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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jha et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 20220097853).
U.S. Patent Application Publication 20220097853
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[0048] FIG. 2A shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a portion of a passenger cabin of an aircraft.
U.S. 20220097853 teaches
a system comprising: a camera module (90) arranged at a first position of the recess of the at least one supply channel, the camera module includes a camera configured to capture images in the a spectral range and in an infrared spectral range [0068], wherein the camera is directed towards passenger seats (80a-80c), at least one lighting module (2) arranged at a second position of the recess of the at least one supply channel, the at least one lighting module including an infrared light source (7a-c) configured to emit light in the infrared spectral range [0075].
As per claim 1, Jha et al. disclose: a system comprising: a camera module (90) arranged at a first position of the recess of the at least one supply channel, the camera module includes a camera configured to capture images in the a spectral range and in an infrared spectral range [0068], wherein the camera is directed towards passenger seats (80a-80c), at least one lighting module (2) arranged at a second position of the recess of the at least one supply channel, the at least one lighting module including an infrared light source (7a-c) configured to emit light in the infrared spectral range [0075].
Jha et al. do not explicitly disclose at least one supply channel extending in a longitudinal direction of an aircraft cabin; including a recess along the longitudinal direction and a control device configured to control the camera and infrared light source.
It would have been obvious however, to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the system of Jha et al. such that it integrated the disclosed camera and lighting module into a common aircraft cabin supply channel and to provide a controller for coordinated operation of the camera (90) and infrared light source (2), as a matter or routine aircraft cabin system integration and further suggested by Jha et al. (see for example, Fig. 2A shown above).
As per claims 2-3, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system wherein at least a part of each passenger seat (80a-80c) in the aircraft cabin (102) is within a field of view of the camera (90); wherein the field of view of the camera is more than 90º (see for example, Fig. 2A shown above).
As per claim 4, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system wherein the camera is arranged on a rotatable mount (para. [0070]).
As per claims 5-6, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system as recited in claim 1, but do not explicitly disclose a system wherein the at least one lighting module further comprises an indicator light configured to emit light in a predetermined visible spectral range, and wherein the control device is further configured to switch the indicator light depending on whether or not the infrared light source is emitting infrared light.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further modify the system of Jha et al. such that it incorporated an indicator light, configured to operate depending on the operational status of the infrared light source. One would have been motivated to make such a modification for the purpose of showing when an infrared light source is active.
As per claim 7, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system as recited in claim 1, but do not explicitly disclose a system wherein the infrared light source is configured to emit light in a near-infrared spectral range.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further modify the system of Jha et al. such that it incorporated infrared light source is configured to emit light in a near-infrared spectral range. One would have been motivated to make such a modification for the purpose of enabling low-light imaging and/or allowing cameras to capture clear images in darkness without visible light.
As per claim 8, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system wherein the infrared light source is arranged in the at least one lighting module for emitting light only in a direction away from a direction toward the camera module (see for example, 5A-5B, not shown above).
As per claims 9-10, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system as recited in claim 1, but do not explicitly disclose a system further comprising: a display, wherein the control device is adapted to receive a video signal containing information about the captured image by the camera and send the video signal to the display. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further modify the system of Jha et al. such that it incorporated a display. One would have been motivated to make such a modification for the purpose(s) of enabling real time monitoring of a viewable area, allowing for quick user response.
As per claim 11, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system wherein the camera module and the at least one lighting module are arranged on a same supply channel (see for example, Fig. 2A shown above).
As per claims 12-13, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose a system as recited in claim 1, but do not explicitly disclose a system a further comprising: a first supply channel and a second supply channel, wherein the camera module is arranged on the first supply channel and the at least one lighting module is arranged on the second supply channel. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further modify the system of Jha et al. such that it incorporated multiple supply channels to ensure component connectivity and/or redundancy to ensure system reliability.
As per claim 14, Jha et al. as modified above, disclose an aircraft cabin (102) comprising: the system of claim 1 (see for example, Fig. 2A shown above).
As per claim 15 Jha et al. disclose a method comprising the step(s) of:
emitting infrared light with an infrared light source (2) of a lighting module arranged at a first position, and monitoring the aircraft cabin with a camera (90) of a camera module arranged at a second position.
Jha et al. do not explicitly disclose at least one supply channel extending in a longitudinal direction of an aircraft cabin; including a recess along the longitudinal direction.
It would have been obvious however, to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the method of Jha et al. such that it integrated the disclosed camera and lighting module into a common aircraft cabin supply channel as a matter of routine aircraft cabin system integration and further suggested by Jha et al. (see for example, Fig. 2A shown above).
Conclusion
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/COURTNEY D THOMAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884