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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 10/23/23. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN202311376712.9 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because some reference numerals/characters are unclear and difficult to read in Figures 2-3, so Figures 2-3 should have durable and clean lines to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(l).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 120 (it appears that 120 should appear in Figure 1).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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) 16, 25, and 27-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li US20190277953.
Regarding independent claims 16 and 27-29, Li discloses, in Figures 1-2 and 6-7,
A vehicle system (Li; Fig. 1-2 and 6-7; vehicle 100);
A LiDAR system (Li; Fig. 1-2 and 6-7; lidar system 120 of a vehicle 100);
A detection circuit (Li; Fig. 1-2 and 6-7; [0037] monitoring circuitry 250) for a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system (Li; lidar system 120 of a vehicle 100), the LiDAR system comprising a laser (Li; [0025] diode lasers), an optical redirecting element (Li; mirror 240), and a motor (Li; DC motor movement mechanism 242 for mirror 240), and the detection circuit comprising:
an input terminal configured to receive a first signal representing position information of the motor or the optical redirecting element (Li; encoder 243 provides the first signal motor position information to the input terminal of control system 130);
an output terminal configured to be connected to the laser (Li; the output terminal of control system 130; [0037] monitoring circuitry 250 monitors encoder 243 for motor 242 and mirror 20, and “Monitoring circuitry 250 is able determine whether a fault condition exist with each of the transmitter system 210, mirror 240, and polygon 230, and if such a fault condition is detected, it can instruct transmitter system 210 to shut down.”);
a detection signal generation unit configured to generate a detection signal based on the first signal (Li; the detection signal generation unit of control system 130; [0037] monitoring circuitry 250 monitors encoder 243 for motor 242 and mirror 20, and “Monitoring circuitry 250 is able determine whether a fault condition exist with each of the transmitter system 210, mirror 240, and polygon 230, and if such a fault condition is detected, it can instruct transmitter system 210 to shut down.”); and
a control unit (Li; control system 130) configured to:
determine, based on a comparison between the detection signal and a preset signal threshold, whether the motor or the optical redirecting element fails (Li; [0037] monitoring circuitry 250 monitors encoder 243 for motor 242 and mirror 20, and “Monitoring circuitry 250 is able determine whether a fault condition exist with each of the transmitter system 210, mirror 240, and polygon 230, and if such a fault condition is detected, it can instruct transmitter system 210 to shut down.”), and
output a control signal via the output terminal to control the laser (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”);
A method (Li; Fig. 1-2 and 6-7) for controlling a LiDAR system, the LiDAR system comprising a laser, an optical redirecting element, and a motor, the method comprising: acquiring a first signal for representing rotational position information of the motor or the optical redirecting element (Li; encoder 243 provides the first signal motor position information to the input terminal of control system 130); determining an operating state of the motor or the optical redirecting element based on the first signal (Li; the detection signal generation unit of control system 130; [0037] monitoring circuitry 250 monitors encoder 243 for motor 242 and mirror 20, and “Monitoring circuitry 250 is able determine whether a fault condition exist with each of the transmitter system 210, mirror 240, and polygon 230, and if such a fault condition is detected, it can instruct transmitter system 210 to shut down.”); and controlling the laser based on the operating state (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”).
Regarding claim 25, Li discloses The detection circuit of claim 16, wherein outputting the control signal via the output terminal to control the laser comprises one of turning the laser off, reducing frequency of the laser, and reducing emitting quantity of the laser (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”).
Regarding claim 30, Li discloses The method for controlling a LiDAR system of claim 29, wherein controlling the laser based on the operating state comprises: in response to normal rotation of the motor or the optical redirecting element, controlling the laser to keep the laser on; and in response to a fault of the motor or the optical redirecting element, controlling the laser to reduce power or turn the laser off (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”).
Regarding claim 31, Li discloses The method for controlling a LiDAR system of claim 30, wherein the fault includes rotating at a rotational speed lower than a rotational speed threshold or stalling longer than an allowable time (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”).
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) 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Nishio US20200056937.
Regarding claim 17, Li teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The detection circuit of claim 16, wherein the detection signal generation unit comprises: the first signal, and output the detection signal to the control unit (Li; Fig. 6-7; [0045-0050] “When the motor is operating normally, the encoder provides an uninterrupted series of pulse signals to signify that that is operating properly. If the motor experiences a slow down or decrease in velocity, the sequence of pulse signals changes in its frequency. A decrease in frequency is immediately detected and can serve as a fault event that causes the system to cease laser transmission. If the criteria at step 720 are satisfied, process 700 returns to step 710. If the criteria is not satisfied, process 700 may cease laser transmission at step 750.”).
Li is silent regarding a charging and discharging unit configured to: perform charging and discharging based on the first signal, and output a generated charging and discharging signal as the detection signal to the control unit.
Nishio teaches a charging and discharging unit configured to: perform charging and discharging (Nishio; [0051] charging/discharging capacitor and transistor switch for laser diode LD10 that is responsive to a measurement control signal relating to when measurement should start/stop).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the detection signal generation unit as taught by Li to include a charging and discharging unit capacitor and transistor switch as taught by Nishio for the purpose of providing operational control of the laser source that is responsive to a measurement control signal (Nishio; [0051] charging/discharging capacitor and transistor switch for laser diode LD10 that is responsive to a measurement control signal relating to when measurement should start/stop).
Regarding claim 18, Modified Li teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The detection circuit of claim 17, wherein the charging and discharging unit is configured to: perform discharging during one of pulse time and non-pulse time of a pulse signal formed based on the first signal (Li; encoder 243 provides the first signal motor position information to the input terminal of control system 130), and perform charging during the other of the pulse time and non-pulse time of the pulse signal (Nishio; [0051] charging/discharging capacitor and transistor switch for laser diode LD10 that is responsive to a measurement control signal relating to when measurement should start/stop).
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Zhu US20250007343.
Regarding claim 26, Li teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The detection circuit of claim 16, wherein the optical redirecting element is at least one of a rotating mirror, and wherein the motor comprises at least one of a rotating mirror motor for driving the rotating mirror (Li; DC motor movement mechanism 242 for mirror 240).
Li is silent regarding a galvanometer, and wherein the motor comprises a galvanometer motor for driving the galvanometer.
Zhu teaches a galvanometer, and wherein the motor comprises a galvanometer motor for driving the galvanometer (Zhu; [0003-0004] galvanometer and galvanometer motor in combination with a rotating mirror and rotating mirror motor to steer the laser for vertical scanning to achieve 2D scanning).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the optical redirecting element and rotating mirror as taught by Li to include a galvanometer and galvanometer motor as taught by Zhu for the purpose of providing vertical laser scanning to achieve 2D scanning (Zhu; [0003-0004] galvanometer and galvanometer motor in combination with a rotating mirror and rotating mirror motor to steer the laser for vertical scanning to achieve 2D scanning).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-24 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wittensoldner US5023818 teaches a mirror motor, laser error/fault detection system, and laser shutdown procedure for laser safety.
Utermoehlen US20200292708 teaches lidar eye safety and jamming of an electric motor.
Zhao US20220268904 teaches fault diagnosis and switching a lidar to a shutdown state.
Tziony US20220291359 teaches eye safety threshold determination, failure modes, and fault monitoring.
Xu US20230384428 teaches turning off a laser source when the scanning mirror has stalled for laser safety.
Zhou US20250085401 teaches, in Figure 15, a fault detection circuit 135.
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 9/1/26
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