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
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 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Minamino JP 2005-178992 A (hereinafter “Minamino”)
Regarding claim 1, Minamino, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, discloses an image forming apparatus comprising:
an apparatus body (2) that has an image forming portion (10) which forms an image on a recording medium;
a transport unit (26, 24, 27, and 6) that includes a middle transport member (left roller of 27 in FIG. 4) which transports the recording medium between an upper end (closer to 26) and a lower end (closer to 6) of a transport path extending in a height direction of the apparatus body and that transports the recording medium to the image forming portion along the transport path; and
a feeding unit (40) that includes a stacking unit (stacking surface of 41) which has a stacking surface on which recording media are stacked and a restricting unit (42) which protrudes from the stacking unit and which restricts positions of the recording media stacked on the stacking unit, that is adjacent to the transport path in a width direction of the apparatus body, and that is switched between a stored state (dashed lines of 42 and 40 in FIG. 4) where the stacking unit is stored inside the apparatus body such that the stacking surface is along the transport path and an exposed state (opened state of 40) where the stacking unit is exposed to an outside of the apparatus body such that the recording media are capable of being stacked on the stacking surface,
wherein the middle transport member of the transport unit is disposed at a position that is shifted upward in the height direction and that overlaps in the width direction with respect to the restricting unit in the feeding unit in the stored state (refer to annotated FIG. 4 shown below) .
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Regarding claim 2, wherein the transport unit further includes a lower transport member (roller of 6, refer to annotated FIG. 4 above) that is provided below the middle transport member in the transport path and that transports the recording medium transported by the middle transport member toward the image forming portion, and the transport path between the middle transport member and the lower transport member is curved to protrude toward an outer side of the apparatus body (refer to annotated FIG. 4 above).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the transport unit is not provided with another transport member (not provided with an intermediate roller) that transports the recording medium in the transport path between the middle transport member and the lower transport member (refer to FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 7, further comprising: an opening and closing cover (exterior surface of 41) that opens and closes with respect to the apparatus body, wherein the feeding unit is switched between the stored state and the exposed state in response to an opening and closing operation of the opening and closing cover, and a relative position of the restricting unit (42 is movable relative to 41) with respect to the opening and closing cover differs between the stored state and the exposed state.
Regarding claim 10, wherein the restricting unit of the feeding unit in the stored state has a recessed portion (refer to tapered section of 42 in annotated FIG. 4) that is recessed toward the outside of the apparatus body, and the transport unit is disposed at a position where the middle transport member is adjacent to the recessed portion in the restricting unit in the width direction and the transport path is curved toward an inner side of the apparatus body (notice section of transport path adjacent the recessed portion is curving inward in FIG. 4).
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakanashi JP 2008-120498 A (hereinafter “Sakanashi”)
Regarding claim 1, Sakanashi, with reference to annotated FIG. 1 shown below, discloses an image forming apparatus comprising:
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an apparatus body (53) that has an image forming portion (55) which forms an image on a recording medium;
a transport unit (6, 61, 62, 60, 9) that includes a middle transport member (61) which transports the recording medium between an upper end (closer to 62) and a lower end (closer to 6) of a transport path extending in a height direction of the apparatus body and that transports the recording medium to the image forming portion along the transport path; and
a feeding unit that includes a stacking unit (1) which has a stacking surface on which recording media are stacked and a restricting unit (11) which protrudes from the stacking unit and which restricts positions of the recording media stacked on the stacking unit, that is adjacent to the transport path in a width direction of the apparatus body, and that is switched between a stored state (dashed lines of 11 in FIG. 1) where the stacking unit is stored inside the apparatus body such that the stacking surface is along the transport path and an exposed state (opened state of 1) where the stacking unit is exposed to an outside of the apparatus body such that the recording media are capable of being stacked on the stacking surface,
wherein the middle transport member of the transport unit is disposed at a position that is shifted upward in the height direction and that overlaps in the width direction with respect to the restricting unit in the feeding unit in the stored state (refer to annotated FIG. 1 shown above) .
Regarding claim 11, wherein the middle transport member of the transport unit is a roll member that rotates about a rotation shaft, in a case of being viewed in a rotation shaft direction, a tangent line that extends in the width direction from a lower end of an outer circumference of the roll member in the height direction overlaps an upper end of the restricting unit in the stored state in the height direction, and the rotation shaft is positioned above the upper end of the restricting unit in the stored state in the height direction (refer to annotated FIG. 1 shown above).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Minamino or Sakanashi in view of Kamano US 10,875,731 (hereinafter “Kamano”, cited in an IDS).
Regarding claim 9, Minamino (or Sakanashi) teach the claimed invention except wherein in the feeding unit in the stored state, a lower portion of the restricting unit in the height direction protrudes to an inner side of the apparatus body compared to an upper portion of the restricting unit in the height direction.
Kamano teaches a restricting unit (sheet guide 196) that has a larger portion towards a downstream section of the restricting unit (“wherein a lower portion of the restricting unit in the height direction protrudes to an inner side of the apparatus body compared to an upper portion of the restricting unit in the height direction”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the restricting unit of Minamino or Sakanashi with the restricting unit of Kamano in order to achieve the predictable result of providing an alternative known design that performs the same function of aligning a sheet or sheet stack prior to a feeding operation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 8 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3094. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached on 571-272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUIS A GONZALEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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