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 .
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, 15 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 US 20050189479 A1 .
Regarding claims bellow D1 teaches
1, 15 An assembly comprising:
a shaft rotatable around a first axis;(fig. 1)
a scale comprising a color wheel that represents absolute angular positions relative to a point at which the first axis intersects the color wheel, the color wheel having at least one gradient between a plurality of colors, each color of the plurality of colors in the gradient corresponding to a different angular position;[0037-0039][0121]
a shaft that is both rotatable around a first axis and movable along a length of the first axis, the shaft having an exterior surface colored in such manner that each surface position of a plurality of surface positions has a unique color; ;[0037-0039][0121] (fig. 1 with fig.8 )
a color sensor configured to measure a color of the color wheel at a particular position in front of the color sensor; and[0037-0039]
a controller configured to output an angular position signal representing an angular position of the shaft based on the color measured by the color sensor.[0121]
2. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein the color sensor is coupled to the shaft and thereby configured to rotate with the shaft while the color wheel remains stationary relative to the first axis, such that the particular position measured by the color sensor changes as the shaft rotates.
3. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein the scale is coupled to the shaft and thereby configured to rotate with the shaft while the color sensor remains stationary relative to the first axis, such that the color of the color wheel at the particular position measured by the color sensor changes as the shaft rotates.(fig. 25-26)
4. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein angular positions represented by the gradient increase as the gradient progresses from a first color to a second color.[0121](gradient change with fig. 17)
16. The assembly of Claim 15,
wherein the controller is configured to calculate the angular position based on a color coordinate of the color in a color space;
wherein the controller is configured to calculate the linear position based on a color appearance parameter in a color appearance model.[0121]
17. The assembly of Claim 15, wherein at each angular position of a plurality of angular positions relative to the first axis[0121](comparative model is axis with documented changes in color), the exterior surface is colored a shade of a particular color mapped to that angular position([0121] with fig. 8), the shade increasing in one or more or intensity, brightness, luminance, or lightness in accordance with distance from an origin along the first axis.(implicit according to fig. 8 different regions will reflect different amplitudes for different colors)
18. The assembly of Claim 15,
wherein at each angular position of a plurality of angular positions relative to the first axis, the exterior surface is colored a shade of a particular color mapped to that angular position, the shade increasing in one or more or intensity, brightness, luminance, or lightness in accordance with distance from an origin along the first axis;[0121]+[0038](according to 0121 the model is taken first which can be considered as first axis with different colors and hues and according to that model the angular position is calculated in future)
wherein the particular color mapped to each angular position of the plurality of angular positions progresses in a gradient from a first color to a second color as the angular position increases from a first position to a second position.[0038]
Claim(s) 8 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D2 US 20020079466 A1
8. An assembly comprising:
a linearly actuatable element movable along a first axis;(fig. 8 and [0010][0217])
a color scale representing absolute linear positions on a line segment that is parallel to the first axis, the color scale having at least one gradient between a plurality of colors, each color of the plurality of colors in the gradient corresponding to a different linear position;[0232-0234]
a color sensor configured to measure a color of the color scale at a particular position in front of the color sensor; and[0232]
a controller configured to output a linear position signal representing a linear position of the linearly actuatable element based on the color measured by the color sensor.[0110-0113]
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) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
5. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein the color wheel comprises a first gradient between a first color and a second color, a second gradient between the second color and a third color, and a third gradient between the third color and the first color. (Obvious over [0038](fig. 5 and [0086]) gradient is hue)
6. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein the color wheel comprises a first arc having a first gradient between a red color and a green color, a second arc having a second gradient between the green color and a blue color, and a third arc having a third gradient between the blue color and the red color. (Obvious over [0038](fig. 5 and [0086]))
7. The assembly of Claim 1,
wherein the color sensor is configured to output to the controller an indication of the color at the particular position as a measurement in a color space comprising at least three components;
wherein the controller is configured to convert the measurement into the angular position based on a mapping from the color space to a polar angle.(obvious over [0086] as it teaches green yellow or other colors hence it can be more than two.)
Although D1 does not explicitly name specific colors and second gradient , third gradient it is just a matter of design choice selection of multiple different colors and region with gradient between those multiple colors in order to increase the number of the definable angular positions more colors and more gradients just give finer resolution to the angular position.
Claim(s) 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D2.
Although D2 does not explicitly teach
9. The assembly of Claim 8, wherein the color sensor is coupled to or included in the linearly actuatable element and thereby configured to move along the first axis with the linearly actuatable element while the color scale remains stationary relative to the first axis, such that the particular position measured by the color sensor changes as the linearly actuatable element moves along the first axis.
10. The assembly of Claim 8, wherein the color scale is coupled to or included in the linearly actuatable element and thereby configured to move along the first axis with the linearly actuatable element while the color sensor remains stationary relative to the first axis, such that the color of the color scale at the particular position measured by the color sensor changes as the linearly actuatable element moves.
D2 explicitly teaches relative linear motion between color sensor and encoding and hence using linearly actuatable element which modes color sensor is just obvious modification in order to position sensor in correct arrangement with respect to fixed encoding element.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D2 in view of D1.
Although D2 does not teach D1 teaches
11. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein linear positions represented by the gradient increase as the gradient progresses from a first color to a second color.(fig .8)[0037-0039]
12. The assembly of Claim 8, wherein the color scale comprises a first gradient between a first color and a second color, a second gradient between the second color and a third color, and a third gradient between the third color and the first color. [0037-0039]
13. The assembly of Claim 8, wherein the color scale comprises a first segment having a first gradient between a red color and a green color and a second segment having a second gradient between the green color and a blue color.(obvious design modification choice of colors)
14. The assembly of Claim 8,
wherein the color sensor is configured to output to the controller an indication of the color at the particular position as a measurement in a color space comprising at least three components;
wherein the controller is configured to convert the measurement into the linear position based on a mapping from the color space to a measure of distance from an origin. (obvious design modification choice of colors)[0086]
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D2 with teachings by D1 in order to associate color change with gradual transformation of first color to the second color.
Claim(s) 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D2 in view of D1.
Regarding claim 19 20 D1 teaches
19. The assembly of Claim 15,
wherein for each cross-section of a horizontal cross-section of the shaft, the exterior surface indicates angular positions using at least one gradient, in which the angular positions increase as the gradient progress from a first color to a second color;(fig. 8, 9)
wherein each cross-section has a different first color and a different second color[fig. 8-12]
but does not teach while D2 teaches
plurality horizontal cross-section of the shaft
selected from a first color appearance gradient and a second color appearance gradient, respectively, based on a linear position of the cross-section along the first axis.
D2 teaches
plurality horizontal cross-section of the shaft(fig. 9)
selected from a first color appearance gradient and a second color appearance gradient, respectively, based on a linear position of the cross-section along the first axis.(fig. 9)
D2 also teaches 2 D decoding (fig. 8)
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D2 in order to perform 2 D decoding along rotational and translational axis of the barrel.
Although D1 does not teach
20. The assembly of Claim 15,
wherein each angular position in a plurality of angular positions of a first arc of the exterior surface is mapped to a different color in a first gradient from a red color to a green color;[0086]
but does not teach
wherein each angular position in a plurality of angular positions of a second arc of the exterior surface is mapped to a different color in a second gradient from the green color to a blue color;
wherein each angular position in a plurality of angular positions in a third arc of the exterior surface is mapped to a different color in a third gradient from the blue color to the red color;
wherein locations on the exterior surface are colored with shades of the different colors that are mapped to the angular positions of the locations on the exterior surface, the shades progressing in brightness, intensity, or lightness relative to the linear positions of the locations on the exterior surface.
D2 teaches different encoder pattern at different translational positions of the barrel [fig. 9]
D2 also teaches 2 D decoding (fig. 8)
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D2 in order to perform 2 D decoding along rotational and translational axis of the barrel. And choice of the green red and yellow color is just obvious design choice in order to use colors of RGB sensors such ass CCD.
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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