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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/14/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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) 1-8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mototsuji (US 2021/0341123).
Regarding claim 1, Mototsuji discloses a projection device for generating dynamic projections, comprising:
an arrangement having a plurality of light source (32, Fig. 2) spaced apart from each other;
a collimation optic (20A-20C, Fig. 2) for generating a parallel beam path from the light sources; and
a microlens array (1042A-C, Fig. 13) arrangement in the beam path of a collimating optic, wherein a focal length (specifically the point where the light converges to in Fig. 15a or Fig. 15b) of lenses at an illumination side of the microlens array arrangement is larger than a distance of the lenses to a slide plane (the distance between 1042B and 50a).
Regarding claim 2, Mototsuji discloses the light sources are arranged in a linear manner or in a shape of a matrix (Figs. 1 or 2).
Regarding claim 3, Mototsuji discloses the lenses are designed for covering an entire surface (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Mototsuji discloses the lenses are arranged in a square, rectangular or hexagonal manner (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 5, Mototsuji discloses the focal length of the lenses at the illumination side is larger than a focal length of lenses at a projection side of the microlens array arrangement (specifically, looking at Fig. 15a or 15b shows the focal length passing 50 while on the F is pointing to the focal length of 1044A or B, Paragraph 0207).
Regarding claim 6, Mototsuji discloses the microlens array arrangement comprises a microlens array having a carrier (the carrier being the area below the lens and above 50a, Fig. 15a-b) and a matrix-shaped arrangement comprising a plurality of lenses (the lenses, 1042a-b).
Regarding claim 7, Mototsuji discloses the carrier and the lenses are designed as single piece (Figs. 15a-b).
Regarding claim 8, Mototsuji discloses the microlens array arrangement comprises a first microlens array (1042A-B, Figs. 15a-b) at the illumination side and a second microlens array (1044A-B, Figs. 15A-B) at a projection side.
Regarding claim 10, Mototsuji discloses a projection method for generating dynamic projections, comprising a step of illuminating a microlens array (1042A-B, Figs. 15A, B) arrangement by a plurality of light sources (32, Fig. 2) spaced apart from each other, wherein
a focal length of lenses at an illumination side of the microlens array arrangement is larger than a distance of the lenses to a slide plane (50A, Fig. 15A and B).
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mototsuji (US 2021/0341123) in view of Lee (US 11168857).
Regarding claim 9, Mototsuji fails to teach the required focal length
Lee teaches the focal length (the point where the light is going to in Fig. 8) of the lenses at the illumination side corresponds to a sum of a thickness of the microlens array at the illumination side and the thickness of the microlens array at the projection side (the sum of 130, Fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having the focal length of Mototsuji of the lenses at the illumination side being a sum of the thickness of the microlens arrays as taught by Lee, in order to provide a different light distribution as needed for a given application of the device.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Moser et al. (US 2019/0072252), Go et al. (US 11644170), Lim (US 11441752), and Eckstein et al. (US 10232763) teach a collimator, with lenses and wall sections.
Conclusion
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/ERIC T EIDE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2875