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 .
Claims 1-9 filed on September 23, 2024 are pending.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Neustadt (US 2021/0156971 A1, Published May 27, 2021).
As to claim 1, Neustadt discloses an optical deflection device comprising:
a first mirror unit comprising a first mirror surface, the first mirror surface being a reflection surface configured to reflect light (Neustadt at Fig. 1, first rotating mirror 11a of scanning unit 11; ¶ [0040]);
a second mirror unit opposed to the first mirror unit and comprising a second mirror surface, the second mirror surface being a reflection surface configured to reflect light (Neustadt at Fig. 1, second rotating mirror 11b of scanning unit 11; ¶ [0040]); and
a support unit configured to couple the first mirror unit and the second mirror unit while supporting the first mirror unit and the second mirror unit in a swingable manner about a movable axis (Neustadt at Fig. 1, first rotating mirror 11a and second rotating mirror 11b swing around rotational axis 12),
wherein the first mirror surface and the second mirror surface are respectively disposed on surfaces different from surfaces at which the first mirror unit and the second mirror unit are coupled to the support unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1; ¶ [0040] discloses “In this specific embodiment, scanning unit 11 is a rotating mirror system that includes two individual rotating mirrors, in the present case a first rotating mirror 11a and a second rotating mirror 11b. Rotating mirrors 11a, 11b of scanning unit 11 rotate about rotational axis 12. Rotating mirrors 11a, 11b are oriented in parallel to rotational axis 12.”).
As to claim 3, Neustadt discloses a distance measurement device comprising: the optical deflection device according to claim 1 (Neustadt at Fig. 1; ¶ [0007]);
an irradiation unit configured to radiate light to the first mirror unit (Neustadt at Figs. 1, optical transmitting unit 2); and
a detection unit configured to receive light deflected by the first mirror unit, reflected on an object, and then reflected on the second mirror unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1, optical receiving unit 5 necessarily receives light reflected on mirror 11b).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Neustadt (US 2021/0155971 A1, Published May 27, 2021).
As to claim 2, Neustadt discloses the optical deflection device according to claim 1, wherein the support unit comprises a first portion and a second portion projecting from the movable axis, the first portion is coupled to the first mirror unit, and the second portion is coupled to the second mirror unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1, Examiner regards each the half of the depicted circular structure connected tangentially to mirrors 11a and 11b as a first portion and second portion respectively; ¶ [0040]).
Claims 4, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Neustadt (US 2021/0155971 A1, Published May 27, 2021).
As to claim 4, Neustadt discloses the distance measurement device according to claim 3, wherein an area of the second mirror unit is larger than an area of the first mirror unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1, mirrors 11a, 11b. Neustadt does not disclose that mirrors 11a, 11b are different in size. However, MPEP 2144.04(VI) establishes that changes in size/proportion are obvious).
As to claim 5, Neustadt discloses a distance measurement device comprising: the optical deflection device according to claim 1 (Neustadt at Fig. 1; ¶ [0007]);
a first irradiation unit configured to radiate light to the first mirror unit (Neustadt at Figs. 1, optical transmitting unit 2);
a second irradiation unit configured to radiate light to the second mirror unit (Neustadt at Figs. 1, optical transmitting unit 2. Neustadt does not expressly disclose a second irradiation unit. However, MPEP 2144.04(VI) establishes that duplication and rearrangement of parts are obvious);
a first detection unit configured to receive light deflected by the first mirror unit, reflected on an object, and then reflected on the first mirror unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1, optical receiving unit 5); and
a second detection unit configured to receive light deflected by the second mirror unit, reflected on an object, and then reflected on the second mirror unit (Neustadt at Fig. 1, optical receiving unit 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 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:
As to claim 6, none of the prior art found by the Examiner discloses the claimed aspect of: wherein the first mirror unit and the second mirror unit comprise reflective materials different from one another.
As to claim 7, none of the prior art found by the Examiner discloses the claimed aspect of: wherein the first mirror unit and the second mirror unit have optical characteristics different from one another.
As to claim 8, none of the prior art found by the Examiner discloses the claimed aspect of: wherein the first detection unit detects at least part of light deflected by the first mirror unit and then reflected by an object, and measures a distance to the object.
As to claim 9, none of the prior art found by the Examiner discloses the claimed aspect of: wherein the second detection unit detects a deflection angle of the first mirror unit based on detected light.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sanjiv D Patel whose telephone number is (571)270-5731. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/Sanjiv D. Patel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
08/07/2026
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