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 .
Amendment received 7/20/26 was entered into the record.
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 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Egawa et al. US 2019/0161299 (“Egawa”).
Regarding claim 1, Egawa disclosed a sheet transporting device comprising:
first and second position correcting components (31a, 31b) provided at respective positions in a direction of sheet transport and each being configured to correct a position of a sheet in a direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport by being shifted in the direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport while holding the sheet (see S5 and S7);
first and second detectors (including 101 and 103) and each being configured to detect the position of the sheet in the direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport at a corresponding one of the first and second position correcting components: and
a changing component having a processor and being configured to change an amount of correction of the position of the sheet individually for the first and second position correcting components in response to the detection by the first and second detectors (see at least Figure 15),
wherein each of the first and second position correcting components has a roll (see at least Figures 3 and 9B),
wherein one of the first and second position correcting components (for example, 31a) is located on a downstream side (of feed tray 5) in a direction of sheet transport, and an other one of the first and second position correcting components (31b) is located on an upstream side (of output tray 15) in the direction of sheet transport.
Regarding claim 13, Egawa disclosed a sheet transporting device comprising:
first and second position correcting means (31a, 31b) for correcting a position of a sheet that are provided at respective positions in a direction of sheet transport and are each configured to correct a position of the sheet in a direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport by being shifted in the direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport while holding the sheet;
first and second detecting means (including 101 and 103) each being configured to detect the position of the sheet in the direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport at a corresponding one of the first and second position correcting means; and
changing means (see Figures 3 and 15) for changing an amount of correction of the position of the sheet individually for the first and second position correcting means in response to the detection by the first and second detecting means (see Figure 15),
wherein one of the first and second position correcting means (for example, 31a) is located on a downstream side (of feed tray 5) in a direction of sheet transport, and an other one of the first and second position correcting means (31b) is located on an upstream side (of output tray 15) in the direction of sheet transport.
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) 2, 3, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egawa in view of Shiokawa et al. US 2018/0309886 (“Shiokawa”). Egawa disclosed an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming component configured to form an image on a sheet (Figure 1); and a sheet transporting component (Figure 1 and 2) configured to transport the sheet, wherein the sheet transporting component is the sheet transporting device according to claim 1, as mentioned above. Furthermore, an amount of the movement of at least one of the pair of conveying members of the second conveying portion along the direction that is orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction may be larger than an amount of the movement of the pair of conveying members of the first conveying portion along the direction that is orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. Egawa does not appear to use a correction factor when controlling the offset with the correction components.
Shiokawa teaches a changing component that changes the amount of correction of the position of the sheet individually for the first and second position correcting components by multiplying an amount of shifting of each of the first and second position correcting components in the direction intersecting the direction of sheet transport by a correction factor (see at least paragraphs 0129, 0151, 0168, and 0225). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the teachings of Shiokawa and Egawa to use a correction factor to control displacement to account for varying types of sheets and environmental conditions as taught by Shiokawa.
Claim(s) 4-7, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egawa in view of Hamaya US 9,776,818 (“Hamaya”). Egawa disclosed an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming component configured to form an image on a sheet (Figure 1); and a sheet transporting component (Figure 1 and 2) configured to transport the sheet, wherein the sheet transporting component is the sheet transporting device according to claim 1, as mentioned above. Egawa does not appear to teach control based on sheet characteristics.
Hamaya teaches a changing component that changes the amount of correction of the position of the sheet individually for the first and second position correcting components with reference to a characteristic relevant to sheet transport (column 7, lines 22-38). The characteristic relevant to sheet transport to be referred to by the changing component in changing the amount of correction of the position of the sheet individually for the first and second position correcting components includes at least one of a length of the sheet in the direction of sheet transport, a basis weight of the sheet, a material of the sheet, and a mode of sheet transport (column 7, lines 22-38). The amount of correction of the position of the sheet that is determined by the changing component for each of the first and second position correcting components may be greater for a greater basis weight of the sheet (see also column 10, lines 17-33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the teachings of Hamaya and Egawa to control correction with reference to a specific type of sheet to increase precision while controlling to better align transported sheets.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/20/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that the amended claims distinguish over Egawa.
The Examiner disagrees. The claims must be given their broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the disclosure as a whole. The amendment generally requires one correcting component to be upstream and one downstream. This is taught by Egawa. There are portions of the device upstream and downstream of each of the correcting components. Accordingly, the rejections as presented above are considered proper.
Conclusion
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/HOWARD J SANDERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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