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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/23/2024 was considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yun et al. (US 2019/0384045).
Regarding Claim 1, Yun discloses an imaging module (Fig. 1A, optical system 200, Paragraph 0017, lines 1-4), comprising:
a display screen (Fig. 1A, imager 10, Paragraph 0021, lines 1-5) configured for emitting light in a light-emergent direction (Fig. 1A, imager light is emitted towards the left toward the user’s eye, as shown);
an imaging lens (Fig. 1A, first lens 20 and second lens 30, Paragraph 0023, lines 1-6) provided in the light-emergent direction (Fig. 1A, as shown); and
a first polarization converter (Fig. 1A, first retarder layer 70 is a quarter wave retarder, Paragraph 0028, lines 1-5) provided on the imaging lens (Fig. 1A, as shown); wherein the lights emitted by the display screen in different fields of view comprises a chief light centrally located in the light, wherein the chief light passes through a central region of an exit pupil position (Fig. 1A, light rays emitted along the optical axis 220, as shown, Paragraph 0031, lines 1-6).
Regarding Claim 2, Yun discloses as is set forth above and further discloses wherein the chief light emitted by the display screen has an incident angle to a surface of the first polarization converter less than or equal to 5° (Fig. 1A, light rays emitted along the optical axis 220, have an angle of zero degrees, 0°, as shown, Paragraph 0031, lines 1-6).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yun et al. (US 2019/0384045).
Regarding Claim 3, Yun discloses as is set forth above and further discloses wherein the chief light comprises a central chief light emitted from a central field of view of the display screen and a marginal chief light emitted from a marginal field of view of the display screen, wherein the central chief light has a first central incident angle α1 to the first polarization converter when the central chief light is emitted to the first polarization converter for the first time, satisfying α1=0 (Fig. 1A, light rays emitted along the optical axis 220, have an angle of zero degrees, 0°, as shown, Paragraph 0031, lines 1-6); and
Yun does not specifically disclose wherein the marginal chief light has an incident angle β1 to the first polarization converter when the marginal chief light is emitted to the first polarization converter for the first time, satisfying 0°≤β1≤5°.
However, Yun discloses that the incident angle between the marginal chief light and the quarter waveplate 70 is small, nearly zero (as shown in annotated Fig. 1A), for the purpose of insuring proper operation of the ¼ waveplate.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include wherein the marginal chief light has an incident angle β1 to the first polarization converter when the marginal chief light is emitted to the first polarization converter for the first time, satisfying 0°≤β1≤5°, for the purpose of insuring proper operation of the ¼ waveplate, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C.C.P.A. 1955).
Also, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been led to the recited range through routine experimentation and optimization. Applicant has not disclosed that the ranges are for particular unobvious purpose, produce an unexpected result, or are otherwise critical, and it appears prima facie that the device would possess utility using another range. (MPEP 2144.05)
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yun et al. (US 2019/0384045) in view of Cobb (US 2018/0120567).
Regarding Claim 11, Yun discloses as is set forth above but doesn’t specifically disclose a head mount display, comprising: a housing; and an imaging module of claim 1, provided within the housing.
However, Cobb, in the same field of endeavor, teaches head mount display (Paragraph 0084, lines 1-6), comprising: a housing (Paragraph 0086, housing or frame 46, Fig. 7A and Fig7B); and an imaging module of claim 1, provided within the housing, for the purpose of providing a display close to the user’s eyes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the imaging module of Yun with a head mount display, comprising: a housing; and an imaging module of claim 1, provided within the housing, of Cobb, for the purpose of providing a display close to the user’s eyes.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 6-9, and 10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, with respect to claim 4, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of an imaging lens including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein the imaging lens is provided with a light-incident surface to which the light is incident, and a light-emergent surface from which the light is emergent, and the first polarization converter is provided on the light-incident surface or on the light-emergent surface of the imaging lens.
Specifically, with respect to claim 5, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of an imaging lens including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein the imaging module further comprises a second polarization converter provided on the light-emergent surface of the imaging lens, the first polarization converter is provided on the light-incident surface of the imaging lens, and both the light-incident surface and the light-emergent surface of the imaging lens are flat surfaces; wherein the central chief light has an incident angle α2 to the second polarization converter when the central chief light is emitted to the second polarization converter for the first time, satisfying α2=0; and an incident angle of the marginal chief light has an incident angle β2 to the second polarization converter when the marginal chief light is emitted to the second polarization converter for the first time, satisfying 0°≤β2≤5°.
Specifically, with respect to claim 6, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of an imaging lens including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein the imaging lens comprises a first lens and a second lens which are sequentially provided along a light propagation direction, are made of the same material, and are glued to each other; the first polarization converter is provided on a light-incident surface of the first lens, and a second polarization converter is provided on a light-emergent surface of the second lens.
Specifically, with respect to claim 10, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a method including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein the first polarization converter is glued to the imaging lens, and the assembling method comprises: adjusting a gluing angle of the first polarization converter on the imaging lens so as to determine a gluing position of the first polarization converter when a stray light is at a low ebb; and gluing and fixing the first polarization converter according to the determined gluing position of the first polarization converter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yun et al. (US 12,345,872), Yun et al. (US 2023/0324669), Yamada (US 12,216,275), Yamada (US 2024/0134187), Ambur et al. (US 9,952,371), Ambur et al. (US 2017/0146714), Ouderkirk et al. (US 2017/0068096), and Hildebrand et al. (US 6,094,181) are cited to show similar imaging modules.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R ALEXANDER whose telephone number is (571)270-7656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached on (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM R ALEXANDER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872