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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 35-37 and 39-42 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.
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) 26-34, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Anazawa et al. (US 20210190689 A1).
Regarding Claim 29, Anazawa et al. teaches an optical device, wherein, in a right-handed XYZ-orthogonal-coordinate system (Abstract),
a sample two-dimensionally distributed in parallel with the YZ-plane, a single condensing lens having an optical axis aligned with the X-axis, a dichroic-mirror array in which m dichroic mirrors are arrayed in parallel with each other in the Y-axis direction with m being an integer greater than or equal to 2, and an image sensor parallel with the YZ-plane are disposed along the X-axis positive direction in the above order (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraph 70; Paragraph 77; Paragraphs 79-92),
a light emitted from a measurement region on the sample and collected by the condensing lens is incident on the dichroic mirror array, and the incident light is split into m light beams having different wavelength components by the dichroic mirror array (Paragraph 25),
m split images of the measurement region having different wavelength components are formed on and measured by the image sensor (Paragraph 25; Paragraph 80),
an aperture of the dichroic-mirror array where the light first enter the dichroic-mirror array provided in an iris is located adjacent to a side of the dichroic-mirror array facing the condensing lens on the X-axis (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraph 70; Paragraph 74; Paragraph 77; Paragraphs 79-92), and
when a distance between the condensing lens and the image sensor in the X-axis direction is denoted by h, and a distance between the condensing lens and the aperture in the X-axis direction is denoted by x,
[Mathematical formula 1]
0.5<
x
h
<1
is satisfied (Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 53-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94).
Regarding Claim 30, Anazawa et al. teaches the optical device according to claim 29, wherein a lens does not exist between the dichroic-mirror array and the image sensor (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraph 70; Paragraph 77; Paragraphs 79-92).
Regarding Claim 31, Anazawa et al. the optical device according to claim 29, wherein, when an effective diameter of the condensing lens is denoted by D and a width of the aperture in the Y-axis direction is denoted by w,
[Mathematicalformula2] D>w
is satisfied (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 51-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94).
Regarding Claim 32, Anazawa et al. the optical device according to claim 29, wherein, when an effective diameter of the condensing lens is denoted by D, a width of the aperture in the Y-axis direction is denoted by w, and an average of intervals between the m images is denoted by p,
PNG
media_image1.png
168
446
media_image1.png
Greyscale
is satisfied (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 51-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94; Paragraphs 97-98).
Regarding Claim 33, Anazawa et al. the optical device according to claim 29, wherein, when an effective diameter of the condensing lens is denoted by D and a width of the aperture in the Y-axis direction is denoted by w,
[Mathematical Formula 4]
PNG
media_image2.png
142
334
media_image2.png
Greyscale
is satisfied (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 53-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94; Paragraphs 97-98).
Regarding Claim 34, Anazawa et al. the optical device according to claim 29, wherein, when an effective diameter of the condensing lens is denoted by D, a width of the aperture in the Y-axis direction is denoted by w, and an average of intervals between the m images is denoted by p,
[Mathematical formula 5]
PNG
media_image3.png
122
314
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Is satisfied (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 51-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94; Paragraphs 97-98).
Claims 26-28 have similar limitations as those of claims 29-31 and are rejected for the same reasons as used above.
Claim 38 has similar limitations as those of claim 29 and is rejected for the same reasons as above. Anazawa et al. further teaches a dichroic-mirror array in which m dichroic mirrors DA1, DA2, . . . , DAm are arrayed in parallel with each other in order from a negative direction to a positive direction of the Y-axis direction with m being an integer greater than or equal to 2, and n dichroic mirrors DB1, DB2, . . . , DBn are arrayed in parallel with each other in order from the positive direction to the negative direction of the Y-axis direction with n being an integer greater than or equal to 2 (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 51-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94; Paragraphs 97-98; Paragraphs 149-157),
an image sensor parallel with the YZ-plane the sample, the dichroic-mirror array, and the image sensor are lined up along the X-axis positive direction in the above order, a light emitted from a measurement region on the sample and collected by the condensing lens is incident on the dichroic mirror array, and the incident light is split into (m+n−1) light beams having different wavelength components by the dichroic mirror array, (m+n−1) split images of the measurement region having different wavelength components are formed on and measured by the image sensor (Paragraphs 11-16; Paragraphs 24-25; Paragraphs 31-39; Paragraphs 47-49; Paragraphs 51-57; Paragraphs 61-67; Paragraphs 74-75; Paragraphs 79-94; Paragraphs 97-98; Paragraphs 149-157).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHAN MAHMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-7712. The examiner can normally be reached 10-7.
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/FARHAN MAHMUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483