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 .
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “imaging parts” “frame moving part” “moving part” “measurement part that measures” “a control part that controls” “an identification part that identifies” “the control part causes” “the measurement part analyzes” in claims 1, 9, 11, & 15.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
Applicant teaches the imaging part includes a camera (0032, lines 8-10).
Applicant teaches frame moving part includes an actuator such as a motor (pg. 51, 0171, lines 1-2).
Applicant teaches the moving part 120 includes an actuator such as a motor (pg. 8, ¶ 1, lines 3-5).
Applicant teaches the control part 240 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (0048, lines 3-5).
Applicant teaches the CPU functions as the control part 240 including identification part by executing the program stored in the storage (0049, lines 4-5).
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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, 2, 9, & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao Qiang, “Calibration of laser scanning system based on a 2D ball plate Zhao Qiang*, Wang Wei”, 2009 hereafter Qiang in view of Resell Warrior, “How to Create Sequential Number Labels for Your Ebay Home Inventory System” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFUNfe4tKaY, Jan 5, 2023 hereafter Warrior.
With respect to claim 1, Qiang teaches a calibration jig which calibrates a measurement apparatus that measures a three-dimensional geometry of a measurement target and includes a plurality of imaging parts that capture the measurement target, the calibration jig comprising:
a plurality of elements (fig 6, balls) to be measured; and
a frame part (fig 6, plate) to which the plurality of elements to be measured are attached, wherein each of the plurality of elements to be measured includes:
a main body (fig 6, balls) part having a predetermined shape; and
a plurality of label parts (fig 6, 1-9), wherein an identification code “sequential code” (pg. 965, col 1 ¶ 2, lines 3-4) for identifying the elements (table 3, Sphere 1-9) to be measured is shown on each label part.
Qiang does not teach a plurality of label parts provided on the main body part.
Warrior, in the field of endeavor of labels, teaches sequentially marking a plurality of elements (fig 1) for inventory purposes, wherein a plurality of labels is configured to be provided on a main body part of the elements (fig 2). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Warrior’s labels with Qiang’s elements to make sure all the elements match the corresponding holes within Qiang’s frame part for inventory purposes.
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With respect to claim 2 according to claim 1, the combination does not specifically teach the label part further includes a recognition code common to the plurality of elements to be measured for recognizing that label part.
Warrior, in the field of endeavor labels, teaches assigning numbers i.e. recognition codes onto several label parts. Examiner notes one of ordinary skill would understand a number allows a user to recognize the label part as a sequence or amount. At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine numbered labels with the combination’s elements to make sure all the elements are present with corresponding holes of the combination’s frame part for calibration measurements. Examiner further notes based upon the sequential number (fig 6) i.e. recognition code one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the numbers included on the combination’s label part would indicate a location for the laser sequence (pg. 965, col 1 ¶ 2, lines 3-4 Qiang).
With respect to claim 9 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the calibration jig further comprising:
a frame moving part (fig 6, rotation stage Qiang) (pg. 965, col 1, ¶ 2 Qiang) that moves the frame part together with the plurality of elements to be measured.
With respect to claim 10 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the calibration jig wherein the frame part has a spherical shape (fig 2 Qiang), and each of the plurality of elements to be measured is provided on a sphere-shaped surface (fig 3 Qiang) of the frame part.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. T. Liebrich, “Calibration of a 3D-ball plate”, 2009, Remi Bonin, “Evaluation of the Metrological Performance of a Handheld 3D
Laser Scanner Using a Pseudo-3D Ball-Lattice Artifact”, 18 March 2021, Chenggang Chea, “A ball-target-based extrinsic calibration technique for high-accuracy 3-D metrology using off-the-shelf laser-stripe sensors”, 20 January 2000, & JP 2008170279 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 is allowed. Claims 3-8 & 11-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims or to include the limitation(s) and any intervening claims into the base claim. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 3, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the identification code is composed of a combination of basic components of a predetermined first shape, and
the recognition code 1s composed of a combination of basic components of a predetermined second shape that is different in size from the first shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 3.
As to claim 4, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the identification code is composed of a combination of basic components of a predetermined first shape, and
the recognition code includes basic components of a predetermined color that is different from a color of the basic components of the first shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 4.
As to claim 5, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the identification code is composed of a combination of basic components of a predetermined first shape, and the recognition code includes a portion where a predetermined image is shown”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 5.
As to claim 6, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the identification code is composed of a combination of basic components of a predetermined first shape, and the recognition code includes a portion where a predetermined image is shown”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 6.
As to claim 8, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “a belt-shaped plate member provided around the main body part, and the plurality of label parts are provided on the plate member”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 8.
As to claim 11, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “identifying the first elements to be measured by analyzing the label parts of the elements to be measured from captured images captured by the first imaging part, and identifying the second elements to be measured by analyzing the label parts of the elements to be measured from captured images captured by the second imaging part”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 11.
As to claim 15, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the measurement part analyzes the label parts of the plurality of elements to be measured corresponding to each of a plurality of captured images captured by the plurality of imaging parts to identify positional relationships between the plurality of elements to be measured”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 15.
Conclusion
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/MAURICE C SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2877