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.
Drawings
The drawings filed 7/26/2024 are approved by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davis et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0208532) in view of Liu et al (CN 108401444 A).
With respect to claim 1, Davis et al disclose: A laser detection device [ taught by figure and figure 6B ], comprising: a laser emitter, configured to emit a laser to a target object [ taught by light emitter (106, 606) ]; a laser detector, configured to receive an echo signal reflected by the target object [ taught by light detector (108); light receiver (608) ]; and a laser echo signal processing circuitry, configured to sample the echo signal [ taught by controllers (120, 620) in the context of figure 1 and figure 6B ], wherein the laser echo signal processing circuitry comprises a controller [ taught by controllers (120, 620) ], a time digital converter [ paragraph [0084] states, “…In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the TDC may be implemented by (e.g., part of) controller 120…” ] and a dynamic threshold value generation circuit [ taught by the DAC (612) in the context of figure 6B ], and the controller is electrically connected to the time digital converter through the dynamic threshold value generation circuit [ figure 6B shows the controller (620), which some embodiments includes a TDC, being connected to the DAC (612) ]; wherein the controller is configured to output a digital signal to the dynamic threshold value generation circuit [ inferred from the DAC (612) converting the digital signal from the controller to an analog output ]; wherein the dynamic threshold value generation circuit is configured to generate at least two analog threshold signals to the time digital converter based on the digital signal [ DAC (612) outputs an analog signal to comparator (606) ]; and wherein the time digital converter is configured to sample the echo signal based on the threshold signals [ paragraph [0084] states, “…In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, a time-to-digital converter (TDC) may be configured to determine at least one TOF based on at least one pulse of light of the pulses of light and at least one reflected pulse of light of the reflected pulses of light. For example, the TDC may be configured to receive the aggregation(s)…”].
Davis et al does not teach at least two analog threshold signals.
Figure 5 and figure 6 of Liu et al teach that it was known before the effective filing date of the present application to have used two threshold signals (V1 and V2) to detect returned pulse signals as a means to reduce noise.
Therefor, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to have had a reasonable expectation of success in modifying the device of Davis et al to have used two threshold signals, as shown by Liu et al, when seeking to reduce noise interference.
With regard to claim 8, the combination of Davis et al and Liu et al teaches:
wherein the time digital converter is further configured to output a pulse signal based on a sampling result, and wherein the pulse signal comprises at least one pulse, and each pulse is output when the echo signal is greater than or equal to the threshold signals [ paragraph [0084] of Davis et al states, “…In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, a time-to-digital converter (TDC) may be configured to determine at least one TOF based on at least one pulse of light of the pulses of light and at least one reflected pulse of light of the reflected pulses of light. For example, the TDC may be configured to receive the aggregation(s)…” ]; and wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the digital signal based on the pulse signal, to adjust the threshold signals output by the dynamic threshold value generation circuit [ the teaching of Liu et al applied to Davis et al adjusts V1 to V2 based on the amount of detected noise ].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 9 and 10 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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