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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 19 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/11/2026.
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 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita (United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0208095 A1) in view of Goering (US 6,337,873 B1).
With respect to claim 1, Kurita discloses a laser light source module, comprising: at least one laser chip (3) configured to emit a first light beam (see beam centered at 6b)and a second light beam (see beam centered at 6a in fig.6A); at least one structure (see 18 in fig.6B) configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam (see the refraction of fig.6A) and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam; a convex lens (see 16 in fig.5B), wherein the structure (see 18 in fig.6B) is located between the laser chip (see 10 in fig.6B) and the convex lens (16 in fig.5); and an optical fiber (20 in fig.10), wherein the convex lens (16 in fig.10) is located between the wedge structure (see 14) and the optical fiber (20).
Kurita does not disclose at least one wedge structure configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam and does not explicitly disclose wherein the convex lens is a plano-convex lens.
Goering discloses at least one wedge structure (4) configured to refract the first light beam (2C) and the second light beam (2A or 2B) and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam (see the operation in fig.2) and discloses using a plano convex lens for focusing light (see col.3, lines 50-55: Except for the focusing lens 7, which can be a simple plane-convex lens ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Kurita with the teaching of Goering so that at least one wedge structure configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam and a plano convex lens for focusing light to improve beam shaping and brightness and the efficiently focus the light.
With respect to claim 3, Kurita in view of Goering discloses the laser light source module of claim 1, Kurita in combination with Goering discloses wherein the optical fiber (20 of Kurta in fig.11) comprises a light receiving surface (see the front of optical fiber 20 in fig.11), the piano-convex lens (see the lens 16 of Kurita in combination with Goering) is configured to focus the third light beam from the wedge structure (see 26 star in combination with Goering as discussed in claim 1) to form a fifth light beam (see the beam that exits 16 in fig.11), and the light receiving surface is configured to receive the fifth light beam (see the arrangement of 16 and 20 in fig.11).
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita (United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0208095 A1) in view of Goering (US 6337873 B1) and Takahashi (US 7, 854, 521 B2).
With respect to claim 10, Kurita discloses a projection apparatus (para.[0114]: The present invention is applicable to various uses for a projection type display device ), comprising: a laser light source module (see 10a in fig.11), comprising: at least one first laser chip (10a), at least one second laser chip (10b), and at least one third laser chip (10c), wherein the first laser chip (see 10a) is configured to emit a first light beam (see 10 in fig.7a, 3) and a second light beam (see other beam 10 in fig.7a, 3); at least one structure (18 in fig.7A or starred element in 26a) configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam into a third light beam and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other (see the operation of the starred element in fig.26a) and a convex lens (16 in fig.11), wherein the structure is located between the first laser chip (see 10a) and the convex lens (see 16 in fig.11).
Kurita does not disclose at least one wedge structure configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam and does not explicitly disclose wherein the convex lens is a plano-convex lens.
Goering discloses at least one wedge structure (4) configured to refract the first light beam (2C) and the second light beam (2A or 2B) and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam (see the operation in fig.2) and discloses using a plano convex lens for focusing light (see col.3, lines 50-55: Except for the focusing lens 7, which can be a simple plane-convex lens ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Kurita with the teaching of Goering so that at least one wedge structure configured to refract the first light beam and the second light beam and make the first light beam and the second light beam overlap each other to form a third light beam and a plano convex lens for focusing light to improve beam shaping and brightness and the efficiently focus the light.
Kurita in view of Goering does not explicitly disclose a projection module connecting the laser light source module.
Takahashi disclose a projection module (3 in fig.2) connecting the laser light source module (2 in fig.2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Kurita in view of Goering with the teaching of Takahashi so that a projection module connects to the laser light source module to provide a projector which prevents the user experience being deteriorated by the noise and hot air generated by a light source apparatus, and can be installed even in a small area and can realize a comfortable looking/listening environment.
With respect to claim 11, Kurita in view of Goering and Takahashi discloses the projection apparatus of claim 10, Kurita in combination with Goering and Takahashi discloses wherein the laser light source module further comprises an optical fiber (see the optical fiber of 20 in fig.11), and the plano-convex lens (see lens 16 of Kurita in combination with Goering) is located between the wedge structure (see 26 star of Kurita in combination with Goering) and the optical fiber (see the optical fiber of 20 in fig.11).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita (United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0208095 A1) in view of Goering (US 6337873 B1), and Teijido (United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0044523) .
With respect to claim 2, Kurita in view of Goering discloses the laser light source module of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the laser chip is a multiple resonant cavity red semiconductor laser chip.
Teijido discloses wherein all the light sources (red, green and blue are a multiple resonant cavity semiconductor laser chip: see claim 8: a multiplicity of resonant cavity light emitting laser diodes; furthermore, see discloses of red, green and blue light sources [0034]: Preferably, three light sources are used, each of them generating a first light beam of one of the colors green, red, and blue, respectively. However, also other colors may be used).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Kurita in view of Goering with the teaching of Teijido so that the laser chip is a multiple resonant cavity red semiconductor laser chip to enhance the power of the light source.
Claim(s) 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita (United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0208095 A1) in view of Goering (US 6337873 B1),Takahashi (US 7, 854, 521 B2) and Teijido (United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0044523) .
With respect to claim 12 and 13, Kurita in view of Goering and Takahashi discloses the projection apparatus of claim 10, Kurita discloses wherein the first laser chip, the second laser chip, and the third laser chip are lasers and are configured to emit laser lights with different wavelengths ( [0060]: a second light source outputting light of a second wavelength different from the first wavelength; [0061]: a third light source outputting light of a third wavelength different from the first and the second wavelengths) but does not disclose wherein the lasers are semiconductors, wherein the first laser chip is a multiple resonant cavity semiconductor laser chip, and the second laser chip and the third laser chip are single resonant cavity semiconductor laser chips.
Teijido discloses wherein the lasers are semiconductors, wherein the first laser chip is a multiple resonant cavity semiconductor laser chip, and the second laser chip and the third laser chip are single resonant cavity semiconductor laser chips (see wherein para.[0015] discloses said solid state light sources using laser diodes: each of said solid state light sources is a single vertical cavity surface emitting laser device (VCSEL) and/or a laser diode (LD) or a multiplicity of vertical cavity surface emitting laser devices and/or laser diodes (LD). ; and see para.[0016] wherein said solid state light sources having a single or plurality of resonant cavities : Alternatively or additionally, each of said solid state light, sources is a single resonant cavity light emitting diode (RCLED) or a plurality of resonant cavity light-emitting diodes; furthermore, see discloses of red, green and blue light sources [0034]: Preferably, three light sources are used, each of them generating a first light beam of one of the colors green, red, and blue, respectively. However, also other colors may be used.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the light source of Kurita in view of Goering and Takahashi with the teaching of Teijido so that the lasers are semiconductors, wherein the first laser chip is a multiple resonant cavity semiconductor laser chip, and the second laser chip and the third laser chip are single resonant cavity semiconductor laser chips to increased power efficiency and improve color gamut; furthermore, the specific combination of multiple and single resonant cavity semiconductor laser chips would be obvious to try, since it would predictably increase power efficiency and since there are a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, each with a reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 14-18 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.
With respect to claim 4, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious the laser light source module of claim 1, wherein the laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface, a first resonant cavity, and a second resonant cavity, the first resonant cavity emits the first light beam, the second resonant cavity emits the second light beam, the wedge structure comprises a first plane, a first inclined surface, and a second inclined surface, the first plane faces the light-emitting surface of the laser chip, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface face the plano-convex lens and are opposite to the first plane, and the first light beam and the second light beam pass through the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface, respectively.
The closest prior art, Goering, discloses wherein the laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface (see the surface of 2a, 2b, 2c), a first light source (see 2a), and a second light source (2b), the first light source emits the first light beam, the second light source emits the second light beam (see the beams emitted by 2c and 2b), the wedge structure comprises a first plane (see the side of 4 facing 6 and 7 in fig.2) a first inclined surface (see the surface of 4 facing 2c), and a second inclined surface (see the surface of 4 facing 2b or 2a) but does not disclose the laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface, a first resonant cavity, and a second resonant cavity, the first resonant cavity emits the first light beam, the second resonant cavity emits the second light beam, wherein the first plane faces the light-emitting surface of the laser chip, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface face the plano-convex lens and are opposite to the first plane, and the first light beam and the second light beam pass through the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface, respectively.
Claims 5-9 are allowable as they depend from allowable claims.
With respect to claim 15, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious wherein the first laser chip is a red semiconductor laser chip, and the first laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface, a first resonant cavity, and a second resonant cavity, the first resonant cavity emits the first light beam, the second resonant cavity emits the second light beam, the wedge structure comprises a first plane, a first inclined surface, and a second inclined surface, the first plane faces the light-emitting surface of the first laser chip, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface face the plano-convex lens and are opposite to the first plane, and the first light beam and the second light beam pass through the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface, respectively.
The closest prior art, Goering, discloses wherein the laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface (see the surface of 2a, 2b, 2c), a first light source (see 2a), and a second light source (2b), the first light source emits the first light beam, the second light source emits the second light beam (see the beams emitted by 2c and 2b), the wedge structure comprises a first plane (see the side of 4 facing 6 and 7 in fig.2) a first inclined surface (see the surface of 4 facing 2c), and a second inclined surface (see the surface of 4 facing 2b or 2a) but does not disclose the first laser chip is a red semiconductor laser chip, and the first laser chip comprises a light-emitting surface, a first resonant cavity, and a second resonant cavity, the first resonant cavity emits the first light beam, the second resonant cavity emits the second light beam, wherein the first plane faces the light-emitting surface of the laser chip, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface face the plano-convex lens and are opposite to the first plane, and the first light beam and the second light beam pass through the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface, respectively.
Claims 16 – 18 are allowable as they depend from allowable claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY L. BROOKS whose telephone number is (571)270-5711. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-4:00 PM.
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/JERRY L BROOKS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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