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 § 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.
Claims 21-27 and 30-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saiga et al (US 2022/0091373 A1 from IDS) in view of Yamashita (US 2010/0182704 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Saiga discloses an optical system for a projector (Fig. 4A), comprising:
a first optical group comprising a light folding element (410a Prism);
a second optical group comprising one or more lenses (L4S1, L4S2) at a light receiving side of the light folding element (410a), the second optical group having negative refractive power (see the lens L4S1, L4S2); and
a third optical group comprising one or more lenses (L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2) configured to refract light from a light source (not shown in the prior art, but the prior art inherently discloses a light source emitting the light disclosed) to the second optical group (L4S1, L4S2), the third optical group having positive refractive power (see L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2).
However, the first optical group does not disclose one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power.
Yamashita discloses an optical group (Fig. 3 and para 118 “first lens group L1”) comprising a light folding element (Fig. 3 L1 shows a prism) and one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power (para 121 “the first lens group L1 has a positive refractive power”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the first optical group disclosing one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power as taught by Yamashita so that achromaticism in the first lens group is effectively secured by providing comparatively large chromatic dispersion (para 122).
Regarding claim 22, the optical system of claim 21, wherein the light folding element (Saiga Fig. 4A 410a Prism) comprises a prism that is configured to:
transmit IR light through a first surface of prism in to the prism;
reflect, at a second surface of the prism, at least some of the IR light passing through the first surface of the prism;
reflect, at the first surface of the prism, at least some of the IR light reflected from the second surface of the prism;
reflect, at a third surface of the prism, at least some of the IR light reflected from the first surface of the prism; and
reflect, at a fourth surface of the prism, at least some of the IR light reflected from the third surface of the prism to pass through the third surface out of the prism (see Fig. 4A, IR light traveling through the prism 410a).
Regarding claim 23, the optical system of claim 22, wherein the prism (Saiga Fig. 4A 410a Prism) is a parallelogrammatic prism, and wherein an angle between the first surface and second surface of the prism is in a range between 25 and 35 degrees (see claim 12).
Regarding claim 24, the prior art discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a lens of the one or more lenses of the first optical group is attached to a surface of the light folding element at the light emission side of the light folding element.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to attach the folding element with the lens for the purpose of eliminating any misalignment between the two optical elements.
Yamashita discloses wherein the lens is configured to have optical power (para 121 “positive lens”).
Regarding claim 25, in combination, the optical system of claim 24, wherein the light folding element further comprises coating at the surface of the light folding element at the light emission side, and wherein the coating is configured to increase at least one of the transmission or reflection of the IR light at the surface of the light folding element (Saiga claim 2 “fourth surface of the prism includes a reflective coating”).
Regarding claim 26, the optical system of claim 21, wherein a lens of the one or more lenses of the first optical group is positioned separate from the light folding element at the light emission side of the light folding element (Yamashita, Fig. 3 see L1, the lens and the prism are separated).
Regarding claim 27, the optical system of claim 21, wherein the one or more lenses of the second optical group (L4S1, L4S2) and the one or more lenses of the third optical group (Saiga L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2) are configured to refract IR light to the light folding element (see prism 420a of Fig. 4a).
Regarding claim 30, the optical system of claim 27, wherein the one or more lenses of the second optical group or the one or more lenses of the third optical group include at least one lens made of plastics (Saiga see claim 4).
Regarding claim 31, the optical system of claim 21, wherein the light folding element comprises a parallelogrammatic prism (Saiga see prism 420a of Fig. 4a).
Regarding claim 32, the prior art in combination discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a ratio between a thickness of the prism and a total track length (TTL) of the optical system from the light source to a final light emission surface of the first optical group is in a range between 0.3 and 0.5.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose the workable range, 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, as being motivated to create the miniaturized optical system.
Regarding claim 33, the prior art in combination discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a ratio between a thickness of the prism and a total track length (TTL) of the optical system from the light source to a final light emission surface of the first optical group is in a range between 0.3 and 0.5.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose the workable range, 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, as being motivated to create the miniaturized optical system.
Regarding claim 34, the prior art in combination discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein 0.2 ≤ (optical power of the first optical group) / [ (absolute value of the second optical group) + (optical power of the third optical group)] ≤ 0.6.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose the workable range, 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, as being motivated to create the miniaturized optical system.
Regarding claims 35 and 36, the prior art in combination discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein a ratio between an effective focal length (EFL) of the optical system and thickness of the prism is in a range between 2 and 4 or a ratio between an effective focal length (EFL) of the first optical group and length of the prism is in a range between 0.8 and 1.2.
Saiga discloses an effective focal length of optical system 100 (see para 29).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose the workable range within the given condition in para 29, 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, as being motivated to create the miniaturized optical system.
Regarding claim 37, Saiga discloses a device, comprising:
a camera (para [0003] “Telephoto cameras”):
a projector (Fig. 4A) comprising:
an infrared (IR) light emitter configured to emit IR light (not shown in the prior art, but the prior art inherently discloses a light source emitting the infrared light disclosed in Fig. 4A); and
an optical system, comprising:
a first optical group comprising a light folding element (410a Prism);
a second optical group comprising one or more lenses (L4S1, L4S2) at a light receiving side of the light folding element (410a), the second optical group having negative refractive power (see the lens L4S1, L4S2);
a third optical group comprising one or more lenses (L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2) configured to refract light from a light source (not shown in the prior art, but the prior art inherently discloses a light source emitting the light disclosed) to the second optical group (L4S1, L4S2), the third optical group having positive refractive power (see L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2); and
a detector configured to detect or recognize an object in an environment using the IR light from the projector (Fig. 4A “415a Image Sensor”).
However, the first optical group does not disclose one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power.
Yamashita discloses an optical group (Fig. 3 and para 118 “first lens group L1”) comprising a light folding element (Fig. 3 L1 shows a prism) and one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power (para 121 “the first lens group L1 has a positive refractive power”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the first optical group disclosing one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power as taught by Yamashita so that achromaticism in the first lens group is effectively secured by providing comparatively large chromatic dispersion (para 122).
Regarding claim 38, the device of claim 37, wherein the camera is positioned facing the environment to which the IR light is projected (Saiga, para 3 “smartphone” has a camera facing the environment to which the IR light is projected).
Regarding claim 39, the device of claim 37, wherein at least a portion of the light folding element is positioned between a portion of the camera and a cover glass of the device (Saiga, 410a is in between a portion of the camera and the cover of the smartphone).
Claims 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saiga et al (US 2022/0091373 A1 from IDS) in view of Yamashita (US 2010/0182704 A1), further in view of Chang et al (US 2010/0246030 A1).
Regarding claim 28, Saiga in view of Yamashita discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the one or more lenses of the second optical group (L4S1, L4S2) or the one or more lenses of the third optical group (L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2) include at least one wafer scale lens that includes one or more plastic portions attached to a glass substrate of the at least one wafer scale lens.
Chang discloses wafer scale lenses having glass substrate including plastic portions attached (para 7 “Wafer scale optics has a lot of design constraints due to glass substrate structure and replication process limitations, such as limitations with lens material, substrate thickness, lens sag height and size, optical center alignment accuracy etc. For wafer scale lenses to become as main stream and as popular as plastic and glass lenses, wafer scale lens modules must have comparable optical design performance in accordance with appropriate manufacturing tolerance for the above described design constraints”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to at least one wafer scale lens that includes one or more plastic portions attached to a glass substrate of the at least one wafer scale lens for the purpose of obtaining durable lenses.
Regarding claim 29, in combination, the optical system of claim 28, wherein the light folding element further comprises coating at a surface of the light folding element facing the one or more lenses of the second optical group, and wherein the coating is configured to increase at least one of the transmission or reflection of the IR light at the surface of the light folding element (Saiga claim 2 “fourth surface of the prism includes a reflective coating”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 40 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim is allowable at least for the reason that the prior art does not teach or reasonably suggest the wherein the IR light emitter is displaced from the camera and detector to at least partially overlap with the detector as set forth in the claimed combination.
Saiga discloses a device, comprising:
a camera facing an environment in front of the device (para 3 “smartphone” has a camera facing the environment to which the IR light is projected);
a projector (Fig. 4A) comprising:
an infrared (IR) light emitter configured to emit IR light (not shown in the prior art, but the prior art inherently discloses a light source emitting the infrared light disclosed in Fig. 4A); and
an optical system, comprising:
a first optical group comprising a light folding element (410a Prism);
a second optical group comprising one or more lenses (L4S1, L4S2) at a light receiving side of the light folding element (410a), the second optical group having negative refractive power (see the lens L4S1, L4S2);
a third optical group comprising one or more lenses (L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2) configured to refract light from a light source (not shown in the prior art, but the prior art inherently discloses a light source emitting the light disclosed) to the second optical group (L4S1, L4S2), the third optical group having positive refractive power (see L1S1, L1S2, L2S1, L2S2, L3S1, L3S2); and
a detector configured to detect or recognize an object in an environment using the IR light from the projector (Fig. 4A “415a Image Sensor”).
However, the first optical group does not disclose one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power.
Yamashita discloses an optical group (Fig. 3 and para 118 “first lens group L1”) comprising a light folding element (Fig. 3 L1 shows a prism) and one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power (para 121 “the first lens group L1 has a positive refractive power”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the first optical group disclosing one or more lenses at a light emission side of the light folding element, the first optical group having positive refractive power as taught by Yamashita so that achromaticism in the first lens group is effectively secured by providing comparatively large chromatic dispersion (para 122).
However, the prior art in combination does not disclose the IR light emitter is displaced from the camera and detector to at least partially overlap with the detector as set forth in the claimed combination.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNCHA P CHERRY whose telephone number is (571)272-2310. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 7am to 3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (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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9/24/2026
/EUNCHA P CHERRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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