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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-19 in the reply filed on 06/08/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim 15 is 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.
In claim 15 it is unclear as to what the claim refers by stating “when a gear operation of the vehicle is not checked”. In particular, the terms “gear operation” is ambiguous as to whether it refers to gear shift, or another operation associated with the vehicle’s transmission system. Furthermore, the term “checked” is ambiguous as to whether it refers to detecting, monitoring or verifying a gear operation. Accordingly, claim 15 is rejected as being indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1, 2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yokota teaches the claim limitation as follows:
A digital rear mirror device with improved usability, comprising: a rear mirror display unit that is installed in an internal space of a vehicle and implements a mirror mode checking a rear space of the vehicle through reflection or refraction of light, and an LCD mode configured to output an image or video (Figs. 1-3, ¶0029: The display apparatus 4 is a display for displaying images and is provided in a position in which a driver of the own vehicle and the like can view the displayed image…The display apparatus 4 is configured to be capable of switching between mirror mode that functions as a typical mirror and display mode in which the mirror portion functions as a single display screen 6…); a sensor unit that detects (¶0022: the sonar 25 is an ultrasonic sensor for detecting an object that is present in the periphery of the own vehicle); a driving mode switching unit that selectively drives one of the mirror mode and the LCD mode (¶0023: ECU 3, ¶0029, 0070: the display apparatus 4 is configured such that mirror mode and display mode can be switched by a dedicated button being operated… mirror mode may be automatically switched to display mode when transition to a specific state is made, such as a state in which the shift position is reverse or a state in which a traveling speed of the own vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold); and a control unit that controls driving of the rear mirror display unit (¶0023: ECU 3, ¶0070: mirror mode may be automatically switched to display mode when transition to a specific state is made),
Yokota does not teach a sensor unit that detects internal… environments of the vehicle…wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to track a user's gaze through the sensor unit so that a direction of a screen faces an area where a user is located.
Shikii teaches a sensor unit that detects internal… environments of the vehicle (¶0214: As illustrated in FIGS. 19A and 19B, the detection system 306 … is installed inside the automobile 300…The detection system 306 includes an infrared array sensor 303)…wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to track a user's gaze through the sensor unit so that a direction of a screen faces an area where a user is located (¶0249-0250: control commands according to a detected position of eyes are output to the rearview mirror 309 and the side mirrors 310a and 310b in accordance with the position of eyes detected by the infrared array sensor 303. The angles of the rearview mirror 309 and the side mirrors 310a and 310b may be adjusted in this manner).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s digital rear mirror device by incorporating the teaching of Shikii as noted above, in order to obtain automatically adjustable rearview mirror system, so that a driver can see rearward without adjusting the rearview mirror manually, as taught by Shikii (¶0250)
Regarding claim 2, Yokota in view of Shikii teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 1. Shikii further teaches wherein the sensor unit includes: a driver's seat capturing module that captures a driver's seat among the internal spaces of the vehicle (¶0146, 0247: FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of a thermal image captured by the infrared array sensor 103); and a gaze tracking module that extracts eyeball information of the user from an image collected from the driver's seat capturing module to track the user's gaze in real time, and the rear mirror display unit is controlled to adjust a screen angle of the rear mirror display unit so that the direction of the screen faces an area where the user's eyeball is positioned in response to the user's gaze tracked through the gaze tracking module (¶0249-0250: The captured thermal image is analyzed by the image analysis unit 304b…for example, the height of the driver 301. Furthermore, the person position detection section 3041b detects the position of eyes on the basis of the measured height and position. The device control unit 304c obtains, on the basis of the position of eyes detected by the person position detection section 3041b, a control command for adjusting the angle of the rearview mirror 309…). The motivation statement set forth above with respect to claim 1 applies here.
Regarding claim 4, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 1, wherein the driving mode switching unit includes: a manual switching module that manually switches a driving mode of the rear mirror display unit by a user's operation (¶0029, 0070: The display apparatus 4 is configured to be capable of switching between mirror mode that functions as a typical mirror and display mode in which the mirror portion functions as a single display screen 6, as result of the driver operating a dedicated button); and an automatic switching module that is provided to automatically switch the driving mode of the rear mirror display unit based on environmental information received from the sensor unit, wherein the environmental information includes reverse detection information of the vehicle (¶0070: mirror mode may be automatically switched to display mode when transition to a specific state is made, such as a state in which the shift position is reverse).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) as applied to claim 2, and further in view of Melman (US 20180129279 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Yokota in view of Shikii teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 2. Shikii further teaches wherein the driver's seat capturing module includes a driver's seat capturing camera (FIGS. 19A-19B, ¶0247-0249: infrared array sensor 303) … and the gaze tracking module is provided to extract a user's eyeball position from an image captured by the driver's seat capturing camera (¶0249-0250: The captured thermal image is analyzed by the image analysis unit 304b…for example, the height of the driver 301. Furthermore, the person position detection section 3041b detects the position of eyes on the basis of the measured height and position. The device control unit 304c obtains, on the basis of the position of eyes detected by the person position detection section 3041b, a control command for adjusting the angle of the rearview mirror 309…). The motivation statement set forth above with respect to claim 1 applies here.
Yokota in view of Shikii do not teach an infrared transceiver for transmitting and receiving infrared rays…and then analyze an infrared reflection pattern of a user's pupil and cornea through optical modeling using the infrared transceiver to track the user's gaze.
However, Melman teaches an infrared transceiver for transmitting and receiving infrared rays (¶0111: ET 100 has an IR 102 illuminating eyeball 110. .. Arrow 104 is a ray propagating from the ET IR 102 to eyeball 110. Ray 104 impinges on the cornea very near to the corneal limbus…the camera of ET 100 captures an image of the eye with a reflection image of IR in the cornea…)…and then analyze an infrared reflection pattern of a user's pupil and cornea through optical modeling using the infrared transceiver to track the user's gaze (¶0155-0157, 0163-0170: A pinhole camera is a simple model but it can satisfy this calculation;The camera of the eye tracker (sensor and lens). A pinhole camera is a simple model but it can satisfy this calculation…Determine a set of points along the corneal limbus or, to allow for practical tolerances, along a contour that its distance from the pupil center is smaller than the distance of the corneal limbus from the pupil center…These points will be called Corneal Perimeter Points (CPP); For each CPP calculate the angle of reflection for a light ray emerging from the camera pinhole and reflected from the selected CPP; The collection of the calculated reflected light rays determine the range in which the IR can be positioned to track the selected specified track angle).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Melman as noted above, in order to obtain an a gaze angle estimation system with an improved accuracy, as taught by Melman (¶0152).
Claim(s) 5-8, 10 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) as applied to claim 4, and further in view of Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 4, wherein the sensor unit includes: a rear capturing module that captures the rear space of the vehicle (FIGS. 1-2, a rear camera 22)…the environmental information further includes approach information of an adjacent object toward the rear of the vehicle (¶0037: The moving body is detected by an image analysis process being performed on the partial captured images…a moving body is that positioned directly in front of the rear camera 22, the left-side camera 23, and the right-side camera 24 and is approaching the own vehicle, or a moving body that is stationary, is detected from the partial captured images using a known pattern matching method).
Yokota in view of Shikii does not teach a rear distance sensor that is installed at a rear or side rear of the vehicle.
However, Mizusawa teaches a rear distance sensor that is installed at a rear or side rear of the vehicle (FIG. 1, ¶0030: an ultrasonic range sensor 6 is fitted to the rear portion of the vehicle 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Mizusawa, in order to provide a driving aiding system that makes it possible for the driver to back the vehicle with good precision while looking at a picked-up image of a rear-view camera, as taught by Mizusawa ¶0007.
Regarding claim 6, Yokota in view of Shikii and Mizusawa teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 5. Mizusawa further teaches wherein the rear distance sensor includes at least one or more selected from the group consisting of an ultrasonic sensor, a radar sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a camera-based sensor, and any combination thereof (¶0030: an ultrasonic range sensor 6). The motivation statement set forth above with respect to claim 5 applies here.
Regarding claim 7, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 5, wherein the rear capturing module includes a first rear capturing camera that captures a left rear area of a rear area of the vehicle, a second rear capturing camera that captures a right rear area of the rear area of the vehicle (FIGS. 1-2, left-side camera 23, a right-side camera 24), and a third rear capturing camera that captures a center rear area of the rear area of the vehicle (a rear camera 22).
Regarding claim 8, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 7, wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to output a rear image captured based on relative positions where the first to third rear capturing cameras are installed while the LCD mode is driven (¶0030: FIG. 3 is an example of the display image in the rear display function. A partial captured image 62 captured by the left-side camera 23, a partial captured image 61 by the rear camera 22, and a partial captured image 63 by the right-side camera 24).
Regarding claim 10, Yokota in view of Shikii and Mizusawa teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 5. Mizusawa further teaches wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to provide an image output on the screen by being zoomed in or out in response to an approach distance of the object measured by the rear distance sensor while the LCD mode is driven (¶0054: when the ultrasonic sensor 6 in FIG. 1, or the like senses that the trailed vehicle comes closely within a predetermined distance… an enlarged screen 30 on the right side in FIG. 8 is displayed). The motivation statement set forth above with respect to claim 5 applies here.
Regarding claim 12, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 5, wherein the sensor unit further includes a front capturing module that captures a front space of the vehicle, and the environmental information further includes approach information of an adjacent object toward a front of the vehicle (¶0018: the front camera 21, the left-side camera 23, and the right-side camera 24 are used to implement a front display function in which a captured image that captures an area ahead of the own vehicle is displayed in the display apparatus 4). Note that the person of ordinary skill in the art would recognizing that the cameras 21, 23, or 24 are capable of capturing approaching objects toward the vehicle.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) and Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1) as applied to claim 5, and further in view of Tayama et al. (US 20180058879 A1).
Regrading claim 9, Yokota in view of Shikii and Mizusawa do not teach wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to output an image captured from the first rear capturing camera at a lower left of the screen, an image captured from the second rear capturing camera at a lower right of the screen, and an image captured from the third rear capturing camera at a lower center of the screen while the LCD mode is driven.
However, Tayama teaches wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to output an image captured from the first rear capturing camera at a lower left of the screen, an image captured from the second rear capturing camera at a lower right of the screen, and an image captured from the third rear capturing camera at a lower center of the screen while the LCD mode is driven (FIG. 4A, ¶0072-0073: Auxiliary display areas 32b, 32a, 32c are arranged at the right, left, and center below the main display area 31…The right-left auxiliary display areas 32b, 32a may be used for projecting rear view pictures taken by the right-left rear cameras 18b, 18a…The center auxiliary display area 32c may be used for projecting a processed image of a target detected by the radar sensor 20 at the rear of the automobile 14, a picture taken by the center rear camera).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Tayama as noted above, in order to recognize a target at each of center, lateral rear of the automobile, as taught by Tayama (¶0064-0065).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) and Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1) as applied to claim 5, and further in view of Imanishi et al. (US 20100201818 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Yokota in view of Shikii and Mizusawa do not teach wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to zoom in and provide an image output on the screen when the object measured by the rear distance sensor is positioned within a preset approach distance while the LCD mode is driven, and to zoom out and provide the image as the approach distance of the measured object gradually gets closer.
However, Imanishi teaches wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to zoom in and provide an image output on the screen when the object measured by the rear distance sensor is positioned within a preset approach distance while the LCD mode is driven (¶0028: A filed of view of the camera 6 in the rearward of the vehicle can be described as a predetermined distance and a predetermined angle of view (e.g., 180 degrees in the rearward of the vehicle).¶0054: the displayed rearward image can have an angle of view of, for example, 180 degrees. It is thus possible to provide the rearward image covering a larger area), and to zoom out and provide the image as the approach distance of the measured object gradually gets closer (¶0069: the image displayed on the display screen 8 during vehicle parking is switched between a large area image and a small area image in the course of the movement of the vehicle. ¶0073: When it is determined that the distance to the obstacle detected by the sonar is less than or equal to the predetermined distance…the microcomputer 1 switches display from the large area image into the small area image via the drawing circuit 4).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Imanishi as noted above, in order to provide a vehicle periphery displaying apparatus capable of ensuring vehicle periphery visibility, as taught by Imanish (¶0010).
Claim(s) 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Kaplan et al. (US 20150239398 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Yokota in view of Shikii teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 1. Shikii further teaches a rear mirror rotation , wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to rotate (¶0249: the person position detection section 3041b detects the position of eyes on the basis of the measured height and position. The device control unit 304c obtains, on the basis of the position of eyes detected by the person position detection section 3041b, a control command for adjusting the angle of the rearview mirror 309…Upon receiving the control command, the control apparatus that adjusts the angle of the rearview mirror 309 adjusts the angle of the rearview mirror 309).
Yokota in view of Shikii do not explicitly teach a rear mirror rotation driving motor that adjusts a screen direction…wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to rotate horizontally and vertically through the rear mirror rotation driving motor.
However, Kaplan teaches a rear mirror rotation driving motor that adjusts a screen direction (¶0019: mirror 118 may include a movement device 320 (see FIG. 3) such as a motor, servo, actuator)… wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to rotate horizontally and vertically (¶0030: the mirror control module 316 may adjust the mirrors 118 …rotating a mirror 118 to adjust the angle of a mirror 118 relative to the ideal normal of the mirror 118 along a horizontal plane…tilt the mirrors 118 to adjust the angle of the mirrors 118 along a vertical plane) through the rear mirror rotation driving motor (¶0019: mirror 118 may include a movement device 320 (see FIG. 3) such as a motor, servo, actuator) so that the direction of the screen faces the area where the user is located (¶0033: the in-vehicle computing system 102 may continuously or periodically adjust the mirrors 118 based on the currently determined position of the driver's eyes).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Kaplan as noted above, in order to obtain a system that can provide an improved field of view to the driver of the vehicle, as taught by Kaplan (¶0023).
Regarding claim 14, Yokota in view of Shikii teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 1. Shikii further teaches a rear mirror position (¶0249: the person position detection section 3041b detects the position of eyes on the basis of the measured height and position. The device control unit 304c obtains, on the basis of the position of eyes detected by the person position detection section 3041b, a control command for adjusting the angle of the rearview mirror 309…Upon receiving the control command, the control apparatus that adjusts the angle of the rearview mirror 309 adjusts the angle of the rearview mirror 309).
Yokota in view of Shikii does not explicitly teach a rear mirror position driving motor…wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to move horizontally and vertically through the rear mirror position adjustment driving motor.
However, Kaplan teaches a rear mirror position driving motor (¶0019: mirror 118 may include a movement device 320 (see FIG. 3) such as a motor, servo, actuator) …wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to move horizontally and vertically through the rear mirror position adjustment driving motor (¶0019, 0030: the mirror control module 316 may adjust the mirrors 118 …rotating a mirror 118 to adjust the angle of a mirror 118 relative to the ideal normal of the mirror 118 along a horizontal plane…tilt the mirrors 118 to adjust the angle of the mirrors 118 along a vertical plane).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Kaplan as noted above, in order to obtain a system that can provide an improved field of view to the driver of the vehicle, as taught by Kaplan (¶0023).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Lavoie (US 20210245660 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Yokota in view of Shikii do not teach wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to return to the mirror mode through the control unit when a gear operation of the vehicle is not checked within a preset time while the LCD mode is driven.
However, Lavoie teaches wherein the rear mirror display unit is controlled to return to the mirror mode through the control unit when a gear operation of the vehicle is not checked within a preset time while the LCD mode is driven (¶0056: if forward gear is engaged after the mirror control routine has been controlling the vehicle in reverse gear, the mirror control system 60 may continue to control the mirrors described until the vehicle is driven above a predetermined distance, speed threshold, and/or time threshold… Once a threshold has been exceeded, the mirrors may return to the normal position for forward driving in order to provide a normal view of traffic…).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s digital rear mirror device by incorporating the teaching of Lavoie as noted above, in order to provide an enhanced mirror arrangement that enables automatic adjustment of the mirrors of the vehicle, as taught by Lavoie (¶0002).
Claim(s) 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Kaplan et al. (US 20150239398 A1) and Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Yokota teaches the claim limitation as follows:
A digital rear mirror device with improved usability that includes a processor and a memory unit, and implements a mirror mode checking a condition behind a vehicle through reflected light and an LCD mode displaying an image and video (Figs. 1-3, ¶0029: The display apparatus 4 is a display for displaying images and is provided in a position in which a driver of the own vehicle and the like can view the displayed image…The display apparatus 4 is configured to be capable of switching between mirror mode that functions as a typical mirror and display mode in which the mirror portion functions as a single display screen 6…), wherein the digital rear mirror device further includes computer-executable instructions stored in the memory unit, and the computer-executable instructions cause the digital rear mirror device when executed by the processor of the device to perform the following operations of (¶0023-0025: The ECU 3 includes an input signal processing unit 31, an image processing unit 32, an output signal processing unit 33, a memory 34…The image processing unit 32 runs a program stored in a memory 34 that is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. As a result of the program being run, a method corresponding to the program is performed…): receiving environmental information (¶0015-0016: A periphery monitoring system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted in a vehicle and includes a front camera 21, a rear camera 22, a left-side camera 23, a right-side camera 24, a sonar 25, an electronic control unit (ECU) 3… The front camera 21, the rear camera 22, the left-side camera 23, and the right-side camera 24 output signals that express captured images to the ECU 3); switching a driving mode to the LCD mode (¶0029: The display apparatus 4 is a display for displaying images and is provided in a position in which a driver of the own vehicle and the like can view the displayed image…The display apparatus 4 is configured to be capable of switching between mirror mode that functions as a typical mirror and display mode in which the mirror portion functions as a single display screen 6…); … and the environmental information is extracted from a sensor unit installed in the vehicle (¶0022: the sonar 25 is an ultrasonic sensor for detecting an object that is present in the periphery of the own vehicle…The sonar 25 outputs detection results to the ECU 3. ¶ 0076: the cameras 21 to 24 and the sonar 25 are used to detect the predetermined target object in the periphery of the own vehicle), a rear capturing module (a rear camera 22), and a front capturing module (a front camera 21).
Yokota does not teach tracking a user's gaze; driving a driving motor; and rotating a rear mirror display, and the sensor unit includes a driver's seat capturing module, a gaze tracking module, a rear distance sensor.
However, Kaplan teaches tracking a user's gaze (¶0035: the in-vehicle computing system 102 determines the position of the driver's eyes in the captured image… (e.g. gaze tracking)); driving a driving motor (¶0019: each mirror 118 may include a movement device 320 (see FIG. 3) such as a motor, servo, actuator, or other mechanism configured to adjust the corresponding mirror 118 based on electronic signals (e.g., received from the processor 110)); and rotating a rear mirror display (¶0019: , the rotation (e.g., left-right) and/or tilt (e.g., up/down) of the mirrors 118 are able to be electromechanically adjusted), and the sensor unit includes a driver's seat capturing module (¶0020: the camera(s) 120 may be positioned such that the driver's face will be within the field of view of the camera(s) 120 while the driver is seated (e.g., positioned on the dashboard, front console, steering wheel, rearview mirror housing, front windshield, or other suitable location(s))), a gaze tracking module (¶0035: the in-vehicle computing system 102 determines the position of the driver's eyes in the captured image… (e.g. gaze tracking)).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Kaplan as noted above, in order to obtain a system that can provide an improved field of view to the driver of the vehicle, as taught by Kaplan (¶0023).
Furthermore, Mizusawa teaches a rear distance sensor (FIG. 1, ¶0030: an ultrasonic range sensor 6 is fitted to the rear portion of the vehicle 1 to measure a distance to a rear obstacle).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Mizusawa in order to provide a driving aiding system that makes it possible for the driver to back the vehicle with good precision while looking at a picked-up image of a rear-view camera, as taught by Mizusawa ¶0007.
Regarding claim 17, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 16, and the rear capturing module…and the front capturing module are provided to detect external environmental information of the vehicle (¶0015: A periphery monitoring system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted in a vehicle and includes a front camera 21, a rear camera 22…).
Yokota does not teach wherein the driver's seat capturing module and the gaze tracking module are provided to detect internal environmental information of the vehicle…the rear distance sensor.
However, Kaplan teaches wherein the driver's seat capturing module and the gaze tracking module are provided to detect internal environmental information of the vehicle (¶0020: the camera(s) 120 may be positioned such that the driver's face will be within the field of view of the camera(s) 120 while the driver is seated (e.g., positioned on the dashboard, front console, steering wheel, rearview mirror housing, front windshield, or other suitable location(s)). ¶0021: the sensors 122 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, for example, eye tracking sensors, ¶0035: the in-vehicle computing system 102 determines the position of the driver's eyes in the captured image… (e.g. gaze tracking)). Furthermore, Mizusawa teaches the rear distance sensor (FIG. 1, ¶0030: an ultrasonic range sensor 6 is fitted to the rear portion of the vehicle 1 to measure a distance to a rear obstacle). The motivation statement set forth above with respect to claim 16 applies here.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Kaplan et al. (US 20150239398 A1) and Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1) as applied to claim 16, and further in view of Mori et al. (US 20150352955 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Yokota in view of Kaplan and Mizusawa do not teach wherein in the operation of receiving the environmental information, the external environmental information is controlled to be input before the internal environmental information.
However, Mori discloses “First, the vehicle information acquiring unit 2 acquires the vehicle information from the vehicle in which the vehicle state informing apparatus 1A of the embodiment 2 is mounted, the vehicle interior information acquiring unit 8 acquires the vehicle interior information from the inside of the vehicle in which vehicle state informing apparatus 1A is mounted, and the vehicle exterior information acquiring unit 9 acquires the vehicle exterior information from the outside of the vehicle in which the vehicle state informing apparatus 1A is mounted”. See FIGS. 5 and 6, ¶0110.
Thus, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to reverse the order of the known vehicle interior information and exterior information steps because the claimed sequence merely changes the order in which those known operations are performed. Neither the specification nor the claim identifies any particular advantage related to the external environmental information is controlled to be input before the internal environmental information. The reordered sequence therefore represents a predictable use of prior art elements according to their established function.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota (US 20210289169 A1) in view of Shikii et al. (US 20150105976 A1) and Mizusawa et al. (US 20020145662 A1) as applied to claim 16, and further in view of Imai (US 20230114340 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Yokota teaches the digital rear mirror device with improved usability of claim 17, gear shift information of the vehicle, and when the external environmental information is detected, the driving mode of the vehicle is switched to the LCD mode and controlled to output captured images of the front and rear of the vehicle (¶0031: The rear display function and the front display function are switched by a shift lever in the above-described display mode. Specifically, the rear display function is a function that is used in a state in which a shift position is reverse. The front display function is a function that is used in a state in which the shift position is drive.).
Yokota in view of Shikii and Mizusawa does not teach wherein the external environmental information includes approach information related to a speed and size of an object adjacent to the vehicle.
However, Imai teaches wherein the external environmental information includes approach information related to a speed and size of an object adjacent to the vehicle (¶0021: The display of the electronic rear-view mirror 210 is used to confirm and monitor the rear view during normal forward travel. Therefore, it is necessary to display a vehicle situated far behind that is moving at a high speed with a large size with high resolution).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yokota’s vehicle periphery monitoring system by incorporating the teaching of Imai as noted above, in order to display a vehicle situated far behind that is moving at a high speed with a large size with high resolution, as taught by Imai (¶0021).
The following are the prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KANAGARAJ (US 20190061628 A1) describes a motor vehicle includes a rearview mirror display system with a visible surface and having a mirror mode and a display mode. Abstract.
HIROSAWA (US 20180151152 A1) describes an electronic rear-view mirror that is switchable between a display mode in which the electronic rear-view mirror displays, and a reflecting mode in which the electronic rear-view mirror shows, by optical reflection. Abstract.
Conclusion
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/NATHNAEL AYNALEM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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