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) 1-4, 6, 8-11 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uehara et al. (2004/0057741) in view of Kawai (9,235,168).
Regarding claim 1, Uehara teaches a medium mending device comprising:
a heating component (fig. 1, item 32) configured to heat a medium (fig. 1, item 24) having an image (fig. 1, item 26) recorded; and
a pressing component (fig. 1, item 34) positioned against the heating component and configured to press the medium that is to be nipped between the pressing component and the heating component (see fig. 1), the pressing component pressing the medium with such a pressure as to squash any flaws in the medium (see fig. 1, Note that any flaws are squashed. Note that “flaws” and “squashed” have not been defined), and a cooling component (fig. 1, item 38) configured to cool the heating component, the cooling component cooling the heating component if the medium is other than a predetermined mending-object medium (see fig. 1, Note that “predetermined mending-object medium” has not been defined, and the medium shown is being taken to be other than the predetermined medium).
Uehara does not expressly disclose wherein the cooling component a heat radiating component located at an axial end of the heating component and an air sending component sending cooling air to the heat radiating component. Kawai teaches this (Kawai, see fig. 9, Note heat radiating component 217 at axial end of heating roller 211 and air sending component 250 sending air to heat radiating compnent). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to position Uehara’s fan at the axial end of the heating assembly, as disclosed by Kawai, because doing so would amount to applying a known fan arrangement to a known heating assembly to obtain predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 1, wherein the heating component faces a side of the medium, the side having the recorded image (Uehara, see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing component and the heating component are located on a downstream side relative to a fixing component (Uehara, fig. 1, item 2b) in a direction of transport of the medium (Uehara, fig. 1, direction C), the fixing component being configured to fix an unfixed image formed of developer (Uehara, see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 3, wherein a temperature at which the heating component heats the medium is lower than a melting point of the developer (Uehara, see figs. 1-6, Note that this is necessarily the case as the device would not work otherwise).
Regarding claim 6, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 1, wherein the heating component has a hollow cylindrical shape (Uehara, see fig. 1), wherein the heating component is provided with a heat source (Uehara, fig. 1, item 46) extending through an inside of the heating component, the heat source heating the heating component when the heat source is energized, (Uehara, see fig. 1, Note that “an end of the heating component” has not been defined and is asserted as being disclosed by Figure 1).
Regarding claim 8, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 1, wherein the heating component heats the medium if the medium is a predetermined mending-object medium (Uehara, Again, “predetermined mending-object medium” has not been defined and is being asserted as disclosed by the prior art medium).
Regarding claim 9, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 8, wherein if the medium is the predetermined mending-object medium, a temperature at which the heating component heats the medium is higher than a temperature at which the heating component heats a medium other than the predetermined mending-object medium (Uehara, see fig. 5, Note that a high-gloss medium is being taken to be a predetermined mending-object medium, and a low-gloss medium is being taken to be a medium other than the predetermined mending-object medium).
Regarding claim 10, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 8, wherein if the medium is other than the predetermined mending-object medium, the heating component refrains from heating the medium (Uehara, see fig. 5, Note that the gloss controlling roller 32 can be deenergized when the medium is not glossy).
Regarding claim 11, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 10, further comprising: a cooling component (Uehara, fig. 1, item 38) configured to cool the heating component (Uehara, see fig. 1), the cooling component cooling the heating component if the medium is other than a predetermined mending-object medium (Uehara, Note that “predetermined mending-object medium” has not been defined. Note that the medium of figure 1 is being taken to be “other than a predetermined mending-object medium”).
Regarding claims 17-20, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the image forming apparatus comprising: an image recording component configured to record an image on a medium; and the medium mending device according to claims 1-4, respectively, that is configured to mend any flaws in the medium having an image recorded (Uehara, see fig. 1, Note that “configured to mend any flaws” has not been defined and is disclosed by the prior. Any printer that did not mend its flaws would not function properly).
Claim(s) 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uehara in view of Kawai as applied to claims 1 and 8 above, and further in view of Lloyd et al. (5,852,462)
Regarding claim 12, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 8. Uehara does not teach wherein if the medium is the predetermined mending-object medium, the heating component transports the medium at a speed lower than a speed at which the heating component transports a medium other than the mending-object medium. Lloyd teaches adjusting nip pressure, temperature and/or transport speed according to a type of media in an electrophotographic printer (Lloyd, cols. 2-3, lines 62-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the parameters according to a media type, as disclosed by Lloyd, in the device disclosed by Uehara in view of Kawai because doing so would allow for more precise fusing of images.
Regarding claim 13, Uehara in view of Kawai teaches the medium mending device according to claim 1. Uehara does not teach a pressure adjusting component configured to adjust the pressure from the pressing component with reference to a type of the medium and such that the pressure to be applied to the medium falls within a predetermined range. Lloyd teaches adjusting nip pressure, temperature and/or transport speed according to a type of media in an electrophotographic printer (Lloyd, cols. 2-3, lines 62-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the parameters according to a media type, as disclosed by Lloyd, in the device disclosed by Uehara in view of Kawai because doing so would allow for more precise fusing of images.
Regarding claim 14, Uehara in view of Kawai and Lloyd teaches the medium mending device according to claim 13, wherein the pressure adjusting component reduces the pressure from the pressing component with an increase in a thickness of the medium (Lloyd, cols. 2-3, lines 62-3).
Regarding claim 15, Uehara in view of Kawai and Lloyd teaches the medium mending device according to claim 13, wherein if the medium is other than the predetermined mending-object medium, the pressure adjusting component sets the pressure from the pressing component to a lowest level required for transport of the medium (Lloyd, cols. 2-3, lines 62-3).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot in light of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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