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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUYUNO (2021/0140757) in view of EP 3 798 568 A1.
Claim 1
FUYUNO (2021/0140757) discloses an optical displacement meter (Fig. 1, Ref. 500) of a light sectioning method that measures a sectional profile of a workpiece (Fig. 5, Ref. W) having a height in a Z direction based on a principal of triangulation (Para. 0081, 0083), the meter comprising: a light projecting unit (Fig. 5, Ref. 110) that irradiates the workpiece with slit light extending in an X direction (Fig. 3, Ref. 144; measurement window in the shape of a slit); a light receiving lens (Fig. 5, Ref. 132) that collects reflected light reflected by the workpiece (Fig. 5, Ref. W); an imaging unit (Fig. 5, Ref. 130) that has an image sensor (Fig. 5, Ref. 131) which receives the reflected light collected by the light receiving lens (Fig. 5, Ref. 132) and an imaging control unit (Fig. 1, Ref. 200) which controls the image sensor (Fig. 5, Ref. 131).
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FUYUNO (2021/0140757) substantially teaches the claimed invention except that it does not show a motor that integrally rotates a light projecting and receiving module that has the light projecting unit, the light receiving lens, and the imaging unit; a control unit that controls the motor, and causes the slit light to scan in a direction orthogonal to the X direction; and a signal processing unit that generates the sectional profile at each of rotation angles of the motor based on a light receiving amount received by the image sensor, wherein a substantially arc-shaped measurable range having a predetermined depth at a rotation shaft center of the light projecting and receiving module is formed by the rotation of the light projecting and receiving module, and the imaging control unit dynamically changes a partial region where the light receiving amount of the image sensor is read out in accordance with the each rotation angle in association with a measurement range different depending on the each rotation angle. EP 3 798 568 A1 shows that it is known to provide a motor (Fig. 7, Ref. 225, 235) that integrally rotates a light projecting and receiving module that has the light projecting unit (holding unit holds the measurement optical system), the light receiving lens (Fig. 3B, Ref. 36), and the imaging unit (Fig. 3B, Ref. 37); a control unit that controls the motor (Fig. 11, Ref. 50), and causes the slit light (Fig. 4, Ref. 33) to scan in a direction orthogonal to the X direction (See Page 16 of translation); and a signal processing unit (CPU) that generates the sectional profile at each of rotation angles of the motor based on a light receiving amount received by the image sensor (See Page 17), wherein a substantially arc-shaped measurable range having a predetermined depth at a rotation shaft center (See Pages 14-15) of the light projecting (Fig. 3B, Ref. 31) and receiving module (Fig. 3B, Ref. 37) is formed by the rotation of the light projecting (Fig. 3B, Ref. 31) and receiving module (Fig. 3B, Ref. 37), and the imaging control unit (control unit 50) dynamically changes a partial region where the light receiving amount of the image sensor (Fig. 3B, Ref. 37) is read out in accordance with the each rotation angle in association with a measurement range different depending on the each rotation angle (See Page 17, Paragraph 2) for a shape measurement apparatus. It would have been obvious to modify the device of FUYUNO (2021/0140757) with the rotating of the projecting and receiving optics of EP 3 798 568 A1 before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the purpose of providing a device that enhances measurement robustness by adapting to surface geometry, improving triangulation accuracy, reducing artifacts, and enabling comprehensive profile capture, therefore providing reliably and consistently to the measured applications.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2-7, the prior art fails to disclose or make obvious the imaging control unit changes the partial region for the each rotation angle such that a common height in the Z direction is included in a region where the light receiving amount of the measurable range is read out; the imaging control unit sets the number of readout pixels in a V direction of the image sensor of the partial region to be common to the rotation angles; the imaging control unit determines the partial region such that a position of the image sensor in a V direction corresponding to the height of the workpiece is included for the each rotation angle based on the each rotation angle and each height of the workpiece corresponding to the each rotation angle; the imaging control unit determines, before a start of an operation, a correspondence relationship between the each rotation angle and the height of the workpiece based on information obtained by measuring the workpiece in a region including the partial region of the image sensor and wider than the partial region, and determines, after the start of the operation, the partial region such that a position of the image sensor in a V direction corresponding to the height of the workpiece is included for the each rotation angle based on the correspondence relationship; the imaging control unit determines, before a start of an operation, a correspondence relationship between the each rotation angle and the height of the workpiece based on actual size data or design data of the workpiece, and determines, after the start of the operation, the partial region such that a position of the image sensor in a V direction corresponding to the height of the workpiece is included for the each rotation angle based on the correspondence relationship, and in combination with the other recited limitations of claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL PATRICK STAFIRA whose telephone number is (571)272-2430. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30am-3pm.
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/MICHAEL P STAFIRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877 August 4, 2026
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