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 § 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al (US Publication No.: US 2022/0365266 A1, “Cheng”) in view of Geng et al (US Publication No.: US 2021/0080722 A1, “Geng”).
Regarding Claim 1, Cheng discloses an optical assembly for an augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) display system (Figure 6A; Paragraph 0193), the optical assembly comprising:
A reflective polarization volume hologram (rPVH) layer (Figure 6A, rPVH layer 610, where Paragraph 0209 discloses element 610 may be an apochromatic PVH device from Figure 2B, which includes rPVH layer 201; Paragraph 0120);
A wave plate layer (Paragraph 0099 discloses compensation plates disposed between rPVH layers); and
One or more optical elements, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP layer are flexible and applied onto one of the one or more optical elements to provide optical power and to correct aberration in the optical assembly (Figure 6A, optical elements 606 or 605; Paragraph 0209 discloses aberration correction; Paragraph 0097).
Cheng fails to explicitly disclose that the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer.
However, Geng discloses a similar assembly where the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer (Geng, Figure 6C, QWP layer 612A; Paragraph 0315).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wave plate layer as disclosed by Cheng to be a quarter wave plate layer as disclosed by Geng. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing light transmission (Geng, Paragraph 0315).
Regarding Claim 2, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP are to correct chromatic aberration without introducing negative optical power (Cheng, Paragraph 0209; Paragraph 0097; it should be noted that this would be inherent given the structure of the assembly, since no new structure is being added).
Regarding Claim 3, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer introduces more degrees of freedom for bending the light compared to a reflective polarizer and QWP combination to correct monochromatic aberration (Cheng, Paragraph 0040; Paragraphs 0071-0075; it should be noted that this would be inherent given the structure of the assembly, since no new structure is being added).
Regarding Claim 4, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer is sensitive to circular polarization to filter right-handed circular polarization (RHCP) or left-handed circular polarization (Cheng, Paragraph 0074).
Regarding Claim 5, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP are applied onto a positive optical power optical lens through curved lamination (Cheng, Figure 6A discloses curved lamination; Paragraph 0097 discloses positive optical power).
Regarding Claim 6, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP layer are applied onto a negative optical power lens through curved lamination (Cheng, Figure 6A discloses curved lamination; Paragraph 0207 discloses negative optical power).
Regarding Claim 7, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the rPVH layer comprises liquid crystals (LCs) aligned in a helical twist with a helix axis vertical to a substrate (Cheng, Paragraph 0056; Paragraphs 0067-0074).
Regarding Claim 8, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 7, wherein an in-plane periodicity of the rPVH layer is denoted as λx, and a vertical periodicity of the rPVH layer is denoted as λy with a helical pitch of the rPVH layer being P=2λy (Cheng, Paragraphs 0056-0058).
Regarding Claim 9, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the optical assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more optical elements of the optical assembly comprise at least one of an optical lens, a filter, or a diffractive optical element (DOE) (Cheng, Paragraph 0209 discloses element 605 may be an optical lens).
Regarding Claim 10, Cheng discloses an augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) near-eye display device (Figure 6A; Paragraph 0193), comprising:
A light source (Figure 7A, light source 735; Paragraph 0218);
An optical assembly comprising:
A reflective polarization volume hologram (rPVH) layer (Figure 6A, rPVH layer 610, where Paragraph 0209 discloses element 610 may be an apochromatic PVH device from Figure 2B, which includes rPVH layer 201; Paragraph 0120);
A wave plate layer (Paragraph 0099 discloses compensation plates disposed between rPVH layers);
One or more optical elements, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP layer are flexible and applied onto one of the one or more optical elements to provide optical power and to correct aberration in the optical assembly (Figure 6A, optical elements 606 or 605; Paragraph 0209 discloses aberration correction; Paragraph 0097); and
A display to project light into an eyebox (Figure 6A, display 650).
Cheng fails to explicitly disclose that the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer.
However, Geng discloses a similar assembly where the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer (Geng, Figure 6C, QWP layer 612A; Paragraph 0315).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wave plate layer as disclosed by Cheng to be a quarter wave plate layer as disclosed by Geng. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing light transmission (Geng, Paragraph 0315).
Regarding Claim 11, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the light source comprises a coherent light source or an incoherent light source (Cheng, Paragraph 0218).
Regarding Claim 12, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP are: to correct chromatic aberration without introducing negative optical power (Cheng, Paragraph 0209; Paragraph 0097; it should be noted that this would be inherent given the structure of the assembly, since no new structure is being added); and to correct monochromatic aberration through increased degrees of freedom for bending the light (Cheng, Paragraph 0040; Paragraphs 0071-0075; it should be noted that this would be inherent given the structure of the assembly, since no new structure is being added).
Regarding Claim 13, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the rPVH layer is sensitive to circular polarization to filter right-handed circular polarization (RHCP) or left-handed circular polarization (Cheng, Paragraph 0074).
Regarding Claim 14, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP are applied onto a positive optical power optical lens through curved lamination (Cheng, Figure 6A discloses curved lamination; Paragraph 0097 discloses positive optical power).
Regarding Claim 15, Cheng in view of Geng discloses t the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the rPVH layer and the QWP layer are applied onto a negative optical power lens through curved lamination (Cheng, Figure 6A discloses curved lamination; Paragraph 0207 discloses negative optical power).
Regarding Claim 16, Cheng in view of Geng discloses t the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the rPVH layer comprises liquid crystals (LCs) aligned in a helical twist with a helix axis vertical to a substrate (Cheng, Paragraph 0056; Paragraphs 0067-0074).
Regarding Claim 17, Cheng in view of Geng discloses t the AR/VR near-eye display device of claim 10, wherein the one or more optical elements of the optical assembly comprise at least one of an optical lens, a filter, or a diffractive optical element (DOE) (Cheng, Paragraph 0209 discloses element 605 may be an optical lens).
Regarding Claim 18, Cheng discloses a method for assembling an augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) near-eye display device (Figure 6A; Paragraph 0193), the method comprising:
Applying a reflective polarization volume hologram layer onto a wave plate layer (Figure 6A, rPVH layer 610, where Paragraph 0209 discloses element 610 may be an apochromatic PVH device from Figure 2B, which includes rPVH layer 201; Paragraph 0120; Paragraph 0099 discloses compensation plates disposed between rPVH layers);
Adjusting a curvature of the rPVH layer and the wave plate layer to match a curvature of an optical element of an optical assembly of the AR/VR near-eye display device (Figure 6A, the curvature of the rPVH layer 610 matches that of an optical element 605);
Assembling the optical assembly with the rPVH layer, the wave plate layer, and one or more optical elements (Figure 6A, optical elements 605/606); and
Assembling the AR/VR near-eye display device combining the optical assembly with a light source and one or more additional components (Figure 6A, additional component 650; Figure 7A, light source 735; Paragraph 0218).
Cheng fails to explicitly disclose that the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer.
However, Geng discloses a similar assembly where the wave plate layer is a quarter wave plate (QWP) layer (Geng, Figure 6C, QWP layer 612A; Paragraph 0315).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wave plate layer as disclosed by Cheng to be a quarter wave plate layer as disclosed by Geng. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing light transmission (Geng, Paragraph 0315).
Regarding Claim 19, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the method of claim 18, further comprising: applying the rPVH layer and the QWP layer onto an optical element through curvature lamination (Figure 6A discloses curvature lamination of the layers together).
Regarding Claim 20, Cheng in view of Geng discloses the method of claim 19, wherein the optical element is a positive power or negative power optical lens (Cheng, Paragraph 0097; Paragraph 0207).
Conclusion
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/MARIAM QURESHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2871