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 § 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 20 is 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.
With respect to claim 20, the limitation “the plurality of locking parts and the fixing base”; however, there is no antecedent basis for this limitation in claim 20 or in claim 12 from which it depends. Therefore, claim 20 is 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.
For the purpose of examination, claim 20 will be interpreted as depending from claim 19, which discloses a plurality of locking parts.
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, 3, 11, 12, 14 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (United States Patent Application Publication 2008/0079909 A1) in view of Yeo (KR 20080003483 A).
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With respect to claim 1, Lu discloses a projection device comprising: an illumination system (see fig.2 and see para.[0022]: “the light projected from the light source can enter into the containing space via the opening 118 so that it can be separated by the color wheel 110.”), a first casing member (see the housing element 116 in fig.2 ) and a second casing member (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted in to chassis 220) and wherein the illumination system (see fig.2 and see para.[0022]: “the light projected from the light source can enter into the containing space via the opening 118 so that it can be separated by the color wheel 110.” ) comprises a color wheel module (see fig.2, 110), the color wheel module comprises a fixing base (see component of 120 in fig.2) , an optical assembly (see at least 110), a first connecting assembly (see lower left screw of 116 in fig.2) and a second connecting assembly (see unlabeled screw of fig.7), the optical assembly comprises a disk (see 110) and a driving assembly (see central component on the back of 110), and the fixing base has a first connecting portion (see lower right hole in fig.3 ) and a second connecting portion ( holes on the left side of 110 in fig.3 and see second connecting portion above), on a reference plane perpendicular to the central axis (a plane parallel with the face of disk 110), an orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion of the fixing base (see line parallel to the center of 110 in fig.2 and extending through lower left hole in fig.2) and an orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion (see the second connection portion above) are respectively located on two sides of the central axis (see the center of 100 in fig.6 and disk 110 in fig.2 and fig.3), wherein the first casing member (see the housing element 116) is connected (by virtue of the fixing base in fig.7) to the second casing member (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted), the first connecting portion (see the hole adjacent to the wheel in fig.7) of the fixing base (see components of fig.2) is connected to the first casing member (116) through the first connecting assembly (see lower left screw of 116 in fig.2), and the second connecting portion (see unlabeled screw of fig.7) of the fixing base is connected to the second casing member (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted) through the second connecting assembly (see the 132 in fig.7) but does not explicitly disclose a projection device, comprising a casing, a light valve, wherein the illumination system, the light valve, the first casing member, the second casing member and at least a part of the projection lens are arranged in the casing and the light valve is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination light beam, and is configured to convert the illumination light beam into an image light beam; the driving assembly connected to a center of the disk for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base is connected with the driving assembly and the projection lens is disposed on a transmission path of the image light beam, and is configured to project the image light beam out of the projection device.
Yeo discloses a projection device (see fig.1), comprising a casing (see cabinet 2 in fig.1), an illumination system (see at least 32 in fig.5), a light valve (see 26 in fig.5), a first casing member (15 in fig.4), a second casing member (see 11 in fig.4) and a projection lens (see 31 in fig.5), wherein the illumination system (32), the light valve (26), the first casing member (see 15 inf ig.5), the second casing member (see 11 in fig.3) and at least a part of the projection lens (31 in fig.5) are arranged in the casing (see the cabinet of fig.2 which contains said components); the illumination system (21 and 51-54 in fig.5) is configured to provide an illumination light beam, the illumination system comprises a color wheel module (see 53 in fig.5), the color wheel module (see 50 in fig.6) comprises a fixing base (see 52 and 541) , an optical assembly (see 50 in fig.6), the optical assembly comprises a disk (see 51) and a driving assembly (53), the driving assembly is connected to a center of the disk (see 53 in fig.9) for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base (see 541) is connected with the driving assembly (see 543 in fig.8); the light valve (see 26 in fig.5) is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination light beam (see the construction of fig.4), and is configured to convert the illumination light beam into an image light beam (see the operation of 26); and the projection lens (see 31 in fig.5) is disposed on a transmission path of the image light beam, and is configured to project the image light beam out of the projection device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Lu with the teaching of Yeo so that a projection device comprises a casing, wherein the illumination system, the light valve, the first casing member, the second casing member and at least a part of the projection lens are arranged in the casing, a light valve disposed on a transmission path of the illumination light beam, and configured to convert the illumination light beam into an image light beam, a driving assembly connected to a center of the disk for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base connected with the driving assembly and a projection lens disposed on a transmission path of the image light beam, and configured to project the image light beam out of the projection device to thereby enhance the durability of the projection device by providing a protective casing, to facilitate operability by providing a light valve on the transmission path of the light beam, to increase control and versatility of the optical assembly by providing a driving assembly to rotate the disk of the color wheel module and to improve utility of the projection device by disposing the projection lens on a transmission path of the image light beam.
With respect to claims 3 and 14, Lu in view of Yeo discloses the projection device as claimed in claims 1 and 12, wherein the fixing base (120) further comprises a third connecting portion (third connecting portion above) and a fourth connecting portion (fourth connecting portion above), on the reference plane, an orthogonal projection of the third connecting portion and an orthogonal projection of the fourth connecting portion form a first connection line (first connection line above), and the orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion (see the line extending from the first connecting portion above) and the orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion (see the line extending from the second connecting portion above) are located on two opposite sides of the first connection line (see the projection on the opposite sides the projections of the first and second connecting portion above).
With respect to claim 11, Lu in view of Yeo the projection device as claimed in claim 1, Lu discloses wherein the first connecting assembly and the second connecting assembly respectively comprise a plurality of locking parts (see lower left screw of 116 in fig.2 and see unlabeled screw of fig.7) and discloses using buffers with screws (see 114 and 112) but does not discloses the color wheel module further comprises the plurality of buffer members are located between the plurality of locking parts and the fixing base.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the other screws of Lu in view of Yeo with the teaching of Lu so that the color wheel module further comprises the plurality of buffer members are located between the plurality of locking parts and the fixing base to improve durability by reducing abrasion.
With respect to claim 12, Lu discloses a color wheel module(see fig.2, 110), adapted to be disposed between a first casing member (see the housing element 116 in fig.2 ) and a second casing member of a projection device (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted in to chassis 220), the color wheel module (see fig.2, 110) comprising a fixing base (see at least 120 in fig.2), an optical assembly (see at least 110), a first connecting assembly (see lower left screw of 116 in fig.2) and a second connecting assembly (see unlabeled screw of fig.7), wherein the optical assembly comprises a disk (see 110), and the fixing base (see at least 120) has a first connecting portion (see lower right hole in fig.3 and first connecting portion labeled above) and a second connecting portion ( region of holes on the left side of 110 in fig.3 and see second connecting portion above), on a reference plane perpendicular to the central axis (a plane parallel with the face of disk 110), an orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion of the fixing base (see line parallel to the center of 110 in fig.2 and extending through lower left hole in fig.2) and an orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion of the fixing base (see the second connection portion above) are respectively located on two sides of the central axis (see the center of 100 in fig.6 and disk 110 in fig.2 and fig.3), wherein the first casing member (see the housing element 116) is connected (by virtue of the fixing base in fig.7) to the second casing member (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted), the first connecting portion (see the hole adjacent to the wheel in fig.7) of the fixing base (see components of fig.2) is connected to the first casing member (116 in fig.2) through the first connecting assembly (see the operation of unlabeled screws in fig.7), and the second connecting portion (see the holes on the left near the number 120 in fig.2) of the fixing base is connected to the second casing member (see the region of fig.7 wherein 100 is inserted) through the second connecting assembly (see 132 in fig.7) but does not explicitly disclose the driving assembly connected to a center of the disk for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base is connected with the driving assembly.
Yeo discloses a projection device (see fig.1), comprising a casing (see cabinet 2 in fig.1), an illumination system (see at least 32 in fig.5), a light valve (see 26 in fig.5), a first casing member (15 in fig.4), a second casing member (see 11 in fig.4) and a projection lens (see 31 in fig.5), wherein the illumination system (32), the light valve (26), the first casing member (see 15 inf ig.5), the second casing member (see 11 in fig.3) and at least a part of the projection lens (31 in fig.5) are arranged in the casing (see the cabinet of fig.2 which contains said components); the illumination system (21 and 51-54 in fig.5) is configured to provide an illumination light beam, the illumination system comprises a color wheel module (see 53 in fig.5), the color wheel module (see 50 in fig.6) comprises a fixing base (see 52 and 541) , an optical assembly (see 50 in fig.6), the optical assembly comprises a disk (see 51) and a driving assembly (53), the driving assembly is connected to a center of the disk (see 53 in fig.9) for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base (see 541) is connected with the driving assembly (see 543 in fig.8); the light valve (see 26 in fig.5) is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination light beam (see the construction of fig.4), and is configured to convert the illumination light beam into an image light beam (see the operation of 26); and the projection lens (see 31 in fig.5) is disposed on a transmission path of the image light beam, and is configured to project the image light beam out of the projection device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Lu with the teaching of Yeo so that the color wheel module comprises a driving assembly connected to a center of the disk for driving the disk to rotate around a central axis thereof, the fixing base is connected with the driving assembly to increase control and versatility of the optical assembly by providing a driving assembly to rotate the disk of the color module.
With respect to claim 18, Lu in view of Yeo discloses the color wheel module as claimed in claim 14, wherein the optical assembly is a filter color wheel (110 in fig.2; color segments disclosed in para.[0023]: “color segments on the color wheel 110”; also see general discussion of color segments in para.[0008]: “so a color wheel is usually adopted for the design of four color segments (white, green, blue and red) to provide brighter light. On the other hand, the latter emphasizes certain characteristics of images of home video, such as color fidelity, saturation and contrast, so a color wheel is usually adopted for three color segments (green, blue and red)”), and the projection device (see fig.7) further comprises a third casing member (see the casing the surrounds the projection lens in fig.7).
Claim(s) 2 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (United States Patent Application Publication 2008/0079909 A1) in view of Yeo (KR 20080003483 A) and Jia (United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0126199 A1).
With respect to claim 2 and 13, Lu in view of Yeo discloses the projection device and the color wheel module as claimed in claims 1 and 12, wherein the driving assembly of the optical assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a driving element, the rotating shaft is connected to the center of the disk, the driving element is connected to the rotating shaft to drive the rotating shaft and drive the disk to rotate, and the fixing base is connected to the driving element.
Jia discloses the driving assembly (see fig.3) of the optical assembly comprises a rotating shaft (see 12) and a driving element (1 in fig.3), the rotating shaft (12) is connected to the center of the disk (see disk 22), the driving element is connected to the rotating shaft to drive the rotating shaft (see the connection in fig.3) and drive the disk to rotate (22), and the fixing base (13) is connected to the driving element (1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Lu in view of Yeo with the teaching of Jia so that wherein the driving assembly of the optical assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a driving element, the rotating shaft is connected to the center of the disk, the driving element is connected to the rotating shaft to drive the rotating shaft and drive the disk to rotate, and the fixing base is connected to the driving element to enhance the durability of the color filter by improving balance and precision of the color module.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10, 15-17, 19 and 20 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 claims 4 and 15, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious the projection device as claimed in claim 1 or the color wheel module of claim 12, wherein the fixing base further comprises a third connecting portion and a fourth connecting portion, on the reference plane, an orthogonal projection of the third connecting portion and an orthogonal projection of the fourth connecting portion form a first connection line, and the orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion and the orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion are located on two opposite sides of the first connection line, wherein the optical assembly is a phosphor color wheel, and on the reference plane, the first connection line passes through the central axis of the disk.
As shown below, the closest prior art, Lu , does not disclose the first connection line passing through the central axis of the disk; furthermore, a modification of Lu to teach the limitation of claim 4 would break the device of Lu:
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Claims 5 and 7 inherit allowable subject matter from claim 4.
Claims 16 and 17 are inherit allowable subject matter from claim 15.
With respect to claim 6, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious the projection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first casing member is connected to the second casing member, the first connecting portion of the fixing base is connected to the first casing member through the first connecting assembly, and the second connecting portion of the fixing base is connected to the second casing member through the second connecting assembly, wherein the first casing member is an upper cover of the illumination system, the second casing member is a lower cover of the illumination system, and the color wheel module is disposed in a space enclosed by the first casing member and the second casing member.
The closest reference of record, Lu, does not disclose the disposition of the first and second casing members so that the first casing member is an upper cover of the illumination system, the second casing member is a lower cover of the illumination system, and the color wheel module is disposed in a space enclosed by the first casing member and the second casing member but discloses casings that do not function as an upper cover and cannot enclose spaces as claimed in claim 6.
With respect to claim 8, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious the projection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fixing base further comprises a third connecting portion and a fourth connecting portion, on the reference plane, an orthogonal projection of the third connecting portion and an orthogonal projection of the fourth connecting portion form a first connection line, and the orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion and the orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion are located on two opposite sides of the first connection line, wherein the optical assembly is a filter color wheel, the first casing member is a cover part, the second casing member is an optical engine upper cover of the projection device, and the filter color wheel is disposed in a space enclosed by the first casing member and the second casing member.
The closest reference of record, Lu, does not disclose the disposition of the first and second casing member so that the second casing member is an optical engine upper cover of the projection device, and the filter color wheel is disposed in a space enclosed by the first casing member and the second casing member but discloses casings that do not function as upper covers and cannot enclose spaces as claimed in claim 8.
Claims 9 and 10 inherit the allowable subject matter of claim 8.
With respect to claim 19, the prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious the color wheel module as claimed in claim 12, wherein the fixing base further comprises a third connecting portion and a fourth connecting portion, on the reference plane, an orthogonal projection of the third connecting portion and an orthogonal projection of the fourth connecting portion form a first connection line, and the orthogonal projection of the first connecting portion and the orthogonal projection of the second connecting portion are located on two opposite sides of the first connection line, wherein the optical assembly is a filter color wheel, and the projection device further comprises a third casing member, wherein the first connecting assembly and the second connecting assembly respectively comprise a plurality of locking parts, the first connecting portion comprises two locking surfaces, and the first connecting assembly locks the first casing member with the two locking surfaces of the first connecting portion along a direction perpendicular to the central axis, a part of the second connecting assembly locks the second casing member with the second connecting portion along the direction perpendicular to the central axis, and another part of the second connecting assembly locks the third casing member with the third connecting portion and the fourth connecting portion along the direction perpendicular to the central axis.
The closest prior art of record, Lu , as show above and as illustrated in fig.2 does not disclose a part of the second connecting assembly locks the second casing member with the second connecting portion along the direction perpendicular to the central axis, and another part of the second connecting assembly locks the third casing member with the third connecting portion and the fourth connecting portion along the direction perpendicular to the central axis.
Claim 20 inherit the allowable subject matter of claim 19.
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