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, 5 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda et al. (US Patent No. 5,181,705) in view of Mizutani et al. (US Pub No. 2007/0228649 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Ueda et al. discloses
an imaging device (comprising 63-68, L);
an ejection roller (127) located at a downstream side from the imaging device in a medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8);
an ejection tray (110) to stack a medium ejected by the ejection roller;
a medium detection sensor (122) located at the downstream side from the imaging device and an upstream side from the ejection roller in the medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8); and
a processor (140) to
detect a size of the medium ejected by the ejection roller (lines 50-60 of Column 9), and
control the drive mechanism to control a conveyance speed of the ejection roller when ejecting the medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9), wherein
the processor changes the conveyance speed of the ejection roller from a first conveyance speed to a second conveyance speed lower than the first conveyance speed (lines 38-40, lines 50-60 of Column 9) in the middle of ejecting the medium (i.e. “at the final stage of paper discharge”, lines 38-40 of Column 9, lines 1-3 of Column 10) in accordance with detection of the medium by the medium detection sensor (lines 50-60 of Column 9), and wherein
the second conveyance speed is set in accordance with the size of the medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9).
It is noted that the phrase “in accordance with” is generally broad and does not require any specific correlation (i.e. direction or magnitude), rather the mere presence of the limitation that follows.
Ueda et al. discloses a drive mechanism including a motor (132) but not explicitly with a pulley and belt, or with a gear to drive the ejection roller;
Mizutani et al. discloses a drive mechanism including a motor with a pulley and belt, or with a gear (comprising 42, 101, see [0034]) to drive the ejection roller (21a), for the purpose of transmitting drive force.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Ueda et al. by including the drive mechanism as
disclosed by Mizutani et al., for the purpose of transmitting drive force.
Regarding Claim 5, Ueda et al. discloses
detecting a size of a medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9) ejected by an ejection roller (127) located at a downstream side from an imaging device (comprising 63-68, L) in a medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8), to eject the medium to an ejection tray (110); and
the conveyance speed of the ejection roller is changed from a first conveyance speed to a second conveyance speed lower than the first conveyance speed (lines 38-40, lines 50-60 of Column 9) in the middle of ejecting the medium (i.e. “at the final stage of paper discharge”, lines 38-40 of Column 9, lines 1-3 of Column 10) in accordance with detection of the medium by a medium detection sensor (122, lines 50-60 of Column 9) located at the downstream side from the imaging device and an upstream side from the ejection roller in the medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8), and wherein
the second conveyance speed is set in accordance with the size of the medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9).
It is noted that the phrase “in accordance with” is generally broad and does not
require any specific correlation (i.e. direction or magnitude), rather the mere presence of the limitation that follows.
Ueda et al. discloses controlling a drive mechanism including a motor (132, lines
50-60 of Column 9) but not explicitly with a pulley and belt, or with a gear to drive the ejection roller;
Mizutani et al. discloses a drive mechanism including a motor with a pulley and
belt, or with a gear (comprising 42, 101, see [0034]) to drive the ejection roller (21a), for the purpose of transmitting drive force.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Ueda et al. by including the drive mechanism as
disclosed by Mizutani et al., for the purpose of transmitting drive force.
Regarding Claim 9, Ueda et al. discloses
a medium ejection apparatus including, an imaging device (comprising 63-68, L), an ejection roller (127) located at a downstream side from the imaging device in a medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8), an ejection tray (110) to stack a medium ejected by the ejection roller, and a medium detection sensor (122) located at the downstream side from the imaging device and an upstream side from the ejection roller in the medium conveyance direction (Fig. 8), to execute a process, the process comprising:
detecting a size of a medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9) ejected by the ejection roller; and
controlling the drive mechanism to control a conveyance speed of the ejection roller when ejecting the medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9), wherein
the conveyance speed of the ejection roller is changed from a first conveyance speed to a second conveyance speed lower than the first conveyance speed (lines 38-40, lines 50-60 of Column 9) in the middle of ejecting the medium (i.e. “at the final stage of paper discharge”, lines 38-40 of Column 9, lines 1-3 of Column 10) in accordance with detection of the medium by the medium detection sensor (lines 50-60 of Column 9), and wherein
the second conveyance speed is set in accordance with the size of the medium (lines 50-60 of Column 9).
It is noted that the phrase “in accordance with” is generally broad and does not
require any specific correlation (i.e. direction or magnitude), rather the mere presence of the limitation that follows.
Ueda et al. discloses controlling a drive mechanism including a motor (132, lines
50-60 of Column 9) but not explicitly with a pulley and belt, or with a gear to drive the ejection roller or a non-transitory medium;
Mizutani et al. discloses a drive mechanism including a motor with a pulley and
belt, or with a gear (comprising 42, 101, see [0034]) to drive the ejection roller (21a), for the purpose of transmitting drive force and a computer-readable, non-transitory medium (301) storing a computer program ([0045]), for the purpose of executing instructions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Ueda et al. by including the drive mechanism and
non-transitory medium as disclosed by Mizutani et al., for the purpose of transmitting
drive force and executing instructions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 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 speed relationship (Claims 2, 6 and 10) or the region size (Claims 3, 7 and 11) as claimed, particularly in light of the disclosed criticality.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/PRASAD V GOKHALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 October 1, 2025