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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of CLAIMS 1-4 in the reply filed on 08 October 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 5-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected INVENTION, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2022-207946 was received on 03 February 2024 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 22 December 2023 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 22 December 2023 are accepted.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Misaizu (US PGPub 2022/0324224 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Misaizu discloses a printing device (Abstract, 10) for forming a printed image on a medium based on image data, the printing device comprising:
a printing head (Abstract, 102) including a nozzle array in which a plurality of nozzles configured to eject a droplet onto the medium are aligned (¶0040);
a control unit (Fig. 1, controller 30) configured to control a main scan in which the printing head is moved along a main scan direction (Abstract, main scanning direction) intersecting with an alignment direction of the plurality of nozzles (Fig. 1; ¶0004; 0040), a sub-scan (¶0035) in which at least one of the medium or the printing head is moved along a feeding direction intersecting with the main scan direction (Fig. 1), and the ejection of the droplet from the printing head (¶0031); and
a detection unit including a sensor (detection mechanism 106; Abstract; Fig. 1) configured to detect a density of a location on the medium at which the droplet ejected from the nozzle array during the main scan lands while moving along the main scan direction together with the print head (¶0044-0046), the detection unit being configured to detect a landing position in the main scan direction of the droplet ejected from the nozzle array based on a detection result of the sensor (¶0044-0046),
wherein the control unit controls a plurality of the main scans involving the ejection of the droplet and the sub-scan between the plurality of main scans (¶0047), based on the image data (¶0011), the plurality of main scans includes a first main scan and a second main scan subsequent to the first main scan (¶0047-0048), and
the control unit controls, based on the landing position in the main scan direction detected by the detection unit in the first main scan, a timing at which the printing head is caused to eject the droplet in the second main scan to reduce a deviation in the landing position in the main scan direction of the droplet ejected from the nozzle array between the first main scan and the second main scan (¶0004; 0094).
With regard to Claim 2, Misaizu further discloses wherein the control unit performs control to cause the second main scan to be performed after the first main scan in the plurality of main scans involving the ejection of the droplet (¶0047-0048).
With regard to Claim 3, Misaizu further discloses wherein the control unit moves the printing head in a first direction in the first main scan (¶0047-0048; Fig. 1), and moves the printing head in a second direction opposite to the first direction in the second main scan (¶0047-0048; Fig. 1) and the sensor is at a position toward the second direction from the printing head (Fig. 1; sensor 106).
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Misaizu, in view of Tokunaga et al. (US PGPub 2017/0225494 A1), hereinafter Tokunaga.
With regard to Claim 4, Misaizu further discloses wherein the control unit moves the printing head in a first direction in the first main scan (¶0047-0048; Fig. 1), and moves the printing head in a second direction opposite to the first direction in the second main scan (¶0047-0048; Fig. 1), the plurality of main scans involving the ejection of the droplet alternately include the first main scan and the second main scan (¶0047-0048; Fig. 1), the control unit controls, based on the landing position in the main scan direction detected by the second direction side sensor in the first main scan, a timing at which the printing head is caused to eject the droplet in the second main scan to reduce the deviation in the landing position in the main scan direction of the droplet ejected from the nozzle array between the first main scan and the second main scan (¶0047-0048; 0094), and the control unit controls, based on the landing position in the main scan direction detected by the first direction side sensor in the second main scan, a timing at which the printing head is caused to eject the droplet in the first main scan to reduce the deviation in the landing position in the main scan direction of the droplet ejected from the nozzle array between the second main scan and the first main scan (¶0047-0048; 0094).
Misaizu does not explicitly disclose the sensor includes a first direction side sensor at a position toward the first direction from the printing head, and a second direction side sensor at a position toward the second direction from the printing head; and to use both the first direction side sensor and second direction side sensor to reduce landing deviation timing.
The secondary reference of Tokunaga discloses the sensor includes a first direction side sensor at a position toward the first direction from the printing head, and a second direction side sensor at a position toward the second direction from the printing head (Figs. 20-21; ¶0213); and to use both the first direction side sensor and second direction side sensor to reduce landing deviation timing (¶0213-0214).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the first and second side sensors of Tokunaga, with the printing device of Misauzu, in order to more accurately detect the image in each scanning direction, as taught by Tokunaga (¶0213).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853