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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2023-156449, filed on 9/21/2023.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Azuma (JP 2017-125878) in view of Hironaka (WO 2022-239656).
Azuma teaches an electrophotographic photosensitive member including a photosensitive layer, wherein the binder resin contains a polyarylate resin and a polycarbonate resin (Abstract). The photosensitive member may be a multi-layer type, wherein a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer are formed on top of a conductive substrate, wherein the charge transport layer is the outermost surface layer ([0027], Figure 1 a). The charge transport layer contains a charge transport material and a binder resin ([0036]). The content of the binder resin in the layer is 40% by mass or more, and the exemplary charge transport layers contain approximately 66% by mass of the binder resin ([0131], [0157]). The content of the polyarylate resin in the binder resin is 10% to 70% ([0129]).
The polycarbonate resin has the repeating units (2-1) and (2-2) ([0099]).
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The exemplary polycarbonate resins (PC-3), (PC-5), and (PC-6) contain the same components as the polycarbonate resin (PC1) of the instant application ([0110-114]). The proportion of the repeating unit (2-1) to the repeating unit (2-2) in these examples ranges from 40:60 to 90:10.
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Hironaka teaches a polymer for use in a coating film containing at least one of a structural unit (I-A) and (I-B), and a structural unit (II) (Abstract). The coating film is useful for the charge transport layer in an electrophotographic photoreceptor, as it provides excellent abrasion resistance ([0098], line 11-17).
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Formula (I-A) and (I-B) are representative of Formula (B) of instant claim 7. Formula (I-A), wherein R1 is a branched alkyl group having 4 to 20 carbon atoms is comparable to Formula (B1) of instant claim 9 ([0011-14]), and Formula (I-B), having a linear alkyl group with 3-21 carbon atoms, is comparable to Formula (B2) of instant claim 9 ([0016-19]).
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This structural unit gives that material both rigidity and flexibility to enhance the wear resistance of the coating film ([0020], line 4-5). Formula (II-1) is representative of Formula (A) of instant claim 7, and more specifically, Formula (A2) of instant claim 8.
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The exemplary polymer (1) ([0102-104]) contains the same primary monomers as the polyester resin (1-1) of the instant application. This polymer showed the best results in each of the evaluations of abrasion resistance, film-forming properties, and heat resistance (Table 1).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the photoreceptor of Azuma to have used the polymer of Hironaka as the polyarylate resin in order to improve the abrasion resistance.
The modified photoreceptor of Azuma and Hironaka would be expected to have a breaking energy of 10 mJ/mm3 or greater, a dynamic friction coefficient of 0.5 to 1.0, and a value obtained by dividing the dynamic friction coefficient by the breaking energy of 0.05 to 0.10. Applicant discloses in paragraph [0029] of the instant specification that the breaking energy and the dynamic friction coefficient are controlled by the kind, the combination, and the content of the resins constituting the binder resin of the outermost surface layer. As the kind, combination, and content of the resins described above are very similar to those of the instant application, these properties would also be expected to be similar.
Claims 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Azuma and Hironaka as applied to claims 1-11 above, and further in view of Imatsu (EP 3828633).
The entire discussion of Azuma and Hironaka above is included herein. Azuma and Hironaka are silent regarding an image forming apparatus and process cartridge. Imatsu teaches a photoreceptor, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus (Abstract). The process cartridge contains the photoreceptor and a charging device, and is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus ([0168-170]). The charging device is a roller type charging member, which comes into direct contact with the photoreceptor ([0174]). The image forming apparatus further contains an image forming device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a cleaning device ([0175-176]). This configuration is well known in the art, and as such it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the photoreceptor in an image forming apparatus.
Conclusion
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 07/22/2026
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