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 the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Paragraphs
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hashiya et al.(US 20240004044 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hashiya teaches
An unmanned vehicle processing system, applied to an unmanned vehicle for processing an object, comprising: (A measurement apparatus in the present disclosure can be utilized for uses, for example, in a movable body such as an automated guided vehicle (AGV), an automobile, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a mobile robot or in an FMCW LiDAR system that is mounted in monitoring equipment. (paragraph 0152))
a controller, configured for providing a laser trigger signal; (FIG. 1A shows an example of a time change in voltage of a control signal that is inputted to the light source. (paragraph 0048))
a laser source, connected electrically to the controller, configured for receiving the laser trigger signal and further emitting a laser beam according to the laser trigger signal; (The light source 110 can change, in response to a control signal outputted from the processing circuit 140, the frequency of light that the light source 110 emits. (paragraph 0079))
a galvanometer module, including a scanning galvanometer configured for reflecting and converting the laser beam into a processing beam to process the object; (The optical deflector 170 may for example include a MEMS (microelectromechanical system) mirror or a galvanometer mirror. (paragraph 0095))
and a receiving device, connected electrically to the controller, configured for receiving a processing reflected beam reflected from the object and further emitting correspondingly a reflected reception signal to the controller; (The photodetector 130 receives the interfering light and generates an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the interfering light. (paragraph 0080) The processing circuit 140 is an electronic circuit that controls the light source 110 and executes processing based on a detection signal outputted from the photodetector 130. (paragraph 0081))
wherein the controller obtains a processing distance between the unmanned vehicle and the object according to the reflected reception signal and the laser trigger signal, the reflected reception signal has a reflected-signal intensity, and the controller detects a processed state of the object according to the reflected-signal intensity. (The processing circuit sends out, to the light source, a control signal that sweeps a frequency of the light that is emitted from the light source, updates the correcting data on the basis of the second detection signal, corrects the first detection signal on the basis of the correcting data thus updated, generates measurement data on a distance to and/or a velocity of the physical object on the basis of the first detection signal thus corrected, and outputs the measurement data. (paragraph 0056))
Regarding claim 2, Hashiya teaches
The unmanned vehicle processing system of claim 1, further including a position-sensing device connected electrically to the controller and configured for sensing a position of the unmanned vehicle. (the measurement apparatus 100 may include a sensor, such as a gyroscope, that measures the magnitude of impact. In a case where the measured magnitude of impact or an accumulated value thereof exceeds a threshold, the processing circuit 140 may determine to execute the calibration operation. (paragraph 0121))
Regarding claim 3, Hashiya teaches
The unmanned vehicle processing system of claim 2, wherein the position-sensing device is a gyroscope. (the measurement apparatus 100 may include a sensor, such as a gyroscope, that measures the magnitude of impact. In a case where the measured magnitude of impact or an accumulated value thereof exceeds a threshold, the processing circuit 140 may determine to execute the calibration operation. (paragraph 0121))
Regarding claim 4, Hashiya teaches
The unmanned vehicle processing system of claim 1, wherein the galvanometer module includes a galvanometer driver connected electrically to the scanning galvanometer and the controller, and the galvanometer driver is configured for driving the scanning galvanometer. (The optical deflector 170 can change the direction of emission of the output light 22 by changing the angle of the mirror in accordance with an instruction from the processing circuit 140. (paragraph 0095))
Regarding claim 5, Hashiya teaches
The unmanned vehicle processing system of claim 1, wherein the receiving device includes a receiver, a filter and a converter, the receiver receives the processing reflected beam and emits a received signal to the filter according to the processing reflected beam, (The photodetector 130 receives the interfering light and generates an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the interfering light. This electric signal is referred to as “detection signal”. A detection signal based on the first interfering light is referred to as “first detection signal”, and a detection signal based on the second interfering light is referred to as “second detection signal”. The photodetector 130 includes one or more photosensitive elements. The photosensitive elements each include a photoelectric conversion element such as a photodiode. (paragraph 0080))
the filter filters the received signal to obtain a laser pulse signal, (The processing circuit 140 may average detection signals for improvement in S/N ratio of a detection signal. (paragraph 0103))
and the converter converts the laser pulse signal into the reflected reception signal. (The processing circuit 140 digitalizes a detection signal waveform, for example, with the A/D converter and stores it in the memory. (paragraph 0103))
Regarding claim 6, Hashiya teaches
An unmanned vehicle processing method, applied to an unmanned vehicle for processing an object, comprising the steps of: (A measurement apparatus in the present disclosure can be utilized for uses, for example, in a movable body such as an automated guided vehicle (AGV), an automobile, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a mobile robot or in an FMCW LiDAR system that is mounted in monitoring equipment. (paragraph 0152))
providing a laser trigger signal according to a processing position of the unmanned vehicle with respect to the object, and emitting a laser beam to process the object according to the laser trigger signal; (the light source 110 can change, in response to a control signal outputted from the processing circuit 140, the frequency of light that the light source 110 emits. (paragraph 0079))
receiving a processing reflected beam reflected from the object processed by the laser beam, and generating correspondingly a reflected reception signal; (The photodetector 130 receives the interfering light and generates an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the interfering light. (paragraph 0080) The processing circuit 140 is an electronic circuit that controls the light source 110 and executes processing based on a detection signal outputted from the photodetector 130. (paragraph 0081))
according to the laser trigger signal and the reflected reception signal, calculating a time of flight so as to obtain a processing distance between the unmanned vehicle and the object; (The processing circuit sends out, to the light source, a control signal that sweeps a frequency of the light that is emitted from the light source, updates the correcting data on the basis of the second detection signal, corrects the first detection signal on the basis of the correcting data thus updated, generates measurement data on a distance to and/or a velocity of the physical object on the basis of the first detection signal thus corrected, and outputs the measurement data. (paragraph 0056))
and according to a reflected-signal intensity of the reflected reception signal, detecting a processed state of the object. (The photodetector 130 receives the interfering light and generates an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the interfering light. (paragraph 0080) Knowing the intensity of the received light signal is tantamount to detecting a processed state)
Regarding claim 8, Hashiya teaches
The unmanned vehicle processing method of claim 6, after the step of according to the reflected-signal intensity of the reception signal to detecting the processed state of the object, further including a step of: according to the processed state of the object, adjusting the processing position of the unmanned vehicle or calibrating a laser power of a laser source. (In addition, the characteristics of the light source 110 also depends on the modulation voltage amplitude of the control signal, the modulation current amplitude, the bias voltage, the bias current, or input power. For this reason, in a case where the modulation voltage amplitude, the modulation current amplitude, the bias voltage, the bias current, or the input power has changed by not less than a threshold, the processing circuit 140 may determine to execute the calibration operation. (paragraph 0122))
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashiya et al.(US 20240004044 A1) in view of Bonnell et al.(US 20210065140 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Hashiya teaches all the elements of claim 6 as previously stated, however Hashiya fails to teach utilizing a position-sensing device to detect whether or not the unmanned vehicle has deviated the processing position; and compensating the processing position of the unmanned vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Bonnell teaches utilizing a position-sensing device to detect whether or not the unmanned vehicle has deviated the processing position; (In the example of FIG. 7, the drone program 700 proceeds to block 708 after block 706. At block 708, the drone program 700 determines whether the drone 100 is proximate the expected target location (e.g., via the external and/or local positioning systems). (paragraph 0056)) and compensating the processing position of the unmanned vehicle. (If the identification was not successful, the drone program 700 determines that there has been some error at block 718, and then proceeds to block 720 where the error is reported (e.g., to a mobile device 404, remote control 120, and/or asset tracking server 410). In the example of FIG. 7, the drone program 700 ends after block 720. However, in some examples, the drone program 700 may instead return to block 704 or block 706 instead of ending. (paragraph 0058))
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features disclosed in Bonnell into the invention of Hashiya. Hashiya relates to the claimed invention as it discloses a distance measurement apparatus. Bonnell relates to the claimed invention as it discloses methods for using unmanned vehicles. The combination of Hashiya and Bonnell would improve sustained flight stability and accuracy.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ETHAN J SLAUGHTER whose telephone number is (571)388-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at (571) 270-5144. 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.
/ETHAN JAKOB SLAUGHTER/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights