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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/14/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 02/18/2026. These drawings are unacceptable. Newly submitted Fig.8 contains new matter. Deletion of reference symbols a and b are necessary to obtain entry upon resubmission.
The drawings are objected to because directional indicator(s) "LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION" and "WIDTHWISE DIRECTION" have both been used to designate a same direction.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following r directional indicator(s) not mentioned in the description: "LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION".
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 Objections
A series of singular dependent claims is permissible in which a dependent claim refers to a preceding claim which, in turn, refers to another preceding claim.
A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated by any claim which does not also depend from said dependent claim. It should be kept in mind that a dependent claim may refer to any preceding independent claim. In general, applicant's sequence will not be changed. See MPEP § 608.01(n).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The originally-filed specification offers no description for “wherein an angle formed by the outer side surface and the predetermined direction is smaller than an angle formed by the inner side surface and the predetermined direction”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6,668,154 to Dickhoff in view of US 6,032,018 to Matsumoto et al.
Regarding claim 1, Dickhoff teaches a static elimination apparatus (Fig.2) comprising: a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet (7) along a conveyance path; a non-contact type static elimination unit (2,3) configured to perform static elimination on the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance unit without being in contact with the sheet;
a first guide (1, lower) including a plurality of ribs (11,12,13), the plurality of ribs including a first rib and a second rib adjacent to the first rib in a sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction and configured to guide the sheet while contacting the sheet
a second guide (1, upper) disposed to face the first guide and configured to form the part of the conveyance path together with the first guide,
an inclined portion (16) upstream in the sheet conveyance direction (Fig.3), wherein the inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the second guide member decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction (see angle b2 in Fig.4), and wherein the inclined portion extends in the sheet conveyance direction away from a conveyance center downstream in the sheet conveyance direction (Figs.2, 4, 5).
Regarding claim 2, Dickhoff teaches the static elimination apparatus wherein the plurality of ribs obliquely extends in the sheet conveyance direction away from a conveyance center downstream in the sheet conveyance direction (Fig.5).
Regarding claim 3, Dickhoff teaches the static elimination apparatus wherein each of the plurality of ribs include a downstream contact portion continuously formed from the inclined portion and extended downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and a side inclined portion (11') continuously formed from the inclined portion and the downstream contact portion and inclined to get farther away from the second guide as a distance from the conveyance center increases (Fig.4).
Regarding claim 4, Dickhoff teaches the static elimination apparatus wherein the plurality of ribs includes the first rib, the second rib adjacent to the first rib, a third rib (11) disposed more outwardly than the first and the second ribs in the sheet widthwise direction, and a fourth rib adjacent to the third rib, wherein the a plurality of openings includes the first opening formed between the first and the second ribs, and a second opening formed between the third and the fourth ribs, and wherein a width of the first opening is larger than a width of the second opening in the sheet widthwise direction (Fig.3).
Regarding claim 10, Dickhoff teaches the static elimination apparatus wherein the first guide includes a plurality of openings formed between adjacent ribs of the plurality of ribs (Fig.3).
Examiner assumes arguendo that Dickhoff fails to teach the first rib including the inclined portion.
Matsumoto discloses a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet (7) along a conveyance path; discharge wires (35a,35b) configured to perform static elimination on the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance unit without being in contact with the sheet; a guiding member (70) including a plurality of ribs (72) adjacent to each other in a sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction and configured to guide the sheet while contacting the sheet
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dickhoff and Matsumoto such that the first rib includes an inclined portion upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the second guide decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and wherein the inclined portion extends in the sheet conveyance direction away from a conveyance center downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, for at least the purpose of integrating functional sheet guiding capabilities into the first rib.
The combination above further renders obvious:
(claim 6) The static elimination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of ribs includes the inclined portion, and a downstream contact portion downstream of the inclined portion in the sheet conveyance direction, and wherein the first opening is disposed at a position overlapping the downstream contact portion in the sheet conveyance direction.
(claim 9) The static elimination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of ribs includes a downstream contact portion continuously formed from the inclined portion and extended downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and wherein the downstream contact portion extends in parallel with the sheet conveyance direction (Matsumoto: Figs. 2 & 3).
(claim 12) The static elimination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first opening is disposed at a position overlapping the inclined portion in the sheet conveyance direction (Rfe2: Figs. 2 & 3).
(claim 8) Dickhoff teaches an image forming apparatus (e.g. copier) comprising the static elimination apparatus but appears silent about its configuration. Matsumoto teaches an electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising a conveyance unit 40, a non-contact static elimination apparatus 35A and an image forming unit including a transfer unit 34 configured to transfer a toner image onto a sheet , and a fixing unit 37 configured to heat and pressurize the sheet with the toner image transferred thereon, to fix the toner image to the sheet, wherein the static elimination apparatus is disposed downstream of the image forming unit and configured to perform the static elimination on the sheet with the image formed thereon by the image forming unit (Fig.1). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a static elimination apparatus according to claim 1 into an image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic method, as the one disclosed by Matsumoto, for at least the purpose of improving sheet conveyance.
Regarding claim 7, Dickhoff teaches a static elimination apparatus (Fig.2) comprising: a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet (7) along a conveyance path; a first non-contact type static elimination unit (5) disposed above the conveyance path and configured to perform static elimination on the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance unit, without being in contact with the sheet; a second non-contact type static elimination unit (5') disposed below the conveyance path and configured to perform the static elimination on the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance unit, without being in contact with the sheet;
an upper guide (1, upper) including a first plurality of ribs (11-13), the first plurality of ribs including a first rib (13) and a second rib (12) adjacent to the first rib in a sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction (10) and configured to guide the sheet while contacting an upper surface of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit, and a first opening formed between the first rib and the second rib configured to expose the first non-contact type static elimination unit to the conveyance path (Fig.2), wherein the upper guide is configured to form a part (9) of the conveyance path; and
a lower guide (1, lower) including a second plurality of ribs (11-13) including a third rib and a fourth rib adjacent to the first rib in the sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction and configured to guide the sheet while contacting a lower surface of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit, and a second opening formed between the third rib and the fourth rib and configured to expose the second non-contact type static elimination unit to the conveyance path, wherein the lower guide is disposed to face the upper guide and configured to form a part of the conveyance path together with the upper guide,
a first inclined portion (16) upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the first inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the lower guide decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and
a second inclined portion (16) upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the second inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the upper guide decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction.
Examiner assumes arguendo that Dickhoff fails to teach the first rib including the inclined portion.
Matsumoto discloses a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet (7) along a conveyance path; discharge wires (35a,35b) configured to perform static elimination on the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance unit without being in contact with the sheet; a guiding member (70) including a plurality of ribs (72) adjacent to each other in a sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction and configured to guide the sheet while contacting the sheet
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dickhoff and Matsumoto such that the first rib includes a first inclined portion upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the first inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the lower guide decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and wherein the second rib includes a second inclined portion upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the second inclined portion is inclined so that a distance to the upper guide decreases downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, for at least the purpose of integrating functional sheet guiding capabilities into the first rib and the second rib.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6,668,154 to Dickhoff in view of US 6,032,018 to Matsumoto et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2021/0216027 to Tanaka et al.
Regarding claim 5, Dickhoff teaches a static elimination apparatus according to claim 1, but appears silent about a static elimination roller pair.
Tanaka teaches a static elimination device comprising contact-type static eliminator 101 including static elimination rollers 111 and 112, located upstream of a non-contact-type static eliminator 102 (Fig.4).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify static elimination apparatus according to claim 1, the further comprise a static elimination roller pair configured to perform the static elimination on the sheet with the static elimination roller pair being in contact with the sheet, upstream of the non- contact type static elimination unit, for at least the purpose of providing a wide range of static elimination conditions according to the physical characteristics of the sheet.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/18/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant points to the features of claim 1 that they believe to be allowable and state that the cited art fails to teach these features. The Office respectfully disagrees and the rejection has been presented above.
Conclusion
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 ARLENE HEREDIA whose telephone number is (571)272-8393. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30-5:30.
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, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Arlene Heredia Ocasio/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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