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.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Obinata (United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0371416 A1).
With respect to claims 1 and 11, Obinata discloses a projection device (see fig.13) comprising an illumination system (see 100), at least one light valve (see 320 A, B and C), and a projection lens (400 in fig.13), wherein: the illumination system (see 100 in fig.13) is configured to provide an illumination beam, and the illumination system comprises a first light source (see 111B), a second light source (see 111R), a light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ), and a wavelength conversion element (see fig.8B, 12), wherein: the first light source is configured to provide a first beam, and the first beam is a laser beam (see the beam projected by 111B); the second light source is configured to provide a second beam (see the beam provided by 111R ), a wavelength range of the first beam is different from a wavelength range of the second beam (see red and blue light of fig.1), and the light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ) is disposed on a transmission path of the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source, so that the first beam and the second beam have the same transmission path between the light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ) and the wavelength conversion element (see B and R in fig.8B); and the wavelength conversion element comprises a rotary disk (see 11 inf ig.8B), a wavelength conversion material layer (see 12 inf ig.8B), and a light splitting layer(see 13 in fig.8B), wherein: the light splitting layer (see 13 inf ig.8B) is disposed on the rotary disk (see 11 in fig.8B), and the wavelength conversion material layer (see 12 in fig.8B) is disposed between the rotary disk (see fig.8B, 11) and the light splitting layer (see fig.13 in fig.8B); the wavelength conversion material layer is configured to convert the first beam into an excited beam (disclosed by the operation of fig.8B); and the light splitting layer is configured to reflect the second beam (see the reflected red beam in fig.8B) and allow the first beam and the excited beam to pass through (see the operation in 8B), wherein when the first light source is turned on and the second light source is turned off, the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam and the excited beam (assuming the condition wherein only the first light source is turned on B, the illumination beam will only comprise the excitation beam FL or B, since the second light source is not an excitation light source), and when the first light source and the second light source are both turned on, the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam (when both 111R and 111B, see [0079] are one the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam); the at least one light valve (320 A, B and C) is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination beam and is configured to convert the illumination beam into an image beam; and the projection lens (see 400) is disposed on a transmission path of the image beam and is configured to project the image beam out of the projection device.
With respect to claims 10 and 20, Obinata disclose the illumination system and the projection device according to claims 1 and 11, respectively, wherein the illumination system further comprises a filter element (113A in fig.1 and 14), wherein: the filter element (see 113) is disposed on a transmission path of the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam and is configured to sequentially allow the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam to pass through (see the position of 113).
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) 2 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obinata (United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0371416 A1).
With respect to claims 2 and 12, Obinata discloses the illumination system and the projection device according to claims 1 and 11, respectively, wherein the second beam is an infrared light or a red light with a wavelength of 638 nm (see para.[0079]: “a semiconductor laser 111R (second light source) that oscillates light (R; light in a second wavelength range) in a red wavelength range from a wavelength of 600 nm to a wavelength of 670 nm.”) but does not explicitly disclose wherein the wavelength of 638nm is a dominant wavelength.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the red light source of Obinata so that the dominant wavelength is 638nm, since it would predictably produce a desired wavelength of red as cited above and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Claims 3, 4, 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obinata (United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0371416 A1) in view of Tian (CN 105093794 B) and Yamada (United States Patent Publication 9, 310, 033) .
With respect to claims 3, 4, 13 and 14, Obinata discloses the illumination system and the projection device according to claims 1 and 11, but does not disclose wherein the light combining module comprises a light combining element, and the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source are respectively incident from two opposite sides of the light combining element, wherein one of the first beam and the second beam is reflected by the light combining element, and other one of the first beam and the second beam passes through the light combining element, wherein the light combining element comprises a plurality of strip-shaped coating areas and a plurality of strip-shaped non-coating areas in a staggered arrangement, wherein each of the strip-shaped coating areas is configured to reflect the second beam and allow the first beam to pass through.
Tian discloses wherein the light combining module comprises a light combining element (21 in fig.2), and the first beam (see 11 in fig.2) from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source (see 12 in fig.2) are respectively incident from two opposite sides of the light combining element (21 in fig.2), wherein one of the first beam and the second beam is reflected by the light combining element (see the reflection of 12 in fig.2), and other one of the first beam and the second beam passes through the light combining element (see the transmission of 11 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 the light combining module of Obinata with the teaching of Tian so that the light combining module comprises a light combining element, and the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source are from two opposite sides of the light combining element, wherein one of the first beam and the second beam is reflected by the light combining element, and other one of the first beam and the second beam passes through the light combining element to make the light combining module more compact.
Obinata in view of Tian does not disclose the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source are respectively incident from two opposite sides of the light combining element, wherein the light combining element comprises a plurality of strip-shaped coating areas and a plurality of strip-shaped non-coating areas in a staggered arrangement, wherein each of the strip-shaped coating areas is configured to reflect the second beam and allow the first beam to pass through.
Yamada discloses the first beam (see 11 b in fig.1) from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source (see 12 b in fig.1) are respectively incident from two opposite sides of the light combining element (see 27), wherein the light combining element comprises a plurality of strip-shaped coating areas and a plurality of strip-shaped non-coating areas in a staggered arrangement (see 28r and the areas between 28r), wherein each of the strip-shaped coating area is configured to only reflect the second beam (see 18r : see col.8, lines 24-26: For example, the reflecting portion 18r may be formed of material that reflects only red light.).
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 combining element of Obinata in view of Tian with teaching of Yamada so that the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source are respectively incident from two opposite sides of the light combining element, wherein the light combining element comprises a plurality of strip-shaped coating areas and a plurality of strip-shaped non-coating areas in a staggered arrangement, wherein each of the strip-shaped coating areas is configured to reflect the second beam and allow the first beam to pass through to enhance the light use efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 and 15-19 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 prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the projection device and illumination system of claims 5 and 15, wherein the illumination system further comprises a relay optical module, and the relay optical module comprises a light splitting element and a reflective element, wherein: the light splitting element is disposed on the transmission path of the first beam and the second beam between the light combining module and the wavelength conversion element and is configured to allow at least part of the first beam and the second beam to pass through and reflect the excited beam; and the reflective element is disposed on a transmission path of the first beam and the second beam from the light splitting element and is configured to reflect the first beam and the second beam.
The closest prior art of record, Obinata, discloses a projection device (see fig.13) comprising an illumination system (see 100), at least one light valve (see 320 A, B and C), and a projection lens (400 in fig.13), wherein: the illumination system (see 100 in fig.13) is configured to provide an illumination beam, and the illumination system comprises a first light source (see 111B), a second light source (see 111R), a light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ), and a wavelength conversion element (see fig.8B, 12), wherein: the first light source is configured to provide a first beam, and the first beam is a laser beam (see the beam projected by 111B); the second light source is configured to provide a second beam (see the beam provided by 111R ), a wavelength range of the first beam is different from a wavelength range of the second beam (see red and blue light of fig.1), and the light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ) is disposed on a transmission path of the first beam from the first light source and the second beam from the second light source, so that the first beam and the second beam have the same transmission path between the light combining module (see 116B, 117B, 118B ) and the wavelength conversion element (see B and R in fig.8B); and the wavelength conversion element comprises a rotary disk (see 11 inf ig.8B), a wavelength conversion material layer (see 12 inf ig.8B), and a light splitting layer(see 13 in fig.8B), wherein: the light splitting layer (see 13 inf ig.8B) is disposed on the rotary disk (see 11 in fig.8B), and the wavelength conversion material layer (see 12 in fig.8B) is disposed between the rotary disk (see fig.8B, 11) and the light splitting layer (see fig.13 in fig.8B); the wavelength conversion material layer is configured to convert the first beam into an excited beam (disclosed by the operation of fig.8B); and the light splitting layer is configured to reflect the second beam (see the reflected red beam in fig.8B) and allow the first beam and the excited beam to pass through (see the operation in 8B), wherein when the first light source is turned on and the second light source is turned off, the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam and the excited beam (assuming the condition wherein only the first light source is turned on B, the illumination beam will only comprise the excitation beam FL or B, since the second light source is not an excitation light source), and when the first light source and the second light source are both turned on, the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam (when both 111R and 111B, see [0079] are one the illumination beam comprises at least one of the first beam, the second beam, and the excited beam); the at least one light valve (320 A, B and C) is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination beam and is configured to convert the illumination beam into an image beam; and the projection lens (see 400) is disposed on a transmission path of the image beam and is configured to project the image beam out of the projection device but does not discloses the limitations of claims 5 and 15.
Claims 6-9 and 16-19 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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