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 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mizushima et al (US 2012/0147334; hereinafter referred to as Mizushima).
Regarding Claim 1, Mizushima teaches an illuminator (Figure 8; Projector 100B) including:
a first light source (Figure 8; Red Laser Source 110r) configured to output first light that belongs to a first wavelength band (see Paragraph [0111]);
a second light source (Figure 8; Green Laser Source 110g) configured to output second light that belongs to a second wavelength band different from the first wavelength band (see Paragraph [0111]);
a light combining member (Figure 8; Multiplex Prism 112) configured to combine the first light and the second light with each other and output the combined light (see Paragraph [0124]; wherein it is disclosed that the multiplex prism 112 makes the red, green and blue laser beams coaxial after the emission from the red, green and blue laser sources 110r, 110g, 110b, respectively);
a light homogenizer (Figure 8; Beam Shaper 160B) having a first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) on which the combined light is incident (see Figure 8 and Paragraph [0134]) and a second lens array surface (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) via which light traveling via the first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) exits (see Figure 8 and Paragraph [0134]), the first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) and the second lens array surface (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) integrated with each other (see Figure 8);
a swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) configured to swing the light homogenizer (see Paragraph [0136]); and
a superimposing lens (Figure 8; Condenser Lens 170B) configured to superimpose luminous fluxes output from the light homogenizer (Figure 8; Beam Shaper 160B) on one another (see Figure 8 and Paragraph [0133]).
Regarding Claim 2, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches the swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) swings the first (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) and second lens array surfaces (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) as a unit along a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the light homogenizer (see Paragraph [0136]).
Regarding Claim 3, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches the swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) swings the first (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) and second lens array surfaces (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) as a unit along a first direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the light homogenizer (see Paragraph [0136]) and a second direction perpendicular to the optical axis and the first direction (see Paragraph [0136]).
Regarding Claim 4, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches the first (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) and second lens array surfaces (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) are a single optical part formed as a unit (see Figure 8), and
the swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) swings the optical part (see Figure 8; Paragraph [0136]).
Regarding Claim 5, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches a holding member (see Figure 8; wherein the holding member is constituted as the material lying between and connecting incident end surface 161 and emission end surface 163) configured to hold a first optical member (Figure 8; Second Element Lenses 162B) having the first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) and a second optical member having the second lens array surface (Figure 8; Emission End Surface 163) as a unit (see Figure 8), and fix a relative position of the first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) with respect to the second lens array surface (see Figure 8),
wherein the swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) swings the holding member (see Figure 8; Paragraph [0136]).
Regarding Claim 8, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches a diffuser plate (Figure 8; Pupil Uniformizer 140) configured to diffuse the combined light incident from the light combining member (see Paragraph [0126]); and
a collimator element (Figure 8; Collimator 150) configured to parallelize the combined light output from the diffuser plate (see Figure 8 and Paragraph [0049]).
Regarding Claim 9, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches a frequency of swinging motion generated by the swinging apparatus (Figure 8; Actuator 250) is higher than or equal to 60 Hz but lower than or equal to 500 Hz (see Paragraph [0136]; wherein it is disclosed that the actuator 250 causes the reciprocal movement of the beam shaper 160B at a frequency of 200 Hz).
Regarding Claim 10, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches a third light source (Figure 8; Blue Laser Source 110b) configured to output third light that belongs to a third wavelength band different from the first and second wavelength bands (see Paragraph [0111]),
wherein the light combining member (Figure 8; Multiplex Prism 112) is configured to output the combined light that is a combination of the first light, the second light, and the third light (see Paragraph [0124]; wherein it is disclosed that the multiplex prism 112 makes the red, green and blue laser beams coaxial after the emission from the red, green and blue laser sources 110r, 110g, 110b, respectively).
Regarding Claim 11, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches the first (Figure 8; Red Laser Source 110r) and second light sources (Figure 8; Green Laser Source 110g) are each a laser light source (see Paragraph [0129]).
Regarding Claim 12, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima further teaches a projector (Figure 8) comprising:
the illuminator (Figure 8; Projector 100B) according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection above);
a light modulator (Figure 8; Spatial Light Modulator 120B) configured to modulate light output from the illuminator (see Paragraph [0132]; wherein it is disclosed that the spatial light modulator 120B modulates the red, green and blue laser beams); and
a projection optical apparatus (Figure 8; Projector Lens 130B) configured to project the light modulated by the light modulator (see Figure 8 and Paragraph [0137]),
wherein the first lens array surface (Figure 8; Incident End Surface 161) is optically conjugate with an image generation region that generates an image in the light modulator (see Paragraph [0132]).
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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizushima et al (US 2012/0147334; hereinafter referred to as Mizushima) in view of Kamijima et al (US 2019/0041739; hereinafter referred to as Kamijima).
Regarding Claim 6, Mizushima teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Mizushima does not expressly disclose a polarization converter disposed between the light homogenizer and the superimposing lens and configured to align polarization directions of the light output from the light homogenizer with a predetermined polarization direction.
Kamijima discloses a polarization converter (Figure 11; Waveplate 26) disposed between a light homogenizer (Figure 11; Rotary Wheel 117) and a superimposing lens (Figure 11; Superimposing Optical System 31) and configured to align polarization directions of the light output from the light homogenizer (Figure 11; Rotary Wheel 117) with a predetermined polarization direction (see Paragraph [0071]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the illuminator of Mizushima such that a polarization converter is disposed between the light homogenizer and the superimposing lens and configured to align polarization directions of the light output from the light homogenizer with a predetermined polarization direction, as taught by Kamijima, because doing so would predictably permit greater control over the polarization of the illumination light, thereby improving light use efficiency.
Regarding Claim 7, Mizushima as modified by Kamijima discloses the limitations of claim 6 as detailed above.
Mizushima does not expressly disclose that the swinging apparatus swings the polarization converter along with the light homogenizer.
Kamijima discloses the swinging apparatus (Figure 11; Drive Source 118) swings the polarization converter (Figure 11; Waveplate 26) along with the light homogenizer (see Paragraphs [0071], [0160] and [0171]; wherein it is disclosed that it is possible to adopt a configuration in which a material having birefringence is used for the plate body 119 constituting the rotary wheel 117 to thereby make the rotary wheel 117 also function as the wave plate 26 and wherein it is further disclosed that the drive source 118 is formed of a motor for rotating the rotary wheel 117 around the rotary shaft 120).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the illuminator of Mizushima such that the swinging apparatus swings the polarization converter along with the light homogenizer, as taught by Kamijima, because doing so would predictably permit greater control over the polarization of the illumination light, thereby improving light use efficiency.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A LAMB II whose telephone number is (571)270-0648. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 5pm EST.
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/CHRISTOPHER A LAMB II/Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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