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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because “computer-readable storage medium” is not necessarily limited to be non-transitory.
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) 1-2, 6-13, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (CN114550021) in view of Chen et al. (CN114119470).
To claim 1, Yang teach a defect inspection method, comprising:
in response to an inspection instruction for a target material (product), controlling a camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image of the target material (S101-S102 of Fig. 1, Fig. 9; paragraphs 0022-0028, 0045-0047, 2D vision sensor, 3D vision sensor, sequentially or simultaneously); and
determining a defect inspection result of the target material based on the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the target material (S106 of Fig. 1; paragraphs 0029-0039).
But, Yang do not expressly disclose the camera device being a structured light camera device integrating a two-dimensional image acquisition function and a three-dimensional image acquisition function.
However, it would have been obvious in view of Fig. 9 of Yuan, as both image acquisition sensors reside in the same surface defect detection device.
Chen teach a defect inspection method by using an image acquisition module including both 3D image acquisition module and 2D image acquisition module (paragraph 0007), wherein structured light would be an obvious design preference well-known in the art, hence Official Notice is taken.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Chen into the method of Yang, in order to implement image acquisition module for compactness..
To claim 12, Yang and Chen teach a computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to implement the method according to claim 1 (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 13, Yang and Chen teach a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the method according to claim 1 (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 20, Yang and Chen teach a defect inspection apparatus (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 11, Yang and Chen teach claim 1.
Yang and Chen teach further comprising: sending the defect inspection result of the target material to an upper-level computer; and/or displaying the defect inspection result of the target material on a front-end interface (having a computer controlling inspection process is inherent, wherein sending defect inspection result to said computer would be obvious in paragraphs 0019, 0023 of Chen).
To claim 2, Yang and Chen teach claim 1.Yang and Chen teach wherein: the target material comprises a plurality of products under inspection, and each of the products under inspection is at a different inspection workstation; and
controlling the camera device to acquire the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the target material comprises: controlling the camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image of a product under inspection at a current inspection workstation; and controlling the camera device to move to a next inspection workstation to acquire a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image of a product under inspection at the next inspection workstation after the acquisition of the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation is completed, and so on, to acquire two-dimensional images and three-dimensional images of all products under inspection (though Yang and Chen do not expressly disclose having different inspection workstations, it would have been obvious for a manufacture product line inspection, where plurality of products are inspected, hence Official Notice is taken).
To claim 6, Yang and Chen teach claim 1.
Yang and Chen teach wherein determining the defect inspection result of the target material based on the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the target material comprises: performing spatial alignment processing on the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image; and processing the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image that are spatially aligned through a preset deep learning algorithm to obtain a defect inspection result of the target material (Yang, paragraphs 0028-0034; ).
To claim 7, Yang and Chen teach claim 6.
Yang and Chen teach wherein: the defect inspection result comprises an inspection result of a first defect and an inspection result of a second defect, the first defect being a defect without height information and the second defect being a defect with height information (obvious in Yang, 0055-0056, wherein defining defect associating with height would have been well-known in the art, hence Official Notice is taken); and processing the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image that are spatially aligned through the preset deep learning algorithm to obtain the defect inspection result of the target material (Yang, paragraphs 0028-0034) comprises:
obtaining a first inspection region in the two-dimensional image and a second inspection region in the three-dimensional image; and checking the inspection result of the first defect based on the first inspection region and checking the inspection result of the second defect based on the second inspection region (Yang, paragraphs 0040, 0043-0055; Chen, paragraph 0032).
To claim 8, Yang and Chen teach claim 7.
Yang and Chen teach wherein obtaining the second inspection region in the three-dimensional image comprises:
preprocessing the three-dimensional image to obtain point cloud data of the target material; and determining the second inspection region based on the point cloud data (Yang, paragraph 0026; Chen, paragraph 0015, 0032, 0038).
To claim 9, Yang and Chen teach claim 7.
Yang and Chen teach wherein checking the inspection result of the first defect based on the first inspection region comprises:
obtaining planar features of the first inspection region; and determining the inspection result of the first defect based on the planar features (Yang, paragraph 0055-0056).
To claim 10, Yang and Chen teach claim 7.
Yang and Chen teach wherein checking the inspection result of the second defect based on the second inspection region comprises:
obtaining a distance between a weld bead height of the target material and a top cover reference surface of the material in the second inspection region; and determining the inspection result of the second defect based on the distance (Yang, paragraphs 0028, 0055).
Claim(s) 3-5, 14-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (CN114550021) in view of Chen et al. (CN114119470) and Sonoda et al. (WO2021010181).
To claim 3, Yang and Chen teach claim 2.
Yang and Chen teach wherein controlling the camera device to acquire the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation comprises: controlling the camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation under the condition that a two-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on, and send a movement instruction to an upper-level computer after the acquisition of the two-dimensional image is completed, the movement instruction being used to instruct the upper-level computer to move the two-dimensional light supplementation device to the next inspection workstation; and controlling the camera device to acquire a three-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation under the condition that a three-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on (obvious in Yang and Chen, wherein lighting for inspection camera would be obvious for implementing inspection on manufacturing product line).
Sonoda teach controlling the camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation under the condition that a two-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on, and send a movement instruction to an upper-level computer after the acquisition of the two-dimensional image is completed, the movement instruction being used to instruct the upper-level computer to move the two-dimensional light supplementation device to the next inspection workstation; and controlling the camera device to acquire a three-dimensional image of the product under inspection at the current inspection workstation under the condition that a three-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on (Fig. 17, paragraph 0095), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Yang and Chen, in order to provide illumination on image capture).
To claim 4, Yang and Chen teach claim 1.
Yang and Chen teach wherein: the inspection instruction for the target material is sent by an upper-level computer (command execution computer is inherent), after detecting that the target material has entered an inspection workstation and controlling a press-fitting apparatus to perform a downward pressing operation on the target material; and a coverage area of the press-fitting apparatus is greater than or equal to a top surface area of the target material (such hardware implementation would be obvious for automated inspection of production line).
Sonoda teach an inspection system for a product line, wherein the inspection instruction for the target material is sent by an upper-level computer, after detecting that the target material has entered an inspection workstation and controlling a press-fitting apparatus (31a of Fig. 1) to perform a downward pressing operation on the target material (7 of Fig. 1); and a coverage area of the press-fitting apparatus is greater than or equal to a top surface area of the target material (Fig. 1), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Yang and Chen, in order to implement inspection hardware by design preference.
To claim 5, Yang and Chen teach claim 1.
But, Yang and Chen do not expressly disclose wherein the camera device is a 3D structured light camera.
Sonoda teach using a 3D structured light camera (paragraph 0027), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Yang and Chen, in order to implement inspection hardware by design preference.
To claim 14, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach a defect inspection system, comprising:
a support frame; a camera device arranged on the support frame; a control device communicatively connected to the camera device; an upper-level computer communicatively connected to the control device; and an inspection workstation arranged below the support frame; wherein: the camera device is a structured light camera device integrating a two-dimensional image acquisition function and a three-dimensional image acquisition function; the inspection workstation is configured to carry a target material to be inspected; the upper-level computer is configured to send an inspection instruction for the target material to the control device; and the control device is configured to control the camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image of the target material, and determine a defect inspection result of the target material based on the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional image of the target material (as explained in responses to claims 1, 4-5 above).
To claim 15, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach claim 14.
Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach further comprising:
a lifting apparatus arranged on the support frame, with the camera device mounted on the lifting apparatus (Sonoda, Fig. 1, paragraph 0024); wherein:
the inspection workstation is one of a plurality of inspection workstations below the support frame (Sonoda, 21 of Fig. 1, paragraph 0038, conveyor); and
the control device is configured to control the lifting apparatus to move the camera device to a position at each inspection workstation to acquire a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image of a product under inspection in each inspection workstation (Sonoda, 6 of Fig. 1, paragraph 0014).
To claim 16, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach claim 15.
Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach further comprising:
a sliding assembly and a two-dimensional light supplementation device, the sliding assembly being arranged on the support frame and located below the lifting apparatus and the two-dimensional light supplementation device being arranged on the sliding assembly (Sonoda, 21, 51 of Fig. 1, paragraph 0017, Fig. 2, paragraphs 0025-0026);
wherein the control device is configured to control the camera device to acquire a two-dimensional image of a product under inspection in each inspection workstation under the condition that the two-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on, and send a movement instruction to the upper-level computer after the acquisition of the two-dimensional image of the product under inspection in each inspection workstation is completed, the movement instruction being used to instruct the upper-level computer to move the two-dimensional light supplementation device to a next inspection workstation through the sliding assembly (Sonoda, Fig. 17, paragraph 0095).
To claim 17, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach claim 16.
Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach further comprising:
a three-dimensional light supplementation device, the three-dimensional light supplementation device being arranged at a preset distance above each inspection workstation; wherein the control device is configured to control the camera device to acquire a three-dimensional image of a product under inspection at a corresponding inspection workstation under the condition that the three-dimensional light supplementation device is turned on. (Sonoda, paragraph 0027, such as a binocular or multi-lens stereo camera, an active stereo camera equipped with a light-emitting unit such as a laser or projector and a camera).
To claim 18, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach claim 17.
Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach further comprising:
a press-fitting apparatus, the press-fitting apparatus being communicatively connected to the upper-level computer; wherein: the upper-level computer is further configured to control the press-fitting apparatus to perform a downward pressing operation on the target material after detecting that the target material has entered the inspection workstation and then send the inspection instruction to the control device; and a coverage area of the press-fitting apparatus is greater than or equal to a top surface area of the target material (Sonoda, Fig. 17, paragraph 0095).
To claim 19, Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach claim 18.
Yang, Chen and Sonoda teach wherein:
the press-fitting apparatus is provided with a cavity structure at each position corresponding to an inspection workstation (Sonoda, 312a of Fig. 1), and the three-dimensional light supplementation device is an annular lighting device arranged around inner side of the cavity; and the cavity structure is configured to align the camera device with a product under inspection in each inspection workstation (Sonoda, 42 and 45 of Fig. 1 are next to each other, Figs 2-3 of 2D’s annular lighting device would be an obvious example for 3D’s lighting supplementation device as well, hence Official Notice is taken).
Conclusion
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ZHIYU . LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2669
/ZHIYU LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2665 September 3, 2026
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