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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/17/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F. R 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Oath/Declaration
The Oath/Declaration filed on 12/17/2024 is hereby acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 12/17/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-6, 12-14 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the reference time period" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if “the reference time period” is referring to “a predetermined reference time period” recited in claim 4 line 4-5, or if it’s different from that.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 12 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the reference time period" in line 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if “the reference time period” is referring to “a predetermined reference time period” recited in claim 12 line 3-4, or if it’s different from that.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the reference time period" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if “the reference time period” is referring to “a predetermined reference time period” recited in claim 18 line 3, or if it’s different from that.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the number of cycles" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 8-11 and 15-17 are allowed.
Claim 4-6, 12-14 and 18-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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: the prior art of record fails to fairly teach or suggest the limitations of:
“a signal output unit configured to output a control signal including the first command value in accordance with a control period signal indicating a synchronization reference;
a communication unit configured to transmit in accordance with the control period signal, a frame including the second command value in a communication scheme in which a clock signal is directly or indirectly used;
a measurement unit configured to measure a time period that indicates timing of start of transmission of the frame, from the synchronization reference indicated by the control period signal; and
an adjustment unit configured to adjust a period length of at least a part of the clock signal based on the measured time period” as recited in claim 1;
“a control unit configured to output a control signal including the first command value in accordance with a control period signal that indicates a synchronization reference, the communication apparatus comprising:
a communication unit configured to transmit in accordance with the control period signal, a frame including the second command value in a communication scheme in which a clock signal is directly or indirectly used;
a measurement unit configured to measure a time period that indicates timing of start of transmission of the frame, from the synchronization reference indicated by the control period signal; and
an adjustment unit configured to adjust a period length of at least a part of the clock signal based on the measured time period” as recited in claim 8; and
“outputting a control signal including the first command value in accordance with a control period signal that indicates a synchronization reference;
transmitting in accordance with the control period signal, a frame including the second command value in a communication scheme in which a clock signal is directly or indirectly used;
measuring a time period that indicates timing of start of transmission of the frame, from the synchronization reference indicated by the control period signal; and
adjusting a period length of at least a part of the clock signal based on the measured time period” as recited in claim 9.
Claim 2-3, 7 and 10, 11, 15 and 16-17 are allowable for at least its dependency on claims 1, 8 and 9, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Barrett et al. (US 6706999 B1) discloses (Abstract, Fig. 2, 3, col. 5, line 7-12) “A tertiary positioner system (80) of this invention employs X- and Y-axis translation stages (86, 88), galvanometer-driven mirrors (64, 66), and a fast steering mirror ("FSM") (120) to direct a laser beam (90) to target locations (121) on a workpiece (92). A positioning signal is received by a low-pass filter (103) that produces filtered position data for driving the X- and Y-axis translation stages. The actual positions of the X- and Y-axis translation stages are subtracted from the unfiltered positioning data to produce an X-Y position error signal for driving the galvanometer-driven X- and Y-axis mirrors. The actual mirror positions are subtracted from the actual positions of the X- and Y-axis translation stages to generate a positional error signal representing the difference between the commanded and actual positions of the laser beam. The positional error signal drives the FSM to rapidly correct any positional errors.” “Laser controller 96 is controlled by timing data generated by profiling process 98 and further coordinated by a delay L+M 101 that synchronizes the firing of a laser 102 to the motion of laser beam deflection stage 84 and X- and Y-axis translation stages 86 and 88. Delay L+M 101 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.”
BENNISON et al. (US 20080144045 A1) discloses (Abstract, Fig. 1, 6, 7, 13, 19, Para. [0064]) “a system for measuring a workpiece includes a plurality of measurement modules, an electronic control module, and a moveable frame to which the measurement modules are attached. Each of the measurement modules comprises at least one galvanometer, at least one mirror, and at least one optical displacement sensor. The plurality of measurement modules are collectively adapted to measure a circumference of the workpiece.”… “the software running on computer 326 may calculate the control voltages necessary for each galvanometer of each of the four measurement modules 302 to sweep a line on the workpiece surface. The digital to analog voltage card 328 and the analog voltage to digital card 330 in the computer 326 may be synchronized so that when the four galvanometers of the four measurement modules 302 receive each discrete control voltage from the digital to analog card, the analog to digital card simultaneously measures the output voltage of the optical displacement sensor controllers 332. As a result, each incremental mirror movement of each of the four mirrors 322 may be matched to a voltage that represents the measured path length to the workpiece surface.”
IKEO (US 20220166697 A1) discloses (Abstract, 1, 6-10, Para. [0054]-[0063]) “a management device or the like that can flexibly set a task cycle of a master device. The management device is a management device that manages a network including a master device and a slave device connected to the master device, and comprises: a transmission delay time prediction unit which predicts a transmission delay time on the basis of network configuration information and node information; a transmission delay time measurement unit which measures the transmission delay time in the network; and a transmission delay time setting unit which presents to the user, a predicted value predicted by the transmission delay time prediction unit and a measured value measured by the transmission delay time measurement unit, and sets a cycle setting transmission delay time for setting a task cycle in which the master device transmits a signal to the slave device, according to the selection operation of the user.” “Transmission delay time=[communication unit processing time of the roaster device 1]+[network round (I/O exchange) time]+[margin (constant)].”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMNEET SINGH whose telephone number is (571)272-2414. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam K Ahn can be reached at 5712723044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AMNEET SINGH/Examiner, Art Unit 2633 /SAM K AHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2633
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