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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/19/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. §102
Applicant's arguments filed 11/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. An overall assessment of the remarks by applicant with respect to the rejections over ULRICH appear to be centered around the positioning of the light shield with respect to the structured light source. An overview of the examiner’s position with respect to the arguments is that the applicant is placing too much specificity on merely ‘outside the structured light’.
While the examiner fully respects the necessity to read claim limitations in light of the specification, they simply do not agree that ‘outside the structured light’ can reasonably be construed to improperly import ‘not a part’, ‘separate’, ‘external’ or any other descriptors that are inappropriately conflated with ‘outside’.
Further, the examiner also believes ‘structured light’ does not equate to ‘the entire light source structure that is housing the light source.’ Therefore, while the light shield of ULRICH is attached to the same structural housing as the light source, it is indeed placed outside of the light source itself and is appropriately placed between the source of light and the virtual volume.
Further, as paragraph [0115] references item 442 as the ‘mask’ that the examiner is referencing with respect to the shield, applicant is pointed to FIG. 4I to demonstrate this, which clearly appears to be separate from the light source.
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It is recommended to applicant to further clarify via the claim language the differences between the applicant’s invention and that of ULRICH.
The remaining claims rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102 are also maintained for the reasons above.
35 U.S.C. §103
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pages 8-9, filed 11/17/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. §103 rejections of claims 4 and 5 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. §103 rejections of claims 4 and 5 have been withdrawn.
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) 1-3 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (US 2002/0014577 A1) Ulrich et al., referred to as ULRICH hereinafter.
Claim 1: ULRICH discloses an imaging system (Paragraph [0012]), for three-dimensional imaging of an object (Paragraph [0012]) based on light triangulation (at least FIGs. 3-4 demonstrate triangulation inspection.),
comprising a camera (FIG. 3, 404) and a light source (FIG. 3, 402) configured to
provide an illumination of the object (Paragraph [0079]) comprising structured light (Paragraph [0079] discloses a pattern of light for illumination.),
the camera being arranged in relation to the provided structured light so that the camera is able to capture reflected structured light from the object in an image as part of said light triangulation (FIGs. 3-4 clearly demonstrate a triangular configuration, which is standard in the art, for transmitting and reflecting light off of an object.)
whereby, according to the light triangulation, positions of captured reflected structured light in the image map to real world positions (Paragraph [0079] further discloses a virtual volume in which the structured light is transmitted by pixel lines in a Cartesian coordinate space.) where the structured light was reflected by the object , the structured light intersecting a virtual volume comprising the object and that corresponds to a volume where one or more objects, including said object , that the imaging system is configured to image are present during the imaging, wherein the imaging system further comprises a light shield arranged outside the structured light between the light source and said virtual volume such that light shield shields stray light from the light source and thereby prevents it from reaching the virtual volume within field of view of the camera (Paragraphs [0113]-[0115] disclose an area for imaging in which light is reflected off a solder ball. Slit masks are included to reduce (i.e., shield) light along the y-axis to reduce noise from the light bouncing off other objects lying outside the virtual volume housing the solder ball to be measured.)).
Claim 2: ULRICH discloses the imaging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light shield has one or more light shielding major surfaces that have extension in one or more directions orthogonal to an illumination direction of the structured light (Paragraph [0115] in which there are masks in the y-directions, which limit the light in that direction. This is orthogonal to the x-axis, which has a wider path of light beam to measure the object in the virtual volume.).
Claim 3: ULRICH discloses the imaging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light shield extends outside the structured light between the light source and the virtual volume with a distance to the structured light that decreases in direction of the virtual volume (Paragraph [0115], as explained above, teaches this characteristic.).
Claim 6: ULRICH discloses the imaging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light shield comprises: a first light shield part arranged on a first side of the structured light in direction of the camera; and/or a second light shield part arranged on a second side of the structured light in opposite direction of the camera (see item 442 in FIGs 4A an 4I, which show a light shield on either side of a path of structured light, one on the side of the camera and one on the opposite side of the camera, relative to the beam path.).
Claim 7: ULRICH discloses the imaging system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first light shield part is arranged outside at least a part of field of view of the camera that is covering the structured light in the virtual volume (As per FIGs 4A and 4I, the shields are on a different 'leg' of the triangulation and therefore inherently outside the FOV of the camera.).
Claim 8: ULRICH discloses the imaging system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light shield is closest to the structured light where the light shield is closest to the virtual volume and/or where the light shield is closest to where the illumination has a focus point (As per item 446 in FIG 4I, the dotted line of the structured light path is closest to the relatively 'bottom' most shield, which is angled in such a way that it is closest to the virtual volume and the focus region.).
Claim 9: ULRICH discloses a method for supporting reduction of distortions in three dimensional imaging based on light triangulation, said three dimensional imaging being performed by an imaging system comprising a camera and a light source for providing illumination of an object to be imaged, wherein the illumination comprises structured light used in the light triangulation, the camera being arranged in relation to the provided structured light so that the camera during imaging captures reflected structured light from the object in an image as part of said light triangulation whereby, according to the light triangulation, positions of captured reflected structured light in the image map to real world positions where the structured light was reflected by the object, the structured light intersecting a virtual volume comprising the object and that corresponds to a volume where one or more objects, including said object, that the imaging system is configured to image are present during the imaging, wherein the method comprises: at least during said imaging by the camera, preventing stray light from the light source to reach the virtual volume within field of view of the camera (As per MPEP 2112.02(I), "[u]nder the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device." Therefore, as the device was rejected in claim 1 above, the process of claim 9 is inherently anticipated under the same rationale.).
Claim 10: ULRICH discloses the method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said preventing stray light is accomplished by shielding the stray light by a light shield arranged outside the structured light between the light source and said virtual volume. (Paragraph [0115], as explained above, teaches this characteristic.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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.
See applicant’s remarks from 11/17/2025 for reasons.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN W. RIDER whose telephone number is (571)270-1068. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7.00 am - 4.30 pm.
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, Jamie J Atala can be reached at (571) 272-7384. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JUSTIN W. RIDER
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2486
/Justin W Rider/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2486