DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-3, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17-19, 25 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayakawa et al. (2002/0003554).
Regarding claims 1 and 30, Hayakawa teaches a liquid discharging apparatus, comprising:
a sheet conveyer path (fig. 1, path over item 8);
a liquid discharging head (fig. 1, item 7) including nozzles ([0027) for discharging liquid,
a maintenance unit (fig. 1, item 11) configured to suction the liquid from the liquid discharging head ([0055]);
a waste liquid tank (fig. 1, item 13) demountably mounted in a housing of the liquid discharging apparatus, the waste liquid tank being configured to store the liquid received from the maintenance unit ([0098], note that to replace the absorbing material 14, the2 tank itself 13 would need to be demounted from the housing); and
a tube (fig. 1, tubing from cap 11 to tank 13) with first and second ends connected between the maintenance unit and a port if the waste liquid tank for transporting the liquid from the maintenance unit in to the waste liquid tank via the port (see fig. 1, note that the unlabeled tube enters the tank through an unlabeled port)
a waste liquid guide (fig. 2, hole 22) located at a position different from the maintenance unit in a horizontal direction (fig. 1, vertical on page), the horizontal direction being parallel to a nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head (see fig. 1);
wherein the waste liquid tank is configured to receive and store the liquid discharged in a flushing process ([0065]) from the liquid discharging head located at a flushing position, the flushing position being a position that at least partially overlaps the waste liquid guide in a view along a second direction (fig. 2, into page) intersecting orthogonally with the horizontal direction such that the liquid discharged in the flushing process is received by the waste liquid guide and guided directly into the waste liquid tank via an opening of the waste liquid tank different from the port (see figs. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 2, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid tank is located at a position where the waste liquid tank at least partly overlaps the nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head in the direction intersecting orthogonally with the nozzle surface (Hayakawa, see figs. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 3, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a flushing unit, the flushing unit having the waste liquid guide,
Regarding claim 8, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube extending from the maintenance unit to the waste liquid tank traverses the sheet conveyer path (Hayakawa, see fig. 1, Note that part of the tube is under platen 8, which constitutes the sheet conveyance path).
Regarding claim 10, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet storage for storing sheets, wherein the waste liquid tank and the sheet storage are located at positions to at least partly overlap each other in a view along a widthwise direction of the housing, the widthwise direction being parallel to the nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head and intersecting orthogonally with a conveying direction to convey the sheets in the sheet conveyer path (Hayakawa, see fig. 1, Note that the sheet storage is necessarily below the waste liquid tank).
Regarding claim 12, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a platen (Hayakawa, fig. 1, item 8) configured to support a sheet (Hayakawa, see fig. 8), wherein the waste liquid tank and the platen are located at positions to at least partly overlap each other in a view along a widthwise direction of the housing (Hayakawa, see fig. 1), the widthwise direction being parallel to the nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head and intersecting orthogonally with a conveying direction to convey the sheet in the sheet conveyer path (Hayakawa, see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid tank is located at a position to at least partly overlap the sheet conveyer path in a view along the direction intersecting orthogonally with the nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head (Hayakawa, see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation panel (Hayakawa, fig. 2, item 101-103) including an operation device, the operation panel being arranged on an outer face of the housing, wherein the waste liquid flow path is located inside the housing at a position rearward with respect to the operation panel (Hayakawa, see fig. 2, Note that surface on which panel is arranged is being taken as the outer face. Note that “rearward” has not been defined).
Regarding claim 17, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid flow path is located frontward with respect to the liquid discharging head (Hayakawa, see fig. 1, Note that “rearward” and “frontward” have not been defined in the claims, and thus the limitations can be met depending on definition).
Regarding claim 18, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid flow path is located rearward with respect to the liquid discharging head (Hayakawa, see fig. 1, Note that “rearward” and “frontward” have not been defined in the claims, and thus the limitations can be met depending on definition).
Regarding claim 19, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid flow path is located to be higher than sheet conveyer path (Hayakawa, fig. 1).
Regarding claim 25, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flushing position is located opposite to the maintenance unit across the sheet conveyer path in the horizontal direction (see claim 1 rejection).
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) 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayakawa in view of official notice.
Regarding claim 13, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1. Hayakawa does not teach a reader configured to read an object, wherein the waste liquid tank is located to be lower than the reader. Examiner takes official notice that one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found to obvious to add a scanner to the printer disclosed by Hayakawa because doing so would allow for the scanning of documents.
Regarding claim 16, Hayakawa teaches the liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1. Hayakawa does not teach a reader configured to scan an object, wherein the waste liquid tank is located to be lower than the reader. Examiner takes official notice that one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found to obvious to add a scanner to the printer disclosed by Hirasawa because doing so would allow for the scanning of documents.
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
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 ALEJANDRO VALENCIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5473. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICARDO MAGALLANES can be reached at 571-202-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights