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 § 102
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, 5-8, 10, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yosha et al. (US 20060215244).
Regarding claim 1, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) an apparatus, comprising: a control panel (150, 320; instrument panel; section 0062); and at least one guide (156, 158, 200, 204, 298) comprising at least; a diffractive in-coupler (160, 344) configured to in-couple one or more input beams of light into the light guide from a first light engine (152, 154, 296) (“reflective surface 160 reflects collimated light beam 164A as a light beam 164B within planar light guide 158 by TIR”; section 0062), an expander configured to expand the one or more input beams of light (the collimated input light beam 164A is expanded in the planar light guide 158 to generate decoupled light beams 164E and 164G, the combined output collimated beam having a larger cross-section than the collimated input light beam), and an out-coupler (160B, 160C, 346) configured to out-couple the one or more expanded beams of light from the light guide (“the partially reflective surfaces 160B and 160E decouple light beams 164E and 164G toward the eyes 166”; section 0063); wherein the at least one light guide is transparent (section 0039) and is provided overlaying at least part of the control panel and is configured to display one or more virtual images at a longer focal distance than the control panel (“planar optical module 156 display the output decoupled images for eyes 166, substantially at an infinite distance from the operator”; section 0064; Figs. 2, 5).
Regarding claim 5, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) an apparatus comprising a head-up display (section 0033).
Regarding claim 6, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Fig. 3) the focal distance of the light guide (200, 202, 204, 210) overlaying the control panel is aligned to a focal distance of the head-up display (two sets of virtual images have focal points substantially located at infinity so that eyes of the operator can repeatedly switch between the first and second set of output decoupled images and the scene image).
Regarding claim 7, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) a gap is provided between the at least one light guide (156, 158, 298, 342) and the control panel (320) (section 0033).
Regarding claim 8, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) the at least one light guide (156, 158, 298, 342) is provided directly over the control panel (320) (section 0033).
Regarding claim 10, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) the focal distance of the at least one light guide is set to infinity (sections 0027-0028).
Regarding claim 14, Yosha discloses (Figs. 1-6; in particular Figs. 2, 5) a module, a device, a vehicle, or cab for a vehicle comprising an apparatus (sections 0023, 0035).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 2-4, 9, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yosha in view of Kaehler (US 20200226830).
Regarding claim 2, Yosha does not necessarily disclose a plurality of light guides arranged in a stacked configuration.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 4-6) a plurality of light guides (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) arranged in a stacked configuration (section 0040). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to provide three-dimensional perception to the eye/brain.
Regarding claim 3, Yosha does not necessarily disclose a plurality of light guides where a first light guide is configured to display a virtual image at a first focal distance and a second light guide is configured to display a virtual image at a second focal distance.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 4-6) a plurality of light guides (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) where a first light guide (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) is configured to display a virtual image at a first focal distance and a second light guide (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) is configured to display a virtual image at a second focal distance (each waveguide may be associated with a particular depth plane and may be configured to output image information corresponding to that depth plane). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to provide three-dimensional perception to the eye/brain.
Regarding claim 4, Yosha does not necessarily disclose the control panel and the plurality of light guides are configured so that the images at different focal distances provide one or more volumetric images.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 4-6) the control panel (460) and the plurality of light guides (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) are configured so that the images at different focal distances provide one or more volumetric images (section 0059). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to generate a multi-focal volumetric, image, or light field.
Regarding claim 9, Yosha does not necessarily disclose an adjuster for adjusting the focal distance of one or more virtual images provided with the apparatus.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 4-6) an adjuster for adjusting the focal distance of one or more virtual images provided with the apparatus (section 0051). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to increase the depth of field.
Regarding claim 11, Yosha does not necessarily disclose the focal distance of the at least one light guide is set to a far or middle distance.
Kaehler discloses (Fig. 4) the focal distance of the at least one light guide (436b, 438b, 440b) is set to a far or middle distance. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to provide three-dimensional perception to the eye/brain.
Regarding claim 12, Yosha does not necessarily disclose the apparatus is configured to enable the focal distance of the at least one light guide to be adjusted.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 4-6) the apparatus is configured to enable the focal distance of the at least one light guide (432b, 434b, 436b, 438b, 440b) to be adjusted (sections 0046-0047). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to output light to form an image corresponding to a particular depth plane.
Regarding claim 13, Yosha does not necessarily disclose the at least one light guide is configured to display a first image for a user's first eye and a second image for a user's second eye.
Kaehler discloses (Figs. 3-6) the at least one light guide is configured to display a first image for a user's first eye (302) and a second image for a user's second eye (304) (section 0039). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Kaehler to provide three-dimensional perception to the eye/brain.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES S CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/CHARLES S CHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871