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
The instant application having Application No. 18/804,614 filed on August 14, 2024 is presented for examination by the examiner.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Priority
As required by the M.P.E.P. 214.03, acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for priority based on applications filed on August 28, 2023 (Germany DE 10 2023 123 036.0).
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 37 CFR 1.55, which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
The applicant’s drawings submitted on August 14, 2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Information Disclosure Statement
As required by M.P.E.P. 609, the applicant’s submission of the Information Disclosure Statement dated August 14, 2024 is acknowledged by the examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending.
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 1-4 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fisch et al. US 2022/0155574 A1 (hereafter Fisch).
Regarding claim 1, Fisch teaches “An illumination unit (at least the following enumerated components of the illumination assembly 20) for an optical microscope (optical apparatus 10, which can be a microscope see paragraphs [0002] and [0006]), comprising the following components:
a multiplicity of individual light sources (within extended radiation source 22, one can consider each group of emitters 54 as being an individual light source albeit on that is made up of multiple emitters 58 and 60); and
a multiplicity of light mixing elements (homogenizing rods 24), each having the shape of a solid or hollow (paragraph [0033]: “homogenizing rods 24, which typically comprise solid rods fabricated of a material that is transparent to the radiation emitted by source 22 and/or hollow rods with reflective inner walls.”) pyramidal frustum (see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0033]: “for example, the linear extent of exit face 26 of each homogenizing rod 24 is larger than its entrance face 25 by a factor of 2.5 or 3.”) with a bottom base (exit face 26), a top base (entrance face 25), a lateral face (the lateral face or faces between 25 and 26) and an axis (the axis of each rod 24), with the individual light sources each being arranged above the top bases of the light mixing elements (see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0057]: “Homogenizing rods 24 are arranged so that there is exactly one homogenizing rod with its entrance face 25 facing each cell”) and with the bottom bases of the light mixing elements together forming a light exit surface of the illumination unit (see Fig. 1, the exit faces 26 together form the light exit surface of 20/22).”
Regarding claim 2, Fisch teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light mixing elements are each formed by a light mixing rod in the form of a solid pyramidal frustum (paragraph [0033]: “homogenizing rods 24, which typically comprise solid rods fabricated of a material that is transparent to the radiation emitted by source 22”) or each formed by a hollow integrator in the form of a hollow pyramidal frustum (paragraph [0033]: “homogenizing rods 24, which typically comprise… hollow rods with reflective inner walls.”).”
Regarding claim 3, Fisch teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom bases of the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements each have the external shape of a convex polygon (paragraph [0033]: “The cross section of homogenizing rods 24 is typically rectangular (for example, square)” where both rectangles and squares are convex polygons), which is suitable for gap-free tessellation of the bottom bases (rectangles and squares are both shapes that are “suitable for gap-free tessellation of the bottom bases”, in that it is possible to tile squares or rectangles together without gaps. Note that claim 3 does not recite that the bottom base forms a gap-free tessellation, just that the shapes have to be suitable for such a configuration. Note further that the claim does not recite that the external shape and size have to be suitable for this use, just that the shape must be suitable for this use).”
Regarding claim 4, Fisch teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bottom bases of the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements each have the external shape of an equilateral triangle, a square or a regular hexagon (paragraph [0033]: “The cross section of homogenizing rods 24 is typically rectangular (for example, square)”).”
Regarding claim 7, Fisch teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least three of the bottom bases of the light mixing elements come into contact at one point on a central axis of the light exit surface (this is optional), or wherein the bottom base of exactly one of the light mixing elements is situated centrally on a central axis of the light exit surface (Fig. 4 paragraph [0057]: “center cell 52, which is circular” that this center cell is on the central axis of the light exit surface can be seen in relation to first optical axis 35 in Fig. 1).”
Regarding claim 8, Fisch teaches “An optical microscope for examining a sample (field 34) by microscopy (optical apparatus 10, which can be a microscope see paragraphs [0002] and [0006]), comprising the following components:
an imaging optical unit (imaging assembly 76) for imaging the sample (e.g. paragraph [0029]: “[0029] Imaging assembly 76 comprises objective optics 77 and a sensor 79, wherein the objective optics image field 34 onto the sensor.”); and
an illumination unit as claimed in claim 1 (see claim 1 above) for illuminating the sample (see Fig. 1).”
Regarding claim 9, Fisch teaches “The optical microscope as claimed in claim 8, wherein said optical microscope comprises a beam splitter (prism combiner 32) which divides the microscope beam path into an observation component beam path and an illumination component beam path (e.g. paragraph [0027]: “a prism combiner 32, which combines the optical axes of the illumination and imaging assemblies”), the light exit surface of the illumination unit being arranged in the illumination component beam path (see Fig. 1, the exit surface comprising exit faces 26 is in the illumination component beam path).”
Regarding claim 10, Fisch teaches “A method for using (see steps below) a microscope as claimed in claim 8, comprising the following steps:
determining a selection of the individual light sources according to a specified characteristic of illumination of the sample to be achieved by the illumination unit (paragraph [0058]: “Each one of emitters 58 and 60 within each group 54 can be independently energized by radiation source controller 23. Illumination assembly 20 can thus illuminate only parts of the numerical aperture, such as for example dark field illumination or right or left side only, as well as controlling the spectral content of the illumination by enabling separate or simultaneous illumination at different wavelengths λ1 and λ2.”); and
operating the selected individual light sources to illuminate the sample according to the specified characteristic of the illumination (paragraph [0058]: “Each one of emitters 58 and 60 within each group 54 can be independently energized by radiation source controller 23. Illumination assembly 20 can thus illuminate only parts of the numerical aperture, such as for example dark field illumination or right or left side only, as well as controlling the spectral content of the illumination by enabling separate or simultaneous illumination at different wavelengths λ1 and λ2.”).”
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brukilacchio US 2012/0099308 A1 (hereafter Brukilacchio).
Regarding claim 1, Brukilacchio teaches “An illumination unit (Figs. 16 and 17 which include LED arrays 1710) for an optical microscope (paragraph [0002]: “Applications include industrial illumination such as machine vision, medical such as tissue illumination or fluorescence… or as a multi-spectral illumination source for fluorescence excitation and subsequent detection by a camera imaging system.” Although Brukilacchio does not explicitly state that these imaging systems are microscopes, all of these applications are typically microscopes such that the illumination system is appropriate for an optical microscope. Note that until claim 8, no microscope is actually part of the claimed device, just a preamble statement of intended use.), comprising the following components:
a multiplicity of individual light sources (paragraph [0052]: “four independent and physically spaced LED arrays”); and
a multiplicity of light mixing elements (four collection optics 1670 or the combination of 1670 and filters 1640, which are light mixing elements see e.g. paragraph [0044]: “One important property of the collection optic 460 is its ability to homogenize the output such that any one point, or individual LED die, at the input is substantially mixed spatially at the exit aperture 710.”), each having the shape of a solid or hollow (paragraph [0052]: “the optic to be readily made by glass, plastic or silicone molding techniques.” thus 1670 is most likely solid, with the only other possibility being hollow, and thus is one or the other.) pyramidal frustum (see Fig. 17 and paragraph [0052]: “The collection optic for this case, which is tapered, has a first section near the input aperture 1660, which transitions to a compound parabolic section near the middle of the optic 1670, and then transitions to a tapered section near the output aperture 1680” thus 1670 is “pyramidal” in that the two ends are flat pyramidal portions and the middle is a slightly curved pyramidal portion. It is a frustrum because it is truncated at the input aperture 1660) with a bottom base (the output aperture 1680 or the exit surface of 1640), a top base (input aperture 1660), a lateral face (the lateral faces of 1670/1640) and an axis (the axis of each collection optic 1670), with the individual light sources each being arranged above the top bases of the light mixing elements (paragraph [0052]: “four independent and physically spaced LED arrays coincident with a set of four input apertures 1660 (typical) to a corresponding collection optic 1670 for each LED die or LED die array.”) and with the bottom bases of the light mixing elements together forming a light exit surface of the illumination unit (the combined exit surface of 1680 or the combined exit surfaces of filters 1640).”
Regarding claim 2, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light mixing elements (e.g. paragraph [0044]: “One important property of the collection optic 460 is its ability to homogenize the output such that any one point, or individual LED die, at the input is substantially mixed spatially at the exit aperture 710.”) are each formed by a light mixing rod (see shape of a rod in Figs. 16-17 and paragraph [0051]: “light pipe”) in the form of a solid pyramidal frustum or each formed by a hollow integrator in the form of a hollow pyramidal frustum (With respect to solid or hollow see paragraph [0052]: “the optic to be readily made by glass, plastic or silicone molding techniques.” thus 1670 is most likely solid, with the only other possibility being hollow, and thus is one or the other. With respect to pyramidal frustum see Fig. 17 and paragraph [0052]: “The collection optic for this case, which is tapered, has a first section near the input aperture 1660, which transitions to a compound parabolic section near the middle of the optic 1670, and then transitions to a tapered section near the output aperture 1680” thus 1670 is “pyramidal” in that the two ends are flat pyramidal portions and the middle is a slightly curved pyramidal portion. It is a frustrum because it is truncated at the input aperture 1660).”
Regarding claim 3, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom bases of the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements each have the external shape of a convex polygon (e.g. claim 13: “wherein said different cross sectional shapes of laid non-imaging concentrators are selected from the group comprising squares, rectangles… and polygons.” In Figs. 16-17 1680 and 1640 are square.), which is suitable for gap-free tessellation of the bottom bases (see gap-free tessellation of 1680 and 1640 in Fig. 17).”
Regarding claim 4, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bottom bases of the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements each have the external shape of an equilateral triangle, a square or a regular hexagon (e.g. claim 13: “wherein said different cross sectional shapes of laid non-imaging concentrators are selected from the group comprising squares” In Figs. 16-17 1680 and 1640 are square.).”
Regarding claim 5, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom bases of the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements completely fill the light exit surface of the illumination unit (see Fig. 17, 1680 and 1640 completely fill the combined light exit surface thereof).”
Regarding claim 6, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pyramidal frustum-shaped light mixing elements each have a termination region (1640), in which the lateral faces are perpendicular to the axis, at their bottom bases (see Figs. 16 and 17, the filters 1640 have lateral faces that would reasonably be considered to be perpendicular to the axis of the collection optics).”
Regarding claim 7, Brukilacchio teaches “The illumination unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least three of the bottom bases of the light mixing elements come into contact at one point on a central axis of the light exit surface (see Fig. 17, the four collection optics come into contact at one central point on a central axis of the combined light exit surface), or wherein the bottom base of exactly one of the light mixing elements is situated centrally on a central axis of the light exit surface (this is optional).”
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 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisch et al. US 2022/0155574 A1 (hereafter Fisch) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Vom et al. US 2019/0064496 A1 (hereafter Vom).
Regarding claim 11, Fisch teaches “The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the selection of the individual light sources comprises those of the individual light sources whose assigned light mixing elements with their bottom bases (paragraph [0038]: “implementing the multi-modal functionality of illumination assembly 20, providing both bright-field and dark-field illumination”) … are located in an observation pupil of the microscope (paragraph [0036]: “the exit pupil of condensing optics 21”) to illuminate the sample with a… bright-field reflected light illumination (paragraph [0038]: “implementing the multi-modal functionality of illumination assembly 20, providing …bright-field… illumination” That this is reflected light can be seen from Fig. 1 where the imaging assembly 76 views light reflected by the sample, not transmitted through the sample.).”
However, Fisch fails to explicitly teach “the individual light sources … in a radial direction… to illuminate the sample with a coaxial bright-field… light illumination.”
Vom teaches (claim 1) “An illumination unit (e.g. paragraph [0111]: “combined dark field/bright field illumination source”) for an optical microscope (paragraph [0002]: “dark and bright field microscopy”), comprising the following components:
a multiplicity of individual light sources (Fig. 8 light emitting diodes 175 and 180)”
(claim 8) “An optical microscope (Fig. 1) for examining a sample (e.g. paragraph [0006]: “sample”) by microscopy (e.g. paragraph [0002]: “dark and bright field microscopy”), comprising the following components:
an imaging optical unit (objective 004) for imaging the sample (paragraph [0006]: “light that is scattered by the sample and enters the objective lens is seen as an image in dark field… a solid cone of light 005, which illuminates and enters the objective lens 004 in bright field”); and
an illumination unit … for illuminating the sample (see e.g. Fig. 1).”
(claim 10) A method (see steps below) for using a microscope… comprising the following steps:
determining a selection of the individual light sources (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “a single central Light Emitting Diode (LED) 175 is used as the illumination source for the bright field image capture, view or review… Concentrically around the central LED is an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.”) according to a specified characteristic of illumination of the sample to be achieved by the illumination unit (e.g. paragraph [0107] bright field or dark field); and
operating the selected individual light sources to illuminate the sample according to the specified characteristic of the illumination (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “a single central Light Emitting Diode (LED) 175 is used as the illumination source for the bright field image capture, view or review… Concentrically around the central LED is an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.”).”
(claim 11) The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the selection of the individual light sources comprises those of the individual light sources… in a radial direction (central LED 175) are located in an observation pupil of the microscope (paragraph [0006]: “a solid cone of light 005, which illuminates and enters the objective lens 004 in bright field” see Figs. 1 and 3) to illuminate the sample with a coaxial bright-field… light illumination (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “a single central Light Emitting Diode (LED) 175 is used as the illumination source for the bright field image capture, view or review).”
Fisch teaches the method of claim 11, except for specifying the pattern of light sources that would correspond to bright-field illumination.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate all of the light sources in a radial direction within the pupil as taught by Vom in order to achieve bright-field illumination because Fisch teaches independently energizing the light sources to achieve the desired illumination pattern including bright-field illumination, and Vom informs how to perform such a selection so that only the co-axial, central light source that will directly illuminate the sample can be selected to perform bright field microscopy.
Regarding claim 12, Fisch teaches “The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the selection of the individual light sources comprises those of the individual light sources whose assigned light mixing elements with their bottom bases in a radial direction … to illuminate the sample with a coaxial dark-field illumination (paragraph [0058]: “Each one of emitters 58 and 60 within each group 54 can be independently energized by radiation source controller 23. Illumination assembly 20 can thus illuminate only parts of the numerical aperture, such as for example dark field illumination”. These light sources have assigned mixing elements with bottom bases in a radial direction around the central axis of the illumination system, albeit where the radial position thereof has not been specified. This is coaxial illumination in that light from any of the emitters is directed parallel to the axis of the illumination system).”
However, Fisch fails to explicitly teach “those of the individual light sources… in a radial direction are located outside of an observation pupil of the microscope”.
Vom teaches (claim 1) “An illumination unit (e.g. paragraph [0111]: “combined dark field/bright field illumination source”) for an optical microscope (paragraph [0002]: “dark and bright field microscopy”), comprising the following components:
a multiplicity of individual light sources (Fig. 8 light emitting diodes 175 and 180)”
(claim 8) “An optical microscope (Fig. 1) for examining a sample (e.g. paragraph [0006]: “sample”) by microscopy (e.g. paragraph [0002]: “dark and bright field microscopy”), comprising the following components:
an imaging optical unit (objective 004) for imaging the sample (paragraph [0006]: “light that is scattered by the sample and enters the objective lens is seen as an image in dark field… a solid cone of light 005, which illuminates and enters the objective lens 004 in bright field”); and
an illumination unit … for illuminating the sample (see e.g. Fig. 1).”
(claim 10) A method (see steps below) for using a microscope… comprising the following steps:
determining a selection of the individual light sources (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “a single central Light Emitting Diode (LED) 175 is used as the illumination source for the bright field image capture, view or review… Concentrically around the central LED is an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.”) according to a specified characteristic of illumination of the sample to be achieved by the illumination unit (e.g. paragraph [0107] bright field or dark field); and
operating the selected individual light sources to illuminate the sample according to the specified characteristic of the illumination (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “a single central Light Emitting Diode (LED) 175 is used as the illumination source for the bright field image capture, view or review… Concentrically around the central LED is an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.”).”
(claim 12) wherein the selection of the individual light sources comprises those of the individual light sources (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.”)… in a radial direction are located outside of an observation pupil of the microscope (paragraph [0006]: “light that is scattered by the sample and enters the objective lens is seen as an image in dark field” thus light emitted from 180 is outside of the observation pupil of the microscope and must be scattered by the sample into the observation pupil in order to be imaged by the microscope in dark-field operation) to illuminate the sample with a coaxial dark-field illumination (e.g. paragraph [0107]: “an array of LEDs 180, used to create the illumination for the dark field image capture, view or review.” where this is coaxial in that it surrounds the axis of illumination see Figs. 1 and 2).”
Fisch teaches the method of claim 12, except for specifying the pattern of light sources that would correspond to dark-field illumination.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the light sources in a radial direction outside the observation the pupil as taught by Vom in order to achieve dark-field illumination because Fisch teaches independently energizing the light sources to achieve the desired illumination pattern including dark-field illumination, and Vom informs how to perform such a selection so that only the co-axial, ring shaped array of LEDs outside of the observation pupil that will directly indirectly illuminate the sample can be selected to perform dark field microscopy.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fujihara US 4,852,985 “Illuminating Device for Microscopes” pertinent to the state of the art of operating arrays of light sources for bright field, dark field and oblique illumination.
Moffat et al. US 2007/0064202 A1 “Arrangement for the Illumination of a Field” pertinent to at least claims 1-5 and 8.
Tandler et al. US 2014/0313577 A1 “Method for Illuminating an Object in a Digital Light Microscope, Digital Light Microscope and Bright Field Reflected-Light Illumination Device for a Digital Light Microscope” pertinent to the state of the art of bright field and dark field illumination.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARA E RAKOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)272-4206. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-4PM ET M-F.
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/CARA E RAKOWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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