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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed to date have been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Torii (US 20230106139) herein after referred to as D1.
With regard to claim 1, D1 teaches an optical system (100) configured to guide light from a display element (101) to an observation side, in at least one of (Fig. 2, and 6); the optical system (100) comprising: a transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]); a polarization separation surface (surface of 107); a polarizing element (107); and a lens including a resin ([0037]) material, wherein the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) or the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) and the polarizing element (107) are integrated with each other to form an optical unit (100), wherein the optical unit (100) and the lens are cemented ([0019]) to each other via a first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), wherein the light transmits through the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])) a plurality of times (fig. 2), and wherein the following inequalities are satisfied: 0.009<N2×d1<0.031, 0.95≤N1/N2≤1.1 (calculable within resin lens and UV adhesive materials) where d1 (mm) is a thickness ([0036]) of the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), N1 is a refractive index of the lens ([0037]; resin lens, with resin refractive indices) for d-line, and N2 is a refractive index ([0037]; UV adhesive with RI of UV adhesives) of the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])) for the d-line.
With regard to claim 2, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein the following inequality is satisfied: Re≤30 where Re (nm) a phase difference amount caused by birefringence of the lens ([0037]; minimal).
With regard to claim 3, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 0.0002≤d1/f≤0.002 where f is a focal length ([0023]) of the optical system (100).
With regard to claim 4, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein the light transmits through the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])) three times (Fig. 2).
With regard to claim 5, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein at least one of the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) and the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) includes a film element (107), and the film element (107) is attached to one of a plurality of polarizing elements (107) via a second adhesive layer ([0029]), and wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 0.005≤d2<0.02 where d2 (mm) is a thickness ([0036]) of the second adhesive layer ([0029]).
With regard to claim 6, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); further comprising a first lens (104) on a display element (101) side and a second lens (105) on the observation side, each of which is a resin ([0037]) lens, the first lens (104) and the second lens (105) being cemented ([0019]) together, and the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) being disposed at a cemented ([0019]) portion between the first lens (104) and the second lens (105), wherein the optical unit (100) including the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) is adhered to an observation-side-surface of the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])).
With regard to claim 7, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); further comprising a first lens (104) on a display element (101) side and a second lens (105) on the observation side, each of which is a resin ([0037]) lens, the first lens (104) and the second lens (105) being cemented ([0019]) together, and a first optical unit (100) including the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) being adhered to a cemented ([0019]) surface of the second lens (105) with the first lens (104) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), wherein a second optical unit (100) including the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) is adhered to an observation-side surface of the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])).
With regard to claim 8, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein a lens surface closest to a display element (101) in the optical system (100) is an aspheric surface that has a convex shape ([0037]) toward a display element (101) side in a central area including an optical axis (center) of the optical system (100), and an inflection point (104) has an inflection point on display side) within an optically effective area.
With regard to claim 9, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 8, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 0.2≤Yip/Yea≤0.75 where Yip is a distance (104, 105; and [0040]) from the optical axis (center) to the inflection point (104) has an inflection point on display side) on the aspheric surface, and Yea is a maximum distance (104, 105; and [0040]) from the optical axis (center) to the optically effective area.
With regard to claim 10, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); further comprising a first lens (104) on a display element (101) side and a second lens (105) on the observation side, each of which is a resin ([0037]) lens, the first lens (104) and the second lens (105) being cemented ([0019]) together, and the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) or the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) being disposed at a cemented ([0019]) portion between the first lens (104) and the second lens (105), wherein the following inequalities are satisfied: 0.2≤|Φ1/Φ2|≤0.8 where Φ1 is optical power on an optical axis (center) of the optical system (100), of the first lens (104), and Φ2 is optical power on the optical axis (center) of the second lens (105).
With regard to claim 11, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); further comprising a first lens (104) on a display element (101) side and a second lens (105) on the observation side, each of which is a resin ([0037]) lens, the first lens (104) and the second lens (105) being cemented ([0019]) together, and the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) or the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) being adhered to a cemented ([0019]) surface of the second lens (105) with the first lens (104) via an adhesive layer ([0037]), wherein an observation-side-surface of the second lens (105) is a planar surface, and wherein the cemented ([0019]) surface is an aspheric surface that is convex toward a display element (101) side.
With regard to claim 12, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); comprising, in order from a display element (101) side to the observation side: a first polarizing plate (102); a first phase plate (103); a first lens (104) with negative refractive power; the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]); a second lens (105) with positive refractive power; a second phase plate (103); the polarization separation surface (surface of 107); a second polarizing plate (102); and a third lens with positive refractive power, wherein the second phase plate (103) is adhered to the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])).
With regard to claim 13, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); comprising, in order from a display element (101) side to the observation side: a first polarizing plate (102); a first phase plate (103); a first lens (104) with negative refractive power; the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]); a second lens (105) with positive refractive power; a second phase plate (103); the polarization separation surface (surface of 107); and a second polarizing plate (102), wherein the second phase plate (103) is adhered to the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])).
With regard to claim 14, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical system (100), in at least one of (figs. 2 and 6); comprising, in order from a display element (101) side to the observation side: a first polarizing plate (102); a first lens (104) with negative refractive power; the polarization separation surface (surface of 107); a first phase plate (103); a second lens (105) with positive refractive power; the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]); a second phase plate (103); and a second polarizing plate (102), wherein the first phase plate (103) is adhered to a display-element-side surface of the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), and the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) is adhered to an observation-side-surface of the second lens (105) via the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])).
With regard to claim 15, D1 teaches an image display apparatus comprising: an optical system (100) configured to guide light from a display element (101) to an observation side; and the display element (101), wherein the optical system (100) includes: a transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]); a polarization separation surface (surface of 107); a polarizing element (107); and a lens including a resin ([0037]) material, wherein the transmissive reflective surface (104, 109 and [0019]) or the polarization separation surface (surface of 107) and the polarizing element (107) are integrated with each other to form an optical unit (100), wherein the optical unit (100) and the lens are cemented ([0019]) to each other via a first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), wherein the light transmits through the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])) a plurality of times, and wherein the following inequalities are satisfied: 0.009<N2×d1<0.031 0.95≤N1/N2≤1.1 (calculable within resin lens and UV adhesive materials) where d1 (mm) is a thickness ([0036]) of the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])), N1 is a refractive index of the lens ([0037]; resin lens, with resin refractive indices) for d-line, and N2 is a refractive index ([0037]; UV adhesive with RI of UV adhesives) of the first adhesive layer ([0025] and [0037])) for the d-line.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GRANT A GAGNON whose telephone number is (571)270-0642. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bumsuk Won can be reached at (571) 272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GRANT A GAGNON/ Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/BALRAM T PARBADIA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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