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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO 1449.These IDS has been considered.
Examiner’s Note
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages, paragraph and figures may apply. Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-6, 8, 10 and 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by TRINAMIX (WO 2021069544) (hereinafter TRINAMIX) [cited in the IDs file by the applicant].
As of claim 1, TRINAMIX discloses a method for determining at least one correction function for compensating for responsivity changes of at least one photodetector (p.1, 1.7-9: "The invention relates to a device, methods and use of a device for readout of photoconductors. Specifically, the device may be used for calibration of photoconductors such as of lead sulfide photoconductors sensors"), wherein the photodetector comprises at least one photosensitive region and at least one readout electronics unit for reading out the photosensitive region (fig.1: photodetector 113 with photosensitive regions and readout electronic 130; p.17, 1.2-4: " ... device 110 comprises at least one array 113 of photoconductors 112 configured for exhibiting an electrical resistance dependent on an illumination of its light-sensitive region of the photoconductor 11 ... "; p.19, 1.24: "The device 110 comprises at least one photoconductor readout circuit 130"), the method comprising the following steps:
a) determining at least one reference signal of the photodetector, wherein the photosensitive region is illuminated by optical radiation provided by at least one reference for determining the reference signal (fig.1; p.9, I. 36-39: "The photoconductor readout circuit may be configured for determining the response voltage S of the characterizing photoconductor being covered with the wavelength dependent filter generated in response to illumination of its light sensitive region by the narrow band illumination source"; p.17, 1.35-37: " ... the light-sensitive region may be illuminated by at least one illumination source 114 ... illumination source 114 can for example be or comprise an ambient light source and/or may be or may comprise an artificial illumination source");
b) determining at least one background signal level of the photodetector (fig.1; p.19, 1.21-22: "Usage of the opaque mask 126 may allow measurement of dark resistance"; p.20, 1.41-43: "The device 110 may comprise at least one evaluation device 140. The evaluation device 140 may be configured for determining dark resistance of each photoconductor 112 of the array 113 considering the dark resistance Rdark"; the determination of Rdark implies the determination of a background/dark signal in order to be able to determine the resistance; p.10, 1.30-31: "The determined dark resistance and/or responsivity Rand/or detectivity D* may be stored within a non-volatile memory, e.g. of the evaluation device");
c) determining the correction function by using at least one evaluation unit (p.11, 1.7-10: " ... the evaluation device determines that the difference is greater than a pre-defined and/or predetermined tolerance value ... the evaluation device may initiate a new calibration considering the determined dark resistance and/or the determined responsivity R and/or the determined detectivity D*"; the calibration represents a correction function applied to the detector signals obtained from the photosensitive surface of the detector element), wherein the determining of the correction function comprises determining a change in background signal level and evaluating a relationship of the change in background signal level and the reference signal (p.11, 1.1-5: "The evaluation device may be configured for comparing one or more of the determined dark resistance, the determined responsivity R or the determined detectivity D* with at least one predefined and/or pre-determined value ... for generating at least one indication if a comparison reveals a difference by more than a pre-defined and/or predetermined tolerance value"; by determining the determined dark resistance signal, the responsivity R and the detectivity D* in order to decide regarding a calibration/correction function update, a relationship between background/dark signal and the reference signal is determined).
As of claim 2, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein the background signal level and the reference signal are measured timely coincident, wherein measuring timely coincident comprises determining of the reference signal and the background signal level in one and the same measurement and/or at the same time (p.11, 1.1-5: "The evaluation device may be configured for comparing one or more of the determined dark resistance, the determined responsivity R or the determined detectivity D* with at least one predefined and/or pre-determined value ... for generating at least one indication if a comparison reveals a difference by more than a pre-defined and/or predetermined tolerance value"; by determining the determined dark resistance signal, the responsivity R and the detectivity D* in order to decide regarding a calibration/correction function update, a relationship between background/dark signal and the reference signal is determined).
As of claim 3, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein the reference signal is measured online during sample measurement using frequency multiplexing and/or by measuring the reference signal throughout at least one extended time period without sample measurement (The evaluation device 140 may be configured for estimating responsivity of each photoconductor 112 of the array 113 considering the measured responsivity R of the characterizing photoconductor 118. The evaluation device 140 may be configured for estimating detectivity of each photoconductor of the array considering the measured detectivity D* of the characterizing photoconductor 118…p.22, lines 4-9).
As of claim 4, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein the determining of the background signal level in step b) comprises determining dark signals from dark phases during determining of the reference signal (the characteristics of the photoconductors 112 of the array 113 are sufficient similar, change in the measured dark resistance, responsivity and 10 detectivity of the characterizing photoconductor 118 can be used to estimate the change of these parameters in the rest of the array…p.22, lines 8-11).
As of claim 5, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein step b) comprises determining dark signals before and/or between and/or after determining of the reference signal (the characteristics of the photoconductors 112 of the array 113 are sufficient similar, change in the measured dark resistance, responsivity and 10 detectivity of the characterizing photoconductor 118 can be used to estimate the change of these parameters in the rest of the array…p.22, lines 8-11).
As of claim 6, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein, in step a), the optical radiation (112) is modulated, wherein the background signal level is determined by using times and phase of minima of the modulated optical radiation (p.18, 1.18-24: "The illumination source 114 may comprise at least one optical chopper device configured for modulating a light beam from the continuous light source. The optical chopper device may be configured for periodically interrupting the light beam from the continuous light source ... Due to the non-continuous illumination the output current may be a changing current signal, also denoted modulation current").
As of claim 8, TRINAMIX discloses the method wherein the correction function is fit to the relationship of the change of background signal level and the reference signal (p.11, 1.7-10: the updated calibration function is based on the background and reference signal data; the provision of a fit is a common practice for determining and implementing a calibration function).
As of claim 10, TRINAMIX discloses a method for determining at least one item of information on at least one measurement object using at least one photodetector, wherein the photodetector comprises at least one photosensitive region and at least one readout electronics unit for reading out the photosensitive region (see point 2.1.1), the method comprising the following steps:
i) providing optical radiation by the measurement object and determining at least one measurement signal by using the photodetector (fig.1: photodetection device; p.18, 1.39-42: "The array 113 of photoconductors 112 may be designed such that each pixel in the array responds to electromagnetic energy of a different wavelength. This may allow using the array 113 for spectrometer applications"; p.12, 1.40-43: "In a further aspect of the present invention, a use of a device according to the present invention is disclosed for a purpose of spectrometer applications; agrochemical quality control; pharmaceutical quality control; food quality control; atmospheric science and other industrial applications"; thus, the device in figure 1 is used for analysing a measurement object, implying the generation of a detector signal by measuring a measurement object);
ii) correcting the measurement signal by using a correction function by using at least one evaluation unit, wherein the correction function is determined by using the method according to any one of the preceding claims referring to a method for determining at least one correction function (p. 11, I. 7-10: as discussed for claim 1, a calibration is obtained based on the determined dark resistance, responsivity and detectivity); and
iii) determining the item of information on the measurement object by evaluating the corrected measurement signal by using the evaluation unit (fig.1: the device is part of a spectrometer and provides measurement information based on detector signals to which a calibration has been applied).
As of claims 12 and 16, TRINAMIX discloses a non-transient computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform (p.8, 1.18-23).
As of claims 13 and 17, TRINAMIX discloses a photodetector for measuring optical radiation, the photodetector being configured for performing the method according to claim 1, wherein the photodetector comprises at least one photosensitive region and at least one readout electronics unit (see abstract).
As of claims 14 and 18, TRINAMIX discloses a spectrometer for spectrally analyzing optical radiation provided by at least one measurement object, the spectrometer comprising:- at least one radiation source configured for emitting optical radiation at least partially towards the measurement object ; and at least one photodetector (Each of the photoconductors 112 may be light sensitive element capable of exhibiting a specific electrical resistance dependent on an illumination of the light-sensitive region the photoconductor 112. Specifically, the electrical resistance is dependent on the illumination of a material of the photoconductor 112. The photoconductor 112 may comprise a light-sensitive region comprising a photoconductive material…p.17, lines 20-25).
As of claims 15 and 19, TRINAMIX discloses a method of using the spectrometer according to claim 18,the method comprising using the spectrometer for a purpose of use selected from the group consisting of an infrared detection application; a heat detection application; a thermometer application; a heat-seeking application; a flame- detection application; a fire-detection application; a smoke-detection application; a temperature sensing application; a spectroscopy application; an exhaust gas monitoring application; a combustion process monitoring application; a pollution monitoring application; an industrial process monitoring application; a chemical process monitoring application; a food processing process monitoring application; a water quality monitoring application; an air quality monitoring application; a quality control application; a temperature control application; a motion control application; an exhaust control application; a gas sensing application; a gas analytics application; a motion sensing application; a chemical sensing application; a mobile application; a medical application; a mobile spectroscopy application; and a food analysis application (p.12, lines- 40-43).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 7, 9 and 11 is/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 7, the prior arts alone or in combination fails to disclose the claimed limitations such as “wherein the conditions of the photodetector are set by setting and/or adjusting a value of at least one influencing variable, wherein the influencing variable is at least one variable affecting a dark resistance of the photosensitive region, wherein the influencing variable is at least one variable selected from the group consisting of: a temperature of the photosensitive region; an illumination of the photosensitive region; a temperature of the evaluation unit or at least parts thereof; at least one physical quantity of the photodetector or at least of parts thereof, and a bias voltage” along with all other limitations of the claim.
As to claim 9, the prior arts alone or in combination fails to disclose the claimed limitations such as “wherein the correction function is a linear function wherein S.sub.ref, 1 is a first reference signal having background level D.sub.1, S.sub.ref, 2 is a second reference signal having background level D.sub.2” along with all other limitations of the claim.
As to claim 11, the prior arts alone or in combination fails to disclose the claimed limitations such as “D1 being an initial background signal level, D2 being the background signal level used for determining the correction function, Dmeas,i being the background signal level of the measurement signal Smeas,i, Sre,1 is a first reference signal having background level Di, Sref,2 is a second reference signal having background level D2” along with all other limitations of the claim.
Other prior art(s)
Zambuto et al. (US 20070024847) discloses the optical probe 110 optically interfaces or couples a source of a tunable signal 200 to the inside of the drum 52 via the window element 60 and includes a detector for detecting the diffusely reflected light from the process material sample 54, enabling the spectrometer system 100 to determine the spectroscopic response of the process material 54 …¶0026.
Conclusion
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MD M. RAHMAN
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2886
/MD M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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