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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites “…wherein the first curved unit and the second curved unit comprise curved surfaces and plane surfaces”. It is unclear whether the first curved unit requires to include a single curved surface or plurality of curved surfaces and a single plane surface or plurality of plane surfaces; the second curved unit requires to include a single curved surface or plurality of curved surfaces and a single plane surface or plurality of plane surfaces, or instead merely requires that the first and second curved units collectively include at least one curved surface and plane surface. For the purpose of examination, this limitation is interpretated as requiring that each of the first curved unit and the second curved unit includes at least one curved surface and at least one plane surface.
Claim 3 recites “…further comprising: a fixing bracket; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the plane surface of the first curved module and the plane surface of the second curved unit are fixed…”. It is unclear if the first curved unit requires only one plane surface or plurality of plane surfaces, as indicated in claim 2; and similarly, the second curved unit requires only one plane surface or plurality of plane surfaces, as indicated in claim 2. For the purpose of examination, this limitation is interpretated as “…further comprising: a fixing bracket; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the at least one plane surface of the first curved module and the at least one plane surface of the second curved unit are fixed…”.
In claim 3, it is further unclear whether “the plane surface of the first curved module” refers to the module as a whole or was intended to refer to “the plane surface of the first curved unit” as recited in claim 2 and as described in specification. For the purpose of examination, this limitation is interpretated as “…further comprising: a fixing bracket; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the at least one plane surface of the first curved unit and the at least one plane surface of the second curved unit are fixed…”.
Claims 4-5 inherit the indefiniteness of claim 3, hence rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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, 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan (CN 111048006 A) in view of Deleu (US 20210071417 A1).
Re: Independent Claim 1, Duan discloses an electronic device (spliced screen 200), comprising:
a first curved module (Abstract, display screen module 100 with a radian), comprising a first electronic element (light board 140) and a first curved unit (Paragraph referring to Fig. 1 and 2, box body/case 110 together with first supporting parts 120, second supporting parts 130 make a first curved unit; and the curvature comes from the support geometry: the first and second supporting parts are at a non-180 degree angle, and after the lamp panels are fixed, the entire display screen of the single box body has radian); and
a second curved module, spliced to one side of the first curved module (Fig. 6 and its description, another display screen module 100 spliced adjacent to the first curved module via the side-surface splicing arrangement of the cases) and
comprising a second electronic element (light board 140) and a second curved unit (module support structure including case 110, first supporting parts 120, and second supporting parts 130).
Regarding “wherein the first curved unit and the second curved unit comprise curved surfaces”, Duan teaches that each display screen module 100 has overall curvature; however, Duan is less explicit that the identified first and second units within the modules are themselves structures comprising curved structures, as opposed to support structures having non-180 degree inclined support portions that produce the module’s overall curvature.
However, Delue teaches wherein the first curved unit and the second curved unit comprise curved surfaces (Delue teaches, in Fig. 1 and ¶¶ [0035] – [0038], a building element 1 comprising at least one LED module 5 and a curved frame 3 having a connection surface 4 for the LED module, where the LED display adapts to the shape of the curved frame 3 and results in a curved surface. Deleu also teaches that the curved frame 3 is curved around an axis and extends between straight connection sides (9, 10) and/or curved connection sides (12, 13) to enable interconnection of adjacent curved frames. Thus, Deleu teaches that a module support/frame may itself provide a curved surface for carrying the display element).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the support structure of each curved display screen module 100 of Duan, i.e., the structure including case 110, first supporting parts 120, and second supporting parts 130 – to provide an expressly curved module-supporting surface as taught by Deleu’s curved frame 3 and connection surface 4, in order to provide each curved module with a support unit having a curved surface for carrying the respective electronic element while retaining Duan’s known spliced multi-module curved display arrangement.
Re: Claim 2, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the first curved unit and the second curved unit comprise curved surfaces and plane surfaces (Deleu teaches that the curved frame 3 comprises a connection surface 4 that is convex or concave, and also comprises straight connection sides (9, 10). Thus, Deleu teaches that the same curved unit/frame includes both curved surfaces and plane surfaces).
Re: Claim 6, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Duan further teaches
wherein the curved surface of the first curved unit and the curved surface of the second curved unit form a continuous curved surface (Duan, in Fig. 6 and its description, teaches the spliced screen 200 is formed by splicing at least two display screen modules 100 with radians, and the resulting spliced display screen has an enlarged overall arc/radian).
Re: Claim 9, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the first curved unit and the second curved unit comprise side wall surfaces, and the side wall surface of the first curved unit is in contact with the side wall surface of the second curved unit (Deleu teaches, in Fig. 3 and ¶ [0040], a curved frame 3 having a first straight connection side 9 and a second straight connection side 10 disposed along opposing lateral edges of the frame, and also teaches embodiments with first curved connection side 12and second curved connection side 13. Deleu further teaches that these connection sides are provided with connection means to enable interconnection of adjacent curved frames. Thus, Deleu teaches curved units/frames having side wall surfaces that are brought into contacting adjacency for interconnection with adjacent curved units/frames). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the side-surface splicing arrangements of Duan using the side-connection structure taught by Deleu, in order to provide more definite side-wall interface between adjacent curved units while retaining Duan’s known spliced curved-module display arrangement. Applying Deleu’s known side-connection arrangement for adjacent curved frames to Duan’s known spliced curved modules would have yielded the predictable result that the first curved unit and second curved unit comprises side wall surfaces, and that the side wall surface of the first curved unit is in contact with the side wall surface of the second curved unit.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan (CN 111048006 A) in view of Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) further in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1).
Re: Claim 3, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Deleu and Deleu are silent regarding
further comprising: a fixing bracket; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the plane surface of the first curved module and the plane surface of the second curved unit are fixed to the fixing bracket through the plurality of fasteners.
However, Hall teaches
further comprising: a fixing bracket (Hall, in Figs. 8A and ¶ [0052] – [0059], frame 800 is the support structure to which the display panels are fixed through multiple fasteners, hence frame 800 corresponds to fixing bracket); and a plurality of fasteners (fastener (e.g., a bolt) through front plate 902, vertical bar 812, and back plate 904, plus panel-securing fasteners through back plate 904/front plate 902 into the panel housing at each corner).
Regarding limitation “wherein the plane surface of the first curved module and the plane surface of the second curved unit are fixed to the fixing bracket through the plurality of fasteners”, Deleu teaches that the curved units may be implemented as a curved frame 3 having a connection surface 4 on one side and, opposite thereto, a back surface, with straight connection sides forming plane-facing portions of the frame. Hall teaches, in Figs. 9A-9C and ¶¶ [0068] – [0070], fixing a display structure to a support frame 800 through a plurality of fasteners. Specifically, Hall teaches coupling mechanism 900 including front plate 902 and back plate 904 mounted on opposite sides of a vertical bar 812 of frame 800, with a fastener securing the coupling mechanism to the frame and another fastener securing the panel to the frame, including at each corner of the panel. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fix the plane-facing back/side surface portions of Deleu’s first and second curved frames to a fixing bracket as taught by Hall in order to provide secure but removable mounting of adjacent curved modules to a support structure (Hall, ¶ [0005]).
Re: Claim 4, Duan, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 3 on which this claim depends.
Hall further teaches
wherein the fixing bracket is a frame comprising a plurality of straight bars (Hall, in Fig. 8B and ¶ [0055], frame 800 made from multiple straight members, including bottom bar 806, left bar 808, vertical bar 812 connecting the top and bottom bars, and optional additional horizontal bars 814).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the fixing bracket for the curved modules of Duan, as configured in view of Deleu, as the multi-member frame taught by Hall, in order to provide a modular support structure that facilitates installation of multiple display modules while providing structural support.
Re: Claim 5, Duan, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 3 on which this claim depends.
Hall further teaches
wherein the plurality of fasteners comprise magnets, screws, adhesive members, position-adjustable functional members, or a combination of the above (Hall, in ¶ [0072], teaches coupling mechanisms may use bolts, screws, latches, clips, and/or any other fastener suitable for removably attaching a panel to the frame 800. Hall further teaches, in ¶ [0070], that once a panel is aligned on the frame, a fastener is inserted through the back plate 904 and front plate 902 into the panel to secure the panel to the frame 800, that this occurs at each corner of the panel).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the screw-based fastening arrangement of Hall to secure the curved modules/curved units of Duan as configured in view of Deleu to a fixing bracket, in order to provide a secure yet removable attachment of the modules to the support frame and simplify installation (Hall, ¶ [0072]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan (CN 111048006 A) in view of Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Yan (US 20210407337 A1).
Re: Claim 7, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the electronic element comprises: a flexible substrate (Deleu teaches flexible subsrtate 6);
Duan and Deleu are silent regarding
a driving circuit, disposed on the flexible substrate; and a plurality of light-emitting elements, disposed on the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the driving circuit.
However, Yan teaches
a driving circuit, disposed on the flexible substrate; and a plurality of light-emitting elements, disposed on the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the driving circuit (Yan, in ¶ [0005], teaches a driving circuit layer disposed on the flexible substrate and provided with a plurality of driving circuit corresponding to each of pixels, and a light-emitting functional layer disposed on a side of the driving circuit layer away from the flexible substrate and provided with a plurality of light-emitting units of the pixels). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the electronic element/LED module used in the curved modules of Duan and Deleu with the flexible display structure taught by Yan in order to provide integrated pixel-driving circuitry on the flexible structure while maintaining a compact flexible light-emitting display construction.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan (CN 111048006 A) in view of Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) further in view of Yan (US 20210407337 A1) and further in view of Bibl (US 20150169011 A1).
Re: Claim 8, Duan, Deleu and Yan disclose all the limitations of claim 7 on which this claim depends.
Yan further teaches
wherein the driving circuit comprises: a first driving circuit, disposed between the flexible substrate and the plurality of light-emitting elements (Yan teaches, in ¶ [0005], a flexible substrate, a driving circuit layer disposed on the flexible substrate, and a light emitting functional layer disposed on a side of the driving circuit layer away from the flexible substrate and including a plurality of light-emitting units).
Duan, Deleu and Yan are silent regarding
a second driving circuit, wherein the flexible substrate is disposed between the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit.
However, Bibl teaches a second driving circuit, wherein the flexible substrate is disposed between the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit (Bibl, in ¶ [0036], teaches display substrate having LEDs on the front surface and one or more driver circuits on the back surface of the display substrate, including directly behind the display area, with electrical connection through interconnects/ vias extending through the substrate. Thus, Bibl teaches a second driving circuit on the opposite side of the substrate, such that the substrate is disposed between front-side display-driving structure and back-side driver circuitry). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the electronic element of the curved modules of Duan/Deleu using the flexible display stack of Yan, because Yan provides a known flexible light-emitting panel structure in which the driving circuit layer is integrated on the flexible substrate directly beneath the light-emitting functional layer. It would have been further obvious to provide the additional opposite-side driver circuit taught by Bibl, because Bibl teaches backside driver placement with through-substrate electrical connection, which shortens routing paths and supports compact packaging behind the display area (Bibl, ¶ [0039]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan (CN 111048006 A) in view of Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) further in view of Chen (CN 106024835 A).
Re: Claim 10, Duan and Deleu disclose all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Both Duan and Deleu are silent regarding
wherein the first electronic element and the second electronic element are transparent display panels, and the first curved unit and the second curved unit are light-transmissive units and are respectively located on light-emitting sides of the first electronic element and the second electronic element.
However, Chen teaches
wherein the first electronic element and the second electronic element are transparent display panels, and the first curved unit and the second curved unit are light-transmissive units and are respectively located on light-emitting sides of the first electronic element and the second electronic element (Chen teaches, in Fig. 2a, a transparent display panel including a substrate 1 and a display unit, wherein the display unit is divided into a display area (a) and a non-display area (b), the non-display area is made of light-transmitting material, and the display area includes light-emitting components. Chen further teaches that the light-emitting components include, in sequence, semi-transparent semi-reflective electrode (2), light-emitting layer (3), transparent electrode (4), and light extraction layer (5), and states that the structure improves the transmittance of the transparent display panel. Thus, Chen teaches that the electronic element may be a transparent display panel, and also teaches a light-transmissive structure on the emission side of the light-emitting layer in the form of transparent electrode (4) and light extraction layer (5). When this transparent emission-side structure is applied to the curved module arrangement of Duan and the curved support structure of Deleu, the resulting first and second curved units are light-transmissive units located on the light-emitting sides of the first and second electronic elements).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to configure the electronic elements of Duan’s curved modules as the transparent display panels taught by Chen, and to provide on the light-emitting side of those electronic elements the transparent/light-transmissive emission-side structure taught by Chen, while using Deleu’s curved frame arrangement as the curved unit of the module, in order to obtain a curved modular display that remains light-transmissive and viewable through the emission side while preserving the curved , spliced module architecture.
Claims 11-13 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1).
Re: Independent Claim 11, Deleu discloses an electronic device, comprising:
N curved modules (Deleu teaches, in Figs. 1 and 5, and its claim 19, a plurality of building elements 1), and N being a positive integer greater than 2 (Deleu teaches, in ¶ [0050] that each building element 1 is curved over an angle α and that α may be 360/N degrees, where N is a natural number between 2 and 10, preferably four), wherein the N curved modules comprise electronic elements (Deleu teaches, in Fig. 3 and ¶ [0051], building element LED modules 5, e.g., LED modules 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) and curved units (Deleu, Fig. 3, curved frames 3), and the curved units comprise curved surfaces and plane surfaces (curved frame 3 includes a connection surface 4 that forms the curved visible side, and , opposite thereof, a back surface, while the frame further extends between first straight connection side 9 and second straight connection side 10, and between first curved connection side 12 and second curved connection side 13. Thus, Deleu teaches a curved unit having both curved-surface and plane-surface portions), and the N curved modules form a ring-shaped curved module (Deleu teaches, in ¶¶ [0049] – [0051], that each curved frame is curved around an axis over about 360/N degrees, where N is a natural number between 2 and 10, preferably 4. Deleu also teaches a plurality of building elements coupled together, and teaches adjacent curved frames are interconnected through their connection sides. So, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that is N such modules and each contributes about 360/N degrees, the natural result is a closed 360-degree ring around the axis. With Deleu’s example of N=4, that is four modules of about 90 degrees each, which reads naturally to a ring-shaped assembly).
Deleu is silent regarding
a fixing bracket; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the plane surface is fixed to the fixing bracket through at least one of the plurality of fasteners, and the N curved modules form a ring-shaped curved module.
However, Hall teaches a fixing bracket (Hall teaches, in ¶ [0055], a frame 800 having a plurality of straight structural members, including top bar 804, bottom bar 806, left bar 808, right bar 810, and vertical bars 812 which reads on the claimed fixing bracket); and a plurality of fasteners, wherein the plane surface is fixed to the fixing bracket through at least one of the plurality of fasteners (Hall further teaches, in ¶¶ [0067] – [0068], a coupling mechanism 900 including front plate 902 and back plate 904 mounted on opposite side of a vertical bar 812 of frame 800, with a fastener (e.g. bolt) securing the plates to the frame. Hall additionally teaches, in ¶ [0070], that once aligned, a panel is secured to the frame by another fastener inserted through hole 922 of back plate 904 and hole 912 of front plate 902 into the panel, and that this occurs at each corner of the panel, so that the panel is secured to the frame using four different coupling mechanisms 900. Hall further teaches that, in lighter-weight displays, the back of the panel can abut directly with the beam, and the entire connection is made by the screws through the plate 904 into the panel. Thus, Hall teaches a plurality of fasteners fixing a plane-facing rear portion of a display structure to a support frame.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to mount the plurality of curved building elements of Deleu to a support frame/bracket using Hall’s panel-to-frame fastening arrangement, in order to provide a secure yet removable mounting of multiple display modules to a supporting structure while preserving modularity and ease of assembly/disassembly. Deleu itself emphasizes modularity and the ability to create multiple structures having different shapes and sizes and outer appearances, while Hall teaches a known frame-and-fastener arrangement for securing multiple display panels to a support structure.
Re: Claim 12, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Hall further teaches
wherein the fixing bracket is a frame comprising a plurality of straight bars (Hall, in Fig. 8B and ¶ [0055], frame 800 made from multiple straight members, including bottom bar 806, left bar 808, vertical bar 812 connecting the top and bottom bars, and optional additional horizontal bars 814).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the fixing bracket for the plurality of curved modules of Deleu as the multi-member frame 800 taught by Hall, in order to provide a modular support structure that facilitates installation of multiple display modules while providing structural support.
Re: Claim 13, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Hall further teaches
wherein the plurality of fasteners comprise magnets, screws, adhesive members, position-adjustable functional members, or a combination of the above (Hall, in ¶ [0072], teaches coupling mechanisms may use bolts, screws, latches, clips, and/or any other fastener suitable for removably attaching a panel to the frame 800. Hall further teaches, in ¶ [0070], that once a panel is aligned on the frame, a fastener is inserted through the back plate 904 and front plate 902 into the panel to secure the panel to the frame 800, that this occurs at each corner of the panel).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the screw-based fastening arrangement of Hall to secure plurality of curved modules of Deleu to a fixing bracket, in order to provide a secure yet removable attachment of the modules to the support frame and simplify installation (Hall, ¶ [0072]).
Re: Claim 17, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the plurality of the curved surfaces in the N curved modules form a continuous curved surface (Deleu teaches, in ¶¶ [0004] – [0005], that the LED modules connect to the connection surface of the curved frame so that the LED display adapts to the shape of the curved frame, resulting in a curved surface. Deleu further teaches that curved surfaces can be integrated in the modular construction and also teaches that the curved frame is curved around an axis over about 360/N degrees, where N is a natural number between 2 and 10, preferably 4, and that adjacent curved frames are interconnected through their connection sides. Thus, Deleu teaches that when the plurality of curved modules is assembled together, the curved surfaces of those modules join together into a continuous curved surface).
Re: Claim 18, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the curved unit further comprises a side wall surface, and a plurality of the side wall surfaces in the N curved modules are in contact with each other in pairs (Deleu teaches, in ¶¶ [0040] – [0042], that the curved frame extends between two straight connection sides 9 and 10, and between two curved connection sides 12 and 13. Deleu further teaches that these connection sides are provided with connection means to enable interconnection of adjacent curved frames. Thus, Deleu teaches that each curved unit includes side wall surface portions, and when a plurality of the curved modules is assembled together, the side wall surfaces of adjacent curved units are brought into contacting adjacency in pairs in order to interconnect the modules).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1) and further in view of Yan (US 20210407337 A1).
Re: Claim 14, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Deleu further teaches
wherein the electronic element comprises: a flexible substrate (Deleu teaches flexible substrate 6);
Deleu are silent regarding
a driving circuit, disposed on the flexible substrate; and a plurality of light-emitting elements, disposed on the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the driving circuit.
However, Yan teaches
a driving circuit, disposed on the flexible substrate; and a plurality of light-emitting elements, disposed on the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the driving circuit (Yan, in ¶ [0005], teaches a driving circuit layer disposed on the flexible substrate and provided with a plurality of driving circuit corresponding to each of pixels, and a light-emitting functional layer disposed on a side of the driving circuit layer away from the flexible substrate and provided with a plurality of light-emitting units of the pixels). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the electronic element/LED module used in the curved modules of Deleu with the flexible display structure taught by Yan in order to provide integrated pixel-driving circuitry on the flexible structure while maintaining a compact flexible light-emitting display construction.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1) further in view of Yan (US 20210407337 A1) and further in view of Bibl (US 20150169011 A1).
Re: Claim 15, Deleu, Hall and Yan disclose all the limitations of claim 14 on which this claim depends.
Yan further teaches
wherein the driving circuit comprises: a first driving circuit, disposed between the flexible substrate and the plurality of light-emitting elements (Yan teaches, in ¶ [0005], a flexible substrate, a driving circuit layer disposed on the flexible substrate, and a light emitting functional layer disposed on a side of the driving circuit layer away from the flexible substrate and including a plurality of light-emitting units).
Deleu, Hall and Yan are silent regarding
a second driving circuit, wherein the flexible substrate is disposed between the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit.
However, Bibl teaches a second driving circuit, wherein the flexible substrate is disposed between the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit (Bibl, in ¶ [0036], teaches display substrate having LEDs on the front surface and one or more driver circuits on the back surface of the display substrate, including directly behind the display area, with electrical connection through interconnects/ vias extending through the substrate. Thus, Bibl teaches a second driving circuit on the opposite side of the substrate, such that the substrate is disposed between front-side display-driving structure and back-side driver circuitry). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the electronic element of the curved modules of Deleu using the flexible display stack of Yan, because Yan provides a known flexible light-emitting panel structure in which the driving circuit layer is integrated on the flexible substrate directly beneath the light-emitting functional layer. It would have been further obvious to provide the additional opposite-side driver circuit taught by Bibl, because Bibl teaches backside driver placement with through-substrate electrical connection, which shortens routing paths and supports compact packaging behind the display area (Bibl, ¶ [0039]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1) and further in view of Lee (US 20160172623 A1).
Re: Claim 16, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Both Deleu and Hall are silent regarding
wherein the curved unit has a thin center and a thick periphery, a thick center and a thin periphery, or a combination of the above.
However, Lee teaches wherein the curved unit has a thin center and a thick periphery, a thick center and a thin periphery, or a combination of the above (Lee teaches, in ¶ [0098], a flexible display device having a support member 116 with a rounded end portion and an elongated body portion, and expressly teaches that the elongated body portion may be thinner than the rounded end portion. Lee explains that this thinning profile at the elongated body portion helps support the bend allowance section while avoiding unnecessary increase in overall thickness, and also teaches an embodiment in which the elongated body portion is thinner than the rounded end portion while providing a flat bottom. Thus, Lee teaches a support/curved-unit structure having a thin center and a thick periphery).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the curved units/ curved frames of Deleu with the thickness profile taught by Lee, namely a relatively thinner central portion and relatively thicker peripheral/end portions, in order to maintain structural support at the peripheral portions while avoiding unnecessary increase in the thickness in the central portion of the curved unit (Lee, ¶ [0098]).
Claims 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1) and further in view of Cross (US 20170114971 A1).
Re: Claim 19, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 18 on which this claim depends.
Both Deleu and Hall are silent regarding
wherein the two side wall surfaces that are opposite to each other in the N curved modules are respectively formed with a convex portion and a concave portion, and the convex portion and the concave portion have complementary shapes.
However, Cross teaches
wherein the two side wall surfaces that are opposite to each other in the N curved modules are respectively formed with a convex portion and a concave portion, and the convex portion and the concave portion have complementary shapes (Cross teaches, in Fig. 2A and ¶ [0096], that a display module includes an alignment feature 100 and a complementary alignment feature 110, and that the alignment feature is designed to operatively engage the complementary alignment feature on an adjacent display module. Cross further teaches, in ¶ [0103], that the complementary alignment feature 110 is positioned to receive the alignment feature 100 of the adjacent display module, and teaches (see Fig. 2C) multiple pairs such as first alignment feature 100a/ first complementary alignment feature 110a, second alignment feature 100b/ second complementary alignment feature 110b, and so on. Accordingly, the projecting alignment feature 100 reads on the claimed convex portion, and the receiving complementary alignment feature 110 reads on concave portion with the receiving/engaging relationship teaching that the two have complementary shapes).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the opposing side wall surfaces of adjacent curved units in Deleu with the complementary alignment structure taught by Cross, in order to improve alignment and registration between adjacent modules and maintain desired spacing/positioning between neighboring display modules when assembled. Cross expressly teaches, in ¶ [0096], that operative engagement of the alignment feature and complementary alignment feature constrains the relative position and orientation of adjacent display modules and helps maintain alignment between adjacent modules. Applying that known complementary engagement structure to the adjacent side wall surfaces of Deleu’s interconnected curved frames would have yielded the predictable result that two opposite side wall surfaces are respectively formed with a convex portion and a concave portion, and those portions have complementary shapes.
Claims 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deleu (US 20210071417 A1) in view of Hall (US 20150187237 A1) and further in view of Duan (CN 111048006 A).
Re: Claim 20, Deleu and Hall disclose all the limitations of claim 11 on which this claim depends.
Both Deleu and Hall are silent regarding
wherein the curved unit further comprises a side wall surface, and a plurality of the side wall surfaces in the N curved modules are spliced together by means of adhesion, buckling or magnetic attraction.
However, Duan teaches
wherein the curved unit further comprises a side wall surface, and a plurality of the side wall surfaces in the N curved modules are spliced together by means of adhesion, buckling or magnetic attraction (Duan teaches, in Figs. 5 and 6 and related description, that a spliced screen 200 is formed by splicing at least two display screen modules 100 having curvature, and specifically teaches that the side surfaces of the case 110 of the display screen modules may be spliced by a known splicing structure. Duan further teaches that the side surface of each display screen module may be an inclined surface, and may be spliced by a conventional known structure, for example, an angle lock with angle splicing. Thus, Duan teaches joining adjacent module side surfaces by a lock-type splicing arrangement, which reads on the claimed side wall surfaces being spliced together by buckling).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the side-surface interconnection of Deleu’s adjacent curved frames using the known angle-lock side-surface splicing arrangement taught by Duan, in order to provide a secure side wall joining technique for adjacent curved modules while preserving modular assembly and allowing the overall curved display shape to be built up from multiple modules.
Prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to current application disclosure.
Hu (US 20170155891 A1) and Wu (US 20160348854 A1) disclose display device with curved modules.
Conclusion
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/BIPANA ADHIKARI DAWADI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/JESSICA S MANNO/SPE, Art Unit 2898
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