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.
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) 1, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820).
With respect to claim 1, PARK discloses a display apparatus (par 0032; discloses FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a display device 10, which may be included in or coupled to a portable electronic device. Examples of the portable electronic device include a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a mobile communication terminal, an electronic notepad, an electronic book (e-book), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a navigation device, or a ultra-mobile PC (UMPC). In one example, the display device 10 may be used as the display unit of a television (TV), a laptop computer, a monitor, a billboard, or an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device. In another example, the display device 10 may be applicable to a wearable device such as a smartwatch, a watchphone, a glasses display, or a head-mounted display (HMD)) comprising: a substrate including a display area and a non-display area (par 0036; discloses the display panel 100 may include a main area MA and a subarea SBA. The main area MA may include a display area DA including pixels to display an image and a non-display area NDA around or otherwise adjacent to the display area DA); a pixel driving circuit provided in the display area (par 0037; discloses the display panel 100 may include pixel circuits including switching elements, a pixel defining film defining emission areas or opening areas, and self-light-emitting elements); first electrodes connected to the pixel driving circuit (par 0098; discloses The first electrode AND may be connected to the drain electrode DE of the TFT through the first connecting electrode CNE1 and the second connecting electrode CNE2); light emitting devices disposed on the first electrodes (par 0099; discloses in each pixel circuit, emission layer EL may be on the first electrode AND); second electrodes disposed on the light emitting devices (par 0100; discloses the second electrode CAT may be on the emission layer EL and, for example, may be implemented as a common electrode for all pixels); and a display driver configured to detect a touch by using a touch sensing signal received from the display area (par 0042; discloses the touch driving unit 400 may provide touch driving signals to a plurality of touch electrodes and may detect variations in capacitances (or resistances) of the touch electrodes. For example, the touch driving signals may include signals having a plurality of driving pulses. The touch driving unit 400 may detect the presence of touch input and calculate the touch coordinates of the touch input based on variations in the capacitances (or resistances) of the touch electrodes);
PARK doesn’t expressly disclose a user signal generator configured to output a user signal; a display driver configured to control the user signal generator;
In the same field of endeavor, De Araujo discloses an electronic device with sensing capabilities (see abstract); De Araujo discloses a user signal generator configured to output a user signal; a display driver configured to control the user signal generator (par 0032; discloses turning to FIG. 1, a simplified diagram of a sensing system 10 is shown. The sensing system 10 comprises a mixed signal circuit 100 in communication with a communications module 150 and plurality of sensor sub-systems; par 0035; discloses the sensing system 10 comprises a signal infusion sensor 400. In an embodiment, the signal infusion sensor 400 comprises transmitters 410 adapted to transmit a plurality of signals into the user. The signal infusion sensor 400 further comprises receivers 420 adapted to receive the plurality of signal and to extrapolate information regarding a movement or a pose of a body part from the differences between the transmitted and the received signals);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK to incorporate the teachings of De Araujo to include a signal infusion sensor that transmits signal into the user such that information regarding a movement or a pose of a body part can be determined from the differences between the transmitted and the received signals.
With respect to claim 17, PARK as modified by De Araujo discloses further comprising: a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling the user signal generator and transmit the control signal to the user signal generator through the display driver (De Araujo; fig. 1; discloses mixed signal circuit 100 controls the signal infusion sensor; par 0032; discloses the mixed signal circuit 100 comprises at least one of a processor, a microcontroller, memory, discrete electronic components, power management circuits, and communication modules (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC)); PARK discloses timing controller for controlling the touch driving unit and display driving unit (PARK; par 0117; discloses the touch driving unit 400 may drive the touch sensing unit TSU in synchronization with the display driving unit 200. The touch driving unit 400 may receive timing control signals from a main processor or a main controller);
Claim(s) 2, 7-8, 10, 13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820) and TABATAKE et al (US Pub 2023/0214042).
With respect to claim 2, PARK as modified by De Araujo discloses wherein the display driver supplies a touch driving signal to the touch sensor, and detects the touch by using the touch sensing signal received from the touch sensor (PARK; par 0042; discloses the touch driving unit 400 may provide touch driving signals to a plurality of touch electrodes and may detect variations in capacitances (or resistances) of the touch electrodes. For example, the touch driving signals may include signals having a plurality of driving pulses. The touch driving unit 400 may detect the presence of touch input and calculate the touch coordinates of the touch input based on variations in the capacitances (or resistances) of the touch electrodes);
PARK as modified by De Araujo discloses the display driver supplies a touch driving signal to the pixel driving circuit and detects the touch by using the touch sensing signal received from the pixel driving circuit;
In the same field of endeavor, TABATAKE discloses a display device and control method (see abstract); TABATAKE discloses the display driver supplies a touch driving signal to the pixel driving circuit and detects the touch by using the touch sensing signal received from the pixel driving circuit (par 0056; discloses in a touch detection period (the second period) for detecting a touch, the switching circuit SW connects each upper electrode E2 to the touch controller TC, and disconnects the upper electrode E2 from the power supply circuit FC. With this configuration, in the touch detection period, the drive signal for touch detection is supplied to each upper electrode E2 via the respective power feed line FL. Each upper electrode E2 outputs a detection signal corresponding to the supplied drive signal to the touch controller TC via the power feed line FL. When the touch controller TC receives the input of the detection signal output from each upper electrode E2, it detects the touch based on the waveform of the detection signal.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo to incorporate the teachings of TABATAKE to use the second electrode of the pixel as touch sensor and supply touch driving signal and receiving sensing signal from the second electrode during the touch detection period in order to eliminate the need for separate electrode for touch sensing, allowing one to achieve thinner profile for the device.
With respect to claim 7, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the pixel driving circuit supplies a cathode voltage to the second electrodes during a display period, and supplies the touch driving signal to the second electrodes during a touch sensing period (TABATAKE; par 0056; discloses In a display period (the first period) in which the display elements 20 contained in pixels PX are made to emit light to display the image on the display unit DA, the switching circuit SW connects each upper electrode E2 to the power supply circuit FC, and disconnects each upper electrode E2 from the touch controller TC. With this configuration, in the display period, the common potential is supplied to each upper electrode E2 via the respective power feed line FL; par 0057; discloses On the other hand, in a touch detection period (the second period) for detecting a touch, the switching circuit SW connects each upper electrode E2 to the touch controller TC, and disconnects the upper electrode E2 from the power supply circuit FC. With this configuration, in the touch detection period, the drive signal for touch detection is supplied to each upper electrode E2 via the respective power feed line FL).
With respect to claim 8, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the pixel driving circuit comprises: a sub-pixel driving part configured to supply anode voltages to the first electrodes; and a cathode electrode driver configured to supply a cathode voltage or a touch driving signal to a second electrode shared by at least two sub-pixels (PARK; par 0099; discloses in each pixel circuit, emission layer EL may be on the first electrode AND. The emission layer EL may be, for example, an organic emission layer including an organic material. In this example, when the TFT applies a predetermined voltage to the first (anode) electrode AND and a second (cathode) electrode CAT receives a common voltage, holes and electrons may move to the emission layer EL through the hole transport layer and electron transport layer. The holes and electrons may combine together in the emission layer EL to emit light).
With respect to claim 10, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the user signal is transmitted to a skin of a user through a case covering the user signal generator (De Araujo; par 0043; discloses at least one of the mixed signal circuit 100, the communications module 150, the IMU sensor 200, the mechanical wave sensor 300, the signal infusion sensor 400, and the outward-sensing sensor 500 is contained within at least one of the housing 22 and the at least one secondary housing 24; par 0044; discloses Turning now to FIG. 6, a cutaway view of the sensing system 10 incorporated into the wearable 20 is shown. In an embodiment, the sensing system 10 comprises transmitters 410 and 510 located in secondary housing 24 proximate to the anterior of the wrist; par 0035; discloses the signal infusion sensor 400 comprises transmitters 410 adapted to transmit a plurality of signals into the user.).
With respect to claim 13, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the display driver comprises: a touch controller configured to detect a touch on the display apparatus by using touch sensing signals transmitted from the pixel driving circuit (PARK; par 0108; discloses the touch driving unit (touch driver) 400 may include a driving signal output part (driving signal output) 410, a sensing circuit part (sensing circuit) 420, an analog-to-digital conversion part (A/D converter) 430, a touch control part (touch controller) 440, and a touch data compensation part (touch data compensator) 450) and control the user signal generator (De Araujo; fig. 1; discloses mixed signal circuit 100 connected to signal infusion sensor 400; see par 0035); and an image signal generator configured to generate image signals to be transmitted to the pixel driving circuit (PARK; par 0116; discloses the display driving unit 200 may sequentially provide scan signals to pixels arranged in multiple rows during the Display period of the first display frame period DFT1. These pixels may emit light to display an image in the order of selection by the scan signals).
With respect to claim 15, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the display driver further comprises: a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling the user signal generator and transmit the control signal to the user signal generator (De Araujo; fig. 1; discloses mixed signal circuit 100 controls the signal infusion sensor; par 0032; discloses the mixed signal circuit 100 comprises at least one of a processor, a microcontroller, memory, discrete electronic components, power management circuits, and communication modules (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC)); PARK discloses timing controller for controlling the touch driving unit and display driving unit (PARK; par 0117; discloses the touch driving unit 400 may drive the touch sensing unit TSU in synchronization with the display driving unit 200. The touch driving unit 400 may receive timing control signals from a main processor or a main controller);
Claim(s) 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820), TABATAKE et al (US Pub 2023/0214042) and KANG et al (US Pub 2022/0066585).
With respect to claim 3, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein among the second electrodes, at least two second electrodes connected to the pixel driving circuit are used as one touch electrode;
In the same field of endeavor, KANG discloses touch display panel where wherein among the second electrodes, at least two second electrodes connected to the pixel driving circuit are used as one touch electrode (Par 0055; discloses each of the cathodes 331 includes multiple sub-cathodes 301 arranged in an array, and the multiple sub-cathodes 301 are electrically connected to each other at the cathode metal layer 33 through leading wires to form one touch electrode 331);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of KANG to form a signal touch electrode using plurality of cathode electrode such that touch input is accurately detected.
With respect to claim 4, PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and KANG discloses wherein each of the at least two second electrodes extends along a first direction of the substrate, and the at least two second electrodes are provided along a second direction different from the first direction (KANG; fig. 2 and 3; discloses the plurality of sub-electrode 301 extends in the first direction and second direction).
With respect to claim 5, PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and KANG discloses wherein when a cathode voltage is supplied to any one of the at least two second electrodes, light is configured to emit from light emitting devices connected to the second electrode to which the cathode voltage is supplied (TABAKAKE; par 0056; discloses In a display period (the first period) in which the display elements 20 contained in pixels PX are made to emit light to display the image on the display unit DA, the switching circuit SW connects each upper electrode E2 to the power supply circuit FC, and disconnects each upper electrode E2 from the touch controller TC. With this configuration, in the display period, the common potential is supplied to each upper electrode E2 via the respective power feed line FL. By supplying the common potential to each upper electrode E2, the display elements 20 contained in the pixels PX emit light to display the image on the display unit DA).
With respect to claim 6, PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and KANG discloses wherein when the at least two second electrodes are used as one touch electrode, a touch driving signal is simultaneously supplied to the at least two second electrodes (KANG; par 0055; discloses each of the cathodes 331 includes multiple sub-cathodes 301 arranged in an array, and the multiple sub-cathodes 301 are electrically connected to each other at the cathode metal layer 33 through leading wires to form one touch electrode 331; par 0052; discloses The cathode metal layer 33 of the touch display panel 100 according to the present application is reused as the touch electrode layer 33. The cathode metal layer 33 accesses the touch drive signal when the light-emitting cycle is within the first time period, and the cathode metal layer 33 accesses the display drive signal when the light-emitting cycle is within the second time period).
Claim(s) 9, 11-12, 14, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820), TABATAKE et al (US Pub 2023/0214042) and Forlines (US Pub 2021/0026465).
With respect to claim 9, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein a frequency of the user signal is K times a frequency of the touch driving signal, where K is a natural number;
In the same field of endeavor, Forlines discloses electronic device and input sensing method (see abstract); Forlines discloses transmitting an infused signal (i.e. user signal) into the body of the user wherein a frequency of the user signal is K times a frequency of the touch driving signal, where K is a natural number (par 0037; discloses in an embodiment, the stylus 12 infuses at least two signals at different frequencies into a user's hand, with the infused signals both ultimately being transmitted by free hand touches but with one of the signals resulting in measurements that are more distinguishable, such as for example, by having a larger amplitude, than the other; par 0039; discloses The signal infused into the user is at a predetermined frequency. The predetermined frequency is selected so that it is higher than the frequencies of the signals transmitted on the touch sensitive device 10);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of Forlines to vary the frequency of the user signal compared to touch driving signal in order to distinguish the sensed signal from each other such that inputs from different user can be distinguished.
With respect to claim 11, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein a magnitude of a first touch sensing signal generated by a first user to whom the user signal is transmitted is different from a magnitude of a second touch sensing signal generated by a second user to whom the user signal is not transmitted;
In the same field of endeavor, Forlines discloses electronic device and input sensing method (see abstract); Forlines discloses wherein a magnitude of a first touch sensing signal generated by a first user to whom the user signal is transmitted is different from a magnitude of a second touch sensing signal generated by a second user to whom the user signal is not transmitted (par 0037; discloses the stylus 12 infuses at least two signals at different frequencies into a user's hand, with the infused signals both ultimately being transmitted by free hand touches but with one of the signals resulting in measurements that are more distinguishable, such as for example, by having a larger amplitude, than the other.; par 0038; discloses the difference in measured signal strength from a signal of the same frequency is used to determine which is the active stylus hand versus the free hand. In an embodiment, a single signal is infused into the stylus holding hand and resulting measurements are used to distinguish the free hand from the stylus hand);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of Forlines to use infused signal (i.e. user signal) for touch sensing such that multiple inputs can be detected and sensed by the touch device from different types of input and different commands executed based on the sensing.
With respect to claim 12, PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and Forlines discloses wherein the magnitude of the first touch sensing signal is greater than the magnitude of the second touch sensing signal (Forlines; par 0037; discloses in an embodiment, the stylus 12 infuses at least two signals at different frequencies into a user's hand, with the infused signals both ultimately being transmitted by free hand touches but with one of the signals resulting in measurements that are more distinguishable, such as for example, by having a larger amplitude, than the other; par 0038; discloses he difference in measured signal strength from a signal of the same frequency is used to determine which is the active stylus hand versus the free hand).
With respect to claim 14, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein the touch controller controls the user signal generator so that the user signal is output in synchronization with a timing at which the touch driving signal is output to the second electrodes;
In the same field of endeavor, Forlines discloses electronic device and input sensing method (see abstract); Forlines discloses wherein the touch controller controls the user signal generator so that the user signal is output in synchronization with a timing at which the touch driving signal is output to the second electrodes (par 0039; discloses on the stylus 12 shown in FIG. 2, an infusion electrode 16 is located on the body of the stylus. The infusion electrode 16 is adapted to transmit a signal into the hand of the person holding the stylus 12. The signal infused into the user is at a predetermined frequency. The predetermined frequency is selected so that it is higher than the frequencies of the signals transmitted on the touch sensitive device 10. The signal traverses the body and is able to be detected at the display through touches with the hand holding the stylus 12 and the free hand 14; Hence, the infused signal (user signal) is in sync with touch driving signal such that touch device is able to detect free hand touch and infused hand touch);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of Forlines to use infused signal (i.e. user signal) for touch sensing such that multiple inputs can be detected and sensed by the touch device from different types of input and different commands executed based on the sensing such as free hand commands and infused hand command.
With respect to claim 16, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein the user signal is a signal for amplifying the touch sensing signal generated by the touch driving signal;
In the same field of endeavor, Forlines discloses electronic device and input sensing method (see abstract); Forlines discloses wherein the user signal is a signal for amplifying the touch sensing signal generated by the touch driving signal (par 0037; discloses the stylus 12 infuses at least two signals at different frequencies into a user's hand, with the infused signals both ultimately being transmitted by free hand touches but with one of the signals resulting in measurements that are more distinguishable, such as for example, by having a larger amplitude, than the other.);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of Forlines to use infused signal (i.e. user signal) for touch sensing such that multiple inputs can be detected and sensed by the touch device from different types of input and different commands executed based on the sensing such as free hand commands and infused hand command using the distinguishable signals.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820), TABATAKE et al (US Pub 2023/0214042) and Lee et al (US Pub 2022/0206614).
With respect to claim 18, PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE discloses wherein the touch driving signal has a constant frequency (PARK; par 0118; discloses the touch driving unit 400 may drive the touch sensing unit TSU at a predetermined driving frequency, e.g., 120 Hz or another frequency);
PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE don’t expressly disclose wherein the touch driving signal includes a square wave or a sine wave;
In the same field of endeavor, Lee discloses touch display device and driving method (see abstract); wherein the touch driving signal includes a square wave or a sine wave (par 0118; discloses a touch driving signal TDS may have one or more of various types of signals, such as a square wave, a triangle wave, a sine wave, or the like);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo and TABATAKE to incorporate the teachings of Lee to use square waves or sine wave as touch driving signal in order to achieve the predictable result of detecting touch inputs based on the detected change in the sensed signal.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al (US Pub 2022/0093694) in view of De Araujo et al (US Pub 2020/0367820), TABATAKE et al (US Pub 2023/0214042), Lee et al (US Pub 2022/0206614) and Barnard (US Pat 6,859,657).
With respect to claim 19, PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and Lee don’t expressly disclose wherein the user signal includes a square wave or a sine wave;
In the same field of endeavor, Barnard discloses electronic device and method for transmitting signal into user body where Barnard discloses wherein the user signal includes a square wave or a sine wave (col 4; lines 8-22; discloses In the illustrated embodiment the signal path 120 is via the user's skin. A 100 kHz sine wave is injected into the skin at the user's wrist 202 via a capacitively-coupled electrode 404);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by PARK as modified by De Araujo, TABATAKE and Lee to incorporate the teachings of Barnard to use sine wave as signal being transmitted via user’s skin in order to achieve the predictable result of transmitting distinguishable signal to the touch screen such that various input can be provided to the touch device for performing different functions.
Conclusion
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/SUJIT SHAH/Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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