DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uji et al. (US Pub No. 2008/0290589 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Uji et al. discloses
an image forming portion (12) configured to form an image on a sheet;
a sheet supporting portion (i.e. the bottom plate of 52, see Fig. 2, Fig. 7) configured to support a sheet (stack of sheets P) and provided at a side face (i.e. either at the left or right vertical wall/face of 10 in Fig. 1) of the image forming apparatus so as to expose a sheet to an outside of the image forming apparatus when a sheet is supported by the sheet supporting portion provided at the side face (i.e. in the case where 52 is partially pulled out of 10 while containing a sheet, the sheet is exposed to an outside of the apparatus and the sheet/sheet supporting portion still at the side face/not detached);
a single pickup roller (56) configured to perform a sheet feeding operation by abutting against an uppermost sheet supported on the sheet supporting portion and feeding the uppermost sheet (i.e. feeding position A, Fig. 7) toward the image forming portion;
an air blowing unit (54) configured to perform an air blowing operation of blowing air to a side edge of the sheet supported on the sheet supporting portion (see Fig. 2); and
a control unit (24) configured to execute a mode of performing the air blowing operation by the air blowing unit, stopping the air blowing operation, and then performing the sheet feeding operation by the single pickup roller in a state where the air blowing operation is stopped (see Fig. 6, [0052]).
Regarding Claim 2, Uji et al. discloses
during execution of the mode, in a case where a predetermined number of sheets is fed in the sheet feeding operation by the single pickup roller and where feeding of a necessary number of sheets is not completed (i.e. a stack of sheets P is shown and a use case exists that may require multiple sheets to be printed in a job, wherein for example, after a first sheet is fed but before second and third sheets are fed), the control unit stops the sheet feeding operation by the single pickup roller, performs the air blowing operation by the air blowing unit, stop the air blowing operation, and thereafter, resumes the sheet feeding operation by the single pickup roller in the state where the air blowing operation is stopped (i.e. shown by the cycle of Fig. 6, wherein each step of the function may correspond to each sheet or multiple steps may occur over the course of each sheet, thereby satisfying the claim limitation in either case).
Regarding Claim 7, Uji et al. discloses
the control unit is configured to perform the air blowing operation by the air blowing unit for a predetermined time before stopping the air blowing operation in the mode (i.e. the predetermined time corresponds to the length (i.e. left/right) of each 'air blowing device' step in Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 9, Uji et al. discloses
the air blowing unit includes a fan (55) configured to blow air, and a nozzle (70/71) configured to guide the air blown by the fan to the side edge of the sheet supported on the sheet supporting portion (Fig. 2, Fig. 5).
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uji et al. (US Pub No. 2008/0290589 A1) in view of Suzuki (US Pub No. 2010/0295238 A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Uji et al. does not disclose modes.
Suzuki discloses the mode is a first mode (first sheet supplying mode, Fig. 6, [0021]), and wherein the control unit is configured to execute the first mode, and a second mode (second sheet supplying mode, Fig. 7, [0022]) in which the sheet feeding operation (by 30, from 'tb' to '1') is performed while the air blowing operation is performed by the air blowing unit (i.e. air is blown from 'tc' to '1' in Fig. 7, wherein the air blowing operation may be taken as the air blowing cycle from t1-t3, for the first sheet), for the purpose of accommodating different physical characteristics of sheets.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Uji et al. by including the modes as disclosed by Suzuki, for the purpose of accommodating different physical characteristics of sheets.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art of record shows the claimed set conditions in combination with the remaining elements (Claims 4-6).
Claims 13-17 are allowed.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: None of the prior art of record shows the device as claimed to be used in a manual sheet feed portion (Claims 13-17).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant’s argument that “Regarding the second interpretation, the term "when a sheet is supported by the sheet supporting portion provided at the side face" precludes the tray of Uji being removed from the apparatus because the moment is when the sheet is supported by the sheet supporting porting provided at the side face. Under the Examiner's interpretation of Uji, the feature provided at the side face is met when the tray is installed. Thus, under the Examiners' second interpretation, the tray of Uji only being exposed to the outside when the tray is removed does not satisfy amended claim 1”, it is noted that in the scenario set forth in the Claim 1 rejection above, the sheet supporting portion may be partially drawn out while supporting sheets such that they are exposed to the outside of the apparatus with the sheet supporting portion still at the side face of the image forming apparatus. In other words, the sheet supporting portion need not be fully removed or fully installed to meet the claim requirements. Additionally, the claim does not require that the sheet be fed while being exposed to the outside of the apparatus (i.e. as in the case of a manual tray).
Applicant's arguments filed 2/9/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sendo (US Pub No. 2018/0118483) discloses modes with respect to Fig. 12 and 13.
Suzuki (US Pub No. 2012/0161384) discloses feeding a sheet after a blower has turned on then off as per Fig. 9.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PRASAD GOKHALE whose telephone number is (571)270-3543. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am - 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PRASAD V GOKHALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 July 24, 2026
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