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 without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 05 January 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 05 January 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 19 January 2024 and 05 January 2026 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the third arc height being smaller than the first arc height must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Please note that paragraph 0064 of the Specification recites “assuming that the guide roller 71 positioned downstream of the guide rollers 51 in the conveying direction is a third rotating member, the abutment portion between the sheet S and the third rotating member is a third arc portion Au, and the arc height of the third arc portion Au is a third arc height Qu, the relation between the first rotating member and the third rotating member will be described in more detail. The radius Ru of the guide roller 71 that is the third rotating member is smaller than the radius Rt of the guide rollers 51 that is the first rotating member. In addition, the guide rollers are disposed such that the winding angle θu, which is the central angle of the third arc portion Au, is smaller than the winding angle θt, which is the central angle of the first arc portion At1. Therefore, the third arc height Qu of the third arc portion Au is smaller than the first arc height Qt1 of the first arc portion At1, and the camber Wu of a portion of the sheet S that lies along the third arc portion Au is smaller than the camber Wt of a portion of the sheet S that lies along the first arc portion At1”, (emphasis added) but the drawings (e.g., fig. 12, among others) teach the opposite, with radius Ru, winding angle θu, arc height Qu, and radius Ru of the roller 71 (i.e. “the third rotating member”) being shown as larger than the radius Rt, winding angle θt, arc height Qt1, and radius Rt of the roller 51 (i.e., “the first rotating member”). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
0The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim recites “letting a first arc portion be an abutment portion between the recording medium and the first rotating member, and letting a third arc portion be an abutment portion between the recording medium and the third rotating member” in lines 19-21, making the claim indefinite since it is not clear how the printing apparatus can let/allow an arc portion to be an abutment portion. Is there a mechanism that is movable to allow that function? Claims 2-10 depend on claim 1, and are therefore rejected the same way.
Allowable Subject Matter
Upon a proper resolution to the Drawing Objection and Rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) above, with no new matter being entered, please note that Claims 1-10 have been found to have allowable subject matter.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1,
The primary reason for allowance for this claim is the inclusion of the limitations of a recording apparatus comprising:
a first rotating member for supporting a recording medium while rotating, and conveying the recording medium along an outer peripheral surface of the first rotating member such that a recording side of the recording medium bulges;
a second rotating member that is adjacent to and downstream of the first rotating member in a conveying direction of the recording medium, the second rotating member being for supporting the recording medium while rotating;
a third rotating member downstream of the second rotating member in the conveying direction, the third rotating member being for supporting the recording medium while rotating, and conveying the recording medium along an outer peripheral surface of the third rotating member such that the recording side of the recording medium bulges;
a recording portion for performing a recording operation, at a location downstream of the third rotating member in the conveying direction; and
a floating detection portion for detecting floating of the recording medium between the first rotating member and the second rotating member,
wherein, as viewed along a rotation axis line direction of the first rotating member, letting a first arc portion be an abutment portion between the recording medium and the first rotating member, and letting a third arc portion be an abutment portion between the recording medium and the third rotating member, a third arc height, which is a distance from a chord of the third arc portion to an apex of the third arc portion, is smaller than a first arc height, which is a distance from a chord of the first arc portion to an apex of the first arc portion.
It is these limitations, in combination as claimed, that have not been taught, found, or suggested by prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Akuta (US 2019/0275814) discloses a wind-up device 30 that may be provided with an upstream-side reversing roller 34 that reverses the medium M at an upstream side in relation to the tension roller 35, to have a winding angle of the medium M to be wound around tension roller, within a predetermined angle range, wherein the winding angle with respect to the tension roller can be made within the predetermined angle range, between the upstream-side reversing roller and the reversing roller [paragraph 0064.]
Mitsuyasu (US 2022/0379648) discloses a wrap angle of continuous paper 9 with respect to the pass roller 21 being 45 to 215 degrees, so that holding force of the continuous paper by the pass roller can be secured while reducing a time for which the surface of the pass roller and the continuous paper are in contact with each other [paragraph 0049.]
Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (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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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853