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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/16/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 1/16/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-15 remain pending. Claims 2 and 13-14 are amended. Claim 16 has been added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6-8, filed 1/16/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) claims 1-15 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hirai (JP 2017090573) in view of Kawanishi (US 20030023103).
Applicant argues Haki teaches a copolymer having a crystalline portion and an amorphous portion, not a dispersion of an amorphous polyester based resin and a crystalline polyester resin as presently claimed. Examiner agrees, Haki only teaches a single copolymer resin. Hirai is now relied upon to teach the production of a resin particle dispersion comprising an amorphous polyester based resin and a crystalline polyester resin. Haki further teaches the amorphous polyester based resin is a polycondensate of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid in the presence of a hydrocarbon wax, and the crystallin polyester is a polycondensate of an alcohol and a carboxylic acid, as claimed in the New claim 16.
Applicant's arguments, see page 7, filed 1/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues while Kawanishi uses a static mixer as a cooling means, Kawanishi is silent to cooling simultaneously with fluidizing, continuously mixing, and continuously discharging. Examiner notes the Instant Application specifically uses a static mixer to perform the simultaneous cooling, fluidizing, continuously mixing, and continuously discharging (Instant Application [0106]-[0114] page 35-38, [0152] page 56-57, [0155] page 57, [0157] page 58). Examiner further notes a static mixer, such as the model 1/4*N30*232*F used in the Instant Examples, is a pipe with fixed resistance member inside it. Therefore, a static mixer would inherently simultaneously fluidize, continuously mix, and continuously discharge the dispersion as it is fed into it. Using the static mixer to also cool the dispersion would simultaneously perform all 4 processes. Kawanishi teaches using a static mixer to rapidly cool liquids as they are mixed in the static mixer.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-4 and 7-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirai (JP 2017090573) in view of Kawanishi (US 20030023103).
Regarding claims 1-2 and 14-16, Hirai discloses a method of producing a toner from a dispersion, the dispersion comprising a composite polyester resin having a styrene-acrylic segment, the polyester segment including a structural unit derived from a hydrocarbon wax, and a crystalline polyester ([0008],[0010]-[0012]). The composite resin further comprises a structural unit derived from an alcohol component and a structural unit derived from a carboxylic acid ([0019], [0026]). The amorphous resin is produced by mixing the alcohols and carboxylic acids with the hydrocarbon wax, heating and carrying out polycondensation ([0008], [0010], [0026], [0142]-[0143], Table 1 page 35-36). Hirai further discloses the crystalline polyester comprises a structural unit derived from an alcohol component and a structural unit derived from a carboxylic acid component, which are mixed and reacted in a polycondensation reaction ([0069]-[0075]). Hirai further discloses the aqueous dispersion is produced by mixing dispersions the polyester resins, aggregating particles, and fusing the aggregated particles, which are then cooled ([0008], [0155]). Hirai does not disclose the means for cooling the dispersion.
Kawanishi teaches a method of mixing an aqueous solution within a closed mixing means ([0022]), specifically a static mixer, which may further be used for cooling of the water based dispersion ([0054], [0068). One of skill in the art would recognize a static mixer would simultaneously fluidize, continuously mix, and continuously discharge the solution. Kawanishi further teaches the cooler may be selected from a double pipe or triple pipe combined with a static mixer depending on the required capacity of heat exchange ([0068]). Kawanishi further teaches closed mixing means have no air phase, and therefore no gas/liquid interface ([0023]), which prevents agglomeration of particles on the surface of bubbles ([0018]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a closed mixing means such as a static mixer, as taught by Kawanishi, to prevent excess bubble formation and particle agglomeration in the method of Hirai.
Regarding claims 3-4, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. Kawanishi further teaches when cooling the dispersion a cooling rate should be selected such that the desired temperature is reached in 0.05-10 seconds, preferably 0.05-1 second ([0059]).
Regarding claims 7-8, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. Hirai further discloses the dispersion is cooled from 80°C to 20°C, a difference of 60°C ([0155]).
Regarding claims 9-11, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. Hirai further discloses the melting point of the crystalline resins C1 and C2 used in the examples are 85.3°C and 73.6°C, respectively (Table 3 page 37). The dispersion is fused at 80°C ([0155]), which is more than [the melting point of the crystalline resin -15°C] and lower than [the melting point of the crystalline resin +30°C]. The dispersion is then cooled to 20°C ([0155]), which is higher than [the melting point of the crystalline resin -80°C] and lower than [the melting point of the crystalline resin -30°C].
Regarding claim 12, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. Hirai further discloses the individual resin dispersions, a1-a13, b1 to b2, and c1-c2 are diluted with water to a concentration 20% solids by mass ([0153]). The resin particle dispersion used to produce the toner is a mix of 90g dispersion a1 (aka 18g resin, 72g water), 180g dispersion b1 (aka 36g resin, 144g water), 30g dispersion c1 (aka 6g resin, 24g water), 52g of water, 150g of 0.1 mass% calcium chloride solution, 30g of dispersion b2 (aka 6g resin, 24g water), and 37g of deionized water mixed with 4.2 g of surfactant ([0155]). This brings the total water to resin ratio to (72+144+24+52+150+24+37) : (18+36+6+6), or 603:66 = 7.62:1.
Regarding claim 13, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. Hirai further discloses 90g of dispersion a1, aka the amorphous polyester-based resin, and 30g of dispersion c1, aka the crystalline polyester resin, are used in the production of toner 1, a ratio of 75:25 ([0155]). Examples 2-10 further show a range of 270:30 for Toner 2, aka 90:10, to 15:30 for Toner 3, aka 33.3:66.7 (Table 5, page 40-41).
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirai (JP 2017090573) in view of Kawanishi (US 20030023103) as applied to claims 1-4 and 7-16 above, and further in view of Nagashima (US 20170160662).
Regarding claims 5-6, modified Hirai discloses all limitations as set forth above. However, Hirai does not disclose a cooling rate of 20°C/second or more.
Nagashima teaches a toner production method using a high cooling rate, preferably at least 50°C/min, with an upper limit of 3000°C/min ([0108]-[0110]). In other words cooling at a rate of 50/60 to 3000/60 or 0.83 to 50°C/second. Nagashima further teaches the degree of crystallization of the crystalline resin differs depending on the cooling rate, with increased crystallization occurring when cooled at a rapid rate ([0108]-[0109]). Increased crystallization controls the integration value of stress, which is correlated to the cold offset resistance of the toner ([0025], [0109]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to ensure the dispersion of modified Hirai is cooled at a rate of 0.83-50°C/second, as taught by Nagashima, to improve the cold offset resistance of the toner produced by the dispersion.
Conclusion
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/C.C.S./ Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/MARK F. HUFF/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1737