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 .
Drawings
The drawings filed 2-28-23 have been accepted by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species B (Fig. 2B), Species D (Fig. 3A), and Species F (Fig. 4A) in the reply filed on 10-20-25 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 2, 8, 14, 20, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Morris et al. (US 2020/0251049).
Regarding claim 1, Morris (Fig. 1, 4, 6, 7, and 11) discloses an image source, comprising:
a fixed panel (1104, called a “backplane” in [0179]);
a first addressable (“an address corresponding to an individual source element of light source 642” discussed in [0143]) light emitting diode array (512, with “light emitters” and “array” both discussed in [0133], also corresponding to a first “μLED die 1102-a” seen in Fig. 11, see “the number of light emitters in each red light emitters 512, green light emitters 514, and blue light emitters 516 can be equal to or greater than the number of pixels in a display image, such as… 1920×1080” discussed in [0133] and “a uLED die 1102 may have 2,073,600 uLED devices (e.g. 1920×1080)” discussed in [0178]) coupled with said fixed panel (as seen in Fig. 11, 1102-a is fixed to 1104 via “bumps” 1114, see also [0179]);
a second addressable light emitting diode array (514, corresponding to 1102-b) coupled with said fixed panel (similarly as discussed above, 1102-b is also fixed to 1104 via 1114);
a first lens system (corresponding to the lenses of the LEDs of the first array, each “LED 700 may include one or more other components, such as a lens” discussed in [0153]) located at an effective focal length from said first light emitting diode array (the lens is used “to focus or collimate the emitted light” discussed in [0153]);
a second lens system (similarly to as discussed above, corresponding to the lenses of the second array) located at an effective focal length from said second light emitting diode array (similarly, focusing light discussed in [0153]);
wherein light from corresponding individual light emitting diodes in said first and second light emitting diode arrays are aligned to form a single pixel (“Each pixel in light source 642 may include three subpixels that include a red micro-LED, a green micro-LED, and a blue micro-LED” discussed in [0141], while [0146] further discloses “optically adjust and potentially re-direct the light” including “conditioning the light, such as expanding, collimating…” and the examiner interprets “collimating” to read upon the claimed “align,” see also “collimate or focus the light” discussed in [0134]) in a virtual image (“present to a user media including virtual and/or augmented views” discussed in [0124]) as viewed in a waveguide eyebox (eg. corresponding to the user’s eye 590 in Fig. 5A, with “eye box” more specifically discussed in [0124]).
Regarding claim 20, Morris (Fig. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11) discloses a method of aligning pixels of different wavelength ranges, comprising:
providing a fixed panel (1104, called a “backplane” in [0179]);
providing a first light emitting diode array (a first array of 412, see “image source 412 may include three two-dimensional arrays of micro-LEDs” discussed in [0130], also corresponding to a first “μLED die 1102-a” seen in Fig. 11, see “the number of light emitters in each red light emitters 512, green light emitters 514, and blue light emitters 516 can be equal to or greater than the number of pixels in a display image, such as… 1920×1080” discussed in [0133] and “a uLED die 1102 may have 2,073,600 uLED devices (e.g. 1920×1080)” discussed in [0178]) coupled with said fixed panel (as seen in Fig. 11, 1102-a is fixed to 1104 via “bumps” 1114, see also [0179]);
providing a second light emitting diode array (a second array of 412, corresponding to 1102-b) coupled with said fixed panel (similarly as discussed above, 1102-b is also fixed to 1104 via 1114);
providing a first lens system (corresponding to the lenses of the first array, each “LED 700 may include one or more other components, such as a lens” discussed in [0153]) located at an effective focal length from said first light emitting diode array (the lens is used “to focus or collimate the emitted light” discussed in [0153]);
providing a second lens system (similarly to as discussed above, corresponding to the lenses of the second array) located at an effective focal length from said second light emitting diode array (similarly, focusing light discussed in [0153]);
providing an alignment lens (414) adjacent to said first and second lens systems (as seen in Fig. 4, 412 includes the first and second lens systems, while 414 is adjacent and to the right), wherein light transmitted through said first and second lens systems is incident upon said alignment lens (“414 may include one or more optical components that can condition the light from image source 412” as discussed in [0131]);
providing a display surface (430) at an effective focal length distance from said alignment lens (eg. 414 is used to “condition the light” as discussed in [0131]) opposite said first and second lens systems (the first and second lens systems, in 412, are on the opposite side of 414 compared to 430);
generating a first light beam (eg. a red light beam, see “each two-dimensional array of micro-LEDs may include micro-LEDs configured to emit light of a primary color” discussed in [0130]) forming a first pixel with said first light emitting diode array (a first “subpixel” from a “red micro-LED” discussed in [0141]);
generating a second light beam (eg. a green light beam, similarly to as discussed above) forming a second pixel with said second light emitting diode array (a second “subpixel” from a “green micro-LED” discussed in [0141]); and
aligning said first and second pixels on said display surface (eg. to form a single pixel, the “subpixels” are aligned and combined as discussed in [0141], “each pixel in light source 642 may include three subpixels that include a red micro-LED, a green micro-LED, and a blue micro-LED”).
Regarding claim 2, Morris discloses an image source as discussed above, wherein said first and second light emitting diode arrays are in signal communication with a processor (620, called a “graphics processing unit” in [0143]) operable to digitally align pixels generated by said first and second light emitting diode arrays (“controller 620 may also instruct projector 650 to perform different adjustments of the light” discussed in [0143], which are “digital” adjustments using “software” as discussed in [0142], while “adjustment of light may include conditioning the light, such as… collimating” discussed in [0146], and the examiner interprets “collimating” to read on the claimed “align” as discussed above).
Regarding claim 8, Morris discloses an image source as discussed above, wherein said first light emitting diode array (the first array of 412) is operable to emit light of a first wavelength range (eg. light of a red wavelength, “each emitting a monochromatic image light corresponding to a primary color (e.g., red…” discussed in [0130]), and said second light emitting diode array (the second array of 412) is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range (eg. light of a green wavelength, similarly to as discussed above, with “green” specifically discussed in [0133]).
Regarding claim 14, Morris discloses an image light guide for conveying a virtual image comprising the image source discussed above, further comprising:
a planar waveguide (420) operable to propagate image-bearing light beams (“Light coupled into substrate 420 may propagate within substrate 420 through, for example, total internal reflection” discussed in [0130]);
a first in-coupling diffractive optic (430, called a “diffractive optical element” or “DOE” in [0131]) formed along said waveguide (eg. along the left side near the top, as seen in Fig. 4), wherein said in-coupling diffractive optic is operable to diffract at least a portion of said image-bearing light beams from said image source into said waveguide (“430 for coupling light from projector 410 into a substrate 420” discussed in [0131]) in an angularly encoded form (eg. higher angles, such as the light beams from the top of 412 are encoded as image light viewed at higher angles of the eyebox, such as the light beam labelled 460 in Fig. 4, while lower angles, such as the light beams from the bottom of 412, shown as a darker line, are encoded to image light at the bottom of the eyebox), and
an out-coupling diffractive optic (440, also called a “DOE” in [0132]) formed along said waveguide (eg. on the right side, as seen in Fig. 4), wherein said out-coupling diffractive optic is operable to expand said image-bearing light beams (“using optical waveguides and couplers)” and “magnify image light” both discussed in [0107]) and direct said expanded image-bearing light beams from said waveguide in an angularly decoded form toward said eyebox (“direct extracted light 460 to an eye 490 of the user” discussed in [0132] and seen in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 24, Morris discloses a method of aligning pixels of different wavelength ranges as discussed above, wherein said first light emitting diode array (the first array of 412) is operable to emit light of a first wavelength range (eg. light of a red wavelength, “each emitting a monochromatic image light corresponding to a primary color (e.g., red…” discussed in [0130]), and said second light emitting diode array (the second array of 412) is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range (eg. light of a green wavelength, similarly to as discussed above, with “green” specifically discussed in [0133]).
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.
Claims 3 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morris as applied to claims 1 and 20 above, and further in view of Haddick et al. (US 2021/0191127).
Regarding claim 3, Morris discloses an image source as discussed above, however fails to teach or suggest wherein digitally aligning pixels generated by said first and second light emitting diode arrays comprises, changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays until said pixels align in said waveguide eyebox.
Haddick (Fig. 108-111) discloses an image source wherein digitally aligning pixels generated by a first and second light emitting diode arrays (“array of pixels” including “only red or only green” discussed in [0525], with “LED array” more specifically discussed in [0683]) comprises, changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays (eg. the ON/OFF timing for each color seen in Fig. 109 and 110) until said pixels align in said waveguide eyebox (as seen in Fig. 111b, “subframes are digitally shifted” also discussed in [0531], and “if the subframe images are accurately aligned with each other, then the full color image perceived by the user will be full color out to the edges of the image” discussed in [0526]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Morris so digitally aligning pixels comprises changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays until said pixels align as taught by Haddick because this reduces “color breakup” (see [0531]).
Regarding claim 21, Morris discloses a method of aligning pixels of different wavelength ranges as discussed above, wherein said first and second light emitting diode arrays are in signal communication with a processor (620, called a “graphics processing unit” in [0143]) operable to digitally align said first and second pixels (“controller 620 may also instruct projector 650 to perform different adjustments of the light” discussed in [0143], which are “digital” adjustments using “software” as discussed in [0142], while “adjustment of light may include conditioning the light, such as… collimating” discussed in [0146], and the examiner interprets “collimating” to read on the claimed “align” as discussed above).
However, Morris fails to teach or suggest wherein digitally aligning said first and second pixels comprises, changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays until said first and second pixels align on said display surface.
Haddick (Fig. 108-111) discloses an image source wherein digitally aligning pixels generated by a first and second light emitting diode arrays (“array of pixels” including “only red or only green” discussed in [0525], with “LED array” more specifically discussed in [0683]) comprises, changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays (eg. the ON/OFF timing for each color seen in Fig. 109 and 110) until said pixels align on a display surface (as seen in Fig. 111b, “subframes are digitally shifted” also discussed in [0531], and “if the subframe images are accurately aligned with each other, then the full color image perceived by the user will be full color out to the edges of the image” discussed in [0526]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Morris so digitally aligning pixels comprises changing an ON/OFF state of one or more light emitting diodes of one or more of said first and second light emitting diode arrays until said pixels align as taught by Haddick because this reduces “color breakup” (see [0531]).
Claims 6, 7, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morris as applied to claims 1 and 20 above, and further in view of Grundmann (US 2021/0159373).
Regarding claim 6, Morris discloses an image source as discussed above, wherein the lenses of said first and second lens systems is adjustable to align light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes (“optically adjust and potentially re-direct the light” with “lenses” as discussed in [0146]) to form said single pixel in said virtual image as viewed in said waveguide eyebox (as discussed above, each pixel is formed from three subpixels, see [0141], to form a virtual image in an eyebox, see [0124]).
However, Morris fails to teach or suggest wherein “each” of the lenses of said first and second lens systems is “independently” adjustable.
Grundmann (Fig. 4 and 9) discloses an image source, comprising:
a first addressable light emitting diode array (a first array of 412, “412 may include three two-dimensional arrays of micro-LEDs” discussed in [0065]);
a second addressable light emitting diode array (a second array of 412, similarly to as discussed above);
a first lens system (a first lens system 840, corresponding to the first array of 412) located at an effective focal length from said first light emitting diode array (“light from each micro-LED can be… focused… by a respective micro-lens” discussed in [0031]);
a second lens system (a second lens system 840, corresponding to the second array of 412) located at an effective focal length from said second light emitting diode array (similarly to as discussed above);
wherein each lens of said first and second lens systems is independently adjustable (“the optical axis of each micro-lens in micro-lens array 940 may be offset from the center of a respective micro-LED in micro-LED array 920 by a different distance” discussed in [0105]) to align light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes to form said single pixel (“each pixel in light source 642 may include three subpixels” discussed in [0076]) in said virtual image (“images of virtual objects” discussed in [0067]) as viewed in said waveguide eyebox (“eyebox” discussed in [0067]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Morris so each of the lenses of said first and second lens systems is independently adjustable as taught by Grundmann because this allows the light from each of the light emitting diodes to be individually aimed, which enables correcting for optical errors or compensating for non-planar surfaces.
Regarding claim 7, Morris and Grundmann disclose an image source as discussed above, and Morris further discloses wherein light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes is aligned to be parallel via said first and second lens systems (“LED 700 may include one or more other components, such as a lens, on the light emission surface, such as substrate 710, to… collimate the emitted light” discussed in [0134]).
Regarding claim 22, Morris discloses a method of aligning pixels of different wavelength ranges as discussed above, wherein one or more of said first and second lens systems is adjusted to align image-bearing light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes to align said first and second pixels (“LED 700 may include one or more other components, such as a lens, on the light emission surface, such as substrate 710, to… collimate the emitted light” discussed in [0134]) on said display surface (as seen in Fig. 4).
However, Morris fails to teach or suggest wherein one or more of said first and second lens systems is “independently” adjusted to align image-bearing light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes.
Grundmann (Fig. 4 and 9) discloses a method of aligning pixels of different wavelength ranges, comprising:
providing a first light emitting diode array (a first array of 412, “412 may include three two-dimensional arrays of micro-LEDs” discussed in [0065]);
providing a second light emitting diode array (a second array of 412, similarly to as discussed above);
providing a first lens system (a first lens system 840, corresponding to the first array of 412) located at an effective focal length from said first light emitting diode array (“light from each micro-LED can be… focused… by a respective micro-lens” discussed in [0031]);
providing a second lens system (a second lens system 840, corresponding to the second array of 412) located at an effective focal length from said second light emitting diode array (similarly to as discussed above);
wherein one or more of said first and second lens systems is independently adjusted (“the optical axis of each micro-lens in micro-lens array 940 may be offset from the center of a respective micro-LED in micro-LED array 920 by a different distance” discussed in [0105]) to align image-bearing light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes (eg. to “focus” the image light as discussed in [0031]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Morris so one or more of said first and second lens systems is independently adjustable as taught by Grundmann because this allows the light from each of the light emitting diodes to be individually aimed, which enables correcting for optical errors or compensating for non-planar surfaces.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13 and 23 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 13, Morris discloses an image source as discussed above, wherein said first light emitting diode array comprises a first backplane and said second light emitting diode array comprises a second backplane (“Each of μLED die 1102-a, μLED die 1102-b, and μLED die 1102-c can have a structure similar to LED 700 of FIG. 7A” discussed in [0177], while as seen in Fig. 7A, each array has a separate backplane 710, called a “substrate” in [0149]).
However, Morris fails to teach or suggest wherein one or more of said first and second backplanes are independently adjustable to align light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes to form said single pixel in said virtual image as viewed in said waveguide eyebox.
Klug et al. (US 2022/0050298) discloses (Fig. 12 and 27) an image source wherein a first light emitting diode array (1030a, with “arrays of micro-LED's” discussed in [0018]) comprises a first backplane (seen most clearly in Fig. 27, the array has a backplane 1030 and LEDs 1044 disposed on top) and a second light emitting diode array (1030b) comprises a second backplane (similarly as discussed above, corresponding to the backplane of 1030b instead), wherein light from one or more of said first and second backplanes is adjustable to align light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes to form said single pixel in said virtual image as viewed in said waveguide eyebox (the light 1032a from 1030a is tilted, eg. towards the left while entering 1050, so that it aligns with the light 1032b from 1030b when viewed by the user 210 at the bottom of Fig. 12).
However, Klug still fails tot each or suggest wherein the “one or more of said first and second backplanes” are independently adjustable.
Therefore, each of the currently cited references of record fails to teach or suggest wherein “one or more of said first and second backplanes are independently adjustable to align light from said corresponding individual light emitting diodes to form said single pixel in said virtual image as viewed in said waveguide eyebox” when combined with each of the other claim limitations.
Claim 23 is dependent upon claim 20 instead of claim 1, but otherwise recited claim limitations substantially identical to those of claim 13, and so would be allowable for the same reasons as discussed above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M BLANCHA whose telephone number is (571)270-5890. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached at 5712727772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN M BLANCHA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623