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, 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda et al. (2019/0264056) in view of Matsushima (2005/0179725) and Ohnishi (2019/0283458).
Regarding claim 1, Okuda teaches an inkjet recording device, comprising:
a conveyance unit (fig. 1, item 7) configured to convey a recording medium in a conveyance direction (fig. 1, note arrow);
a carriage (fig. 1, item 2) configured to reciprocate in a main scanning direction (fig. 1, into page) intersecting the conveyance direction,
a plurality of heads (fig. 3C, items R, C1-C4 and CL), wherein the plurality of heads comprises
a preprocessing head (fig. 3C, item R) configured to eject a non-coloring preprocessing solution ([0123]),
a postprocessing head (fig. 3C, item CL) configured to eject a non-coloring postprocessing solution ([0123]), and
a plurality of ink heads (fig. 3C, items C1-C4), each ink head among the plurality of ink heads configured to eject ink for image formation ([0123]),
an ink head line (fig. 3C, line running through heads C1-C4) located on the carriage comprising respective ink heads among the plurality of ink heads aligned in the main scanning direction (see fig. 3C), wherein
at least a portion of the preprocessing head is arranged upstream of the ink head line in the conveyance direction (see fig. 3C),
at least a portion of the postprocessing head is arranged downstream of the ink head line in the conveyance direction (see fig. 3C),
the preprocessing head and the postprocessing head are arranged to satisfy a relationship of Formula 1,
1/2 ≤ (B1 + B2)/LC ≤ 3/2…(Formula 1)
in a case where
a distance between a leftmost head and a rightmost head is defined as LC (see fig. 3C),
a distance from the leftmost head to the preprocessing head in the main scanning direction is defined as B1 (see fig. 3C), and
a distance from the leftmost head to the postprocessing head in the main scanning direction is defined as B2 (see fig. 3C).
Okuda does not teach wherein the ink head line is an even-numbered quantity of ink head lines located on the carriage and aligned in the conveyance direction or wherein the postprocessing head is arranged between a leftmost head in the main scanning direction among the plurality of heads and a rightmost head in the main scanning direction among the plurality of heads. Matsushima teaches this (Matsushima, see fig. 3, Note even numbered rows, and note that specialty/processing ink heads W and CL are arranged between the leftmost and rightmost heads on the carriage 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to arrange the heads disclosed by Okuda in an even number of lines instead of one and arrange the processing heads between the rightmost and leftmost heads as disclosed by Matsushima, because doing so would amount to a simple substitution of one known head arrangement for another to obtain predictable results.
Okuda does not teach wherein the preprocessing head for non-ink, transparent solution is arranged between a leftmost head in the main scanning direction among the plurality of heads and a rightmost head in the main scanning direction among the plurality of heads. Ohnishi teaches this (Ohnishi, see fig. 3, Note preprocessing head 104 located between leftmost 102c and rightmost 102k heads in main canning direction. Further, note that this arrangement is an obvious variant of that shown in Figure 1, where the preprocessing head is an end head in the main scan direction as also disclosed by Okuda). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the preprocessing head/color head arrangement disclosed by Ohnishi instead of that disclosed by Okuda because doing so would amount to the simple substitution of one known head variant for another to yield predictable results.
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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