DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The claim now recites “wherein in a case where the position of the carriage in the vertical direction is switched by the switching mechanism, a gap between the regulating surface and the second inclined surface is not changed.” To Examiner’s understanding of the figures thus far in the examination of the claims, it has been understood that item 533 was the regulation unit facing second surface 522. If this is the case, it would appear from Figure 14 of the present application that a gap between the regulating surface of the regulation unit 533 and the second surface 522 does in fact change when the position of the carriage is changed from one of the positions shown in Figures 5, 8, 11 to the position shown in Figure 14. Clarification is required.
Because all other claims depend from claim 1, they are also rejected on this basis.
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, 4-10, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa (2005/0243125) in view of Matsuzaki et al. (9,682,561) and Yusef et al. (6,520,622).
Regarding claim 1, Ishikawa teaches a printing apparatus, comprising:
a frame (figs. 4, 8, note that the frame is being taken to be the entire interior housing on which guide rail 22 is attached including frame portion 23);
a printing head (fig. 16, item 4) that includes a nozzle (see fig. 16) ejecting ink for printing on a printing medium conveyed in a conveyance direction ([0041]),
a carriage (fig. 16, item 5) on which the printing head is mounted and that reciprocally moves in a main scanning direction (fig. 16, into page);
a sliding mechanism (fig. 16, item 55a/56a/161/59) provided in the carriage and including a sliding surface (see fig. 12);
a second sliding mechanism (fig. 16, item 55b/56b/62/59) provided in the carriage and spaced apart from the sliding mechanism in the conveyance direction (see fig. 16);
a guide rail (fig. 16, item 22) attached to the frame and including (1) a first surface (fig. 16, upper surface of 22 in contact with 55a) with which the sliding mechanism surface is brought into contact (see fig. 16) and (2) a second surface (fig. 16, bottom surface of item 22 facing item 56a) directly behind the first surface, the guide rail guiding movement in the main scanning direction of the carriage (see fig. 16),
wherein a first regulation mechanism (fig. 16, item 56a) is provided in the sliding mechanism and including a regulating surface (figs. See fig. 16) facing the second surface in a position away from the second surface at a predetermined distance during scanning of the carriage (see fig. 16), and
wherein the frame includes a third surface (fig. 16, item vertical surface of frame portion 23 contacting item 62) extending in the vertical direction with which the second sliding mechanism is brought into contact (see fig; 16);
wherein a portion of the first surface and a portion of the second sliding mechanism overlap when viewed in the conveyance direction (see fig. 16).
Ishikawa does not teach a switching mechanism or wherein the sliding mechanism and the second sliding mechanism are both provided on an upstream side of the carriage in the conveyance direction. Matsuzaki teaches a switching mechanism (Matsuzaki, fig. 5, item 54) that is provided between the carriage and the sliding mechanism and that switches a position of the carriage in a vertical direction (Matsuzaki, see figs. 5-11) and wherein two sliding mechanism are on an upstream side of a carriage in a conveyance direction (Matsuzaki, see fig. 9, Note sliding mechanisms 55, 56 each engaging with different portions of the frame/guide rail 55 on the upstream side). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add a switching mechanism of the type disclosed by Matsuzaki to the device of Ishikawa because doing so would allow for adjustment of the relative positions of the carriage and the print medium. Further, it would have been obvious to position both slide mechanisms on a same side of a carriage in a conveyance direction, as disclosed by Matsuzaki, instead of different sides of the carriage in the conveyance direction, as disclosed by Ishikawa because doing so would amount to substituting one known arrangement of sliding mechanisms for another to obtain predictable results.
Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki does not teach wherein the first surface and second surface are inclined so as to rise linearly with respect to a horizontal plane as the guide tail extends downstream in the conveyance direction. Jusef teaches several variations of guide rails that can have either or both of inclined and non-inclined contact surfaces (Jusef, see figs. 4-7, Note that guide rails can be constructed with surfaces along any number of angles). It would have been obvious to one of skill in the art at the time of invention to use inclined first and second rail contact surfaces, as disclosed by Jusef, instead of the non-inclined rail contact surfaces disclosed by Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki because doing so would amount to using one known rail variant instead of another as a simple design choice.
Regarding claim 2, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein in a case where the position of the carriage in the vertical direction is switched by the switching mechanism, each of a position in the vertical direction and a position in the conveyance direction of the sliding mechanism is not changed with respect to the guide rail (Matsuzaki, see figs. 8, 11, Note that, upon combination, the limitation is met).
Regarding claim 4, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the switching mechanism switches the position of the carriage in the vertical direction with respect to the guide rail (Matsuzaki, see figs. 8, 11, Note that, upon combination, the limitation is met).
Regarding claim 5, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the switching mechanism is mounted so as to be slidable in the main scanning direction between the carriage and the sliding mechanism (Matsuzaki, see figs. 8, 11, Note that, upon combination, the limitation is met).
Regarding claim 6, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the frame includes a fourth surface as a back surface of the third surface, and wherein the carriage includes a second regulation mechanism facing the fourth surface in a position away from the fourth surface at a predetermined distance (Ishikawa, see fig. 16, Note that all regulation mechanisms can be positioned at predetermined distances from the frame/rail).
Regarding claim 7, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a third sliding mechanism that is attached to the carriage, wherein the frame includes a fifth surface with which the third sliding mechanism is brought into contact and a sixth surface as a back surface of the fifth surface, and the carriage includes a third regulation mechanism facing the sixth surface in a position away from the sixth surface at a predetermined distance (Ishikawa, see fig. 13, Note that there are two second sliding mechanisms arranged in the main scanning direction, and thus one can be taken to be the second sliding mechanism and one can be taken to be the third sliding mechanism).
Regarding claim 8, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sliding mechanism includes a fourth regulation mechanism that regulates upward displacement of the switching mechanism in the vertical direction, and the carriage includes a fifth regulation mechanism that regulates upward displacement in the vertical direction (Ishikawa, see fig. 13, Note that the third sliding mechanism corresponds to fourth and fifth regulation mechanisms).
Regarding claim 9, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the switching mechanism includes a pinched portion including a stepwise shape and a regulation surface (Matsuzaki, see fig. 10, note stepwise portion of item 583), and the pinched portion is held by the fourth regulation mechanism of the sliding mechanism and the fifth regulation mechanism of the carriage (Matsuzaki, see figs. 8-13).
Regarding claim 10, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 9, another of the fourth regulation mechanism is provided, and another of the fifth regulation mechanism is provided, such that the fourth regulation mechanism and the fifth regulation mechanism constitute a pair, and such that the another fourth regulation mechanism and the another fifth regulation mechanism constitute another pair,
wherein a length between the pair and the another pair in the main scanning direction is close to a width of the carriage in the main scanning direction (Matsuzaki, see figs. 8-13, Note that all regulation mechanisms are provided in pairs, each pair on one end of the carriage in the main scanning direction).
Regarding claim 14, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a position of a supporter that supports the carriage in the conveyance direction and a position of a supporter that supports the switching mechanism in the conveyance direction are the same (Ishikawa, see fig. 16, Note that all components are overlapped).
Regarding claim 15, Ishikawa in view of Matsuzaki and Jusef teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance direction is orthogonal to each of the main scanning direction and the vertical direction (Ishikawa, see fig. 16).
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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