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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elazhary et al., US Patent 11604351 hereinafter referenced as Elazhary in view of Border et al., US PGPUB 20160187654 hereinafter referenced as Border.
As to claim 1, Elazhary discloses a display engine comprising: an illumination module (as shown in fig. 1, head mounted device 100 may include one or more light sources disposed outside the field-of-view of the user);
an LCoS display panel (e.g., display 402, fig. 4; wherein In some embodiments, display 402 may be a liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) device);
a waveguide (e.g., waveguide 210, fig. 2); and
projection optics configured to direct source light from the illumination module to the LCoS display panel and direct image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide (as shown in fig. 2B, the illustrated example of optical waveguide 210 is shown as including an input coupler 215 that is configured to couple the display light 205 received from the digital projector 108A into the optical waveguide 210. The display light 205 then propagates within the optical waveguide 210 via total internal reflection (TIR), where the display light 205 then exits the optical waveguide 210 via an output coupler 220 (e.g., a grating) towards the eyeward side 109).
Elazhary does not specifically disclose directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide.
However, in the same endeavor, Border discloses directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide ([0237] wherein the optical assembly includes a corrective element that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, a freeform optical waveguide enabling internal reflections, and a coupling lens positioned to direct an image from an optical display, such as an LCoS display, to the optical waveguide).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Elazhary to further include Border’s waveguide arrangements, in order to improve user’s experience with intention of activating desired function effectively.
As to claim 11, Elazhary discloses a display engine comprising: a backlight illumination module (as shown in fig. 1, head mounted device 100 may include one or more light sources disposed outside the field-of-view of the user);
an LCoS display panel (e.g., display 402, fig. 4; wherein In some embodiments, display 402 may be a liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) device);
a waveguide (e.g., waveguide 210, fig. 2); and
projection optics configured to direct source light from the illumination module to the LCoS display panel and direct image light from the LCoS display panel through the collimator to the waveguide (as shown in fig. 2B, the illustrated example of optical waveguide 210 is shown as including an input coupler 215 that is configured to couple the display light 205 received from the digital projector 108A into the optical waveguide 210. The display light 205 then propagates within the optical waveguide 210 via total internal reflection (TIR), where the display light 205 then exits the optical waveguide 210 via an output coupler 220 (e.g., a grating) towards the eyeward side 109).
Elazhary does not specifically disclose directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide and a collimator located between the LCoS display panel and the waveguide.
However, in the same endeavor, Border discloses directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide ([0237] wherein the optical assembly includes a corrective element that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, a freeform optical waveguide enabling internal reflections, and a coupling lens positioned to direct an image from an optical display, such as an LCoS display, to the optical waveguide) and a collimator located between the LCoS display panel and the waveguide (Referring to FIG. 4, the image light, which may be polarized and collimated, may optionally traverse a display coupling lens 412, which may or may not be the collimator itself or in addition to the collimator, and enter the waveguide 414).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Elazhary to further include Border’s waveguide arrangements, in order to improve user’s experience with intention of activating desired function effectively.
As to claim 19, Elazhary discloses a display engine comprising: an illumination module comprising at least one light emitting diode (as shown in fig. 1, head mounted device 100 may include one or more light sources disposed outside the field-of-view of the user);
an LCoS display panel arranged to receive source light output by the illumination module (e.g., display 402, fig. 4; wherein In some embodiments, display 402 may be a liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) device);
a waveguide arranged to receive image light emitted from the LCoS display panel (e.g., waveguide 210, fig. 2); and
projection optics configured to direct the source light from the illumination module to the LCoS display panel and direct the image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide (as shown in fig. 2B, the illustrated example of optical waveguide 210 is shown as including an input coupler 215 that is configured to couple the display light 205 received from the digital projector 108A into the optical waveguide 210. The display light 205 then propagates within the optical waveguide 210 via total internal reflection (TIR), where the display light 205 then exits the optical waveguide 210 via an output coupler 220 (e.g., a grating) towards the eyeward side 109).
Elazhary does not specifically disclose directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide.
However, in the same endeavor, Border discloses directing image light from the LCoS display panel to the waveguide ([0237] wherein the optical assembly includes a corrective element that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, a freeform optical waveguide enabling internal reflections, and a coupling lens positioned to direct an image from an optical display, such as an LCoS display, to the optical waveguide).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Elazhary to further include Border’s waveguide arrangements, in order to improve user’s experience with intention of activating desired function effectively.
As to claim 2, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises a direct-lit module (Elazhary, e.g., digital projectors 108A/108B, fig. 1).
As to claim 3, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises an edge-lit module (Elazhary, e.g., digital projectors 108A/108B, fig. 1).
As to claim 4, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises a backlight module (Border, the system may have a backlit system, where the LED RGB triplet may be the light source directed to pass light through the display).
As to claim 5, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises a polarization recycling element (Elazhary, as shown in fig. 1, in some examples, the optical combiner layer includes a polarization-selective hologram (a.k.a. polarized volume hologram) that diffracts a particular polarization orientation of incident light while passing other polarization orientations).
As to claim 6, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module and the LCoS display panel are located on opposite sides of the waveguide (Elazhary, e.g., waveguide 210, fig. 2B).
As to claim 7, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the illumination module and the LCoS display panel are located on a common side of the waveguide (Elazhary, e.g., the arrangement of display 402 and lens assembly 404, fig. 4).
As to claim 8, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the waveguide comprises a polarization beam splitter located within the waveguide (Elazhary, The near-eye optical element 110A may also include an optional optical combiner layer that is configured to receive display light that is generated by the digital projector 108A and to direct the display light towards the eyeward side 109 for presentation to the user).
As to claim 9, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses the projection optics comprises a polarization beam splitter (Border, e.g., beam splitter 2518, fig. 44).
As to claim 10, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 1. The combination further discloses a collimator located between the LCoS display panel and the waveguide (Boarder, referring to FIG. 4, the image light, which may be polarized and collimated, may optionally traverse a display coupling lens 412, which may or may not be the collimator itself or in addition to the collimator, and enter the waveguide 414).
As to claim 12, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises a direct- lit module (Elazhary, e.g., digital projectors 108A/108B, fig. 1).
As to claim 13, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises an edge- lit module (Elazhary, e.g., digital projectors 108A/108B, fig. 1).
As to claim 14, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the illumination module comprises a polarization recycling element (Elazhary, as shown in fig. 1, in some examples, the optical combiner layer includes a polarization-selective hologram (a.k.a. polarized volume hologram) that diffracts a particular polarization orientation of incident light while passing other polarization orientations).
As to claim 15, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the illumination module and the LCoS display panel are located on opposite sides of the waveguide (Elazhary, e.g., waveguide 210, fig. 2B).
As to claim 16, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the illumination module and the LCoS display panel are located on a common side of the waveguide (Elazhary, e.g., the arrangement of display 402 and lens assembly 404, fig. 4).
As to claim 17, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the waveguide comprises a polarization beam splitter located within the waveguide (Border, e.g., beam splitter 2518, fig. 44).
As to claim 18, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 11. The combination further discloses the projection optics comprises a polarization beam splitter (Border, e.g., beam splitter 2518, fig. 44).
As to claim 20, the combination of Elazhary and Border discloses the display engine of claim 19. The combination further discloses a collimator located between the LCoS display panel and the waveguide (Boarder, referring to FIG. 4, the image light, which may be polarized and collimated, may optionally traverse a display coupling lens 412, which may or may not be the collimator itself or in addition to the collimator, and enter the waveguide 414).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Osterhout et al., US PGPUB 20210173480 discloses an interactive head-mounted eyepiece with an integrated processor for handling content for display and an integrated image source for introducing the content to an optical assembly through which the user views a surrounding environment and the displayed content, wherein the eyepiece includes predictive control of external device based on an event input.
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/SAHLU OKEBATO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625 10/29/2025