DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
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, 2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshiyama (2005/0024418) in view of Nakano (10,414,166).
Regarding claim 1, Yoshiyama teaches a liquid discharge device comprising:
a tank (fig. 2, item 11) configured to store a liquid;
a head (fig. 2, item 12) having a plurality of nozzles (fig. 2, note that each head 10 has rows of nozzles) configured to discharge the liquid supplied from the tank, the plurality of nozzles forming a plurality of nozzle rows arranged in a first direction (see fig. 2B, into page), the nozzle rows including a first subset of nozzle rows and a second subset of nozzle rows where rows in the first subset and the second subset are exclusive (see fig. 6, note that the first subset is being taken to correspond to the nozzles of new cartridge at S65, and the second subset is being taken to correspond to not replaced ink cartridge at S66);
a first sensor (fig. 6, sensor sensing where a cartridge has been replaced at S10) configured to:
output a first signal (fig. fig. 6, YES at S62); and
output a second signal (fig. 6, NO at S62); and
a controller configured to:
based on receiving the first signal after receiving the second signal from the first sensor (see fig. 6, note that the signal is always the second signal unless there is a cartridge replacement, in which the signal changes to the first signal for a short period), perform a first maintenance (fig. 6, S65) on the first subset of which does not include the second subset of nozzle rows (note that only the nozzles of the replacement cartridge are purged);
in a case a predetermined condition is satisfied after performing the first maintenance and before discharging the liquid from the plurality of nozzles onto a sheet, perform a second maintenance (fig. 6, S66) on the second subset of nozzle rows of the head (see fig. 6); and
after performing the first maintenance and the second maintenance, control the head to discharge the liquid from the plurality of nozzles onto the sheet (Note that this is the case).
Yoshiyama does not disclose wherein the first sensor outputs signals in accordance with liquid levels. Nakano teaches a first sensor (Nakano, cols. 17-18, lines 59-15) configured to output a signal in accordance with a liquid level of the liquid stored in the tank or of a cartridge supplying the liquid to the tank, the first sensor being configured to:
output a first signal (Nakano, fig. 7, signal corresponding to the third range) in a case the liquid level is at or above a first position (Nakano, fig. 7, reference value II); and
output a second signal (Nakano, fig. 7, signal corresponding to second or first range) in a case the liquid level is below the first position (Nakano, see fig. 7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add liquid level sensors of the type disclosed by Nakano to the cartridges disclosed by Yoshiyama because doing so would allow for monitoring the exact liquid levels in each of the cartridges, thereby facilitating more precise ink usage and reducing ink waste. That is, while Yoshiyama employs different maintenances techniques depending on whether a cartridge is new, used or unreplaced, it does not have a specific sensor for detecting liquid levels, and thus to add such a sensor to its flow would allow for more tailored maintenance routines.
Upon combination of references, the first maintenance S65 would be carried out either when a new cartridge was installed or the liquid level was sensed to be full or close to full, and the second maintenance would be executed on non-replaced cartridges and those where the liquid level was below the first position.
Note that, according to MPEP 2114, the manner of operating a device does not distinguish an apparatus from the prior art. Here, all claimed structural elements are disclosed by Nakano, and a number of functional steps have been added as manner of operating the structure. Note that this logic applies to all other claims.
Regarding claim 2, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of nozzle rows has an exhaust port (Nakano, fig. 3, item 13yb), and wherein the controller is configured to perform a maintenance process of the head comprising:
suction purge for sucking the nozzles in the nozzle row (Nakano, see fig. 3); and
exhaust purge for sucking the exhaust port of the nozzle row (Nakano, see fig. 3), and
wherein in the performing of the first maintenance, the controller is configured to perform at least one of the suction purge and the exhaust purge for the first subset of nozzle rows which does not include the second subset of nozzle rows
Regarding claim 8, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1, wherein after performing the first maintenance, in a case a predetermined time has elapsed since receiving the first signal from the first sensor, the controller is configured to perform the second maintenance (Nakano, col. 8, lines 57-67).
Claim(s) 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshiyama in view of Nakano as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of official notice.
Regarding claim 3, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1. Nakano does not expressly teach
a second sensor configured to:
output a third signal in a case the liquid level is at or above a second position, the second position being higher than the first position; and
output a fourth signal in a case the liquid level is below the second position, wherein after performing the first maintenance, based on receiving the third signal from the second sensor, the controller is configured to perform the second maintenance.
Examiner takes official notice that one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found it obvious to implement the three-range liquid level detection technique shown in Nakano, Figure 7 with two sensors. That is, the three-range approach would have required two sensors to implement. When both sensors were ON, the reading would be in the first range, when one sensor was ON and one was OFF, the reading would be in the second range, and when both sensors were OFF, the reading would be in the third range. Thus, the first sensor would deliver first and second signals for ON and OFF states, and the seconds sensor would deliver third and fourth signals for ON and OFF states.
Regarding claim 4, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano in view of official notice teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 3, further comprising: a notification device (Nakano, fig. 6, item 60), wherein after performing the first maintenance, based on not receiving the third signal from the second sensor, the controller is configured to operate the notification device (Nakano, fig. 8B, S11).
Regarding claim 5, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano in view of official notice teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 4, wherein after operating the notification device, the controller is configured to:
based on receiving the first signal from the first sensor, not to repeat the first maintenance; and based on receiving the third signal from the second sensor, to perform the second maintenance (Nakano, see fig. 8).
Regarding claim 6, Yoshiyama in view of Nakano teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to perform a third maintenance comprising performing a maintenance on all of the plurality of nozzle rows (see claim 1 rejection, note that all of the maintenance is performed on all nozzle rows), and
wherein in the performing of the third maintenance, the controller is configured to: based on receiving the third signal from the second sensor, perform the maintenance with a liquid having a first amount; and based on receiving the fourth signal from the second sensor and the first signal from the first sensor, perform the maintenance with a liquid having a second amount, the second amount being smaller than the first amount, in order to perform the third maintenance with the liquid supplied from the tank (Nakano, see figs. 8, 9, Note that a different liquid amount is calculated for each ink level of ink remaining so as to conserve ink).
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.
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853