Patents by Inventor Scott M. DELAPP

Scott M. DELAPP has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220004005
    Abstract: An electronic device may include an emissive display panel that emits light, a waveguide with an output coupler that directs the light towards an eye box, and an input coupler that couples the light into the waveguide. A lens directs the light towards the input coupler. Optical components optically coupled between the display panel and the lens may provide the image light with a field angle dependent pupil size upon coupling of the image light into the waveguide by the input coupler. This prevents light that would otherwise pass into the waveguide at angles unsuitable for total internal reflection from passing to the lens, thereby mitigating stray light in the system and optimizing contrast in the image light received at the eye box. The optical components may include an array of apertures, an array of microlenses, an array of tapered optical tunnels, or an array of optical fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2021
    Publication date: January 6, 2022
    Inventors: Vikrant Bhakta, Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp
  • Publication number: 20220004008
    Abstract: An electronic device may have an optical combiner, a spatial light modulator, and illumination optics. The modulator may produce image light for the combiner by modulating illumination light from the illumination optics. Adjustable optical components in the illumination optics may be controlled to adjust the illumination optics between first and second states. In the first state, the adjustable optical components may provide the illumination light to the modulator with a uniform intensity across the lateral area of the modulator. In the second state, the adjustable optical components may focus the illumination light within a subset of the lateral area. The subset of the lateral area may correspond with a bright object in the image light. The control circuitry may control the illumination optics to ensure that the bright object remains visible at an eye box even when the device is located in bright ambient lighting conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2021
    Publication date: January 6, 2022
    Inventors: Hyungryul Choi, Guolin Peng, Scott M. DeLapp, Vikrant Bhakta
  • Publication number: 20220004009
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a display module that produces foveated images having high and low resolution regions. The module may include a reflective display panel that produces first reflected light during first time periods and second reflected light during second time periods. The first reflected light may reflect off of a beam splitter to form the low resolution region of the foveated image. The second reflected light may be transmitted by the beam splitter, de-magnified by a lens, and redirected by an optical steering element to produce the high resolution region at a desired, adjustable, location in the foveated image. The reflective display panel may be replaced by sets of emissive display panels that concurrently display the high and low resolution regions in the foveated image. The sets of emissive display panels may be replaced by front-lit reflective display panels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2021
    Publication date: January 6, 2022
    Inventors: Graham B. Myhre, Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp, Vikrant Bhakta
  • Publication number: 20210405378
    Abstract: An electronic device may include an optical combiner with a waveguide. The waveguide may have an output coupler that directs high resolution light towards an eye box within a field of view. Peripheral light sources may provide low resolution peripheral light to the eye box about a periphery of the field of view. The peripheral light sources may be mounted to a frame for the waveguide, to an additional substrate mounted to the frame and overlapping the waveguide, in a low resolution projector that projects the peripheral light towards reflective structures in the additional substrate, or in a display module that produces the high resolution light. The optical combiner may overlay real world light with the high resolution light and the low resolution peripheral light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventors: Hyungryul Choi, Bradley C. Steele, Brian S. Lau, Cameron A. Harder, David A. Kalinowski, Eric J. Hansotte, Guolin Peng, Scott M. DeLapp, Vikrant Bhakta, Jonathan C. Moisant-Thompson
  • Publication number: 20210247610
    Abstract: An electronic device may include an emissive display panel that emits light. The light may propagate along an optical path extending to an eye box. A waveguide with an input coupler and an output coupler may be interposed on the optical path. An angle-selective transmission filter (ASTF) may be interposed on the optical path and may filter the emitted light as a function of angle to remove high-angle light from the optical path before the light is provided to the output coupler. The ASTF may include diffractive grating structures such as thin-film holograms, volume holograms, or surface relief gratings, louvered mirrors, multi-layer coatings, or a pinhole array. This ASTF may serve to minimize stray light within the display, thereby optimizing the contrast and the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Publication date: August 12, 2021
    Inventors: Vikrant Bhakta, Byron R. Cocilovo, Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp, Se Baek Oh
  • Publication number: 20210231960
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a pixel array. A light source may illuminate the pixel array to produce image light. The image light may pass through a multi-element lens and may be coupled into a waveguide using an input coupler such as a prism. An output coupler such as a diffraction grating may couple the image light out of the waveguide and towards a user. The user may view the image light and may observe real-world objects through the waveguide. The waveguide may have locally modified portions that define an aperture stop at a distance from an exit surface of the multi-element lens. The multi-element lens may have first and second achromatic doublets and first and second singlets between the first and second achromatic doublets. The lens elements of the multi-element lens may include lens elements with aspheric surfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Publication date: July 29, 2021
    Inventors: Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp, Tyler G. Anderson
  • Patent number: 11009707
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a pixel array. A light source may illuminate the pixel array to produce image light. The image light may pass through a multi-element lens and may be coupled into a waveguide using an input coupler such as a prism. An output coupler such as a diffraction grating may couple the image light out of the waveguide and towards a user. The user may view the image light and may observe real-world objects through the waveguide. The waveguide may have locally modified portions that define an aperture stop at a distance from an exit surface of the multi-element lens. The multi-element lens may have first and second achromatic doublets and first and second singlets between the first and second achromatic doublets. The lens elements of the multi-element lens may include lens elements with aspheric surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp, Tyler G. Anderson
  • Publication number: 20210041948
    Abstract: An eye tracking system for detecting position and movements of a user's eyes in a head-mounted display (HMD). The eye tracking system includes at least one eye tracking camera, an illumination source that emits infrared light towards the user's eyes, and diffraction gratings located at the eyepieces. The diffraction gratings redirect or reflect at least a portion of infrared light reflected off the user's eyes, while allowing visible light to pass. The cameras capture images of the user's eyes from the infrared light that is redirected or reflected by the diffraction gratings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kathrin Berkner-Cieslicki, Se Baek Oh, Scott M. DeLapp, Christopher F. Griffo, Bradley C. Steele, Ting Sun, Kenichi Saito, Noah D. Bedard
  • Publication number: 20200166756
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display system that produces images. The display system may have one or more pixel arrays such as liquid-crystal-on-silicon pixel arrays. Images from the display system may be coupled into a waveguide by an input coupler and may be coupled out of the waveguide using an output coupler. The input and output couplers may be formed from volume phase holographic gratings. An additional grating may be used to shift light that would otherwise pass above or below the user's field of view towards the viewer. Holographic gratings in the waveguide may have fringes with constant pitch and variable period. The period at a given portion of the grating may be Bragg-matched to maximize diffraction efficiency for light of a given incident angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2018
    Publication date: May 28, 2020
    Inventors: Scott M. DeLapp, Byron R. Cocilovo, Se Baek Oh, Bradley C. Steele
  • Publication number: 20200159020
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a pixel array. A light source may illuminate the pixel array to produce image light. The image light may pass through a multi-element lens and may be coupled into a waveguide using an input coupler such as a prism. An output coupler such as a diffraction grating may couple the image light out of the waveguide and towards a user. The user may view the image light and may observe real-world objects through the waveguide. The waveguide may have locally modified portions that define an aperture stop at a distance from an exit surface of the multi-element lens. The multi-element lens may have first and second achromatic doublets and first and second singlets between the first and second achromatic doublets. The lens elements of the multi-element lens may include lens elements with aspheric surfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2018
    Publication date: May 21, 2020
    Inventors: Guolin Peng, Hyungryul Choi, Scott M. DeLapp, Tyler G. Anderson
  • Publication number: 20200089014
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display that emits image light, a waveguide, and an input coupler that couples the image light into the waveguide. Beam splitter structures may be embedded within the waveguide. The beam splitter structures may partially reflect the image light multiple times and may serve to generate replicated beams of light that are coupled out of the waveguide by an output coupler. The beam splitter structures may replicate the beams across two dimensions to provide an eye box with uniform-intensity light from the display across its area. The beam splitter structures may include stacked partially reflective beam splitter layers, sandwiched transparent substrate layers having different indices of refraction, a thick volume hologram interposed between substrate layers, or combinations of these or other structures. The reflectivity of the beam splitter structures may vary discretely or continuously across the lateral area of the waveguide.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Inventors: Guolin Peng, Eric J. Hansotte, Francesco Aieta, Graham B. Myhre, Hyungryul Choi, Nan Zhu, Paul J. Gelsinger-Austin, Se Baek Oh, Scott M. DeLapp, Bradley C. Steele
  • Publication number: 20200049996
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display that provides image light to a waveguide. First and second liquid crystal lenses may be mounted to opposing surfaces of the waveguide. An coupler may couple the image light out of the waveguide through the first lens. The second lens may convey world light to the first lens. Control circuitry may control the first lens to apply a first optical power to the image light and the world light and may control the second lens to apply a second optical power to the world light that cancels out the first optical power. Each lens may include two layers of liquid crystal molecules having antiparallel pretilt angles. The pretilt angles and rubbing directions of the first lens may be antiparallel to corresponding pretilt angles and rubbing directions of the second lens about the waveguide.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Inventors: Jin Yan, Young Cheol Yang, Igor Stamenov, Scott M. DeLapp, Francesco Aieta, Bradley C. Steele, Enkhamgalan Dorjgotov, Se Baek Oh
  • Publication number: 20200004020
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a spatial light modulator. Control circuitry in the electronic device may use the spatial light modulator to generate images. A light source may be used to produce illumination for the spatial light modulator. An optical system may direct the illumination onto the spatial light modulator and may direct corresponding reflected image light towards eye boxes for viewing by a user. Head-mounted support structures may be used to support the spatial light modulator, light source, and optical system. The light source may include light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes or lasers. Multiple light-emitting elements may be provided in the light source in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array. During operation, the control circuitry can individually adjust the light-emitting elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2019
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventors: Vikrant Bhakta, Hyungryul Choi, Guolin Peng, Scott M. DeLapp
  • Publication number: 20190324561
    Abstract: A stylus can be provided with an on-board display that indicates to a user a color that will be applied when operating the stylus with an external device. The display on the stylus can be positioned to conveniently provide an indication of the color. For example, the display can be provided at or near a tip that is used to contact the external device. The stylus can further provide an ability for the user to manually select a color, which can then be shown on the display of the stylus and transmitted to the external device for application. The stylus can further include an ability to scan a color from a physical object, with the color being shown on the display of the stylus and transmitted to the external device for application.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2018
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: Tyler G. ANDERSON, Hyungryul CHOI, Guolin PENG, Di HU, Scott M. DELAPP