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 .
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 (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 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) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneda et al. (# JP 2021-091171A) in view of Yoshida (# JP H0958014A).
Taneda et al. discloses:
1. An inkjet marking apparatus ([0039]) comprising:
a print head (element: 1, figure: 1) including a nozzle (element: 12, ([0041]) which spouts out supplied ink while the ink turns into particles, a charging electrode which gives charge to ink particles spouted out from the nozzle (element: 13, [0060]-[0062]), a deflecting electrode (element: 15, [0060]-[0062]) which deflects the ink particles charged by the charging electrode, and a gutter (element: 16, [0101]) which collects non-used ink not used for printing;
a main unit (ink supply unit; element: 104; [0066]-[0071]) including an ink supply path to supply ink in an ink container to the print head, an ink collection path to collect the ink not used for printing into the ink container, a solvent supply path to supply a solvent in a solvent container to the ink container, and flow rate regulators which regulate flows of the ink and the solvent in these respective paths;
a main unit controller which controls operation of the flow rate regulators in the main unit and the print head; and a head receptacle unit including a head holding part to set and hold the print head secured in place and a print head detector which detects that the print head has been set secured in place ([0012]-[0030]; control unit 101, [0060]-[0066]),
wherein the main unit controller starts jetting of the ink from the nozzle when a preset start time comes, provided that it is detected that the print head has been set secured in the head receptacle unit ([0060]-[0071]).
2. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main unit controller starts jetting of the ink from the nozzle at timing when the start time has come on a preset day of the week ([0245]).
3. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main unit controller provides a setting in which stop processing to stop jetting the ink is settable between “automatic” and “manual” and, if “automatic” is chosen as the stop processing, automatically stops jetting of the ink from the nozzle after letting the ink spout out from the nozzle for a given amount of time ([0151]-[0259]; [0268]-[0269]).
4. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 3, wherein if “manual” is chosen as the stop processing, the main unit controller stops jetting of the ink from the nozzle in response to an operation by an operator ([0071]-[0076]).
5. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the main unit controller provides a screen for setting, displayed on an operating and display unit included in the main unit, and allows, via the screen, an operator/user to set options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink from the nozzle and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle ([0063]-[0065]; [0128]).
6. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main unit controller is equipped with transmission means to transmit an abnormality event to an external control appliance connected via a communication network upon detection of abnormality occurring when the ink is jetted from the nozzle ([0248]-[0255]).
7. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the main unit controller causes a memory device which keeps its contents stored even if power is turned off to store settings information input through the operating and display unit with regard to the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting of the ink, and controls jetting of the ink based on the settings information in the memory device when the power is turned on again ([0061]).
8. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the main unit controller runs an ink circulation process to prevent sticking in the paths if “automatic” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle has been chosen (see figure: 1-45).
9. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the main unit controller runs a printing process to make a print on products if “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle has been chosen (see figure: 1-45).
10. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the main unit controller provides a screen for setting, displayed on an operating and display unit included in the main unit, and allows, via the screen, an operator/user to set the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink from the nozzle and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle with respect to each day of the week ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
11. The inkjet marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein on the screen displayed on the operating and display unit, there are displayed a setting display field for an operator/user to set the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink and, in addition, a fixing display field for an operator/user to fix conditions set on the same screen ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
12. An inkjet marking system characterized by comprising: the inkjet marking apparatus as described in claim 1; a server which is connected to the inkjet marking apparatus via a first communication network and retains information set through a setting screen of the inkjet marking apparatus; and an external control appliance which is connected to the sever via a second communication network and equipped with an external operating and display unit which displays the setting screen acquired from the server to set at least the start time to start jetting of the ink, wherein the external control appliance transmits the start time input through the setting screen on the external operating and display unit to the inkjet marking apparatus via the server and controls the inkjet marking apparatus based on the start time ([0053]).
13. The inkjet marking system according to claim 12, wherein the external control appliance provides the setting screen, displayed on the external operating and display unit, and allows, via the setting screen, an operator/user to set options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink from the nozzle and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
14. The inkjet marking system according to claim 13, wherein on the setting screen displayed on the external operating and display unit, there are displayed a setting display field for an operator/user to set the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink and, in addition, a fixing display field for an operator/user to fix conditions set on the same screen ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
15. The inkjet marking system according to claim 12, wherein the external control appliance provides the setting screen, displayed on the external operating and display unit, and allows, via the setting screen, an operator/user to set the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink from the nozzle and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink from the nozzle with each day of the week ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
16. The inkjet marking system according to claim 14, wherein on the setting screen displayed on the external operating and display unit, there are displayed a setting display field for an operator/user to set the options including what day/days of the week and start time to jet the ink and which of “automatic” and “manual” stop processing to stop jetting the ink and, in addition, a fixing display field for an operator/user to fix conditions set on the same screen ([0063]-[0066]; operation display unit 103).
Taneda is not explicit with "ink ejection information" and "an instruction" for maintenance, it is noted that various processing conditions and commands are communicated between the main body control unit and the external control device via signals (display unit 103 can display information to and accept operations by a user; at para. 0055), and ejection information is a known processing condition. This is further supported by Yoshida.
Yoshida teaches that ink ejection information may be communicated between a main body control unit and an external control device (purge data may be communicated between a printer and host computer; at [0033]) and the external device may be used to give maintenance instructions ([0007], [0011]-[0013]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include various process information including ink ejection information as data transmitted to an external control device wherein the external control device may provide instructions or commands for maintenance operations for the purpose of clear communication between the main body control unit and the external control device as taught by Taneda and Yoshida.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(1) Arima et al. (# US 2022/0250377) discloses an inkjet marking apparatus (see Abstract; figure: 1-20) comprising: a print head (element: 2, figure: 4) including a nozzle which spouts out supplied ink while the ink turns into particles (element: 21, figure: 4), a charging electrode which gives charge to ink particles spouted out from the nozzle (element: 23, figure: 4) , a deflecting electrode which deflects the ink particles charged by the charging electrode (element: 24, figure: 4), and a gutter which collects non-used ink not used for printing (element: 25, figure: 4).
(2) Takahashi et al. (# US 2011/0122192) discloses a cap mode where a cap member covers a nozzle surface, a controller controls a second movement mechanism so that the cap member is disposed opposite to the nozzle surface. In an ejection recovery mode where ink is ejected from a plurality of nozzles and the ink adhered to the nozzle surface is wiped off by a wiping member, the controller controls a first movement mechanism and the second movement mechanism so that the nozzle surface, a wiping tray and the cap member are arranged downward in this order (see Abstract).
(3) Nagashima (# US 20080079759) discloses an inkjet recording apparatus includes a circulation flow channel connected to nozzle flow channels and via which ink from pressure chambers is circulated; actuators which changes pressure in the pressure chambers to eject the ink from the nozzles; and a circulating flow generation device which generates a circulating ink flow from an ink supply port side to a circulation flow channel side. A control apparatus applies ink ejection signals to the actuators for the pressure chambers in which the ink is ejected, the control apparatus also applies, to the actuators for the pressure chambers in which the ink is not ejected, continuous meniscus shaking signals causing the ink in the nozzles to shake to an extent which does not lead the ink to be ejected, wherein the control apparatus thins out the meniscus shaking signals at a plurality of different cycles (see Abstract).
(4) Ogawa (# US 2014/0247303) discloses a liquid ejection apparatus includes a liquid ejection head having a plurality of nozzle units, a plurality of capping devices, a movement mechanism, a plurality of suctioning tubes, a suctioning mechanism, a connection device, and a control device. The control device controls the suctioning mechanism to suction fluid in the capping device corresponding to one of the nozzle units and the capping device corresponding to a different one of the nozzle units. In response to expiration of a predetermined time period, which is a predetermined amount of time that the suctioning mechanism generates a suctioning force, the control device controls to disconnect the capping device corresponding to the one of the nozzle units from the suctioning mechanism (see Abstract).
(5) Nakano (# US 2009/0174740) discloses an inkjet printer includes a printing head having nozzle units, a main scanning control unit, a sub scanning control unit, and a printing pass setting unit. Each nozzle unit includes a nozzle array where the nozzles are arranged in a nozzle array direction. The main scanning control unit makes the printing head to scan in a main scanning direction while the nozzle units discharge ink drops. The sub scanning control unit relatively moves the printing head with respect to the medium in a sub scanning direction. The printing pass setting unit correlates each of the nozzles with each of multiple printing passes to be printed at once by a scanning of the printing head in the main scanning direction, and sets discharging nozzles among the nozzles to discharge ink drops to the printing passes not to overlap boundaries of the printing passes with boundaries of the nozzle units (see Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANISH S SHAH whose telephone number is (571)272-2152. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am-4:00pm.
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MANISH S. SHAH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2853
/Manish S Shah/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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