DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This office action is in response to Applicant's arguments dated 12/16/2025. Claim(s) 1-9, 11-15 and 18 is/are pending in the application. Claim(s) 1, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 14 has/have been amended. Claim(s) 10, 16 and 17 is/are canceled. Claim(s) 18 has/have been added.
Examiner's Note
Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the Applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants' definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims. In re Tanaka et aI., 193 USPQ 139, (CCPA) 1977.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
1. Claim(s) 1-7, 9, and 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20110063358 to Muro et al. (hereinafter “Muro”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20230294420 to Naramatsu et al. (hereinafter “Naramatsu”).
With respect to claim 1, Muro discloses a drying device (2 FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) comprising: a conveying unit configured to convey a medium to which liquid is discharged from a discharging head (6 FIG. 1 and FIG. 2); a hot air blowing unit including a blowing unit configured to blow air, and a heating unit configured to heat air blown from the blowing unit (8, 9 FIG. 1 and FIG. 2); a passage forming unit configured to form, between the hot air blowing unit and a region on a conveyance path of the conveying unit, a circulation path through which air blown from the hot air blowing unit is to be circulated (FIG. 2); and an adjusting unit configured to adjust an amount of air outside the circulation path that is supplied to the blowing unit (16, 20 FIG. 3B, 10A and 10B), wherein the circulation path includes an introduction portion configured to introduce air outside the circulation path (14 FIG. 2), and an exhaust portion configured to exhaust air inside the circulation path (outlet FIG. 2, FIG. 10A and 10B), wherein the adjusting unit includes a movable member configured to change an opening amount of the exhaust portion (20 FIG. 10B and 10B).
However, Muro fails to specifically disclose:
a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of air supplied to the blowing unit; and a control unit configured to control the adjusting unit, and wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a detection result of the temperature sensor so that the temperature of air supplied to the blowing unit does not exceed a threshold temperature.
Naramatsu discloses:
a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of air supplied to the blowing unit (53 FIG. 3 [0047]); and a control unit configured to control the adjusting unit (35 FIG. 3), and wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a detection result of the temperature sensor so that the temperature of air supplied to the blowing unit does not exceed a threshold temperature (35, 53, [0052]-[0056]).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the temperature sensor as disclosed by Naramatsu with the method/apparatus of Muro. The motivation for doing so would have been to detect the outside air temperature and better control the blower and adjustment unit. ([0052]-[0056] of Naramatsu).
With respect to claim 2, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein the adjusting unit is configured to adjust at least one of an introduction amount of outside air to the circulation path and an exhaust amount of inside air of the circulation path to outside the circulation path (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 3, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein the adjusting unit is configured to adjust an exhaust amount at the exhaust portion (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 4, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein the movable member is configured to be displaced by pivoting or linear motion (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 5, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses further comprising a holding unit configured to hold a position of the movable member (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 6, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses further comprising: a position detection sensor configured to detect a position of the movable member, wherein the control unit controls the hot air blowing unit based on a detection result of the position detection sensor (4 FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 7, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein the adjusting unit further includes an external blowing unit configured to blow air toward the introduction portion (15 FIG. 1, FIG. 2 FIG. 3B, FIG. 10a and FIG. 10B).
With respect to claim 9, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a set temperature of air blown to the medium (4 FIG.s 1-10A).
With respect to claim 11, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses further comprising: a second temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of air outside the circulation path, wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a detection result of the second temperature sensor (4 FIG.s 1-10A and 35, 53, [0052]-[0056] of Naramatsu).
With respect to claim 12, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses further comprising: a humidity sensor configured to detect a humidity of air inside the circulation path, wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a detection result of the humidity sensor (4 FIG.s 1-10A).
With respect to claim 13, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses further comprising a cover member covering the exhaust portion and having an opening through which exhausted air passes (FIG. 2, FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B).
With respect to claim 14, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses control unit controls the adjusting unit based on a discharge amount of the liquid from the discharging head to the medium (4 FIG.s 1-10A).
With respect to claim 15, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses wherein, in a case where air flows in the circulation path, a circulating flow of air flows in order of the blowing unit, the heating unit, the region on the conveyance path, and the blowing unit, and wherein the adjusting unit is configured to adjust an amount of outside air introduced into the circulation path at a position upstream of the blowing unit and downstream of the region in a flow direction of the circulating flow (4 FIG.s 1-10A).
2. Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20110063358 to Muro et al. (hereinafter “Muro”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20230294420 to Naramatsu et al. (hereinafter “Naramatsu”) and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20210146704 to Yoda (hereinafter “Yoda”).
With respect to claim 8, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses the drying device and the adjusting unit.
However, Muro in view of Naramatsu fails to specifically disclose:
wherein the adjusting unit further includes: an external blowing unit configured to blow air toward the introduction portion through a region where the discharging head discharges the liquid to the medium; and an external heating unit configured to heat air blown from the external blowing unit at a position on a side of the external blowing unit with respect to the region where the discharging head discharges the liquid to the medium.
The tertiary reference Yoda discloses:
wherein the adjusting unit further includes: an external blowing unit configured to blow air toward the introduction portion through a region where the discharging head discharges the liquid to the medium; and an external heating unit configured to heat air blown from the external blowing unit at a position on a side of the external blowing unit with respect to the region where the discharging head discharges the liquid to the medium (40A, 400 FIG. 10).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the external blowing unit and heater as disclosed by Yoda with the method/apparatus of Yoda. The motivation for doing so would have been to better control the temperature and drying. (40A, 400 FIG. 10 of Yoda).
3. Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 20110063358 to Muro et al. (hereinafter “Muro”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 20230294420 to Naramatsu et al. (hereinafter “Naramatsu”) and in further view of U.S. Patent No. 9302502 to Sasaki (hereinafter “Sasaki”).
With respect to claim 18, Muro in view of Naramatsu discloses the drying device.
However, Muro in view of Naramatsu fails to specifically disclose:
wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit so as to increase the opening amount of the exhaust portion when the detection result of the temperature sensor indicates a temperature higher than the threshold temperature.
The tertiary reference Sasaki discloses:
wherein the control unit controls the adjusting unit so as to increase the opening amount of the exhaust portion when the detection result of the temperature sensor indicates a temperature higher than the threshold temperature (12 FIG. 2).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to increase the opening amount of the exhaust portion as disclosed by Sasaki with the method/apparatus of Muro. The motivation for doing so would have been to better control the temperature and drying. (12 FIG. 2 of Sasaki).
.
RESPONSE TO ARGUMENTS
1. The objections dated 09/19/2025 are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendments.
2. Applicant's arguments filed 12/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s argument is moot in light of the above rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
The prior art made of record, whether or not relied upon, is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20070059022 to Yamaoka et al. discloses an image heating apparatus.
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bradley W Thies whose telephone number is (571)270-5667. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30 am -6:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at (571) 272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY W THIES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights