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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/17/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiroyuki (JP 2001337575 A) and Koike (JPH06179564A; ids).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Hiroyuki teaches a printer and a method comprising:
a media holder configured to hold a media within the printer [[fig. 18] shows paper storage #11 which is equivalent to a media holder; [0072] system checks whether there is a document in the automatic document feeder (in copy mode) and whether there is a print output command (in printer mode)], the media holder comprising:
a first media sensor and at least one arm [[fig. 18] shows an arm #111 labeled P; [pg. 84] distance sensors 54 and 55 are capable of measuring minute distance changes in the micrometer range, and optical sensors as shown in Figure 14 or ultrasonic sensors as shown in Figure 15 can be used. 53 is a presence/absence sensor SS2], wherein the at least one arm rotates along a predefined path when the media is received on the media holder [[fig. 18] push up plate #111 P moves up and down on top of spring #112 when paper is placed in the paper feed cassette and forms an angle with respect to paper storage #11; [0100] inclination angle of the push-up plate 111 changes in accordance with this up and down movement];
a second media sensor positioned at a base of the printer and beneath the media when the media holder receives the media, wherein the second media sensor is configured to determine a distance between the media and the second media sensor [[0074] last-sheet detection means detects when the remaining paper in the paper feed cassette 11 has become one or several sheets of recording paper, and this is done using a high precision distance sensor as described below]; and
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the first media sensor and the second media sensor, the at least one processor configured to [[0077] OPA (Operational Processing Circuit) calculates the output of the PSD (Photodetector) and outputs distance information.]:
compare the determined angle or the determined distance with a predefined threshold value range associated with the angle of the at least one arm or the distance between the media and the second media sensor, respectively [[0055] output of the light receiving unit 116 is processed by the comparator 117, and the system is configured to generate a signal when the remaining amount of recording paper on the pushup plate 11 falls below a certain number. As the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 116 changes as shown in Figure 7(c), the first predetermined number of sheets M can be adjusted appropriately by setting the threshold value Mr as appropriate; [0093]; [0154] threshold number of recording sheets used for determining the control to change the paper feeding interval or image interval can be changed, making it possible to set the optimal first predetermined number of sheets as needed]; and
determine improper loading of the media within the printer based at least on the comparison [[0093] process terminates when recording paper P is present (NO in F82), but if it is not present, the output of the distance sensor 55 is stored in memory MR2 as the reference distance C (F83].
Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches wherein the first media sensor is configured to determine an angle by which the at least one arm rotates when the media holder receives the media [[0024] such rotation of the feeler causes the switch pieces 125 and 126 extending from the upper end of the feeler at different inclination angles to swing. accordingly, various combinations of on and off states of the paper top detection sensor 125S and paper bottom detection sensor 126S are obtained, and the state of the loaded paper surface relative to the carriage 111 can be determined from these states.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 1 and method of claim 12, wherein the first media sensor comprises at least one an angular sensor, and wherein the second media sensor comprises a proximity sensor [[0024] such rotation of the feeler causes the switch pieces 125 and 126 extending from the upper end of the feeler at different inclination angles to swing. Accordingly, various combinations of on and off states of the paper top detection sensor 125S and paper bottom detection sensor 126S are obtained, and the state of the loaded paper surface relative to the carriage 111 can be determined from these states.; [0161] sensor for detecting the distance (height) between the paper surface on the stack tray; [0162] as already explained, these sensors include an under-paper detection sensor 126S that detects when the distance from the carriage 111 to the paper surface is greater than a predetermined value, i.e., when the carriage is higher than necessary from the paper surface, and an above-paper detection sensor 125S that detects when the distance is less than a predetermined value.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 2 and method of claim 13, wherein the angular sensor has the at least one arm, and is configured to determine the angle of the at least one arm [[0024] such rotation of the feeler causes the switch pieces 125 and 126 extending from the upper end of the feeler at different inclination angles to swing. accordingly, various combinations of on and off states of the paper top detection sensor 125S and paper bottom detection sensor 126S are obtained, and the state of the loaded paper surface relative to the carriage 111 can be determined from these states.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Hiroyuki teaches the printer of claim 2 of method of claim 13, wherein the proximity sensor emits one or more rays and receives reflected one or more rays from the media to determine the distance between the proximity sensor and the media, and wherein the one or more rays corresponds to at least one of one or more infrared waves (IR) or ultrasonic sound waves (UV) [[pg. 84] distance sensors 54 and 55 are capable of measuring minute distance changes in the micrometer range, and optical sensors as shown in Figure 14 or ultrasonic sensors as shown in Figure 15 can be used].
Regarding claim 5, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike the printer of claim 3, wherein the at least one arm of the angular sensor is positioned on the media holder and is configured to be abutting a periphery of the media [[0024] such rotation of the feeler causes the switch pieces 125 and 126 extending from the upper end of the feeler at different inclination angles to swing.], and the proximity sensor is positioned at the base of the printer and underneath to the media when the media holder receives the media [[0025] when the carriage 111 is in the middle position in the vertical direction, the lower end of the filler is in contact with the paper surface, and the movement of the carriage 111 is controlled so that the paper surface above detection sensor 125S and the paper surface below detection sensor 126S are positioned within the range of inclination surrounded by switch pieces 125 and 126 (see Figures 10 and 11).].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 1 and method of claim 12, wherein the predefined path of the at least one arm defines a first end and a second end, and wherein the at least one arm positioned at the first end of the predefined path indicates an empty media condition and the at least one arm positioned at the second end of the predefined path indicates a full media condition [[0104] the maximum discharge capacity is the number of discharged sheets when the upper limit detection sensor 116 is turned on and the paper surface detection sensor 125S detects that the tray is full of paper. In this way, the image forming operation is stopped when the discharge tray is full.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 6 and method of claim 16, wherein the media pushes the at least one arm towards the second end of the predefined path that corresponds to the proper loading of the media within the printer [[0002] position of the paper discharge outlet 1A on the image forming device 1 side is fixed, and sheets discharged from here are discharged onto a sheet stacking plate 3 that can swing freely around an axis 2 as a fulcrum; [0024]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 1 and method of claim 12, wherein the determined angle of the at least one arm below or above the predefined threshold value range corresponds to the improper loading of the media within the printer [[0014] sheet presence/absence detection means no longer detects the presence of a sheet, a warning means is provided to notify that a carriage movement operation will be performed when a predetermined operation is performed a certain time after the sheet presence detection means no longer detects the presence of a sheet, so that the distance between the top surface of the stacked sheets and the carriage becomes a predetermined distance (claim 8).; [0104] detects that the tray is full of paper … image forming operation is stopped when the discharge tray is full].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the paper detection sensors with spring loaded arm as taught by Hiroyuki, with the inclination angle feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being loaded can be detected [[0024]].
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Hiroyuki teaches the printer of claim 4 and method of claim 15, wherein the determined distance between the media and the proximity sensor below or above the predefined threshold value range corresponds to the improper loading of the media within the printer [[0088] presence/absence sensor 53 measures the distance h1 between the distance sensor 54 and the upper surface of the push-up plate 111 when the recording paper P is not present on the push-up plate 111, and similarly, the distance h2 between the distance sensor 55 and the lower surface of the push-up plate 111 when the recording paper P is not present, and these measurements are stored in the memory MR1.].
Regarding claim 10, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate one or more notifications upon determining the improper loading of the media within the printer [[0014] sheet presence/absence detection means no longer detects the presence of a sheet, a warning means is provided to notify that a carriage movement operation will be performed when a predetermined operation is performed a certain time after the sheet presence detection means no longer detects the presence of a sheet, so that the distance between the top surface of the stacked sheets and the carriage becomes a predetermined distance (claim 8).; [0028] control performed by the CPU].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the paper detection sensor as taught by Hiroyuki, with the rotation feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being present/absent can be notified to a user [[0014]].
Regarding claim 11, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the printer of claim 10, wherein the one or more notifications are displayed to a user over a display device communicatively coupled to the at least one processor [[0034] warning urging the user to remove the sheet is displayed on the LCD display].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the paper detection sensor as taught by Hiroyuki, with the rotation feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being present/absent can be notified to a user [[0014]].
Regarding claim 20, Hiroyuki does not explicitly teach and yet Koike teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising: generating, via the at least one processor, one or more notifications upon determining the improper loading of the media within the printer, and displaying, via at least one display device communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the one or more notifications to a user [[0014; 0028; 0034]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the paper detection sensor as taught by Hiroyuki, with the rotation feeler switch paper detection sensors as taught by Koike so that the state of the paper being present/absent can be notified to a user [[0014]].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 6-8, filed 5/18/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Hiroyuki (JP 2001337575 A).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7339. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 9am-5pm.
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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