Appeal No. 95-4470
Application No. 08/223,190
1.414 and wherein the body is formed in the shape of a porro
prism to provide for retroreflection in one plane and
polarization rotation of incident light rays. Such a
construction is said to provide for 100% reflectivity of incident
light rays and for a geometric rotation of the plane of
polarization of light rays which is independent of whether the
reflections are totally internally reflecting or not.
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. A monolithic optical element comprising:
a body comprising a material having a refractive index
greater than 1.414 to provide for total internal reflection of
incident light, and wherein the body is formed in the shape of a
right-angle porro prism to provide for retroreflection in one
plane and polarization rotation of the incident light rays.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Crow 3,924,201 Dec. 2, 1975
Simmons 4,525,034 Jun. 25, 1985
Reeder 4,740,986 Apr. 26, 1988
Sumida 5,303,256 Apr. 12, 1994
(filed Mar. 12, 1993)
In addition, the examiner relies on appellants’ admitted
prior art Figure 4 [APA].
Claims 1 through 3 and 10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103
as unpatentable over Sumida, Simmons and Crow. In a new ground
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007