The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 21 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a specific invention that Apple inherited from PrimeSense titled "Optical Pattern Projection." It's just one of many advanced 3D related inventions that Apple now owns (one, two, three, four and five). Today's granted patent covers 3D projection for many types of possible future applications including an in-air gaming user interface. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Granted Patent: Optical Pattern Projection

Apple's newly granted patent covers another PrimeSense invention that relates to optical systems and designs, and specifically to methods and system for optical pattern projection.

In this present invention, DOEs (Diffractive Optical Elements) are used to project a pattern onto an object for purposes of 3D mapping. In the present patent application and in the claims, the term "3D map" (or equivalently, "depth map") refers to a set of 3D coordinates representing the surface of the object.

The generated 3D maps could be used for a wide range of different purposes such an advanced interactive user interface, gaming or other types of 3D mapping applications.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 noted above is a schematic, pictorial illustration of a system for optical 3D mapping; FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a projection assembly.

Apple's granted patent 9,239,467 was originally filed in Q1 2013 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Granted # Design Patents Today

Apple was granted a single design patent today as noted below for a user interface element under number D747,728.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

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Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 5am to 6pm MST and sporadically over the weekend.