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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 7, in the claimed, “and the second direction is a reverse rotations”, it appears as though “rotations” should be amended to –rotation–.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1–5, 9, 11–16, 20, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Honjoh et al. (US Pub. # 20110052225), hereinafter referred to as Honjoh.
Regarding claim 1, Honjoh teaches, “A collecting device comprising: a collecting path (Fig. 1, 2; ref. # 20, area within and to) for a developer; at least one transport member (Fig. 1, 2, 9–11; ref. # 101 and coils thereon) that is disposed in the collecting path and that transports the developer by rotating; a driving source (“drive”- see Fig. 1; para. [0031, 0032]) that drives, by receiving electric power, the transport member in such a manner that the transport member rotates; a detector (see para. [0031, 0032]) that detects a load applied to the driving source due to transportation of the developer; and a controller (see para. [0033, 0049, 0050]) that controls the driving source based on the load detected by the detector, wherein when the detected load exceeds a first threshold the controller controls the transport member to rotate according to a first operation and when the detected load exceeds a second threshold the controller controls the transport member to rotate according to a second operation (see at least Fig. 3; first threshold corresponds to point at “set torque threshold”, first operation corresponds to reverse rotation starting at the “set torque threshold” point; second threshold corresponds to point shown right of “rotation direction switching point”; and second operation corresponds to normal rotation; see para. [0030–0039]).”
Regarding claim 2, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the first threshold represents a first load and the second threshold represents a second load greater than the first load (see Fig. 3; first load proportional to torque at “set torque threshold” point and second load proportional to torque at point right of “rotation direction switching point”; second torque/load greater than first).”
Regarding claim 3, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the first operation comprises extending a rotation duration of the transport member for a first time period or a first number of turns and the second operation comprises extending the rotation duration of the transport member for a second time period or a second number of turns following the first time period or the first number of turns (see Fig. 3; after reach of the times where the torque is at the point of “set torque threshold” and point right of “rotation direction switching point”, rotation of transport member occurs for a number of turns or time).”
Regarding claim 4, Honjoh teaches, “wherein during the first operation the transport member rotates in a first direction and the second operation further comprises, following the second time period or second number of turns, rotating the transport member in a second rotation direction that is different than the first rotation direction (Fig. 3 with Fig. 5; time period changes for forward/reverse rotation during each “operation”; see para. [0043–0045]).”
Regarding claim 5, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the first operation comprises extending a rotation duration of the transport member for a first time period or a first number of turns and in a first rotation direction and the second operation further comprises rotating the transport member in a second rotation direction that is different than the first rotation direction (Fig. 5; see para. [0043–0045]; first operation point at “set torque threshold” occurs at t1 and second operation at point right of “rotation direction switching point” occurs after t1 to t2, in a different rotation direction).”
Regarding claim 9, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the collecting-path component forming a downstream-side portion of the collecting path in a transport direction of the developer is a collecting container that collects the developer (ref. # 20).”
Regarding claim 11, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the at least one transport member includes a plurality of transport members, wherein the plurality of transport members are arranged in the collecting path, and wherein each of the plurality of transport members rotates by receiving a driving force from a single driving source that is the driving source (101 has plural “transport members” connected to it; see Fig. 1, 2).”
Regarding claims 12–16, and 20, Honjoh teaches, “An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming section that forms an image onto a recording medium by using a developer; and the collecting device according to claim 1 (claim 2, 3, 4, 5, or 9) that collects the developer used by the image forming section (Fig. 11, 12).”
Regarding claim 21, Honjoh teaches, “wherein the detector is a current sensor that detects a magnitude of a driving current of the driving source (see para. [0032]).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, 17, and 18 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.
Regarding claims 6 and 17, the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed, “wherein, when during the second operation the controller causes the transport member to alternately and repeatedly perform forward and reverse rotations after an operation of collecting the developer is completed.”
Regarding claims 7 and 18, the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed, “wherein during the second operation the controller changes, a length of time during which the transport member repeatedly alternates between rotating in the first direction and the second direction in which the first direction is a forward rotation and the second direction is a reverse rotations.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and its related dependent claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO–892 form. The references cited herewith teach image forming apparatuses with driving control of developer transport members with configurations similar to the present application.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN D WALSH whose telephone number is (571)272-2726. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-6:30pm.
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/RYAN D WALSH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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