drive the laser beam to scan along a first direction, and the second scanning apparatus is rotated in a second set direction to drive the laser beam to scan along a second direction [Fig 7, 20 and 30; 0045-0046] ; and an echo beam is formed after the laser beam is reflected in the detection region, the echo beam is reflected by the second mirror of the second scanning apparatus and then received by the receiving module [Fig 8, 312 and 40; 0048-0049], and the receiving module comprises at least two receiving devices arranged into an array [Fig 12, 42; 0060].
Regarding claim 5, Xie teaches wherein the first mirror and the second mirror are adjacent [Fig 7, 30; 0047]; Xie implicitly teaches that an included angle between the first mirror and the second mirror is twice a first angle and twice a second angle, and the first angle is an included angle between an emission laser beam emitted to the first mirror and the first mirror, and the second angle is an included angle between an echo beam emitted from the second mirror and the second mirror. When the second scanning apparatus rotates, the angle requirements between the emission laser beam and the first mirror, and the echo beam and the second mirror will be attained.
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) 2-4, 7, 8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie et al. (WO2022110210A1) in view of Chen et al. (CN114152933A).
Regarding claim 2, Xie teaches the LiDAR of claim 1.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein the laser beam forms multiple scanning lines arranged along the first direction in the detection region, receiving beams corresponding to at least two of the multiple scanning lines are received by the same receiving device, and scanning lines emitted simultaneously in the multiple scanning lines are received by different receiving devices.
Chen does teach multiple scanning lines arranged along the first direction in the detection region [Fig 2B; 0081]; Chen shows that an overlap between two emission lines can occur which in turn implies that receiving beams corresponding to at least two of the multiple scanning lines are received by the same receiving device [Fig 8; 0116]; Additionally, Chen teaches that scanning lines emitted simultaneously are detected by different receiving devices [Fig 17B; 0191].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing multiple scanning lines arranged along the first direction in the detection region, receiving beams corresponding to at least two of the multiple scanning lines being received by the same receiving device, and scanning lines emitted simultaneously being detected by different receiving devices, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve range finding capabilities and reducing power consumption [0040].
Regarding claim 3, Xie as modified above teaches the LiDAR of claim 2.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein at least two receiving devices are arranged into multiple columns, and receiving devices in two adjacent columns are staggered, so that main optical axes for receiving echo beams by any adjacent receiving devices are staggered from each other.
Chen does teach at least two receiving devices arranged in two adjacent and staggered columns, such that the main optical axes for receiving echo beams by any adjacent receiving devices are staggered from each other [Fig 14A, 0147 and 0155].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing the adjacent and staggered columns formation for the receiving devices, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve accuracy [0155].
Regarding claim 4, Xie as modified above teaches the LiDAR of claim 2.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein in an edge region of the detection region, echo beams corresponding to a first number of the scanning lines are received by the same receiving device, and in a central region of the detection region, echo beams corresponding to a second number of the scanning lines are received by the same receiving device, and the second number is greater than the first number.
Chen does teach an edge region and a center region of a detection zone [Fig 2B, V11 and V12/V13; 0081]; as mentioned above, Chen shows that an overlap between two emission lines can occur, thus, there is an edge region where a first number of scanning lines are received by the same receiving device and a center region where a second number of scanning lines are received by the same receiving device, and the second number is greater than the first number [Fig 2B, V11 and V12/V13; 0081 and 0082].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing an edge and central region of a detection region, wherein the scanning lines received from the central region is higher than the edge region, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to avoid wasting power [0089].
Regarding claim 7, Xie teaches the LiDAR of claim 1.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein the emission module comprises multiple emission devices, the multiple emission devices are divided into multiple groups, the same group of emission devices simultaneously emit laser beams, and different groups of emission devices emit laser beams at preset time intervals.
Chen does teach a emission module that comprises multiple emission devices [Fig 18A, 1st emitter in Bank A and 1st emitter in Bank B; 0190], Chen also teaches multiple emission devices divided into multiple groups and the same group of emission devices simultaneously emit lasers [Fig 18A, 1st emitter in Bank A and 1st emitter in Bank B are emitted simultaneously; 0190], and different groups emit lasers at preset time intervals [Fig 18A, 1st emitter in Bank A and Bank B emit lasers, then, after a preset time ΔT, the 2nd emitter in Bank A and Bank B emit lasers; 0190].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing multiple emission devices divided into multiple groups, wherein emission devices in the same group emit lasers simultaneously and different groups emit lasers at preset time intervals, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of a LiDAR with emission devices divided into multiple groups, wherein each group emit lasers at preset time intervals.
Regarding claim 8, Xie as modified above teaches the LiDAR of claim 7.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein spacing between emission channels of two adjacent emission devices in the same group of the emission devices is greater than preset spacing.
Chen does teach a spacing between emission channels of two adjacent emission units in the same group is greater than preset spacing [Fig 18A, the spacing between the emitting units is greater than the spacing between Bank A and Bank B; 0190].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing a spacing between emission channels of two adjacent emission units in the same group that is greater than preset spacing, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of a spacing between emission channels of two adjacent emission devices in the same group being greater than a preset spacing.
Regarding claim 10, Xie teaches the LiDAR of claim 1.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein a time interval between two adjacent emissions of laser beams performed by the emission module is greater than preset duration.
Chen does teach a time interval between two adjacent emissions of laser beams that is greater than preset duration [Fig 18A, the time T is greater than ΔT; 190].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing a time interval between two adjacent emissions of laser beams that is greater than preset duration, similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of having a time interval between emissions of two adjacent lasers greater than a preset duration.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie et al. (WO2022110210A1) in view of Wang et al. (US20220342045A1).
Regarding claim 6, Xie teaches the LiDAR of claim 1.
Xie does not explicitly teach wherein the first scanning apparatus is a galvanometer and the second scanning apparatus is a rotating mirror.
Wand does teach a first scanning apparatus that is a galvanometer and a rotating mirror [Fig 7A, 704 and 710; 0101].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing a first scanning apparatus that is a galvanometer and a second scanning apparatus that is a rotating mirror, similar to Wang with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to increase resolution [0101].
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie et al. (WO2022110210A1) in view of Holleczek et al. (US20200249319A1).
Regarding claim 9, Xie teaches the LiDAR of claim 1.
Xie does not explicitly wherein a diameter of a light spot formed by the laser beam within a first preset distance is greater than a preset length.
Holleczek does teach a diameter of a light spot that within a first preset distance is greater than a preset length [Fig 8, after the beam travels 50 mm from the aperture 83, the beams diameter increases to 13 mm; 0090-0092].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system disclosed by Xie by implementing a diameter of a light spot that within a first preset distance is greater than a preset length, similar to Holleczek with a reasonable expectation of success. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve eye safety [0092].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chen et al. (US20240036172A1) teaches receiving devices arranged in two adjacent and staggered columns [Fig 6, 0087].
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/J.N.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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