DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s communication received on 04/22/2024 for application number 18/642,806. The Office herby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and claims.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claim(s) 1, 3, 8-9, 11 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikeura et al., [US Pub. No.: 2017/0068153 A1] in view Vayser et al., [US Pub. No.: 2021/0145536 A1].
Re. Claim 1, Ikeura et al., [US Pub. No.: 2017/0068153 A1] discloses:
A projection apparatus [projector device 100 |0061], configured to project an image frame onto a projected plane [projector 100 projects primary image surface |0060, 0121], the projection apparatus comprising: an image source [a projection type image display device including a light source |0007], configured to emit an image beam [short focus type projector device forms, for example, an optical image corresponding to image signals by modulating light emitted from a light source constituted from a light emitting element |0058];
a projection lens [The projection optical system 10 includes a corner focus lens 12, a zoom lens 14, and a back focus lens 16 |0066], disposed on a light path of the image beam, and configured to project the image beam onto the projected plane to form the image frame [Fig.2 el 10, The short focus type projector device 100 according to the present embodiment is installed on a floor surface and used, and the corner focus lens 12 mainly adjusts the focal distance of the corner regions on the upper side of the image frame. |0072];
Ikeura does not disclose the following claim limitations:
a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor, configured to measure a distance from the projected plane;
and a controller, electrically connected to the ToF ranging sensor and the projection lens, wherein the controller is configured to set a sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor, obtain a plurality of sets of distance information of measured points on the projected plane by moving the sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor to different positions, and adjust a focal distance of the projection lens according to the sets of distance information through the controller.
In the same field of endeavor Vayser et al., [US Pub. No.: 2021/0145536 A1] discloses:
a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor [Tof sensor 110 | 0068], configured to measure a distance from the projected plane [distance measuring device 102 includes a tof sensor |0068];
and a controller [processing unit 104 |Fig.1 102], electrically connected to the ToF ranging sensor and the projection lens [Fig.1 Distance measuring comprising a tof sensor device connected projector 108 |0068], wherein the controller is configured to set a sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor [Device 102 is composed of an emitter and a receiver for distance or topology measurement. It can include a variety of emitting and detecting modalities and components such as acoustics, triangulation and range finder lasers, laser scanning, photodetectors and TOF.|0053, 0061, 0068], obtain a plurality of sets of distance information of measured points on the projected plane by moving the sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor to different positions [the distance-measuring device is selected from the group consisting of laser range finder, laser scanning, time of flight, structured light, light field camera, and acoustic measurement device. |0015-0016], and adjust a focal distance of the projection lens according to the sets of distance information through the controller [the distance-measuring device further determines at least one of a topology of the physical object and an orientation of the physical object relative to the distance-measuring device, and the processor further uses the topology and/or orientation information to adjust scaling of the augmented information. |0015-0016].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ikeura with Vayser to provide intuitive real-time visual feedback to the user on how to adjust the orientation of the system for optimal results.
Re. Claim 3, the rejection of claim is incorporated herein.
Vayser et. al. discloses the following claim limitations:
The projection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to interpolate the sets of distance information [The processor uses distance measurement information from the distance measuring device to adjust scaling of the augmented image information. |0016], and the controller is configured to adjust the focal distance of the projection lens according to the interpolated sets of distance information [the processor further uses the topology and/or orientation information to adjust scaling of the augmented information. Wherein scaling of the augmented information is equivalent to adjusting a focal distance |0016].
Re. Claim 8, Ikeura discloses:
The projection apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a user interface [operation panel 70 is a user interface connected to processing device 200 |Fig.1, 0062], electrically connected to the controller [operation panel 70 connected to processing device 200 |Fig.1, 0062], wherein the controller is configured to adjust a projection range of the image source according to a selection of a user from the user interface [Such a short focus type projector device 100 is constituted by presupposing that the short focus type projector device 100 is installed, by a user, in accordance with a projection distance corresponding to a desired projection screen size.|0062].
Re. Claim 9, Ikeura et al., [US Pub. No.: 2017/0068153 A1] discloses:
A projecting method [projecting method |Abstract], comprising: providing a projection apparatus [projector device 100 |0061], wherein the projection apparatus comprises an image source [a projection type image display device including a light source| 0007], a projection lens [The projection optical system 10 includes a corner focus lens 12, a zoom lens 14, and a back focus lens 16 |0066], the image source is configured to emit an image beam [short focus type projector device forms, for example, an optical image corresponding to image signals by modulating light emitted from a light source constituted from a light emitting element |0058], the projection lens is disposed on a light path of the image beam, and is configured to project the image beam onto a projected plane to form an image frame [Fig.2 el 10, The short focus type projector device 100 according to the present embodiment is installed on a floor surface and used, and the corner focus lens 12 mainly adjusts the focal distance of the corner regions on the upper side of the image frame. |0072],
Ikeura does not disclose the following claim limitations:
and a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor,
the ToF ranging sensor is configured to measure a distance from the projected plane;
setting a sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor by using a controller;
obtaining a plurality of sets of distance information of measured points on the projected plane by moving the sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor to different positions by using the controller;
and adjusting a focal distance of the projection lens according to the sets of distance information through the controller.
In the same field of endeavor Vayser et al., [US Pub. No.: 2021/0145536 A1] discloses:
and a time-of-flight (ToF) ranging sensor [Tof sensor 110 |0068],
the ToF ranging sensor is configured to measure a distance from the projected plane [distance measuring device 102 includes a tof sensor |0015];
setting a sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor by using a controller [A conventional laser range finder (distance sensor) may be used to measure the distance between the projector and the physical object |0053, 0061];
obtaining a plurality of sets of distance information of measured points on the projected plane by moving the sampling range of the ToF ranging sensor to different positions by using the controller[the distance-measuring device is selected from the group consisting of laser range finder, laser scanning, time of flight, structured light, light field camera, and acoustic measurement device. Wherein distance measuring device 102 is connected to processing unit 104 |0015-0016, 0061];
and adjusting a focal distance of the projection lens according to the sets of distance information through the controller [the distance-measuring device further determines at least one of a topology of the physical object and an orientation of the physical object relative to the distance-measuring device, and the processor further uses the topology and/or orientation information to adjust scaling of the augmented information. |0015-0016].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ikeura with Vayser to provide intuitive real-time visual feedback to the user on how to adjust the orientation of the system for optimal results.
Re. Claim 11, the rejection of claim is incorporated herein.
Vayser et. al. discloses the following claim limitations:
The projecting method according to claim 9, further comprising: interpolating the sets of distance information by using the controller [The processor uses distance measurement information from the distance measuring device to adjust scaling of the augmented image information. |0016];
and adjusting the focal distance of the projection lens according to the interpolated sets of distance information by using the controller [the processor further uses the topology and/or orientation information to adjust scaling of the augmented information. Wherein scaling of the augmented information is equivalent to adjusting a focal distance |0016]..
Re. Claim 18, Ikeura discloses:
The projecting method according to claim 15, wherein the projection apparatus further comprises a user interface [operation panel 70 is a user interface connected to processing device 200 |Fig.1, 0062], electrically connected to the controller [operation panel 70 connected to processing device 200 |Fig.1, 0062], the projecting method further comprises adjusting a projection range of the image source according to a selection of a user from the user interface by using the controller [Such a short focus type projector device 100 is constituted by presupposing that the short focus type projector device 100 is installed, by a user, in accordance with a projection distance corresponding to a desired projection screen size.|0062].
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 2, 4-7, 10, 12-17 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD D BROWN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-4371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:00PM EST.
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, Sathyanarayanan Perungavoor can be reached at 5712727455. 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.
HOWARD D. BROWN JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488