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 § 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hosono (JP 2023088041 A).
Regarding Claim 1: Hosono discloses an imaging system (Fig.1, 1) comprising:
an illumination device that emits terahertz waves (31);
an imaging device that images a subject irradiated with the terahertz waves (41);
at least one memory storing instructions ([0039], [0040]); and
at least one processor (42) that, upon execution of the stored instructions cause the imaging system apparatus to function as:
a control unit (10) that controls the illumination device or the imaging device such that a positional relationship between the illumination device that irradiates a target area to be imaged by the imaging device and the imaging device that images the target area satisfies a predetermined condition, depending on a positional relationship between the target area and the imaging device (Figs. 5, 6, and 9; [0022]: “…the lighting elements 32 that are lit within the lighting device 31 change according to the movement of the pedestrian 50's position”; [0023]: “As explained using Figure 5 above, this imaging system 1 controls the on/off switching of the lighting elements 32 in the lighting device 31 according to the position of the pedestrian 50”).
Regarding Claim 2: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 1,
wherein the illumination device includes a plurality of illumination devices at different positions (Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 9) and
the control unit causes an illumination device among the plurality of illumination devices that is located at a position where the condition is satisfied to irradiate the target area (Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 3: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 2,
wherein the plurality of illumination devices include a first illumination device (Fig. 5b, 32z) whose distance to the imaging device is a first distance and a second illumination device (Fig. 5a, 32x) whose distance to the imaging device is longer than the first distance,
the target area includes a first target area (Fig. 5b, 91) whose distance to the imaging device is a second distance and a second target area (Fig. 5a, 91) whose distance to the imaging device is longer than the second distance, and
the control unit causes the first illumination device to emit terahertz waves when the target area is the first target area, and causes the second illumination device to emit terahertz waves when the target area is the second target area ([0022]: “…the lighting elements 32 that are lit within the lighting device 31 change according to the movement of the pedestrian 50's position”; Figs 5 and 6).
Regarding Claim 4: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 1,
wherein the target area includes a first target area and a second target area whose distance to the imaging device is longer than the first target area (Fig. 9), and
the control unit controls an intensity of light emitted by the terahertz waves to be higher when the illumination device irradiates the second target area with the terahertz waves than when the illumination device irradiates the first target area with the terahertz waves (0032]: “The control unit 10 controls the illumination intensity of each illumination element 32 of the lighting device 31 according to the shape of the pedestrian 50…the control unit 10 increases the illumination intensity of the lighting element 32 that is located relatively outward along the Y direction on the rear side in the direction of travel of the pedestrian 50”).
Regarding Claim 5: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 2,
wherein the plurality of illumination devices and the imaging device are provided along one direction (Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 6: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 2,
wherein the plurality of illumination devices include a first illumination device and a second illumination device, and
the second illumination device is provided at a position different from a straight line passing through the first illumination device and the imaging device (Fig 5).
Regarding Claim 7: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 2,
wherein each of the plurality of illumination devices belongs to any one of a plurality of groups divided according to a distance from the imaging device to the illumination device, and
the control unit causes the illumination devices belonging to the group among the plurality of groups that is located at a position where the condition is satisfied to emit terahertz waves (Figs. 5, 6, and 9).
Regarding Claim 8: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 1,
wherein, when the positional relationship between the target area and the imaging device changes, the control unit controls the illumination device or the imaging device such that the condition is satisfied after the change (Figs. 5, 6, and 9).
Regarding Claim 9: Hosono discloses the imaging system according to claim 1,
wherein the illumination device includes one or more illumination devices, and
when a positional relationship between at least one illumination device and the imaging device does not satisfy the condition, the control unit controls a specific illumination device that has not irradiated the target area such that a positional relationship between the specific illumination device and the imaging device satisfies the condition (Figs. 5, 6, and 9).
Regarding Claim 10: Hosono discloses a control method (Fig. 7) for an imaging system including an illumination device (31) that emits terahertz waves, an imaging device (41) that images a subject, and a control unit (10) that controls the illumination device or the imaging device, the control method comprising:
controlling the illumination device or the imaging device such that a positional relationship between the illumination device that irradiates a target area to be imaged by the imaging device and the imaging device that images the target area satisfies a predetermined condition, depending on a positional relationship between the target area and the imaging device (Figs. 5, 6, and 9; [0022]: “…the lighting elements 32 that are lit within the lighting device 31 change according to the movement of the pedestrian 50's position”; [0023]: “As explained using Figure 5 above, this imaging system 1 controls the on/off switching of the lighting elements 32 in the lighting device 31 according to the position of the pedestrian 50”).
Regarding Claim 11: Hosono discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program comprising instructions for executing following processes ([0039]; [0040]):
controlling an illumination device or an imaging device that images a subject such that a positional relationship between the illumination device that irradiates a target area to be imaged by the imaging device with terahertz waves and the imaging device that images the target area satisfies a predetermined condition, depending on a positional relationship between the target area and the imaging device (Figs. 5, 6, and 9; [0022]: “…the lighting elements 32 that are lit within the lighting device 31 change according to the movement of the pedestrian 50's position”; [0023]: “As explained using Figure 5 above, this imaging system 1 controls the on/off switching of the lighting elements 32 in the lighting device 31 according to the position of the pedestrian 50”).
Conclusion
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/MIYA DOWNING/Examiner, Art Unit 2884
/DAVID J MAKIYA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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