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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Illumination portion (Claim 1, 7, 9)
Light receiving portion (Claim 1, 2, 5, 10)
First light receiving element (Claim 1, 3)
Processor (Claim 1, 2, 5, 8)
Second light receiving element (Claim 2, 4)
Third light receiving element (Claim 5)
Conveyance portion (Claim 10)
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 7-8, 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohno (2022/0146435).
Claim 1
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses an optical apparatus (Fig. 9, Ref. 10; optical inspection apparatus) comprising: an illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14; illumination portion) that is configured to illuminate an object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) relatively moving in a predetermined direction with light (Fig. 9, Ref. 16a conveyance path for moving the object in a predetermined direction), the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) being configured to illuminate a first illumination point of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) with light having a first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) and illuminate a second illumination point different from the first illumination point of the object with light having a second wavelength different (Para. 0101; second wavelength “red light”) from the first wavelength (Fig. 11, shows the different illuminations Ref. 14a-c illuminating different points), and a line segment (Fig. 9, Ref. R) connecting the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) intersecting the predetermined direction (Fig. 9, Ref. R); a light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12; optical imaging apparatus) including a first light receiving element (Fig. 9, Ref. 26) that is configured to move relative to the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) while maintaining a positional relationship with the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and that is configured to receive light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) and light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c), the first light receiving element (Fig. 9, Ref. 26) being configured to distinctively and independently receive the first wavelength and the second wavelength (Para. 0031-0033); and a processor (Fig. 10, Ref. 18; controller, Para. 0024) that is configured to image the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) by a light reception signal of the light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and a light reception signal of the light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) (Para. 0025; 0090; 0097; 0130).
PNG
media_image1.png
576
769
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
389
509
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
448
339
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Claim 7
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses the illumination portion (Fig. 11, Ref. 14) uses a projection apparatus (Fig. 12, Ref. 118; beamsplitter) to set the light having the first wavelength (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and the light having the second wavelength (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) to light at different irradiation positions (Light is illuminated on different positions alone Fig. 9, Ref. R).
Claim 8
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses a pixel size (each pixel of an image sensor includes a color channel, Para. 0068) of a projection image (Fig. 9, Ref. 26) projected by the projection apparatus (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) is smaller in the predetermined direction than in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction (each pixel in the image sensor is smaller in the predetermined direction), and the processor (Fig. 10, Ref. 18) is configured to image the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) by the projection image (Fig. 11, Ref. 14) and a signal obtained by the first light receiving element (Fig. 9, Ref. 26).
Claim 10
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses a conveyance apparatus including a conveyance portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 16) that is configured to convey the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) in the predetermined direction (Fig. 9, Ref. 16a) and that is configured to move relative to the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12).
Claim 11
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses illuminating a first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of an object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) with light having a first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) from an illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and illuminating a second illumination point different (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) from the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) with light having a second wavelength different (Para. 0101; second wavelength “red light”) from the first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) from the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) while maintaining a relative position of an optical apparatus (Fig. 9, Ref. 10) including the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and a light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12) and moving the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) in a predetermined direction (Fig. 9, Ref. 16a) relative to the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12); receiving light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) and light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) by the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12) including a first light receiving element (Fig. 9, Ref. 26) configured to distinctively and independently receive the first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) and the second wavelength (Para. 0101; second wavelength “red light”); performing imaging of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) by a light reception signal of the light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and a light reception signal of the light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) by the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12), wherein a line segment (Fig. 9, Ref. R) connecting the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) intersects the predetermined direction (See Fig. 9, 11) (Para. 0025; 0090; 0097; 0130).
Claim 12
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses a non-transitory storage medium storing an object imaging program for causing a computer to execute (Para. 0024): illuminating a first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of an object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) with light having a first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) from an illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and illuminating a second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) different from the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) with light having a second wavelength (Para. 0101; second wavelength “red light”) different from the first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) from the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) while maintaining a relative position (positioned over Ref. 16) of an optical apparatus including the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and a light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12) and moving the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) in a predetermined direction relative (Fig. 9, Ref. 16a) to the illumination portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 14) and the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12), a line segment (Fig. 9, Ref. R) connecting the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) intersecting the predetermined direction (See Fig. 9, 11); and receiving light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) and light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) by the light receiving portion (Fig. 9, Ref. 12) including a first light receiving element (Fig. 9, Ref. 26) configured to distinctively and independently receive the first wavelength (Para. 0101; first wavelength “blue light”) and the second wavelength (Para. 0101; second wavelength “red light”); and performing imaging of the object (Fig. 11, Ref. W) by a light reception signal of the light that passed through the first illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2a) and a light reception signal of the light that passed through the second illumination point (Fig. 11, Ref. L2c) by the light receiving portion (Para. 0025; 0090; 0097; 0130).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 6, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohno (2022/0146435).
Claim 6
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses the claimed invention except for the illumination portion uses a diffraction grating to set the light having the first wavelength and the light having the second wavelength to light at different irradiation positions. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to combine Ohno (2022/0146435) with a diffraction grating since it was well known in the art that a diffraction grating is used to set the two wavelengths to different irradiation positions because it disperses them into distinct angular paths, enabling spatially separated detection and independent analysis in an optical inspection system. The examiner takes Official Notice that the elements listed above are well-known, or to be common knowledge in the art are capable of instant and unquestionable demonstration as being well-known.
Claim 9
Ohno (2022/0146435) discloses the claimed invention except for the illumination portion is configured to focus light on an irradiation field size in one direction using a cylindrical lens. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to combine Ohno (2022/0146435) with a focusing cylindrical lens since it was well known in the art that cylindrical lens are used in the illumination portion of an optical inspection apparatus because it can focus light into a line in one direction, enabling precise, targeted illumination that improves image quality, contrast, and defect detection while minimizing unwanted light. The examiner takes Official Notice that the elements listed above are well-known, or to be common knowledge in the art are capable of instant and unquestionable demonstration as being well-known.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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 5, the prior art fails to disclose or make obvious optical apparatus according to wherein the light receiving portion further includes a second light receiving element disposed so as to have a spatial position different from a spatial position of the first light receiving element, the second light receiving element is configured to distinctively and independently receive the first wavelength and the second wavelength, and the processor is configured to acquire object information regarding the first illumination point of the object by signals received by the first light receiving element and the second light receiving element, and in combination with the other recited limitations of claim 1. Claims 3-5 would be allowable because of virtue of dependency on the allowable subject matter of claims 1, 2.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL PATRICK STAFIRA whose telephone number is (571)272-2430. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30am-3pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached at 571-272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL P STAFIRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877 August 27, 2026
Prosecution Insights