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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/1/2024 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 2/1/2024 are acceptable for examination by the examiner.
Title
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1, 8-9, 11-12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HAMABATA et al. (US 2022/0324672 A1).
HAMABATA teaches regarding claim 1, a static elimination device 50 comprising: static elimination rolls 54 in a paired configuration that respectively have roll bodies continuously extending along an axial direction intersecting a moving direction of a medium and that eliminate static electricity by moving the medium in a nipped state; a static elimination power source Va that applies a static elimination voltage to at least one static elimination roll of the static elimination rolls in the paired configuration; and a regulating unit (roller end that accepts voltage from supply Va and which does not make contact with the medium) that passes through a non-contact portion formed at a part of a contact region of the static elimination rolls in the paired configuration in the axial direction and that extends to a front and a back in the moving direction of the medium to regulate the moving direction of the medium [figures 3-4, [0037, 0046-0047]).
Regarding claim 8, the regulating unit is configured to have a rectangular shape in cross section or a circular shape in cross section (roller end is circular in figure 10).
Regarding claim 11, wherein in an aspect in which a plurality of sets of the static elimination rolls in the paired configuration are provided in the moving direction of the medium, and each set of the static elimination rolls in the paired configuration is provided with the regulating unit, and the regulating unit of each set is arranged to be biased in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the medium [0121].
Regarding claims 12 and 19, a medium processing system comprising: a processing unit configured to: perform processing that involves charging on a moving medium; and the static elimination device according to claim 1 that eliminates static electricity by passing the medium therethrough (figures 4, 10, [0052-0054, 0079-0081]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 10, 13-18, and 20 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.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. TANAKA et al. (US2021/0216031 A1) teach static elimination for media conveying rollers. SAKAMOTO et al. (US 2023/0047171 A1) teaches reversing roller pair.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANA GRAINGER whose telephone number is (571)272-2135. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 9-5.
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, Walter Lindsay can be reached on 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QUANA GRAINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
QG
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