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 02/08/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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 (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.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 6-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamagata et al. (US 2022/0288952).
Regarding claim 1, Yamagata et al teaches a medium transport device (fig.1) comprising:
a first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) configured to transport a medium (P) in a transport direction; and
a control unit (51,71 fig.1) configured to control the first roller,
wherein the control unit (51,71 fig.1)
rotates the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) at a first speed (“1st V” in figure below, fig.3) when the first roller transports a first medium (“first sheet” paragraph 0098) and
is configured to perform a deceleration control of decelerating (“deceleration” in the figure below,fig.3) a rotation of the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) to a second speed (“2nd V” in figure below, fig.3) slower than the first speed (“1st V”) when a rear end of the first medium (“first sheet”) is located downstream of the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48) in the transport direction (paragraphs 0098 teaches at time t11 the rear edge of the first sheet detected by sensor 63 which means the first sheet is downstream of 61) and a leading end of a second medium (“second sheet” paragraph 0100) transported subsequently to the first medium (“first sheet”) is located upstream of the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48) in the transport direction (paragraphs 0100 teaches at time t12 the leading edge of the second sheet detected by sensor 63 which means at time t11 the leading end of the second sheet is located upstream of 61).
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Regarding claim 2, Yamagata et al further teaches wherein based on a distance between the rear end of the first medium (“first sheet” paragraph 0098) and the leading end of the second medium (“second sheet” paragraph 0100), and on the first speed, the control unit (51,71) determines whether to perform the deceleration control (figs.3,4; paragraphs 0099-0108).
Regarding claim 6, Yamagata et al further teaches wherein when accelerating, to the first speed (“1st V” in figure above, fig.3), the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) decelerated to the second speed (“2nd V” in figure above, fig.3), the control unit accelerates the first roller at an acceleration rate greater than an absolute value of an acceleration rate applied when decelerating the first roller from the first speed (“1st V”) to the second speed (“2nd V”) (figs.3,4; paragraphs 00100-0112).
Regarding claim 7, Yamagata et al further teaches wherein the control unit is configured to perform, after performing the deceleration control (figs.3,4), an acceleration control of rotating the first roller at a third speed (V1 fig.3) faster than the first speed (“1st V” in figure above, fig.3) when the leading end of the second medium (“second sheet”) is located upstream of the first roller in the transport direction (figs.3,4).
Regarding claim 8, Yamagata et al further teaches further comprising a second roller (for instance 64 in fig.1) downstream of the first roller (for instance 61) in the transport direction, the second roller (64) being configured to transport the medium in the transport direction, wherein the control unit (51,71 fig.1) further controls the second roller (64) and performs the deceleration control while the second roller (64) is transporting the first medium (figs.3,4).
Regarding claim 9, Yamagata et al further teaches a recording device (fig.1) comprising: a recording unit (77,22 fig.1) configured to perform recording on the medium (P) transported by the medium transport device, wherein based on a recording condition, the control unit (51,71 fig.1) determines whether to perform the deceleration control (figs.1,3,4).
Regarding claim 10, Yamagata et al further teaches a recording device (fig.1) comprising: a recording unit (77,22 fig.1) configured to perform recording by ejecting a liquid onto the medium transported by the medium transport device, wherein the control unit (51,71 fig.1) is configured to perform maintenance of the recording unit (77) and based on execution of the maintenance, determines whether to perform the deceleration control (figs.3,4).
Regarding claim 11, Yamagata et al further teaches a recording system (fig.1) comprising:
a recording device (77,76,22,21 fig.1) including the medium transport device according to claim 1 and a recording unit (77,22 fig.1) configured to perform recording on the medium transported by the medium transport device; and
a post-processing device (3,70 fig.1) configured to perform post-processing on the medium subjected to recording by the recording device, wherein
based on a post-processing condition, the control unit (51,71 fig.1) determines whether to perform the deceleration control (figs.3,4).
Regarding claim 12, Yamagata et al further teaches a recording device (fig.1) comprising:
the medium transport device (77,76,22,21 fig.1) according to claim 1; and
a recording unit (77,22 fig.1) configured to perform recording by ejecting a liquid onto the medium transported by the medium transport device (figs.1,3,4).
Regarding claim 13, Yamagata et al further teaches a recording system (fig.1) comprising:
the recording device (77,76,22,21 fig.1) according to claim 12; and
a post-processing device (3,70 fig.1) configured to perform post-processing on the medium subjected to recording by the recording device (77,76,22,21 fig.1).
Regarding claim 14, Yamagata et al further teaches a medium transport method (figs.1,3) comprising:
transporting a first medium (“first sheet” paragraph 0098) in a transport direction by rotating a first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) at a first speed (“1st V” in figure below, fig.3); and
decelerating (“deceleration” in the figure below, fig.3) the first roller to a second speed (“2nd V” in figure below, fig.3) slower than the first speed when a rear end of the first medium is located downstream of the first roller (64, 61, and/or 48 in fig.1) in the transport direction and a leading end of a second medium (“second sheet” paragraph 0100) transported subsequently to the first medium is located upstream of the first roller in the transport direction (figs.3,4; paragraph 0098,0100).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENOK D LEGESSE whose telephone number is (571)270-1615. The examiner can normally be reached General Schedule 9:00 am- 5:00 pm, IFP.
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/HENOK D LEGESSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853