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.
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 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, 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimodaira et al. US 2022/0075303 (Shimodaira).
Regarding claim 1, Shimodaira teaches a heating system comprising:
a heater (17A) compatible with a plurality of heating methods and configured to heat a heating target in a non-contact manner; and
one or more processors (11),
wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch a heating method to be used for heating the heating target depending on a material of the heating target (FIG. 9).
Regarding claim 2, Shimodaira teaches the heating system according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of heating methods is an infrared heating method (¶0064).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Shimodaira teaches an image forming system comprising:
a transport mechanism (51) configured to transport a heating target;
a transfer apparatus (65) configured to transfer a toner image onto the heating target; and
a heating system (17A) configured to heat the heating target onto which the toner image has been transferred, wherein the heating system is the heating system according to claims 1 and 2 (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 11, ref1 teaches a heating system comprising:
heating means for heating a heating target in a non-contact manner, the heating means being compatible with a plurality of heating methods (FIG. 11); and
switching means for switching a heating method to be used for heating the heating target depending on a material of the heating target (FIG. 10).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 3, 5, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimodaira et al. US 2022/0075303 (Shimodaira) and Akima et al. US 2021/0362503 (Akima).
Regarding claim 3, Shimodaira teaches the heating system according to claim 2. Shimodaira differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: the one or more processors are configured to: select the infrared heating method if the material of the heating target is metal; and select a far-infrared heating method if the material of the heating target is ceramic, glass, or cloth.
However this is a known consideration, Akima teaches selecting hot air, infrared or far infrared depending on the intended purpose (¶0057) and further teaches the print medium may be ceramics, glass, metals, cloth, wallpaper, floor material, leather etc. (¶0157) and suggests switching the heating passed on the water permeation and absorption of the print medium (¶0157-¶0162). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the heating system taught by Shimodaira to not just switch between amount of heat, but type of heat thus resulting in infrared for metal and far-infrared for ceramic, glass or cloth since Akima teaches adjusting the heating temperature based on the temperature of the medium and whether or not glossy, or matte printing has been selected (¶0216-¶0219) thus expanding the capabilities of Shimodaira when combined.
Regarding claim 5, Shimodaira teaches the heating system according to claim 2. Shimodaira differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: the one or more processors are configured to: select the infrared heating method if the material of the heating target is metal; and select a hot air heating method or an oven heating method if the material of the heating target is cloth.
However this is a known consideration, Akima teaches selecting hot air, infrared or far infrared depending on the intended purpose (¶0057) and further teaches the print medium may be ceramics, glass, metals, cloth, wallpaper, floor material, leather etc. (¶0157) and suggests switching the heating passed on the water permeation and absorption of the print medium (¶0157-¶0162). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the heating system taught by Shimodaira to not just switch between amount of heat, but type of heat thus resulting in infrared for metal and hot air for cloth since Akima teaches adjusting the heating temperature based on the temperature of the medium and whether or not glossy, or matte printing has been selected (¶0216-¶0219) thus expanding the capabilities of Shimodaira when combined.
Regarding claims 8 and 10, Shimodaira and Akima teach the heating system according to claims 3 and 5. Furthermore Shimodaira teaches an image forming apparatus comprising:
a transport mechanism (51) configured to transport a heating target;
a transfer apparatus (65) configured to transfer a toner image onto the heating target; and
a heating system (17A) configured to heat the heating target onto which the toner image has been transferred, wherein the heating system is the heating system according to claims 3 and 5 (FIG. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 1, 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 JESSICA L ELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9793. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Jr. 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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/JESSICA L ELEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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