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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/17/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claim 5 is cancelled. Claims 1 and 12 are amended. Claims 1-4 and 6-12 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seki (JP 2016103317) in view of Minami (US PG Pub. 20190211994).
Regarding claim 1, Seki discloses a lighting device (laser combining optical device 100A of figs. 6 and 8) comprising:
a first light source unit (LD 20a of figs. 6 and 8) including a plurality of laser elements (laser composite optical device 100 comprises several multi-emitter laser diodes 20a; abstract and also illustrated in fig. 13) having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix (laser diodes are arranged in the z-axis direction), the plurality of laser elements (more clearly illustrated in fig. 13) of the first light source unit emitting a first light flux in a first direction (shown in fig. 6);
a second light source unit (LD 20b of figs. 6 and 8 and also illustrated in fig. 13) including a plurality of laser elements (laser composite optical device 100 comprises several multi-emitter laser diodes 20b; abstract) having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix (matrix (laser diodes are arranged in the z-axis direction), the second light source unit being arranged to emit a second light flux in the first direction and to be spaced apart from the first light source unit by a first distance in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (pg. 3 4th para.; multi-emitter LD 20a and the multi-emitter LD 20b is arranged at the interval D1); and
an optical path shift optical system (reflecting element 50 of figs. 6 and 8) including
a first reflecting surface (reflection surface 50a of figs. 6 and 8) that reflects the second light flux emitted from the second light source unit (20b) toward the first light flux (20a), and
a second reflecting surface (reflection surface 50b of figs. 6 and 8) that is parallel to the first reflecting surface (shown in fig. 6) and reflects the second light flux reflected by the first reflecting surface to be parallel to the first light flux at a second distance (distance D2 of figs. 6 and 8) shorter than the first distance (the first distance D1 of figs. 6 and 8) (illustrated in fig. figs. 6 and 8).
wherein the first light source unit (shown in fig. 6 and each of laser elements 20a shown in fig. 6 and each of laser element 20 are clearly illustrated in fig. 13 demonstrating each of 20a and 20b comprising a plurality of laser emitters) includes a first collimating lens array (illustrated in fig. 2(b)) having a plurality of first collimating lenses respectively provided for the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (pg. 5 8th para. a shape composed of a plurality of lenses corresponding to each light emitting point (FIG. 2(b))), the plurality of first collimating lenses being arranged and integrated at a same arrangement pitch as an arrangement pitch of the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (illustrated in fig. 2(b)), and
wherein the second light source unit (shown in fig. 6 and each of laser elements 20b shown in fig. 6 and each of laser element 20 are clearly illustrated in fig. 13 demonstrating each of 20a and 20b comprising a plurality of laser emitters) includes a second collimating lens array (illustrated in fig. 2(b)) having a plurality of first collimating lenses respectively provided for the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (pg. 5 8th para. a shape composed of a plurality of lenses corresponding to each light emitting point (FIG. 2(b))), the plurality of first collimating lenses being arranged and integrated at a same arrangement pitch as an arrangement pitch of the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (illustrated in fig. 2(b)).
Seki fails to teach the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit being circular when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction and the plurality of first collimating lenses being circular and arranged concentrically with the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit.
Minami discloses an optical system that includes a plurality of lenses and a plurality of light sources (semiconductor laser device 10 of fig. 1) for a projection apparatus (illustrated in fig. 22) the plurality of laser elements (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 4) of the first light source unit being circular when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction (illustrated in fig. 1) and the plurality of first collimating lenses (collimating lenses 320 of fig. 8) being circular (para. 0054; multiple circular collimate lenses 320) and arranged concentrically with the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (illustrated in fig. 3), the collimating lenses being non-integrated (illustrated in fig. 320; each of collimating lenses are non-integrated).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the application to modify laser optical device of Seki with the round lasers of Minami in order to take advantage of uniform intensity distribution that round lasers provide.
Regarding claim 2, Seki discloses wherein the optical path shift optical system (50) is a prism (pg. 3 6th para.; the reflecting element 50 has a shape obtained by extending a parallelogram in a direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet. The reflection element 50 includes total reflection surfaces 50a and 50b that are parallel to each other. The laser light is totally reflected at the total reflection surfaces 50a and 50b) having a parallelogram shape (illustrated in fig. 6), and
the prism includes the first reflecting surface (50a), the second reflecting surface (50b), a first transmission surface (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 6 below) through which the second light flux emitted from the second light source unit passes (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 6 below), and a second transmission surface parallel to the first transmission surface (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 6 below) and through which the second light flux reflected by the second reflecting surface passes (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 6 below).
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Regarding claim 4, Seki discloses wherein each of the plurality of laser elements of each of the first (20a) and second (20b) light source units is a semiconductor laser element (abstract; optical device 100 comprises several multi-emitter laser diodes 20a, 20b of fig. 6 and further each of 20a and 20b are clearly illustrated in fig. 13 as multi-emitter laser diode 20).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seki (JP 2016103317) and Minami (US PG Pub. 20190211994) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gao (CN 106292145 A).
Regarding claim 3, Seki as modified by Minami discloses an illumination device comprising: first and second laser light sources (multi-emitter laser diodes 20a and 20b of figs. 6 and 8).
Seki as modified by Minami fails to teach wherein the optical path shift optical system includes a first mirror including the first reflecting surface and a second mirror including the second reflecting surface.
Gao discloses an illumination system for a projector comprising a laser array (pg. 5 7th para.; laser light source group 101, 102, ... 10N, laser array consisting of the laser source comprises: a laser unit and a corresponding collimating lens) wherein the optical path shift optical system includes a first mirror (first reflector A01 of fig. 2) including the first reflecting surface and a second mirror (second reflector A02 of fig. 2) including the second reflecting surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the application to replace the prism of Seki and Minami with the mirrors of Gao in order to reduce the cost of the illumination system.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seki (JP 2016103317) and Minami (US PG Pub. 20190211994) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Yan et al. (US PG Pub. 20200301265).
Regarding claim 6, Seki as modified by Minami discloses an illumination device comprising: first and second laser light sources (multi-emitter laser diodes 20a and 20b of figs. 6 and 8).
Seki as modified by Minami fails to teach further comprising: a heat transfer plate including a first heat transfer surface to which the first and second light source units are attached and a second heat transfer surface opposite to the first heat transfer surface; and a cooling device attached to the second heat transfer surface of the heat transfer plate.
Yan discloses a laser projection device comprising first (blue laser assembly 120 of fig. 5B) and second laser light (green laser assembly 130 of fig. 5B) arrays further comprising: a heat transfer plate (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 5B below) including a first heat transfer surface to which the first (120) and second light source (130) units are attached (the first and second light sources are attached to the housing 102 of fig. 5B) and a second heat transfer surface opposite to the first heat transfer surface (heat conduction block 603 of fig. 6D); and a cooling device (third fan 606 is an air intake fan for the heat dissipation fins 601 and is a blower fan) attached to the second heat transfer surface of the heat transfer plate (illustrated in fig. 6D).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the application to modify illumination device of Seki and Minami with the cooling system of Yan in order to provide an efficient cooling system for a laser projection device.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US PG Pub. 20200301265) in view of Seki (JP 2016103317) in view of Minami (US PG Pub. 20190211994).
Regarding claim 12, Yan discloses a projection display apparatus (laser projection apparatus 10 of fig. 1A) comprising:
a lighting unit (laser source 100 of fig. 1C) including at least one lighting device (blue laser assembly 120, and a green laser assembly 130 of fig. 5A);
an image display unit (DMD 220 of fig. 2) configured to modulate illumination light from the lighting unit and output the modulated illumination light as image light (para. 0056; DMD 220 includes thousands of micro-reflectors. Each micro-reflector may be individually driven to deflect. For example, each micro-reflector may be driven to deflect by a range of plus or minus 12 degrees (i.e., −12° to +12°) or a range of plus or minus 17 degrees (i.e., −17° to +17°). A laser beam reflected at a negative deflection angle is referred to as an OFF laser beam, and the OFF laser beam is an ineffective laser beam, which is usually irradiated on the housing or is absorbed by a laser absorption device. A laser beam reflected at a positive deflection angle is referred to as an ON laser beam. The ON laser beam is an effective laser beam that enters the lens 300 at a positive deflection angle after each micro-reflector on the surface of the DMD laser valve receives an irradiation of the illumination beam, and is used to project an image.); and
a projection optical system (lens 300 of fig. 2) configured to enlarge and project the image light (para. 0061; lens 300, if a hundredfold magnification needs to be achieved, and aberrations need to be corrected to obtain a good resolution, thereby presenting a high-definition projected image, a design difficulty of the ultra-short-focus projection lens is much greater than that of a telephoto projection lens), wherein the at least one lighting device includes a first light source unit (120) including a plurality of laser elements (para. 0085; plurality of laser-emitting chips may be arranged in a 4×6 array, or may be arranged in other arrays, such as a 3×5 array, a 2×7 array, a 2×6 array, or a 4×5 array. An overall luminous power of a laser with a different number of arrays is different).
Yan fails to teach wherein the at least one lighting device includes a first light source unit including a plurality of laser elements having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix, the first light source unit emitting a first light flux in a first direction, a second light source unit including a plurality of laser elements having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix, the second light source unit being arranged to emit a second light flux in the first direction and to be spaced apart from the first light source unit by a first distance in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and an optical path shift optical system including a first reflecting surface that reflects the second light flux emitted from the second light source unit toward the first light flux, and a second reflecting surface that is parallel to the first reflecting surface and reflects the second light flux reflected by the first reflecting surface to be parallel to the first light flux at a second distance shorter than the first distance.
Seki discloses a lighting device (laser combining optical device 100A of figs. 6 and 8) comprising:
a first light source unit (LD 20a of figs. 6 and 8) including a plurality of laser elements (laser composite optical device 100 comprises several multi-emitter laser diodes 20a; abstract and also illustrated in fig. 13) having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix (laser diodes are arranged in the z-axis direction), the plurality of laser elements the first light source unit (more clearly illustrated in fig. 13) emitting a first light flux in a first direction (shown in fig. 6);
a second light source unit (LD 20b of figs. 6 and 8) including a plurality of laser elements (laser composite optical device 100 comprises several multi-emitter laser diodes 20b; abstract and also illustrated in fig. 13) having optical axes arranged in parallel and in a matrix (matrix (laser diodes are arranged in the z-axis direction), the plurality of laser elements of the second light source unit (more clearly illustrated in fig. 13) being arranged to emit a second light flux in the first direction and to be spaced apart from the first light source unit by a first distance in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (pg. 3 4th para.; multi-emitter LD 20a and the multi-emitter LD 20b is arranged at the interval D1); and
an optical path shift optical system (reflecting element 50 of figs. 6 and 8) including
a first reflecting surface (reflection surface 50a of figs. 6 and 8) that reflects the second light flux emitted from the second light source unit (20b) toward the first light flux (20a), and
a second reflecting surface (reflection surface 50b of figs. 6 and 8) that is parallel to the first reflecting surface (shown in fig. 6) and reflects the second light flux reflected by the first reflecting surface to be parallel to the first light flux at a second distance (distance D2 of figs. 6 and 8) shorter than the first distance (the first distance D1 of figs. 6 and 8) (illustrated in fig. figs. 6 and 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the application to modify projection device of Yan with the illumination system of Seki in order to provide an illumination system having high-power which will able to produce bright images (Seki; pg. 1 2nd para.)
Yan as modified by Seki fails to teach the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit being circular when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction and the plurality of first collimating lenses being circular and arranged concentrically with the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit.
Minami discloses an optical system that includes a plurality of lenses and a plurality of light sources (semiconductor laser device 10 of fig. 1) for a projection apparatus (illustrated in fig. 22) the plurality of laser elements (shown in the examiners illustration of fig. 4) of the first light source unit being circular when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction (illustrated in fig. 1) and the plurality of first collimating lenses (collimating lenses 320 of fig. 8) being circular (para. 0054; multiple circular collimate lenses 320) and arranged concentrically with the plurality of laser elements of the first light source unit (illustrated in fig. 3), the collimating lenses being non-integrated (illustrated in fig. 320; each of collimating lenses are non-integrated).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the application to modify laser optical device of Yan and Seki with the round lasers of Minami in order to take advantage of uniform intensity distribution that round lasers provide.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 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 subject matter of claim 7 that was found to be allowable because the cooling device includes a first cooling device arranged to face the first light source unit with the heat transfer plate interposed between the cooling device and the first cooling device, and a second cooling device arranged to face the second light source unit with the heat transfer plate interposed between the cooling device and the second cooling device.
Claims 8-11 are allowable as being dependent on claim 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANELL L OWENS whose telephone number is (571)270-5365. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm M-F.
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/DANELL L OWENS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2882 26 March 2026
/BAO-LUAN Q LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882