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 § 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 claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 US 20180329065 A1.
Regarding claim 1 D1 teaches
1. A distance sensing module, comprising:
a first substrate;(fig. 15a part of 1506 on which light emitters 1510 are placed)
an upper cover(1409 fig. 14 and similar structure on fig. 15a) disposed on the first substrate to form an accommodating space;(fig. 14 space between aperture and emitters)
a light-emitting unit(1510) disposed at an emitting end in the accommodating space(fig. 15a); and
at least one sensing pixel(1504) disposed at a receiving end in the accommodating space, and the at least one sensing pixel comprises(fig. 15a)
a second substrate(subtract corresponding to the 1504 right part layer or 1505) disposed in the accommodating space and having a top surface;(fig. 15a with fig. 21b)
a plurality of sensing areas(fig. 15a with fig. 21b elements 2171) disposed in the second substrate and exposed on the top surface;(fig. 15a)
a light guide layer(2170 without 2173) disposed on the second substrate, wherein the light guide layer comprises a plurality of light guide structures(2191), each of the plurality of light guide structures has a first side and a second side opposite to each other(fig. 21b), and the plurality of second sides are coupled to the plurality of sensing areas(curved parts optically coupled to sensors 2171);
a light transmission layer(2161 or 2461on fig. 25) disposed on the light guide layer 2170 without 2173), wherein the light guide layer(2470-2473 in fig. 24 ) is located between the second substrate(substrate on which 2473 is accommodated) and the light transmission layer(2461 fig. 24), and the plurality of first sides are connected to the light transmission layer; and(fig. 24)
a lens layer(2451) comprising at least one lens and disposed on the light transmission layer(2461), and the light transmission layer is located between the light guide layer and the lens layer.(fig. 24)
2. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein the light guide layer further comprises a medium structure(whatever is gap between 2491 bd 2471 is filled ) surrounding the plurality of light guide structures(2491 of fig. 21J light guide structures 2164 surrounded by medium ), and a refractive index of the plurality of light guide structures is greater than a refractive index of the medium structure.[0211](optically non transparent structures)
3. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein an area of the first side is greater than or equal to an area of the second side.(fig. 21j area corresponding to photodetector is smaller than area for incoming light cone)
4. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein an orthographic projection of the second side on the second substrate is completely overlapped with an orthographic projection of the first side on the second substrate.(implicit fig. 21i or h if viewed from above.)
5. The distance sensing module of claim 4, wherein a center of the orthographic projection of the second side on the second substrate is aligned with a center of the orthographic projection of the first side on the second substrate.(fig. 22i or h symmetric structure)
6. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein an orthographic projection of the second side on the second substrate is only partially overlapped with an orthographic projection of the first side on the second substrate.(fig. 21j)
7. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein a shape of the plurality of light guide structures is a frustum polygonal pyramid or a frustum cone.(fig. 21j)
8. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of light guide structures further has at least one sidewall connected to the first side and the second side, the light guide layer further comprises a reflective interface disposed at the plurality of sidewalls of the plurality of light guide structures, and the reflective interface is a metal or an air layer.[0211]
11. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein a number of the at least one lens is one and the at least one lens covers the plurality of sensing areas.(fig. 21b)
12. The distance sensing module of claim 11, wherein there is spacing between a centerline of the lens and a centerline of each of the plurality of first sides.(fig. 21b centerline of the lens 2151 is shifted with respect to (2191 corresponding to different 2171)
13. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein a number of the at least one lens is equal to a number of the plurality of sensing areas.(fig. 15b number of lens corresponding to number of sensing areas)
15. The distance sensing module of claim 13, wherein a centerline of each of the plurality of lenses is overlapped with a centerline of each of the plurality of first sides.(fig. 15b with fig. 17 when one lens correspond to one receiver.)
16. The distance sensing module of claim 15, wherein the centerline of each of the plurality of lenses is overlapped with a centerline of each of the plurality of second sides. (fig. 15b with fig. 17 when one lens correspond to one receiver.)
18. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein a number of the at least one sensing pixel is multiple, and the multiple sensing pixels share the same second substrate(fig. 8)
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) 9, 10, 14 , 17is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
Although D1 does not explicitly teach
14. The distance sensing module of claim 13, wherein there is spacing between a centerline of each of the plurality of lenses and a centerline of each of the plurality of first sides.
It is just matter of the placement of the receivers relative to the placement of lenses and light guiding structures which is within the skill of one of ordinary skills in the art in order to achieve optimal light collection on the receiver taking into the account possible different sizes of the lenses and/or receivers.
Also D1does not explicitly teach
17. The distance sensing module of claim 1, further comprising:
a baffle disposed in the accommodating space to partition the accommodating space into the emitting end and the receiving end.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 to include absorber between receiver in fig 8 and transmitter in order to avoid leakage of light and the interference.
Although D1 does not explicitly teach
9. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein a focal plane of the at least one lens is overlapped with the plurality of first sides.
10. The distance sensing module of claim 1, wherein there is spacing between a focal plane of the at least one lens and the plurality of first sides.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 in order to deliver the optimal amount of light towards the receiver.(it is important to note that it is just placement of parts and modifying it within the one of ordinary skills in the art and obvious as guiding the light is just a simple geometrical procedure well understood and predictable.)
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645