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 .
Drawings
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gassend US20200142073.
Regarding independent claim 1, Gassend discloses, in Figures 1-8,
A 3D lidar (Gassend; Fig. 1-8; lidar system 100), comprising: a vertical scanning unit (Gassend; Fig. 2B; lidar 200 with motor actuator 214 for rotation about first/horizontal axis 215) and a horizontal rotating device (Gassend; Fig. 2B; motor actuator 218 for rotation about second/vertical axis 219), wherein the vertical scanning unit comprises a laser transmission port (Gassend; Fig. 2B-2C; [0074] optical window 252 corresponding to transmit lens 240) for transmitting a laser pulse signal (Gassend; Fig. 2A-2B; [0080] emitted light 260) and a reflector (Gassend; Fig. 2B-2C; flat mirror surface 244a) capable of rotating at a constant or non-constant speed (Gassend; Fig. 2B; motor actuator 214 for rotation about first/horizontal axis 215); the laser transmission port is provided on a rotation axis of the reflector (Gassend; Fig. 2B; motor actuator 214 for rotation about first/horizontal axis 215), and the reflector is capable of scanning an external environment by rotating at a constant or non-constant speed (Gassend; Fig. 2B; motor actuator 214 for rotation about first/horizontal axis 215), to control a spatial distribution of a point cloud obtained by scanning (Gassend; Fig. 2B; [0004, 0026, 0230] point cloud); the horizontal rotating device is provided with a rotating motor (Gassend; Fig. 2B; motor actuator 218 for rotation about second/vertical axis 219) for driving the vertical scanning unit to rotate horizontally at a constant or non-constant speed (Gassend; Fig. 2B), to control the spatial distribution of the point cloud obtained by scanning (Gassend; Fig. 2B; [0004, 0026, 0230] point cloud).
Regarding claim 11, Gassend discloses A cleaning (Gassend; cleaning apparatus 160) robot (Gassend; [0095] autonomous vehicle; [0041] robotic platform), comprising the 3D lidar according to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 and 12-17 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, Gassend discloses The 3D lidar according to claim 1, wherein the reflector is a flat reflector (Gassend; Fig. 2B-2C; flat mirror surface 244a); the vertical scanning unit comprises a mounting base (Gassend; Fig. 2A-2C; stationary platform 212 with housing 250), and a laser receiver (Gassend; Fig. 2B; receiver 230), a lens (Gassend; Fig. 2D; receive lens 242), the laser receiver (Gassend; Fig. 2B; receiver 230) is provided at a focus position (Gassend; Fig. 2D) of the lens (Gassend; Fig. 2D; receive lens 242); the laser transmission port transmits a laser pulse signal (Gassend; Fig. 2A-2B; [0080] emitted light 260), to achieve surrounding environment scanning in a vertical plane through the rotation of the flat reflector and achieve three-dimensional environment scanning through the horizontal rotating device (Gassend; Fig. 2B; [0004, 0026, 0230] point cloud). However, regarding claim 2, in combination with the other structures required by the base claim and intervening claims, the prior art fails to disclose, teach, suggest, or render obvious the claimed configuration of the flat reflector, mounting base, laser receiver, convex lens, focus position, main optical axis, the relative configuration of the rotation center relative to the main optical axis, and the laser transmission port is provided on a main optical axis of the convex lens.
Regarding claim 3, in combination with the other structures required by the base claim and intervening claims, the prior art fails to disclose, teach, suggest, or render obvious the claimed configuration of a concave reflector, mounting base, laser receiver, laser transmission port, first reflector, focus position, and the concave reflector is rotatably provided on the mounting base with a rotation center thereof horizontally passing through the laser receiver, and the first reflector is fixedly provided on a reflective surface of the concave reflector and rotates along with the concave reflector.
Claims 4-10 and 12-17 also contain allowable subject matter due to dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shin US20180149753 teaches, in Fig. 12-14, a rotation unit 160, a vertical frequency adjusting unit 136, and a horizontal frequency adjusting unit 162.
Wang US20220413105 teaches “a one-dimensional galvanometer. The galvanometer is driven by the control signal to perform vertical scanning, and the galvanometer performs horizontal scanning as the motor rotates, so that the LiDAR performs scanning in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction” (Fig. 5-6; abstract).
Li US20220291350 teaches, in Fig. 2-3, a micro galvanometer and adjusting the slow axis scanning speed.
Cho US20220276350 teaches, in Fig. 3, 6, and 11, “a rotation unit configured to rotate the reflection mirror” and “The controller controls the rotation speed to scan an interested area of a scanned area with a resolution higher than other area.” (abstract; rotation unit 135).
Campbell US20180275249 teaches rotating scanner 120 with a fixed or variable angular speed ([0069]).
Shin US20190353758 teaches a robot vacuum cleaner 20 with lidar.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN MALIKASIM whose telephone number is (313)446-6597. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 8 am - 5 pm (CST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at 571-270-3603. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN MALIKASIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 9/28/26
