CTNF 18/562,551 CTNF 89946 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1, 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keyence Corp. JP 2020-076675A (hereinafter “Keyence”) . 1 and claim 10 mutatis mutandis : Keyence teaches a distance measuring apparatus [fig. 1, displacement measuring device; p. 7, parag. 3] comprising: an irradiation unit that emits irradiation light [figs. 3, 4, light projecting module 10; p. 8, parag. 2] in a slit shape [p. 2, last parag. “strip-shaped measuring light”]; a sensor unit that detects the irradiation light irradiated to a distance measuring target [figs. 3, 4, light receiving element of the displacement measuring light receiving section 40; p. 8, parag. 2; p. 9, parag. 4]; an image processor that generates distance information pertaining to the distance measuring target based on a result of a detection by the sensor unit [at least p. 17, parag. 3 combination of image processing tool and displacement measuring tool as the claimed image processor]; and a controller that calculates a distance measuring target region in line with a size of the distance measuring target and sets an irradiation range of the irradiation light by the irradiation unit and a sensing range by the sensor unit to respective ranges in line with the target region [[p. 11, setting unit 304 under “configuration of setting unit 304” all; and at least p. 3, parag. 11 (“With this configuration, the scanning direction of the measurement light by the scanning unit corresponds to the Y direction on the luminance image, and the scanning range of the measurement light can be changed based on the Y coordinate of the measurement position. As a result, the scanning range of the measurement light is not unnecessarily widened and the time required for the measurement is prevented from becoming long, and it is possible to prevent the scanning range of the measurement light from being too narrow and adversely affecting the measurement accuracy.” It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the embodiments cited herein with a reasonable expectation of success because Keyence discloses them as usable together. 7: Keyence teaches the irradiation unit is configured to change a scan rate by the irradiation light, and the controller sets the scan rate and the irradiation range by the irradiation light and the sensing range by the sensor unit to attain a distance measuring mode of either a first distance measuring mode under which distance measuring accuracy is improved while the scan rate is kept constant or a second distance measuring mode under which the scan rate is increased while the distance measuring accuracy is kept constant [at least p. 8, beginning at “Structure of scan mirror” teaches scanning in different directions and that the angle of the scanning mirror (and reflection angle of measurement light – irradiation angle of measurement light) can be changed at high speed and with small pitch]. 8: Keyence teaches the irradiation unit includes a light source that emits the irradiation light and a scan mirror that changes a scan direction by the irradiation light, and the controller sets a displacement speed of the scan mirror to a speed in line with the distance measuring mode [at least p. 8, beginning at “Structure of scan mirror” teaches scanning in different directions and that the angle of the scanning mirror (and reflection angle of measurement light – irradiation angle of measurement light) can be changed at high speed and with small pitch]. 9: Keyence teaches the controller respectively sets, as the irradiation range of the irradiation light and the sensing range by the sensor unit, ranges causing a maximum irradiation range of the irradiation light and a maximum sensing range by the sensor unit to be narrower at least in vertical directions, and the scan mirror changes the scan direction by the irradiation light in the vertical direction [p. 13, beginning at parag. “Fig. 18A” and fig. 18 teach narrower range in vertical direction than in horizontal direction for scanning] . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keyence Corp. JP 2020-076675A (hereinafter “Keyence”) in view of Panasonic Electric Works Co. JP 2008-292434A (hereinafter “Panasonic”) . 5: Keyence explicitly lacks but Panasonic teaches a detector that detects a moving state of the distance measuring target, wherein the controller causes, on a basis of a result of the detection by the detector, a set position of the target region to move to track the movement of the distance measuring target [at least p. 3, parag. “Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. [2]” teaches image sensor capturing images of object as it moves (tracking)]. 6: Keyence explicitly lacks but Panasonic teaches the controller causes an irradiation position of the irradiation light by the irradiation unit to move to track the movement of the distance measuring target [at least p. 3, parag. “In this way, imaging is performed at the imaging time interval….” teaches imaging brightness changes at different target positions measured]. Regarding claims 5-6, It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the distance measuring apparatus disclosed in Keyence with the distance measuring apparatus of a moving object and irradiation tracking of the moving object disclosed in Panasonic with a reasonable expectation of success because considerations of brightness tracking and measurement tracking of a moving object allows for images of a moving object to be captured continuously for the purpose of determining distance/position of the object with respect to, in part, a brightness measurement. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art fails to teach or suggest further comprising a detector that detects a moving state of the distance measuring target, with the particulars of the sensor unit as claimed (including pixels, sensing across frames, calculating signal value by removing an inter-frame difference between a pixel signal value and a second pixel signal value as claimed), and the controller particulars as claimed. The closest prior art teaches light detection of a measurement object at a sensor and with respect to distance, but without the particulars as set forth in claim 2. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samantha K. Nickerson whose telephone number is (571)270-1037. The examiner can normally be reached Generally Monday-Tuesday, 7:00AM-3:00PM CT. 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, Isam Alsomiri can be reached at (571)272-6970. 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. SAMANTHA K. NICKERSON Primary Examiner Art Unit 3645 /SAMANTHA K NICKERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/562,551 Page 2 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/562,551 Page 3 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/562,551 Page 4 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/562,551 Page 5 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/562,551 Page 6 Art Unit: 3645
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