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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 22, 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, 3-10, 12-19 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nichani (US 2005/0093697 A1) in view of Baumgarte (US 2020/0098211 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nichani discloses a people detector for detecting when people pass through a doorway of a door by which the people detector is installed, the door being a hinged door, sliding door or rolling door, the people detector (see at least Figures 10A-10B, note the door can be a revolving door or a swinging door | [0089] note the door can be a revolving or swinging door (210, 120) | [0051] note the stereo door sensor monitors people (150) passing through a door (210) via sensors (100a, 100b) | [0048] note the door sensor monitors people (150a ,150b) passing through a door (120) via sensors (100a, 100b)) comprising:
a people sensor being configured to provide an image (see at least Figure 3, items 100a and 100b | [0048] note the sensors (100a, 100b) can be cameras);
a processor (see at least Figure 3, item 220 | [0007] note processor); and
cause the people detector to:
receive a door status signal indicating opening status of the door, wherein the door status signal changes to indicate fully open, closed and a plurality of different extents of opening between fully open and closed (see at least Figure 4A-5, item 270 | [0055] note the position encoder (270) can provide indicate various degrees of opening between fully open and closed | [0093] note swinging doors also utilize encoders to compute a dynamic target volume);
configure the people detector to process images when the door status signal reaches a threshold amount (see at least Figure 10A, item 512 | [0170] note when the door (210, 120) opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door), frames of images are received on which processing is done | [0054] note the revolving door (210) utilizes an encoder to dynamically vary a target volume (510) | [0093] note if the swinging door (120) does interfere in the field of view then the door angle has to be determined either by using an encoder to compute a dynamic target volume (510) upon hitting the start angle); and
determine when a person passes through the doorway based on the people sensor and the door status signal (see at least [0054-0055] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (240) used to determine whether or not a person (215) passes through the doorway (210) | [0093] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (510) used to determine whether or not a person (150a, 150b) passes through the doorway (120) | [0057] | [0068-0069] note the filter (330) clips or excludes all 3D image points outside of the dynamic target volume (240) which is defined via the position encoder (270));
wherein the people detector is caused to:
estimate where, in the image, the door is represented based on the door status signal (see at least [0054-0055] | [0068-0069] | [0093] note the swinging door angle has to be determined);
exclude a region in the image where the door is estimated to be represented (see at least [0054] note excluding the rotation or swinging of the door (210, 120) | [0068-0069] note 3D image points of the door are excluded leaving only the target volume (240)); and
exclude a region in the image on a distal side of where the door is estimated to be represented, the distal side being distal from the doorway (see at least Figures 2B, item 130 | [0050] | Figures 4B-4C | Figure 10B).
However, Nichani does not specifically teach a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to perform an operation; configure the people detector to be in an active state; and wherein the instructions to determine comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to perform an operation.
It is known for computing devices to utilize processors, memory and executable instructions. For example, Baumgarte teaches a system that provides access control that utilizes a memory storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a people detector to perform an operation; configure the people detector to be in an active state when a door status signal moves from a closed position to the open position; and wherein the instructions to determine comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to perform an operation (see at least [0013] | [0029-0030] note the start condition is based at least on signals received from the barrier state sensor (130), such as when the barrier (76) moves from a closed to open position, where the threshold amount corresponds to an amount more than the closed position | [0019]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Baumgarte into Nichani. This provides the ability automate, program and reprogram Nichani’s system. This also provides a system with the ability to conserve power.
Regarding claim 3, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the people detector is configured to configure the people detector to be in a low-power state when the door status signal is before threshold amount (see at least [0170] of Nichani, note when the door (210) opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door), frames of images are received on which processing is done, otherwise no image processing is performed | [0030] of Baumgarte, note the device goes to sleep when the barrier is not opened for a predetermined amount of time).
Regarding claim 4, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to determine comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to: determine how many people pass through the doorway based on how long the door stays open (see at least [0057] of Nichani | [0029-0030] of Baumgarte, note that counting people only occurs before the device goes to sleep when the barrier is not opened for a predetermined amount of time | [0041] of Baumgarte).
Regarding claim 5, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to determine comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to: determine how many people pass through the doorway based on how the door status signal varies over time (see at least [0057] of Nichani, note tracking the number of people in the dynamic target volume | [0068] of Nichani, note the dynamic target volume is based on the varying door status signal over time).
Regarding claim 6, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to estimate comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to: estimate where, in the image, the door is represented based on the door status signal and depth data of the image (see at least [0054-0055] of Nichani | [0093] of Nichani | [0068-0069] of Nichani | [0099-0100] of Nichani, note depth data).
Regarding claim 7, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to determine comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to: exclude a central region in the image (see at least Figure 2B of Nichani, note the target region (140) versus the central region of the door scene (130) | Figures 4B-4C of Nichani, note the central region could correspond to a region encompassing the door’s axis).
Regarding claim 8, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to exclude comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to ignore the excluded regions in subsequent processing to determine when a person passes through the doorway (see at least [0068-0069] of Nichani | Figures 4B-4C of Nichani, note the excluded regions are ignored, and the target volume is only monitored).
Regarding claim 9, Nichani in view Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to exclude comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the people detector to prevent the excluded regions from being received from the people sensor (see at least [0029-0030] of Baumgarte, note the device can be configured to go to sleep when the barrier is not opened which causes the excluded regions from being received).
Regarding claim 10, Nichani discloses a method for detecting when people pass through a doorway of a door by which a people detector is installed, the door being a hinged door, sliding door or rolling door, the method being performed in the people detector (see at least Figures 10A-10B, note the door can be a revolving door or a swinging door | [0089] note the door can be a revolving or swinging door (210, 120) | [0051] note the stereo door sensor monitors people (150) passing through a door (210) via sensors (100a, 100b) | [0048] note the door sensor monitors people (150a ,150b) passing through a door (120) via sensors (100a, 100b)), the method comprising:
receiving a door status signal indicating opening status of the door, wherein the door status signal changes to indicate fully open, closed and a plurality of different extents of opening between fully open and closed (see at least Figure 4A-5, item 270 | [0055] note the position encoder (270) can provide indicate various degrees of opening between fully open and closed | [0093] note swinging doors also utilize encoders to compute a dynamic target volume);
configure the people detector to begin to process images when the door status signal reaches a threshold amount (see at least Figure 10A, item 512 | [0170] note when the door (210, 120) opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door), frames of images are received on which processing is done | [0054] note the revolving door (210) utilizes an encoder to dynamically vary a target volume (510) | [0093] note if the swinging door (120) does interfere in the field of view then the door angle has to be determined either by using an encoder to compute a dynamic target volume (510) upon hitting the start angle); and
obtaining a sensor signal from a people sensor of the people detector, wherein the people sensor provides an image (see at least Figures 2A-3, items 100a and 100b | [0048] note the sensors (100a, 100b) can be cameras); and
determining when a person passes through the doorway based on the door status signal and the sensor signal (see at least [0054-0055] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (240) used to determine whether or not a person (215) passes through the doorway (210) | [0093] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (510) used to determine whether or not a person (150a, 150b) passes through the doorway (120) | [0057] | [0068-0069] note the filter (330) clips or excludes all 3D image points outside of the dynamic target volume (240) which is defined via the position encoder (270));
wherein the determining comprises:
estimating where, in an image from the people sensor, the door is represented based on the door status signal (see at least [0054-0055] | [0068-0069] | [0093] note the swinging door angle has to be determined);
excluding a region in the image where the door is estimated to be represented (see at least [0054] note excluding the rotation or swinging of the door (210, 120) | [0068-0069] note 3D image points of the door are excluded leaving only the target volume (240)); and
excluding a region in the image on a distal side of where the door is estimated to be represented, the distal side being distal from the doorway (see at least Figures 2B, item 130 | [0050] | Figures 4B-4C | Figure 10B).
However, Nichani does not specifically teach configuring the people detector to be in an active state.
It is known for computing devices to utilize processors, memory and executable instructions. For example, Baumgarte teaches a system that provides access control that configures the people detector to be in an active state when a door status signal moves from a closed position to the open position (see at least [0013] | [0029-0030] note the start condition is based at least on signals received from the barrier state sensor (130), such as when the barrier (76) moves from a closed to open position, where the threshold amount corresponds to an amount more than the closed position | [0019]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Baumgarte into Nichani. This also provides a system with the ability to conserve power.
Regarding claim 12, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach configuring the people detector to be in a low-power state when the door status signal is before the threshold amount (see at least [0170] of Nichani, note when the door (210) opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door), frames of images are received on which processing is done, otherwise no image processing is performed [0030] of Baumgarte, note the device goes to sleep when the barrier is not opened for a predetermined amount of time).
Regarding claim 13, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the determining comprises determining how many people pass through the doorway based on how long the door stays open (see at least [0057] of Nichani | [0029-0030] of Baumgarte, note that counting people only occurs before the device goes to sleep when the barrier is not opened | [0041] of Baumgarte).
Regarding claim 14, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the determining comprises determining how many people pass through the doorway based on how the door status signal varies over time (see at least [0057] of Nichani, note tracking the number of people in the dynamic target volume | [0068] of Nichani, note the dynamic target volume is based on the varying door status signal over time).
Regarding claim 15, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein estimating comprises estimating where, in the image, the door is represented based on the door status signal and depth data of the image (see at least [0054-0055] of Nichani | [0093] of Nichani | [0068-0069] of Nichani | [0099-0100] of Nichani, note depth data).
Regarding claim 16, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the determining comprises: excluding a central region in the image (see at least Figure 2B of Nichani, note the target region (140) versus the central region of the door scene (130) | Figures 4B-4C of Nichani, note the central region could correspond to a region encompassing the door’s axis).
Regarding claim 17, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the excluding comprises ignoring the excluded regions in subsequent processing to determine when a person passes through the doorway (see at least [0068-0069] of Nichani | Figures 4B-4C of Nichani, note the excluded regions are ignored, and the target volume is only monitored).
Regarding claim 18, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the excluding comprises preventing the excluded regions from being received from the people sensor (see at least [0029-0030] of Baumgarte, note the device can be configured to go to sleep when the barrier is not opened which causes the excluded regions from being received).
Regarding claim 19, Nichani discloses people detector for detecting when people pass through a doorway of a door by which the people detector is installed, the door being a hinged door, sliding door or rolling door (see at least Figures 2A-2B, 3 and 10A-10B, items 150, 120 and 210 | [0089] note the door can be a revolving or swinging door (210, 120) | [0051] note the stereo door sensor monitors people (150) passing through a door (210) via sensors (100a, 100b) | [0048] note the door sensor monitors people (150a ,150b) passing through a door (120) via sensors (100a, 100b)), the people detector causes the people detector to:
receive a door status signal indicating opening status of the door, wherein the door status signal changes to indicate fully open, closed and a plurality of different extents of opening between fully open and closed (see at least Figure 4A-5, item 270 | [0055] note the position encoder (270) can provide indicate various degrees of opening between fully open and closed | [0093] note swinging doors also utilize encoders to compute a dynamic target volume);
configure the people detector to begin to process images when the door status signal reaches a threshold amount (see at least Figure 10A, item 512 | [0170] note when the door (210, 120) opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door), frames of images are received on which processing is done | [0054] note the revolving door (210) utilizes an encoder to dynamically vary a target volume (510) | [0093] note if the swinging door (120) does interfere in the field of view then the door angle has to be determined either by using an encoder to compute a dynamic target volume (510) upon hitting the start angle); and
determine when a person passes through the doorway based on the door status signal and a people sensor of the people detector (see at least [0054-0055] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (240) used to determine whether or not a person (215) passes through the doorway (210) | [0093] note the door status signal from the position encoder (270) defines the target volume (510) used to determine whether or not a person (150a, 150b) passes through the doorway (120) | [0057] | [0068-0069] note the filter (330) clips or excludes all 3D image points outside of the dynamic target volume (240) which is defined via the position encoder (270)),
wherein the people sensor provides an image (see at least Figures 2A-3, items 100a and 100b | [0048] note the sensors (100a, 100b) can be cameras);
wherein the people detector causes the people detector to:
estimate where, in an image from the people sensor, the door is represented based on the door status signal (see at least [0054-0055] | [0068-0069] | [0093] note the swinging door angle has to be determined);
exclude a region in the image where the door is estimated to be represented (see at least [0054] note excluding the rotation or swinging of the door (210, 120) | [0068-0069] note 3D image points of the door are excluded leaving only the target volume (240)); and
exclude a region in the image on a distal side of the door, the distal side being distal from the doorway (see at least Figures 2B, item 130 | [0050] | Figures 4B-4C | Figure 10B).
However, Nichani does not specifically disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for detecting when people pass through a doorway of a door by which a people detector is installed, the computer program comprising computer program code which, when executed on the people detector causes the people detector to perform operations; and configuring the people detector to be in an active state.
It is known for computing devices to utilize processors, memory and executable instructions. For example, Baumgarte teaches a system that provides access control with a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for detecting when people pass through a doorway of a door by which a people detector is installed, the computer program comprising computer program code which, when executed on the people detector causes the people detector to perform operations; and configuring the people detector to be in an active state (see at least [0013] | [0029-0030] note the start condition is based at least on signals received from the barrier state sensor (130), such as when the barrier (76) moves from a closed to open position, where the threshold amount corresponds to an amount more than the closed position | [0019]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Baumgarte into Nichani. This also provides a system with the ability to conserve power.
Regarding claim 21, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the instructions to configure the people detector to be in an active state when the door status signal reaches a threshold amount comprise instructions to transition the people detector from a low-power state to the active state when the door status signal indicates that the door is open at least the threshold amount (see at least [0170] of Nichani | [0028-0030] of Baumgarte), wherein the threshold amount is defined such that a person cannot generally pass through the doorway when the door is open less than the threshold amount (see at least annotated Figure 10B of Nichani shown below, note that the start angle (512) shown in Figure 10A of Nichani can be used in Figure 10B, and depending on the entryway walls (marked in solid black lines), such as an inset doorway shown below, a person cannot pass through the doorway (marked in dashed lines) when the door is open less than the threshold amount, such as at least when the door is shut/closed).
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Regarding claim 22, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein configuring the people detector to be in an active state when the door status signal reaches a threshold amount comprises transitioning the people detector from a low-power state to the active state when the door status signal indicates that the door is open at least the threshold amount, wherein the threshold amount is defined such that a person cannot generally pass through the doorway when the door is open less than the threshold amount (see at least [0170] of Nichani | [0028-0030] of Baumgarte), wherein the threshold amount is defined such that a person cannot generally pass through the doorway when the door is open less than the threshold amount (see at least annotated Figure 10B of Nichani shown above, note that the start angle (512) shown in Figure 10A of Nichani can be used in Figure 10B, and depending on the entryway walls (marked in solid black lines), such as an inset doorway shown below, a person cannot pass through the doorway (marked in dashed lines) when the door is open less than the threshold amount, such as at least when the door is shut/closed).
Regarding claim 23, Nichani in view of Baumgarte teach wherein the computer program code to configure the people detector to be in an active state when the door status signal is past a threshold amount comprises computer program code to transition the people detector from a low-power state to the active state when the door status signal indicates that the door is open past the threshold amount, wherein the threshold amount is defined such that a person cannot generally pass through the doorway when the door is open less than the threshold amount (see at least [0170] of Nichani | [0028-0030] of Baumgarte), wherein the threshold amount is defined such that a person cannot generally pass through the doorway when the door is open less than the threshold amount (see at least annotated Figure 10B of Nichani shown above, note that the start angle (512) shown in Figure 10A of Nichani can be used in Figure 10B, and depending on the entryway walls (marked in solid black lines), such as an inset doorway shown below, a person cannot pass through the doorway (marked in dashed lines) when the door is open less than the threshold amount, such as at least when the door is shut/closed).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 22, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states “Independent Claims 1, 10, and 19 are amended to clarify that the door is ‘a hinged door, sliding door, or rolling door.’ As discussed during the Interview, these amendments obviate the reliance in the Final Office Action on portions of Nichani involving the ‘start angle’ concept, which is described only with respect to, and only applies to, Nichani's revolving door embodiments. As noted in the Interview Summary, the Office acknowledged that these amendments appear to overcome the present rejections. Reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejections are respectfully requested.”
In response, after further consideration, paragraph [0170] of Nichani states “…A reset signal can be issued which clears the trace manager 1310 of all the people candidates and sets the frame count to zero. This reset signal is produced when a door opens (e.g., swinging door/sliding door) or when an encoder angle hits the start angle (e.g., revolving door). From then on frames are received on which processing is done and the frame count is increased by 1….”. With respect to Nichani’s revolving door embodiment, frames are received on which processing is done when an encoder angle hits the start angle. The start angle is used to define the dynamic target volume of the revolving door (see Figure 10A | [0090-0092]).
While paragraph [0170] states that the encoder is used with the revolving door, paragraph [0093] states “that in the case of sliding doors, and most swinging doors, the target volume 510 generally remains static because the door 120 does not interfere in the field of view. If the door 120 does interfere in the field of view then the door angle has to be determined either by using an encoder or other techniques to compute a dynamic target volume.” That is, Nichani’s hinged doors or sliding doors can utilize dynamic target volumes defined by start angles as shown in Figure 10A. For at least this reason, Nichani clearly discloses that hinged doors and sliding doors can utilize the start angle concept used by the revolving door embodiments. Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Conclusion
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/BRIAN WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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