DETAILED ACTION
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 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Watanabe (US 2015/0002459).
Regarding claim 1, Watanabe discloses electrostatic input device comprising:
a plurality of electrostatic sensor electrodes (see 11 in fig. 1);
a measurement circuit (see measurement unit in para. 28) that outputs a measurement value based on a capacitance between each of the plurality of electrostatic sensor electrodes and an indication body (para. 28, 36; wherein body is e.g. a finger);
a control unit (see determination unit n para. 28) that determines, based on the measurement value output by the measurement circuit (para. 28), whether a state is a proximity state in which the indication body is in proximity to the plurality of electrostatic sensor electrodes (para. 28, 36); and
a storage unit (see RAM in fig. 1) that stores as a reference value (see base line value in para. 51) a measurement value in a state in which the indication body is not in proximity to the plurality of electrostatic sensor electrodes (para. 51, 54; wherein the baseline of each sensor is determined in the calibration operation),
wherein the control unit
determines whether a state is a proximity state based on a first difference value (DIFF in para. 72) obtained by subtracting the reference value from a measurement value (para. 72; wherein DIFF = raw value measurement – base line value; wherein raw value reads on measurement value and base line value reads on reference value),
calculates a sum difference value obtained by summing up a plurality of the first difference values of the plurality of electrostatic sensor electrodes (para. 77, 79; wherein multiple DIFFs are summed), and
when a state in which a fluctuation amount of the sum difference value is smaller than a predetermined value (see para. 93, wherein the update determination threshold reads on a predetermined value) continues for a predetermined time (see predetermined time in para. 93) or longer after the sum difference value decreases in the proximity state (see para. 93-94; wherein DIFF decreases in the proximity state), updates the reference value (para. 94; wherein the baseline is updated).
Regarding claim 13, Watanabe discloses an electrostatic input device comprising:
an electrostatic sensor electrode (11, fig. 1);
a measurement circuit (see measurement unit in para. 28) that outputs a measurement value based on a capacitance between the electrostatic sensor electrode and an indication body (para. 28, 36; wherein body is e.g. a finger);
a control unit (see determination unit in para. 28) that determines, based on the measurement value output by the measurement circuit (para. 28), whether a state is a proximity state in which the indication body is in proximity to the electrostatic sensor electrode (para. 28, 36); and
a storage unit (RAM, fig. 1) that stores a measurement value in a state in which the indication body is not in proximity to the electrostatic sensor electrode as a reference value (see reference value in para. 58; wherein the reference value is the parasitic capacitance value when the device is first turned on),
wherein the control unit
determines whether a state is the proximity state based on a first difference value obtained by subtracting the reference value from a measurement value (para. 58; wherein the reference value is subtracted from the electrostatic capacitance value to determine if a touch operation is performed; further wherein electrostatic capacitance value reads on measurement value), and
when a state in which a fluctuation amount of the first difference value is smaller than a predetermined value (see operation threshold in para. 59) continues (para. 59; wherein the difference between the electrostatic capacitive value and the reference value goes lower than the operation threshold) for a predetermined time (from “(2)” to “(3)” in fig. 7A) or longer after the first difference value decreases in the proximity state (see fig. 7A; wherein from (2) to (3) the difference between the electrostatic capacitive value and the reference values decreases), updates the reference value (para. 59 and fig. 7A; wherein the reference value updates at (3)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-13 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
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628