DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-3, 5, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Turgeman (8,403,466) in view of Ishida et al. (2016/0279962), Bhaskaran et al. (2017/0087866), Rankin et al. (2008/0040234) and Hayashi et al. (2022/0274416).
Regarding claim 1, Turgeman teaches a liquid supply system comprising:
a liquid supply device comprising:
a first liquid supply path (fig. 1, item 120) that supplies a printing liquid contained in a first liquid container (fig. 2, item 170) to a first liquid supply port (fig. 2, item 136) corresponding to a type of a container (see fig. 2, note there is a different type of cartridge for each of the six supply paths), the first liquid supply path having a first injection portion (fig. 2, item 200) with a tapering shape that tapers downward at a distal end thereof (see fig. 2, note that needle 200 tapers downward at distal end);
a second liquid supply path (fig. 1, item 125) that supplies a printing liquid contained in a second liquid container (fig. 2, item 170) to a second liquid supply port (fig. 2, item 136) corresponding to a type of the container (see fig. 2, note there is a different type of cartridge for each of the six supply paths), the second liquid supply path having a second injection portion (fig. 2, item 200) with a second tapering shape that tapers downward at a distal end thereof (see fig. 2, note that needle 200 tapers downward at distal end);
a selector (fig. 2, item 150) that selects either the first liquid supply path or the second liquid supply path (col. 7, lines, 55-67); and
a liquid supplier that, when the first liquid supply path is selected by the selector, supplies the printing liquid contained in the first liquid container via the first liquid supply path to the container and that, when the second liquid supply path is selected by the selector, supplies the printing liquid contained in the second liquid container via the second liquid supply path to the container (col. 7, lines, 55-67, Note that, depending on the type of cartridge selected on interface 150, assuming only a single cartridge is positioned for filling, only one of the two supply paths will be operated to fill the container according to the type of container).
Turgeman does not teach
a first detector that detects a storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the first liquid supply path from the first liquid container;
a second detector that detects a storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the second liquid supply path from the second liquid container;
a determiner that determines whether the storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the first liquid supply path from the first liquid container is less than or equal to a predetermined lower limit, and that determines whether the storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the second liquid supply path from the second liquid container is less than or equal to the predetermined lower limit; and
a notifier that issues, based on a determination result of the determiner, a notification indicating either that the storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the first liquid supply path from the first liquid container is less than or equal to the predetermined lower limit or that the storage amount of the printing liquid capable of being supplied via the second liquid supply path from the second liquid container is less than or equal to the predetermined lower limit.
Ishida teaches this (Ishida, see figs. 4-8, Note detectors 15/16 in each ink tank 11 detecting whether liquid levels are below a certain threshold amount for each tank and notifying a user via a display of the need for more ink). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to add the ink level sensing capability disclosed by Ishida to the device disclosed by Turgeman because doing so would ensure that no refilling job was started without certainty that the entire cartridge could be refilled.
(Examiner is aware that Ishida is directed to a printer and not a refilling station, as disclosed by Turgeman. Nonetheless, Examiner maintains that the ink level sensing and notification functionality disclosed by Ishida was equally applicable to any number of applications requiring the supply of liquid from a source tank to a destination tank).
Turgeman in view of Ishida does not teach a server that is connected to the liquid supply device over a network, the server comprising: a communication circuit configured to communicate with the liquid supply device over the network. Bhaskaran teaches this (Bhaskaran, [0016]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to connect the liquid supply device of Turgeman in view of Ishida to a server via a network, as disclosed by Bhaskaran, because doing so would allow for remote control of the liquid supply device by users in multiple places.
Turgeman in view of Ishida and Bhaskaran does not teach an imager disposed at a front of the liquid supply device, wherein the selector selects either the first liquid supply path or the second liquid supply path in accordance with an image captured and generated by the imager. Rankin teaches labeling a refillable cartridge with a barcode that allows a refilling system to track information about a given ink cartridge over time (Rankin, [0029]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to add the barcode functionality of Rankin to the system disclosed by Turgeman in view of Ishida and Bhaskaran because doing so would allow for tracking of information about any given cartridge. Upon addition of this functionality, an imager to scan the barcode would necessarily be present, and the selector would select a particular type of ink and corresponding supply path to fill a given cartridge.
Further, note that “a front of the liquid supply device” could be any side of the device as the front has not been defined. As such, any a barcode scanner anywhere in relation to the device would meet the limitation. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to locate such a scanner on a front of the device because it would need to be accessible to a user, so locating a scanner on a back side of the device would not make any sense.
Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran and Rankin does not teach wherein the the first tapering shape has a different shape than the second tapering shape. Hayashi teaches wherein injection ports of injection bottles for refilling ink tanks have different shapes to correspond with different receiving ports of the tanks (Hayashi, see figs. 3-5, Note that the tapered shape shown in figure 5A has the outermost grooves 86 closer together than the tapered shape of figure 5B, which has the grooves more separated than shown in figure 5A). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use injection portions with different shapes, as disclosed by Hayashi, in the device disclosed by Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran and Rankin because doing so would ensure that only the right liquids were refilled into the right cartridges.
Regarding claim 2, Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran, Rankin and Hayashi teaches the liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the first liquid supply path includes a first coupling portion (Turgeman, fig. 3, item 208), the first coupling portion couples the first liquid supply port to the first liquid supply path (Turgeman, see fig. 2), the second liquid supply path includes a second coupling portion (Turgeman, fig. 3, item 208), and the second coupling portion couples the second liquid supply port to the second liquid supply path (Turgeman, see fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran, Rankin and Hayashi teaches the liquid supply device according to claim 2, wherein the first coupling portion and the second coupling portion have the same shape (Turgeman, see fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran, Rankin and Hayashi teaches the liquid supply device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit, wherein the selector selects either the first liquid supply path or the second liquid supply path in accordance with an operation of the operation unit (Turgeman, col. 7, lines, 55-67, Note that, depending on the type of cartridge selected on interface 150, assuming only a single cartridge is positioned for filling, only one of the two supply paths will be operated to fill the container according to the type of container).
Regarding claim 8, Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran, Rankin and Hayashi teaches the liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the first tapering chape and the second tapering shape differ in length (Note that because the claimed tapering shapes correspond to first injection portions, which can be variably-sized portions, the tapering shapes of the portions can simply be chosen to meet the limitation. That is, if the “injection portions” are selected so that one is slightly longer than the other, the limitation is met. “Portion” is broad).
Regarding claim 9, Turgeman in view of Ishida, Bhaskaran, Rankin and Hayashi teaches the liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the first tapering shape and the second tapering shape differ in width at a given corresponding height (see figs. 14A, 14B, Note that, depending on where a width cross-section is taken for each tapered shape, either can be said to be wider or narrower according to the position of such a width cross-section. Note also that “at a given corresponding height” can mean any number of things. “Height” has not been defined in context of the claim).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/15/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The claims have been amended to further specify the structure of the claimed device, but the amendments fail to distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. The rejections above have been updated to reflect the changes to the claims. The standing prior art rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
