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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 9/5/2024, 1/11/2025, 1/17/2025 and 6/17/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed 4/26/2024 are approved by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8, 10-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Frederick et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0108801).
With respect to claim 1, Frederick et al disclose: A lidar device [ figures 1 to 7 disclose a method and apparatus for cleaning sensors (104); paragraph [0024] teaches LIDAR sensors ], comprising a cleaning apparatus [ taught by figure 2 ] and a control unit [ taught by controller (102) ], wherein: the control unit determines a to-be-cleaned area of a lidar window based on location information of a shielding object on the lidar window, and controls the cleaning apparatus to clean the to-be-cleaned area of the lidar window [ paragraph [0022] states, “…The controller 102 is configured to detect, via the sensor(s) 106, a condition of the vehicle 100 and/or the sensor(s) 106 indicative of obstruction(s) and/or debris (e.g., dirt, dust, bugs, snow, road debris, etc.) that are on the vehicle 100 and positioned near at least one of the sensor(s) 106, which may interfere with vehicle functionality (e.g., autonomous functionality). In response to determining the condition, the controller 102 advantageously controls the motor(s) 104 to move and/or position an adjustable nozzle 202 (shown in FIG. 2) and expel (e.g., spray) one or more fluids from the nozzle 202, thereby removing the debris…” ].
Claims 13 and 20 are anticipated by the subject matter of Frederick et al, as applied to claim 1.
Paragraph [0049] states, “…As a result, the sensor 106 generates data that indicates one or more observed parameters associated with the debris 203 such as, for example, an observed position 404 of the debris 203, an observed distance 406 between the sensor 106 and the debris 203, an observed size of the debris 203, an observed shape or geometry of the debris 203, etc. For example, the observed position 404 includes positional data such as coordinates (e.g., a value corresponding to an x-coordinate, a value corresponding to a y-coordinate, etc.). In particular, such sensor data enables the controller 102 to determine whether the debris 203 is disposed on the surface(s) 122, 124 and in the FOV 402 as well as determine a particular adjustment for the motor(s) 104 that properly positions the nozzle 202 near the debris 203 and/or aims the nozzle 202 thereat…”.
The teaching of paragraph [0049] anticipates claims 2-4 and 14-16.
With respect to claim 5, Frederick et al disclose: the cleaning apparatus comprises nozzle [ taught by nozzle (202) ], a screw rod [ paragraph [0046] states, “…In particular, the second actuator system 302 of FIG. 3B includes a second example ball screw 316 operatively coupled between the motor(s) 104 and a threaded portion 317 of the shaft 314…” ] , a motor [ taught by motor (104) ], and a guide rail [ taught by rails (244 and 246) in figure 2 ]; and the motor is rotatably disposed on the screw rod, to drive the nozzle to move along a defined track of the guide rail [ taught by paragraph [0043] ].
Claims 7 and 17 are taught by paragraph [0046] in that the number of turns of the motor determining movement in implicit from the connection of the screw ball (316) and shaft (314).
Claim 6 is taught by steps 602 to 610 of figure 6.
Claims 8, 10 and 18 are met by step 616 of figure 6 wherein the threshold is set by a no determination and the number of times is set by the feedback iterations.
Claim 11 is met by step 616 of figure 6 wherein the threshold is set by a yes determination and the duration is set by the amount of time to clean wherein the parked cleaning device would implicitly not be in the visible range of the LIDAR sensor (106).
With regard to claim 12, Frederick et al disclose: the lidar device further comprises a lidar body [ taught by the LIDAR sensor (106) ], the lidar body comprises a controller area [ shown by figure 3B ], network interface [ shown by figure 5 and figure 7 ], and the cleaning apparatus further comprises a water pump control module [ part of pump (214) ] and a motor drive module [ motor interface (504) ]; and the controller area network interface is connected to at least one of the water pump control module or the motor drive module through a controller area network bus [ implicit from connection (510) ].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 19 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to MARK HELLNER at telephone number (571)272-6981.
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
/MARK HELLNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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