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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to claim 1, it is unclear what applicant is intending to claim by “manual matching” and “automatic tracking methods”. These terms are not defined by the specification and the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be ascertained.
With regard to claims 5 and 12, it is unclear what defines “lightweight calculation”, “complex calculation”, and “simpler calculations”. These terms are not defined by the specification and the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be ascertained.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the Vuforia tool" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-4, 6-8, 10-11, and 13-14 are dependent upon claim 1.
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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 114510027 A).
With regard to claim 1, Li discloses a measurement method for mining and transportation equipment (eg. para 0001), comprising: an intelligent measurement module (eg. para n0074; “inspection personnel”), a measurement user module (eg. para n0098), and a measurement task module (eg. para n0014), wherein the intelligent measurement module comprises inspectors conducting inspections and Augmented Reality (AR) glasses carried by the inspectors (eg. paras n0033, n0070), and is configured to collect working-face mining-transportation pose data based on Hololens equipment by using manual matching and automatic tracking methods (eg. para n0082); the measurement user module is built into edge computers (eg. para n0098, “local server”) carried by the inspectors and comprises a multi-user collaborative platform (eg. para n0063), wherein the multi-user collaborative platform measures the working-face mining-transportation pose data under AR assistance and performs data processing operations, and the multi-user collaborative platform enables real-time collaboration of measurement perspectives and data among multiple users (eg. paras n0053, n0058); and the measurement task module is responsible for clarifying measurement tasks for the multi-user collaborative platform and for solving data feedback from the measurement tasks, wherein driven by tasks, a virtual solving platform is built for an actual working state of mining and transportation equipment; pose information of a scraper conveyor and a coal mining machine (eg. para n0002) is solved in real time based on measurement data fed back by users, and is used for collaborative solving of pose information of a hydraulic support group in the multi-user collaborative platform, thereby integrating the pose information of the mining and transportation equipment with the pose information of the support equipment, and solving results are simultaneously fed back to an inspection AR end in the form of tasks (eg. paras n0003, n0014, n0029, n0038).
Li discloses multiple inspectors (“inspection personnel”) however fails to explicitly state conducting inspections in opposite directions. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have inspectors walk in opposite directions in order to efficiently inspect the mining equipment as desired.
With regard to claim 2, Li further discloses the multi-user collaborative platform, based on the working-face mining-transportation pose data under AR assistance, integrates a multi-Hololens platform collaboration module and a network interaction module, uses a Vuforia tool to perform real scene scanning of fully-mechanized mining equipment at a working face, constructs a virtual model at a virtual end, and integrates the virtual model into the inspection AR end, wherein AR devices identify and track the frilly-mechanized mining equipment operating in a real working face, measuring pose information of corresponding parts in real time (eg. paras n0014, n0029, n0053).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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: the cited prior art, either alone or in any reasonable combination, fails to teach or suggest all the limitations of the dependent claim(s). Systems utilizing augmented reality within mining and tunneling are known such as those taught by Li et al. (CN 114510027 A) and Stolarczyk (2016/0090839). However, the cited prior art lacks the specifics of the coordinate system and pose data as required by the dependent claim(s) and it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the prior art to achieve applicant’s invention without the benefit of hindsight and applicant’s own disclosure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN F FIORELLO whose telephone number is (571)270-7012. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00AM-4:30PM EST.
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/BENJAMIN F FIORELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
BF
06/10/2026
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