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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Examiner acknowledges claim 2 is cancelled.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jimbo (US 2017/0129261) and further in view of Jimbo (US 2017/0182801).
With regard to claim 1, Jimbo discloses a thermal printer (1) [Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [casing; Para. 0022];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0028], which includes a head unit (31) and a platen unit (32) including a platen roller (36), and is received in the housing [Fig. 2];
a cover (3) [paper cover; Para. 0022] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button of the cover (18); and
a guide shaped portion (70) [liquid discharge structure; Para. 0031], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [See Fig. 2] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 2], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture [See Fig. 8] that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port (24) [delivery slot; Para. 0026] defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [See Fig. 1 with up direction pointing to the left].
Jimbo (261’) does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is provided between the housing and an opposed component received inside the housing.
However, Jimbo (801) teaches a guide shaped portion is provided between the housing and an opposed component (51) [lower portion of platen frame; Fig. 3] received inside the housing [Fig. 7B].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the guide shaped portion of Jimbo (261) between the housing and the opposed component received inside the housing as taught by Jimbo (801) in order to help guide liquid having entered the casing near the platen frame.
With regard to claim 3, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1 and Jimbo (801) also discloses wherein the guide shaped portion extends downward beyond the opposed component [Fig. 3].
With regard to claim 4, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1 and Jimbo (261) also further comprising a substrate [roll sheet; Para. 0033] provided below the opposed component [Fig. 3]
wherein the substrate is arranged closer to a center of an inside of the housing than the opposed component when seen from the up-and-down direction [Fig. 10], and
wherein the guide shaped portion is provided at such a position as to be prevented from overlapping the substrate when seen from the up-and-down direction [Fig. 3].
With regard to claim 7, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1 and Jimbo also discloses a liquid absorbing sheet (60) absorbs a liquid, e.g., water, having entered the casing (2). [Para. 0050-0051].
With regard to claim 8, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1 and Jimbo (261) also discloses further comprising a retaining portion (63) [Para. 0063], which is formed in a bottom surface of the housing [Fig. 8], and is configured to retain liquid guided by the guide shaped portion [Fig. 9].
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jimbo (US 2017/0129261) in view of Jimbo (US 2017/0182801) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tanaami (US 2011/0305480).
With regard to claim 5, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose wherein the open button includes a downward protruding portion that protrudes downward.
However, Tanaami teaches an open button (36) that includes a protruding portion (36a) [locking claw portion; Para. 0069; Fig. 7]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the open button of Jimbo with a protruding portion that protrudes in a downward direction to accommodate the direction of the pushing the button in order to elastically lock the cover to the main body.
With the guide shaped portion provided below a gap between the open button and the housing, it would be obvious that the it would be provided at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jimbo (US 2017/0129261) in view of Jimbo (US 2017/0182801) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Narimatsu (JP 2009036805).
With regard to claim 6, Jimbo’s modified thermal printer discloses all the limitations of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing.
However, Narimatsu teaches a guide shaped portion is a rib (40) formed on an inner wall (20C) of a housing (20).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure guide shaped portion as a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing as taught by Narimatsu in order to prevent stagnation of the liquid on the printer cover.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jimbo (US 2017/0129261) and further in view of Tanaami (2011/0305480).
With regard to claim 9, Jimbo discloses a thermal printer (1) [Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [casing; Para. 0022];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0028], which includes a head unit (31) and a platen unit (32) including a platen roller (36), and is received in the housing [Fig. 2];
a cover (3) [paper cover; Para. 0022] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button of the cover (18); and
a guide shaped portion (70) [liquid discharge structure; Para. 0031], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [See Fig. 2] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 2], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture [See Fig. 8] that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port (24) [delivery slot; Para. 0026] defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [See Fig. 1 with up direction pointing to the left].
Jimbo does not disclose wherein the open button includes a downward protruding portion that protrudes downward, and wherein the guide shaped portion is provided at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion.
However, Tanaami teaches an open button (36) that includes a protruding portion (36a) [locking claw portion; Para. 0069; Fig. 7]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the open button of Jimbo with a protruding portion as taught by Tanaami in order to elastically lock the cover to the main body. With the state of the thermal printer placed in a horizontal position the protruding portion can protrude in a downward direction to accommodate the direction of the pushing the button in order to lock the cover.
With the guide shaped portion provided below a gap between the open button and the housing, it would be obvious that the it would be provided at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jimbo (US 2017/0129261) and further in view of Narimatsu (JP 2009036805).
With regard to claim 10, Jimbo discloses a thermal printer (1) [Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [casing; Para. 0022];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0028], which includes a head unit (31) and a platen unit (32) including a platen roller (36), and is received in the housing [Fig. 2];
a cover (3) [paper cover; Para. 0022] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button of the cover (18); and
a guide shaped portion (70) [liquid discharge structure; Para. 0031], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [See Fig. 2] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 2], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture [See Fig. 8] that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port (24) [delivery slot; Para. 0026] defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [See Fig. 1 with up direction pointing to the left].
Jimbo modified does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing.
However, Narimatsu teaches a guide shaped portion is a rib (40) formed on an inner wall (20C) of a housing (20).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure guide shaped portion as a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing as taught by Narimatsu in order to prevent stagnation of the liquid on the printer cover.
Conclusion
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/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/TRACEY M MCMILLION/Examiner, Art Unit 2853