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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-13 are pending.
Claims 4-7 and 9 are objected to.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 4/8/2024 and 4/25/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 8 April 2024. These drawings are accepted.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 9 are objected to.
Claim 4 is 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, for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest that a positional relationship between the reflection optical axis surface and the plane including the second axis is determined according to an angle of a blind spot of the optical apparatus.
Claim 5 is 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, for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest that a positional relationship between the reflection optical axis surface and the plane including the second axis is determined according to a shape of a grid polygon of point cloud data.
Claim 6 is 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, for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest that a positional relationship between the intersection of the reflective surface and the second axis is determined according to a positional relationship between the reflection optical axis surface and the plane including the second axis, and a shortest measurement distance of the optical apparatus.
Claim 7 is 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, for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the processor is configured to determine a positional relationship between the reflection optical axis surface and the plane including the second axis by changing a slope of the reflective surface.
Claim 9 is 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, for at least the reason that the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the processor is configured to determine a positional relationship between the reflection optical axis surface and the plane including the second axis by changing a slope of the first axis.
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.
Claims 1-3, 8, and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Siercks et al. (US 2015/0042977) (hereafter Siercks).
Regarding claim 1, Siercks discloses an optical apparatus (see at least Fig. 2c) comprising: a mirror configured to irradiate light onto a target and to guide reflected light from the target (see at least Fig. 2c, beam deflection element 11 is a mirror); a first motor configured to rotate the mirror about a first axis (see at least Figs. 2a and 2c and paragraph [0067], where 26 is a first motor to rotate the mirror about a first axis 22); a second motor configured to rotate the mirror about a second axis (see at least Figs. 2a and 2c and paragraph [0066], where 14 is a second motor to rotate the mirror about a second axis 12); and a processor configured to control the first motor and the second motor (see at least paragraph [0008], where the device has a computing and control unit), wherein an intersection of the first axis and a reflective surface of the mirror is located at a position different from the second axis, and wherein a reflection optical axis surface including a reflection optical axis as an optical axis of the reflected light passing through the intersection of the reflective surface is not parallel to a plane including the second axis (see at least Fig. 2c).
Regarding claim 2, Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 1.
Siercks also discloses that the reflection optical axis surface is a trajectory surface while the mirror is rotated by 360° about the first axis (see at least Fig. 2c).
Regarding claim 3, Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 2.
Siercks also discloses that the following inequality is satisfied: 5°≤Φ≤ 60°where Φ is an angle between the second axis and the reflection optical axis on a plane including the first axis and the second axis (see at least Fig. 2c, where the angle is shown to be about 45 degrees since the beam is shown to enter horizontally and exit vertically).
Regarding claim 8, Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 1.
Siercks also discloses that the first axis and the second axis are orthogonal to each other (see at least Fig. 2c).
Regarding claim 10, Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 1.
Siercks discloses that the processor is configured to acquire point cloud data of the target by rotating the mirror using the first motor and the second motor (see at least Fig. 2c and paragraph [0017]).
Regarding claim 11¸ Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 1.
Siercks also discloses that the optical apparatus is a three-dimensional laser scanner (see at least Fig. 2c and the abstract).
Regarding claim 12, Siercks discloses a control method of an optical apparatus, the control method comprising: a first step of irradiating light onto a target using a mirror (see at least Fig. 2c and paragraph [0016], where the apparatus emits a first laser beam) and of guiding reflected light from the target while rotating the mirror using a first motor and a second motor (see at least Fig. 2c and paragr4aph [0017]; a second step of receiving the reflected light guided by the mirror with a light receiver to obtain distance data to the target (see at least paragraph [0018], where the distance measurement can be carried out), wherein the first motor rotates the mirror about a first axis (see at least Figs. 2a and 2c and paragraph [0067], where 26 is a first motor to rotate the mirror about a first axis 22), wherein the second motor rotates the mirror about a second axis (see at least Figs. 2a and 2c and paragraph [0066], where 14 is a second motor to rotate the mirror about a second axis 12), wherein an intersection of the first axis and a reflective surface of the mirror is located at a position different from the second axis, and wherein a reflection optical axis surface including a reflection optical axis as an optical axis of the reflected light passing through the intersection of the reflective surface is not parallel to a plane including the second axis (see at least Fig. 2c).
Regarding claim 13, Siercks discloses all of the limitations of claim 12.
Siercks also discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium soring a program that cause a computer to execute the control method according to claim 12 (see at least paragraph [0017], where the positioning and measuring is performed by the control and processing unit).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 3,653,774 to La Roche discloses an optical apparatus comprises a mirror; a first motor configured to rotate the mirror about a first axis; a second motor configured to rotate the mirror about a second axis; and a processor configured to control the first motor and the second motor, wherein an intersection of the first axis and a reflective surface of the mirror is located at a position different from the second axis, and wherein a reflection optical axis surface including a reflection optical axis as an optical axis of the reflected light passing through the intersection of the reflective surface is not parallel to a plane including the second axis (see at least Fig. 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM W BOOHER whose telephone number is (571)270-0573. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephone Allen can be reached at 571-272-2434. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.W.B./ Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/STEPHONE B ALLEN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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