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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph 58, line 10, the first divergence angle is denoted as “L1” and the initial divergence angle is denoted as “L0”. It appears the first divergence angle should be denoted as “θ1” and the initial divergence angle should be denoted as “θ0”
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 5-7, 9-11, 13, 14, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 109669226 A (from IDS filed, referred as D1) in view of CN 214098104 U (from IDS filed, referred as D2).
Regarding claim 1, D1 discloses a transmitter used in a lidar (google translation provided), comprising:
a laser light source (abstract, “laser radar scanning device” inherently disclose laser) configured to emit an initial beam with an initial divergence angle (claim 1, “normal incident parallel light beams” is an initial beam with an initial divergence angle);
a first metalens (Fig. 1, the first layer of metasurface lens arrays the initial beam is incident on) configured to enable the initial beam to pass through the first metalens and configured to modulate the initial beam with the initial divergence angle into a first beam with a first divergence angle (claim 1, “the first layer of metasurface lens arrays on the incident parallel light beams. Ideal focus or divergence, so that its focal point or virtual focus is on the front focal plane of the second layer of metasurface lens group”);
a second metalens (Fig. 2, the second layer of metaurface lens arrays the first beam is incident on) configured to enable the first beam to pass through the second metalens and configured to modulate the first beam with the first divergence angle into a second beam with a second divergence angle (claim 1, “the second layer of metasurface lens group array on the exit surface converge the first layer of metasurface lens group array and then diverges”); and
wherein the first metalens is arranged between the second metalens and the laser light source (see Fig. 1).
D1 does not discloses the laser light source being a laser surface light source and the second beam is configured to generate point clouds or multiple lines in a far field.
D2 discloses the laser light source being a laser surface light source and the second beam is configured to generate point clouds or multiple lines in a far field (para [0047] “the light source 12 is an area array light sources based on VCSEL or an area array light source based on EEL … the light source can specifically be 3x3, 5x5, 7x7, 9x9, … such selection can ensure that the point cloud image generated by the point cloud generator 16 has a perfect image in the middle, and obtain accurate point cloud image”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use the laser surface light source as taught by D2 to generate point clouds or multiple lines in a far field for the purpose of obtaining accurate point cloud image as being motivated to ensure that every 3D coordinate precisely processes the physical surface it hit without spatial blur or geometric distortion.
Regarding claim 5, in combination, the transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the laser surface light source comprises a plurality of laser source arrays; and each laser source array comprises a plurality of laser sources (D2, para [0047] “the light source 12 is an area array light sources based on VCSEL or an area array light source based on EEL … the light source can specifically be 3x3, 5x5, 7x7, 9x9).
Regarding claim 6, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the laser sources in each laser source array are arranged in a symmetrical shape.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the laser sources in each laser source array are arranged in a symmetrical shape, since it has been held that a such modification would involved a mere change in the shape of a component, a change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 7, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein each laser source array is structurally identical.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the laser source array to be structurally identical, since it has been held that a such modification would involved a mere change in the shape of a component, a change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 9, in combination, the transmitter according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of laser source arrays are sequentially illuminated in a predetermined order (D2, para [0048] “the area array light source partitions are lit in sequence”).
Regarding claim 10, in combination, the transmitter according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of laser source arrays are sequentially illuminated along an S-shaped route (D2, para [0048] “s-shaped lighting”).
Regarding claim 11, in combination, the transmitter according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of laser source arrays are sequentially illuminated along a spiral route (D2, para [0048] “spiral lighting”).
Regarding claims 13 and 14, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein in the plurality of laser source arrays, a number of illuminated times of a laser source array within a central field of view is greater than a number of illuminated times of a laser source array outside of the central field of view, further wherein the number of the illuminated times of the laser source array within the central field of view is greater than or equal to 2.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to have a number of illuminated times of a laser source array within a central field of view is greater than a number of illuminated times of a laser source array outside of the central field of view, further wherein the number of the illuminated times of the laser source array within the central field of view is greater than or equal to 2 for the purpose of enhancing the quality of transmitting beams.
Regarding claim 17, in combination, the transmitter according to claim 1, wherein each of the first metalens and the second metalens comprises a substrate and a layer of microstructures arranged on the substrate, and the layer of the microstructures comprises unit cells arranged in an array (D1, see Fig. 1, a layer of microstructures arranged on each surface of the first metalens and second metalens show unit cells arranged in an array).
Regarding claim 20, in combination, a lidar, comprising the transmitter according to claim 1 (D1, claim 1, “a lidar scanning device based on a metasurface lens array”, Fig. 1).
Claims 2-4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 109669226 A (from IDS filed, referred as D1) in view of CN 214098104 U (from IDS filed, referred as D2) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Hao et al (US 2023/0194760 A1).
Regarding claim 2, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the first divergence angle is smaller than the initial divergence angle; and the second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle.
Hao discloses the first divergence angle that is smaller than the initial divergence angle (Fig. 4B, by metalens 230); and the second divergence angle that is smaller than the first divergence angle (Fig. 4B, by metalens 240, para 122 “aberrations of the primary reflecting lens 120 and the secondary reflecting lens 130 can be corrected by the third metalens 230 and the fourth metalens 240, so that the aberration can be reduced”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date have the first metalens and second metalens, wherein the first divergence angle is smaller than the initial divergence angle; and the second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle as taught by Hao for the purpose of obtaining low divergence to maintain a small spot size and high spatial resolution at long distances.
Regarding claim 3, D1 in view of D2 and further in view of Hao discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a ratio between the first divergence angle and the initial divergence angle is less than 1/5.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose a ratio between the first divergence angle and the initial divergence angle is less than 1/5, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art, as being motivated to obtain low divergence to maintain a small spot size and high spatial resolution at long distances.
Regarding claim 4, D1 in view of D2 and further in view of Hao discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the second divergence angle is determined by a maximal working distance of the lidar and a minimal size of a target object detectable at the maximal working distance.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the second divergence angle is determined by a maximal working distance of the lidar and a minimal size of a target object detectable at the maximal working distance for the purpose of obtaining low divergence to maintain a small spot size and high spatial resolution at long distances.
Regarding claim 8, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a first outgoing light is formed after light emitted by one of the laser sources at a first position of the laser surface light source passes through the first metalens and the second metalens; a first angle refers to an included angle between the first outgoing light and a direction perpendicular to the laser area light source; a second outgoing light is formed after light emitted by one of the laser sources at a second position of the laser surface light source passes through the first metalens and the second metalens; a second angle refers to an included angle between the second outgoing light and the direction perpendicular to the laser area light source; and compared with the second position, the first position is further away from a central field of view of the laser surface light source; and the first angle is greater than the second angle.
Hao discloses the first divergence angle that is smaller than the initial divergence angle (Fig. 4B, by metalens 230); and the second divergence angle that is smaller than the first divergence angle (Fig. 4B, by metalens 240, para 122 “aberrations of the primary reflecting lens 120 and the secondary reflecting lens 130 can be corrected by the third metalens 230 and the fourth metalens 240, so that the aberration can be reduced”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date have the first metalens and second metalens, wherein the first divergence angle is smaller than the initial divergence angle; and the second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle as taught by Hao for the purpose of obtaining low divergence to maintain a small spot size and high spatial resolution at long distances.
Claims 12, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 109669226 A (from IDS filed, referred as D1) in view of CN 214098104 U (from IDS filed, referred as D2) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Rivera et al (US 2019/0094564 A1).
Regarding claim 12, D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the plurality of laser source arrays are randomly illuminated.
Rivera discloses the plurality of laser source arrays that are randomly illuminated (para [0007] “Low spatial coherence electrically pumped semiconductor laser for speckle-free full-field imaging,” PNAS 112, 1304 (2015); B. Redding et al., “Speckle-free laser imaging using random laser illumination”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use the plurality of laser source arrays are randomly illuminated for the purpose of obtaining optical and far-field patten advantages such as grating lobe suppression and narrower main beam at reduced density.
Regarding claims 15 and 16, D1 in view of D2, and further in view of Rivera discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein in the plurality of laser source arrays, a number of illuminated times of a laser source array within a central field of view is greater than a number of illuminated times of a laser source array outside of the central field of view, further wherein the number of the illuminated times of the laser source array within the central field of view is greater than or equal to 2.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to have a number of illuminated times of a laser source array within a central field of view is greater than a number of illuminated times of a laser source array outside of the central field of view, further wherein the number of the illuminated times of the laser source array within the central field of view is greater than or equal to 2 for the purpose of enhancing the quality of transmitting beams.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 109669226 A (from IDS filed, referred as D1) in view of CN 214098104 U (from IDS filed, referred as D2) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Schmalenberg et al (US 2021/0190926 A1).
D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except wherein a size and a shape of the unit cells are determined according to a working wavelength range of the lidar.
Schmalenberg discloses a size and a shape of the unit cells are determined according to a working wavelength range of the lidar (para 54 “The size of the unit cell can be on the same order of magnitude as the wavelength used by the LiDAR 110”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make a size and a shape of the unit cells that are determined according to a working wavelength range of the lidar for the purpose of obtaining architectural and manufacturing advantages regarding unit cell layout.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 109669226 A (from IDS filed, referred as D1) in view of CN 214098104 U (from IDS filed, referred as D2) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Crouch et al (US 2019/0370614 A1).
D1 in view of D2 discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except wherein the point clouds or the multiple lines in the far field are generatable by modulating a phase of the initial beam.
Crouch discloses the point clouds or the multiple lines in the far field are generatable by modulating a phase of the initial beam (para 40 “Some embodiments of the invention are described below in the context of classifying objects in 3D point clouds generated by a LIDAR system with a linear frequency modulated optical signal. However, such 3D point clouds need not be generated with LIDAR systems featuring linear chirps and can instead be generated by LIDAR systems where the transmitted signal is modulated in amplitude, frequency or phase or some combination”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to have the point clouds or the multiple lines in the far field being generatable by modulating a phase of the initial beam for the purpose of obtaining passive optical sensing or unmodulated flash illumination.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNCHA P CHERRY whose telephone number is (571)272-2310. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 7am to 3:30pm.
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9/3/2026
/EUNCHA P CHERRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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