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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I invention, including claims 1-12, in the reply filed on 07/28/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the grounds that the process recited in claim 12 is intimately related to the product recited in claim 1 and the Examiner has not established that the product of claims 1-11 can be made by another materially different process, nor has the Examiner provided any specific example of such a process. This is not found persuasive because the same device as claimed in claim 1 can be achieved by a different method and the same method as claimed in claim 12 can achieve a different device, such as (e.g., the programable structured light generator can be manufactured without the method step of constructing a structured light speckle dot matrix). The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ginzburg (US 2021/0313778) in view of Gao (CN 114089348).
Regarding claim 1, Ginzburg (figures 1A-6) discloses a programmable structured light generator, wherein the programmable structured light generator comprises:
a laser module (structured light projector 300), wherein the laser module comprises a programmable controller (DCA 200; figure 2) and an individually addressable VCSEL array (VSCEL chip 310), and the programmable controller is used for controlling light spot position coding of the VCSEL array (The structured light projector 300 of FIG. 3A generates a dot pattern comprising a plurality of dots 350, of a plurality of dot patterns, in accordance with instructions from a controller of a depth camera assembly; see at least paragraph 0057);
a collimation module (optical component 320), disposed at a light source emitter of the VCSEL array, wherein the collimation module is used for collimating emitted light of the VCSEL array (The projection assembly 330 generates a plurality of tiles 340 using the conditioned light (dot pattern emitted by the VCSEL array) and projects the tiles throughout the local area to form a structured light pattern; see at least paragraph 0056).
Ginzburg discloses the limitations as shown in the rejection of claim 1 above. However, Ginzburg is silent regarding a metasurface module. Gao (figures 1-7) teaches a metasurface module (140), disposed on an emitted light focal plane path, wherein the metasurface module is used for projecting a programmable structured light speckle dot matrix pattern in a far field, and copy expansion coding of a single point in the structured light speckle dot matrix pattern are in one-to-one correspondence with the light spot position coding in the VCSEL array (a plurality of diffraction unit 146-1 can perform the phase control to the first laser and the second laser, the first laser or the second laser from the light incidence side 141 through a plurality of diffraction unit 146-1, emitted from the light emitting side 142, and focusing on the focus of the super-surface lens 140; see at least page 8, the last two paragraphs). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the metasurface as taught by Gao in order to improve the precision of the depth calculation
Regarding claim 2, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface module comprises a metasurface structure array and the metasurface structure array is provided with a metasurface structural unit (140).
Regarding claim 3, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface structural unit comprises any one of a SOI material, a SiO.sub.2—Si material, or a GaAs material (The lens substrate 144 may be made of a transparent film-like material. The lens substrate 144 may be a uniform thickness layer. The material of the lens substrate 144 includes, but is not limited to, silicon oxide, monocrystalline silicon, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride; see at least page 8, 3rd paragraph).
Regarding claim 4, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface structural unit comprises any one of a cylindrical structure or a prism structure (140).
Regarding claim 5, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the type of the metasurface module comprises a reflection type or a transmission type (The laser projector 100 can adjust the propagation direction of the first laser and/or the second laser by the turning member 160, the first laser and the second laser can be transmitted along the direction perpendicular to the super-surface lens 140, and is incident on the super-surface lens 140; see at least page 7, 2nd paragraph).
Regarding claim 6, Ginzburg (figures 1A-6) discloses photoelectric device, wherein the photoelectric device comprises the programmable structured light generator according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Ginzburg (figures 1A-6) discloses wherein the photoelectric device is a pair of virtual reality glasses, and a left-side spectacle frame and a right-side spectacle frame of the virtual reality glasses are respectively provided with the programmable structured light generator (130).
Regarding claim 8, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface module comprises a metasurface structure array and the metasurface structure array is provided with a metasurface structural unit (140).
Regarding claim 9, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface structural unit comprises any one of a SOI material, a SiO.sub.2—Si material, or a GaAs material (The lens substrate 144 may be made of a transparent film-like material. The lens substrate 144 may be a uniform thickness layer. The material of the lens substrate 144 includes, but is not limited to, silicon oxide, monocrystalline silicon, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride; see at least page 8, 3rd paragraph).
Regarding claim 10, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the metasurface structural unit comprises any one of a cylindrical structure or a prism structure (140).
Regarding claim 11, Gao (figures 1-7) teaches wherein the type of the metasurface module comprises a reflection type or a transmission type (The laser projector 100 can adjust the propagation direction of the first laser and/or the second laser by the turning member 160, the first laser and the second laser can be transmitted along the direction perpendicular to the super-surface lens 140, and is incident on the super-surface lens 140; see at least page 7, 2nd paragraph).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAUREN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1428. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday, 8:00 AM -6:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Carruth, can be reached at 571-272-9791. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAUREN NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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