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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 50b (figure 1). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities.
Appropriate correction is required.
In paragraph [0043], “pressure roller 50a” could be changed to “pressure roller 50b”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-9 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tanaka (US 2009/0304410).
Tanaka (…410) discloses a charging device (22) comprising: a housing (41) having a U-shaped cross-section, disposed such that an opening thereof faces a surface of a rotating image carrier (21), and extending in an axial direction of the image carrier ([0119]-[0120]); a discharge electrode (42) configured to charge the surface, the discharge electrode being attached to the housing, inside the housing, and extending in the axial direction ([0119]-[0120]); and a cleaner (50) having a protrusion (58) that comes into contact with a bottom plate of the housing ([0129]) and configured to move in the axial direction to clean the discharge electrode ([0122]-[0131]) in a state in which the protrusion is in contact with the bottom plate, regardless of whether the opening in the housing faces upward or downward ([0129]; and figures 9 and 12) [see Applicant’s claim 1]. The charging device, wherein the protrusion (58) of the cleaner includes a first protrusion that comes into contact with an outward-facing surface of the bottom plate in a state in which the opening in the housing faces downward, and a second protrusion that comes into contact with an inward-facing surface of the bottom plate in a state in which the opening in the housing faces upward (figure 9) [see Applicant’s claim 2]. The second protrusion is separated from the inward-facing surface when the first protrusion is in contact with the outward-facing surface, and the first protrusion is separated from the outward-facing surface when the second protrusion is in contact with the inward-facing surface (figure 9) [see Applicant’s claim 3]. A toner-image forming unit comprising: an image carrier (21); the charging device (22) that charges a surface of the image carrier ([0113]; and figure 7); and a developing device (23) that develops, as a toner image, an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image carrier charged by the charging device ([0113]; and figure 7) [see Applicant’s claims 7-9]. An image forming apparatus comprising: the toner-image forming unit; and a transfer unit (24) that transfers a toner image formed by the toner-image forming unit to a recording medium ([0113]) [see Applicant’s claims 13-15].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4-6, 10-12 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka (US 2009/0304410).
Tanaka (…410) discloses the features mentioned previously, and disclose the charging device (22), further comprising a shaft member (110) extending in the axial direction and having a male screw (112) on an outer circumferential surface thereof, wherein: the cleaner has a through-hole (figures 12 and 13) through which the shaft member passes and which has, in an inner circumferential surface thereof, a female screw (111) to be engaged with the male screw ([0162]), the cleaner moves in the axial direction as the shaft member rotates in a circumferential direction ([0162]) [see Applicant’s claim 4]. A toner-image forming unit comprising: an image carrier (21); the charging device (22) that charges a surface of the image carrier ([0113]; and figure 7); and a developing device (23) that develops, as a toner image, an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image carrier charged by the charging device ([0113]; and figure 7) [see Applicant’s claims 10-12]. An image forming apparatus comprising: the toner-image forming unit; and a transfer unit (24) that transfers a toner image formed by the toner-image forming unit to a recording medium ([0113]) [see Applicant’s claims 16-18]. However, Tanaka (…410) does not specifically disclose the amount of contact between the apexes of the male screw and grooves of the female screw, and the claimed urging member. It is considered to be merely an engineering decision that the apexes of the male screw and grooves of the female screw are not in contact with each other regardless of whether the first protrusion is in contact with the outward-facing surface or the second protrusion is in contact with the inward-facing surface [see Applicant’s claim 4]. Moreover, it is considered merely an engineering decision to have an urging member configured to urge the cleaner such that the protrusion is in contact with one surface of the bottom plate [see Applicant’s claim 5], where the urging member urges the cleaner with elastic force such that the protrusion is in contact with one surface of the bottom plate [see Applicant’s claim 6]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have the apexes of the male screw and grooves of the female screw not in contact with each other regardless of whether the first protrusion is in contact with the outward-facing surface or the second protrusion is in contact with the inward-facing surface, since such a configuration is considered to be merely an engineering decision. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have an urging member configured to urge the cleaner such that the protrusion is in contact with one surface of the bottom plate, where the urging member urges the cleaner with elastic force such that the protrusion is in contact with one surface of the bottom plate, since such a configuration is considered to be merely an engineering decision.
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka (US 2009/0304410) in view of Kataoka et al. (US 6,389,260).
Tanaka (…410) discloses the features mentioned previously, but does not disclose the image forming apparatus including the claimed plurality of toner-image forming units and the configuration of the charging devices in the units. Kataoka et al. (…260) disclose an image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of toner-image forming units (Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd); and a transfer unit that transfers images formed by the toner-image forming units to a recording medium (col. 15, line 37 – col 16, line 18; and figures 1, 3, 5 and 6), wherein at least one of the toner-image forming units is arranged such that the opening in the housing of the charging device provided in the toner-image forming unit faces downward, and at least another one of the toner-image forming units is arranged such that the opening in the housing of the charging device provided in the toner-image forming unit faces upward (col. 15, line 64 – col. 16, line 8; and figures 1, 3, 5 and 6) [see Applicant’s claims 19 and 20]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed plurality of toner-image forming units and the configuration of the charging devices in the units, as disclosed by Kataoka et al. (…260), since such a configuration for image forming is well known in the art.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tanaka (US 2012/0230722) and Ueno (US 2013/0094878) disclose a charging device including a discharge electrode and a cleaner.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 January 14, 2026