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 .
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.
Claims 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki et al. US 9651907.
Regarding claim 1, Aoki et al. discloses:
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a plurality of image carriers (11) (FIG. 1) holding developers;
a plurality of potential detectors (17) (FIG. 1) that are mounted in a first scanning direction on each of the image carriers and detect surface potentials of the image carriers (Col. 3 lines 1-4);
an intermediate transfer body (20) (FIG. 1) to which the developers held by the image carriers are transferred; and
a plurality of density detectors (31) (FIGs. 1 and 6) that are mounted in the first scanning direction of the intermediate transfer body and detect densities of the developers transferred to the intermediate transfer body (Col. 3 lines 29-32),
wherein a subset of the potential detectors (center or edge potential detectors) is mounted at a location corresponding to a location where the density detectors are mounted and a subset (other of center or edge potential detectors) of the potential detectors is mounted at a corresponding location that is common to the image carriers.
Regarding claim 7, Aoki et al. discloses:
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a plurality of image carriers (11) (FIG. 1) holding developers;
a plurality of potential detecting means (17) (FIG. 1), mounted in a first scanning direction on each of the image carriers, for detecting surface potentials of the image carriers (Col. 3 lines 1-4);
an intermediate transfer body (20) (FIG. 1) to which the developers held by the image carriers are transferred; and
a plurality of density detecting means (31) (FIGs. 1 and 6), mounted in the first scanning direction of the intermediate transfer body, for detecting densities of the developers transferred to the intermediate transfer body (Col. 3 lines 29-32),
wherein a subset of the potential detecting means (center or edge potential detecting means) is mounted at a location corresponding to a location where the density detecting means are mounted and a subset of the potential detecting means (other of center or edge potential detecting means) is mounted at a corresponding location that is common to the image carriers.
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 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki et al. US 9651907 in view of Akita US 20110123209.
Regarding claim 2, Aoki et al. discloses the limitations of claim 1 as set forth above. Furthermore, Aoki et al. discloses a plurality of image formers (10) (FIG. 1) respectively including the image carriers configured to form images of standard colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, wherein the density detectors include a density detector detecting the image of the standard colors (FIG. 6), but does not explicitly disclose an image former configured to form an image of a special color other than the standard colors, a density detector detecting the image of the special color.
Akita discloses a plurality of image formers (Pa-Pe) (FIG. 1) configured to form images of standard colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black and an image of a special color (transparent) [0031] other than the standard colors, and a density detector (21) (FIG. 1) detecting the image of the special color [0052].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus as disclosed by Aoki et al. to include the special color toner and density detection as disclosed by Akita in order to allow for printing with transparent toner [0002] (Akita).
When making such a modification, the density detectors of Aoki et al. would detect the image of the special color.
Regarding claim 3, Aoki et al. discloses the limitations of claim 1 as set forth above. Furthermore, Aoki et al. discloses a plurality of image formers (10) (FIG. 1) respectively including the image carriers configured to form images of standard colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, wherein the density detectors include a first density detector (center density detector) and a second density detector (edge density detector) (FIG. 6), the first density detector mounted at a location used to detect a density of each of test images of cyan and magenta (FIG. 6), the second density detector mounted at a location used to detect a density of each of test images of yellow and black (FIG. 6). Aoki et al. does not explicitly disclose an image former configured to form an image of a special color other than the standard colors, and a third density detector detecting a density of a test image of the special color.
Akita discloses a plurality of image formers (Pa-Pe) (FIG. 1) configured to form images of standard colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black and an image of a special color (transparent) [0031] other than the standard colors, and a density detector (21) (FIG. 1) detecting the image of the special color [0052].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus as disclosed by Aoki et al. to include the special color toner and density detection as disclosed by Akita in order to allow for printing with transparent toner [0002] (Akita).
Aoki et al. in view of Akita does not explicitly teach a third density detector detecting a density of a test image of the special color.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide an additional, functionally equivalent, edge density detector at the opposite edge of the edge density detector as disclosed by Aoki et al. in order to increase the density detection along the main scanning direction, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8 (CA7 1977).
When making such a modification, the third density detector of Aoki et al. in view of Akita would detect the image of the special color.
Regarding claim 4, Aoki et al. in view of Akita teaches:
wherein the first density detector is mounted at a location corresponding to a location used to detect a density of a test image that is transferred to a substantially central position of the intermediate transfer body (FIG. 6) (Aoki et al.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 5 and 6, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “processor configured to perform a gradation correction process and a restriction process at a frequency different from a frequency of the gradation correction process, the gradation correction process performed in accordance with a potential of the image carrier detected by the potential detector and a density detected by the density detector and the restriction process restricting a variation in the densities of the image carriers in accordance with only the potential of the image carrier detected by the potential detector” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II whose telephone number is (571)272-6619. The examiner can normally be reached T-Th 9-5.
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/THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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