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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s Amendment filed on 12/12/2025 regarding claims 1-10 is fully considered. Of the above claims, claims 1-2, 4-6 and 8-10 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/12/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected below under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsukui et al. in view of Kuiper et al.
Regarding claim 1, the applicant states that Kuiper, in paragraphs [0027] and [0055]-[0058], teaches “the time between ejection of the ink onto the receiving medium and curing of the ink may be kept constant, by moving the print head and the sources of UV radiation in a synchronous way, which is a movement in the main scanning direction” and that “this teaching is clearly incompatible with the teachings of Tsukui” on page 7. Tsukui teaches a page-wide curing array (a rod-like ultraviolet radiation light source 16; FIG. 2), and Kuiper teaches “the time between ejection of the ink onto the receiving medium.” The examiner respectfully disagrees that this teaching of Kuiper is incompatible with the teachings of Tsukui. Tsukui further teaches that “it is also possible to apply a page-wide curing mechanism” and that “if a page-wide curing mechanism is provided, then it may not be necessary to move the curing mechanism in reciprocation in the main scanning direction X” (paragraph [0092]).
Claims 2-10, due to their dependency on claim 1 and for the same reasons as discussed above, the traversal of their rejections is not persuasive.
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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsukui et al. (JP 2015051546 A) in view of Kuiper et al. (US 2016/0176202 A1).
Tsukui et al. teach the following claimed limitations:
Regarding claim 1, a method for operating a printing apparatus (operating the inkjet printer; Figs 1-3; [0008]), the printing apparatus comprising:
at least one printing unit (ink jet print head 6; FIG. 3) configured to, in operation, deposit a predetermined pattern of a radiation-curable fluid on a recording medium (an area facing the movement path of the ink discharge surface of the bottom of the print head 6 on the print medium 8 forms a scan surface D; a plurality of sub-tanks for ultraviolet curable ink are attached to the head carriage 4, and the ink is supplied to the sub-tank from an ink cartridge disposed on the side of the machine body through a tube; [0009]; FIG. 3), the at least one printing unit comprising a scanning printing unit, the scanning printing unit being configured to, in operation, move in reciprocation in a first direction, the first direction being substantially perpendicular to a direction of relative recording medium transport (the head carriage 4 is reciprocally coupled to the head guide rail 2 in the main scanning direction Y along the head guide rail 2; [0008]; Figs. 1-3);
a recording medium support for supporting the recording medium (platen 10; FIG. 3); and
a page-wide curing array (a rod-like ultraviolet radiation light source 16 extending in the Y-axis direction is disposed on the side surface of the head guide rail 2 so as to be located over substantially the entire moving range of the head carriage 4 along the head guide rail 2; [0011]; FIG. 2), the page-wide curing array being configured to, in operation, irradiate a recording medium provided with the radiation-curable fluid (the movement path of the print head 6 is moved to the scanning surface D of the print medium 8 facing the movement path of the ejection surface of the print head; as a reference, UV light is irradiated from the rear side of the airframe; [0014], [0017]-[0018]), the page-wide curing array extending in the first direction, the page-wide curing array comprising a number of individually controllable units, the individually controllable units being arranged along the first direction, the individually controllable units being configured to, in operation, emit radiation onto an area of the recording medium, wherein the individually controllable units are operable in at least two modes, the at least two modes including an Off mode and an On mode (the UV light emitting unit 16a is connected to the main controller 22 of the printer via a UV light emitting unit drive control unit including a light source controller 18 and a driver circuit 20 so that the light amount and on/off of each LED chip 16b can be controlled; [0012]-[0013], [0017]-[0020]),
wherein the method comprises the steps of:
controlling the individually controllable units to be in one of the at least two modes (on/off; [0012]-[0013], [0017]-[0020]); and
depositing the radiation-curable fluid onto a recording medium using the scanning printing unit (a plurality of ink discharge nozzle rows are provided on the ink discharge surface of the print head 6; [0009]; the UV curable ink of CMYK is ejected while moving in the main scanning direction, and printing is first performed on the print medium 8 for one band; [0015]; the ink is discharged onto the scan surface of the print medium 8 and printing is performed; [0019]),
wherein the individually controllable units are controlled such that a time between deposition of the radiation-curable fluid and irradiation of the radiation-curable fluid is set (the UV light emitting unit 16a is connected to the main controller 22 of the printer via a UV light emitting unit drive control unit including a light source controller 18 and a driver circuit 20 so that the light amount and on/off of each LED chip 16b can be controlled; [0012]-[0013]).
Regarding claim 2, wherein, at a first point in time, a first unit of the individually controllable units is controlled to be in a mode not being the Off mode and a second unit is controlled to be in the Off mode, the position of the first unit in the first direction and the position of the second unit in the first direction being adjacent to one another, and at a second point in time, the first unit is controlled to be in the Off mode and the second unit is controlled to be in in a mode not being the Off mode (the on/off signal and the illuminance for each LED chip are transmitted from the main controller 22 to the light source controller 18 using an address number given in advance for on/off control and light amount designation of each LED chip 16b of the UV light emitting unit 16a; [0013]; the power consumption and heat generation of the light source 16 are reduced by turning off the LED chips positioned opposite to the back side of the head carriage 4 moving in this manner by the control of the light source controller 18; [0017]; when the head carriage 4 moves to a subsequent scan surface D, the next LED chip 16b would be turned off and the current LED chip 16b would be turned on).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the at least two modes further include a Pin mode (the light amount and on/off of each LED chip 16b can be controlled; [0012]-[0013]; the Pin mode can be any control of the light amount other than the on and off modes).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the page-wide curing array comprises a first set of the individually controllable units and a second set of individually controllable units, wherein the first set of individually controllable units is configured to, in operation, emit a first type of radiation and a second set of individually controllable units is configured to, in operation, emit a second type of radiation (lower light source 16 emits a narrower radiation beam while the upper light source 16 emits a wider radiation beam; Figs. 9A-9B).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the printing apparatus further comprises an optical element, the optical element being configured to, in operation, receive radiation from at least one of the individually controllable units of the page-wide curing array and to deflect the radiation towards the recording medium (the irradiation range of the light source of each stage is adjusted based on the angle of irradiation with the lens of the light transmitting portion of the cover; [0022]).
Regarding claim 6, wherein, in a printing operation, the scanning printing unit is in a position x along the first direction, and an individually controllable unit of the individually controllable units located in the position x along the first direction is in the Off mode and at least one of the individually controllable units not being located in the position x along the first direction is in a mode other than the Off mode (a rod-like light source 16 is disposed on the lower surface of the head guide rail 2, and the light source 16 turns off a part located on the back side of the moving head carriage 4 during printing operation of the printer and the other part illuminate the scan surface; [0020]).
Regarding claim 7, wherein all individually controllable units not being located in the position x along the first direction being is in a mode other than the Off mode (a rod-like light source 16 is disposed on the lower surface of the head guide rail 2, and the light source 16 turns off a part located on the back side of the moving head carriage 4 during printing operation of the printer and the other part illuminate the scan surface; [0020]).
Regarding claim 8, a printing apparatus (inkjet printer; Figs 1-3; [0008]) comprising:
the at least one printing unit configured to, in operation, deposit a predetermined pattern of a radiation-curable fluid on the recording medium (an area facing the movement path of the ink discharge surface of the bottom of the print head 6 on the print medium 8 forms a scan surface D; a plurality of sub-tanks for ultraviolet curable ink are attached to the head carriage 4, and the ink is supplied to the sub-tank from an ink cartridge disposed on the side of the machine body through a tube; [0009]; FIG. 3), the at least one printing unit comprising the scanning printing unit, the scanning printing unit being configured to, in operation, move in reciprocation in the first direction, the first direction being substantially perpendicular to a direction of relative recording medium transport (the head carriage 4 is reciprocally coupled to the head guide rail 2 in the main scanning direction Y along the head guide rail 2; [0008]; Figs 1-3);
the page-wide curing array, the page-wide curing array being configured to, in operation, irradiate a recording medium provided with the radiation-curable fluid (the movement path of the print head 6 is moved to the scanning surface D of the print medium 8 facing the movement path of the ejection surface of the print head; as a reference, UV light is irradiated from the rear side of the airframe; [0014], [0017]-[0018]), the page-wide curing array extending in the first direction, the page-wide curing array comprising the number of individually controllable units, the individually controllable units being arranged along the first direction, the individually controllable units being configured to, in operation, emit radiation onto an area of the recording medium, wherein the individually controllable units are operable in the at least two modes, the at least two modes including the Off mode and the On mode (the UV light emitting unit 16a is connected to the main controller 22 of the printer via a UV light emitting unit drive control unit including a light source controller 18 and a driver circuit 20 so that the light amount and on/off of each LED chip 16b can be controlled; [0012]-[0013], [0017]-[0020]),
the recording medium support for supporting the recording medium (platen 10; FIG. 3); and
a control unit configured to, in operation, control the printing apparatus to perform the method (the UV light emitting unit 16a is connected to the main controller 22 of the printer via a UV light emitting unit drive control unit including a light source controller 18 and a driver circuit 20 so that the light amount and on/off of each LED chip 16b can be controlled; [0012]-[0013]).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the printing apparatus further comprises an optical element, the optical element being configured to, in operation, receive radiation from at least one of the individually controllable units of the page-wide curing array and to deflect the radiation towards the recording medium (the irradiation range of the light source of each stage is adjusted based on the angle of irradiation with the lens of the light transmitting portion of the cover; [0022]).
Tsukui et al. do not teach the following claimed limitations:
Regarding claim 1, wherein the time between deposition of the radiation-curable fluid and irradiation of the radiation-curable fluid is essentially the same for different areas of the recording medium.
Kuiper et al. teach the following claimed limitations:
Regarding claim 1, a time between deposition of a radiation-curable fluid and irradiation of the radiation-curable fluid is essentially the same for different areas of a recording medium (there may be a time interval in between application of the droplets onto the receiving medium and curing, without droplet smearing occurring; [0027]; the time between ejection of the ink onto the receiving medium and curing of the ink may be constant; as a consequence, the extent to which the ink has cooled down may be constant; hence, the properties of the ink droplets may be constant and the visual appearance of the ink after curing may be constant; [0057]; for the purpose of smearing, the time interval is essentially the same) for the purpose that the properties of the ink droplets are constant and the visual appearance of the ink after curing is constant.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the time between deposition of the radiation-curable fluid and irradiation of the radiation-curable fluid is essentially the same for different areas of the recording medium, as taught by Kuiper et al., into Tsukui et al. for the purpose that the properties of the ink droplets are constant and the visual appearance of the ink after curing is constant.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsukui et al. (JP 2015051546 A) as modified by Kuiper et al. (US 2016/0176202 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sanada (US 2012/0038724 A1).
Tsukui et al. as modified by Kuiper et al. do not teach the following claimed limitations:
Regarding claim 10, a software product comprising program code on a non-transitory machine-readable medium, wherein the program code, when loaded into a controller of the printing apparatus with the at least one printing unit for depositing the radiation-curable fluid, the page-wide curing array and a control unit, causes the controller to perform the method.
Sanada teaches the following claimed limitations:
Further regarding claim 10, a software product comprising program code on a non-transitory machine-readable medium, wherein the program code, when loaded into a controller of a printing apparatus with at least one printing unit for depositing a radiation-curable fluid, a page-wide curing array and a control unit, causes the controller to perform a method (programs to be executed by the CPU of the control apparatus 370 and various data required for control purposes are stored in the information storage unit 394; [0069]; FIG. 2) for the purpose of automatically synchronizing the different components of the printing apparatus.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a software product comprising program code on a non-transitory machine-readable medium, wherein the program code, when loaded into a controller of a printing apparatus with the at least one printing unit for depositing the radiation-curable fluid, the page-wide curing array and a control unit, causes the controller to perform the method, as taught by Sanada, into Tsukui et al. as modified by Kuiper et al. for the purpose of automatically synchronizing the different components of the printing apparatus.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDRICK X LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3798. The examiner can normally be reached MWFSa 10am-8pm.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
8 February 2026
/KENDRICK X LIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/DOUGLAS X RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights