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).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/24 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueno US 20200316961 in view of Abe US 20090100422 further in view of Weaver et al US 20160098234.
Regarding claim 1, Ueno teaches An ink jet system comprising:
a first recording apparatus in which at least a first head and a second head are mounted (two printer 1 comprises print heads 5 (paragraph 0116) the print head 5 (also referred to as “ink-jet head” or “IJ head”) mounted in the printer 1 according to the embodiment, a serial head 5a (first head) and a line head 5b (second head) are given. (paragraph 0050);
a second recording apparatus in which at least a third head and a fourth head are mounted (two printer 1 comprises print heads 5 (paragraph 0116) the print head 5 (also referred to as “ink-jet head” or “IJ head”) mounted in the printer 1 according to the embodiment, a serial head 5a (first head) and a line head 5b (second head) are given. (paragraph 0050) Note: because printer 1 comprises of two printers, printer 1 is one printer and printer 1 is labeled as the second printer and therefore, two print heads are mounted on each printer also see fig 10B; and
Ueno fails to teach a processing apparatus that is commonly coupled to the first recording apparatus and the second recording apparatus and includes a display portion;
Abe teaches a processing apparatus that is commonly coupled to the first recording apparatus and the second recording apparatus and includes a display portion (PC 1 is connected to printers 3 and 5 via communication unit 18 (paragraph 0064) Note: PC 1 inherently has a display,
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno to include: a processing apparatus that is commonly coupled to the first recording apparatus and the second recording apparatus and includes a display portion.
The reason of doing so would be to connect both first and second recording apparatus in order to view the states of both recording apparatus.
Ueno in view of Abe fails to teach wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display first state information indicating a state of the first head, second state information indicating a state of the second head, third state information indicating a state of the third head, and fourth state information indicating a state of the fourth head;
Weaver teaches wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display first state information indicating a state of the first head, second state information indicating a state of the second head, third state information indicating a state of the third head, and fourth state information indicating a state of the fourth head (printer environment variables display elements (e.g., for use with dashboard) for remote monitoring of printer (paragraph 0137). Panel 914b presents names and values for a raster category that includes raster 1 through raster 8 and indicates an operation status of each raster in the print head (paragraph 0138)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe to include: display portion to display first state information indicating a state of the first head, second state information indicating a state of the second head, third state information indicating a state of the third head, and fourth state information indicating a state of the fourth head.
The reason of doing so would be to to view the print head states of both recording apparatus.
Regarding claim 2, Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al teaches wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display the first state information and the second state information, and the third state information and the fourth state information in a distinguishable manner on one screen (Weaver et al: display shows individual rasters and status fig 9A 914b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe to include: wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display the first state information and the second state information, and the third state information and the fourth state information in a distinguishable manner on one screen.
The reason of doing so would be to view the print head states of both recording apparatus.
Regarding claim 3, Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al teaches wherein the processing apparatus further causes the display portion to display boundary information indicating a boundary between the first state information and the second state information, and the third state information and the fourth state information (Weaver et al: display shows lines (boundary) separating individual rasters and status fig 9A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe to include: wherein the processing apparatus further causes the display portion to display boundary information indicating a boundary between the first state information and the second state information, and the third state information and the fourth state information.
The reason of doing so would be to view the states of print head states of both recording apparatus.
Regarding claim 4, Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al teaches wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display the first state information and the second state information and the third state information and the fourth state information, with a difference in any one of a color, a font, and a size (Weaver et al: display shows alternating colors separating individual rasters and status fig 9A 914b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe to include: wherein the processing apparatus causes the display portion to display the first state information and the second state information and the third state information and the fourth state information, with a difference in any one of a color, a font, and a size.
The reason of doing so would be to view the states of print head states of both recording apparatus.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueno US 20200316961 in view of Abe US 20090100422 further in view of Weaver et al US 20160098234 further in view Kyoso et al US 20150336381.
Regarding claim 9, Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al teach all of the limitations of claim 1
Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al fails to teach wherein the processing apparatus displays the first state information in a different manner depending on whether an ejection state from the first head is normal or abnormal.
Kyoso et al teaches wherein the processing apparatus displays the first state information in a different manner depending on whether an ejection state from the first head is normal or abnormal (abnormality notification unit that notifies a user of an abnormality in accordance with a determination result by the abnormality determination unit, a first threshold having a relatively high degree of the ejection abnormality and a second threshold having a relatively low degree of the ejection abnormality may be determined as the plurality of types of threshold. (paragraph 0025). The abnormality notification unit that notifies a user of abnormality” is a general term for means for generating an operation or a state of reminding a user of the generation of abnormality. a process of displaying information indicating the generation of abnormality on a display and other display units, and a process of generating a warning sound, a voice message or the like for announcing the generation of abnormality (paragraph 0026)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al to include: wherein the processing apparatus displays the first state information in a different manner depending on whether an ejection state from the first head is normal or abnormal.
The reason of doing so would be to view specific states of print head states of both recording apparatus.
Regarding claim 10, Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al further in view of Kyoso et al teaches wherein the processing apparatus displays the first state information differently in a stepwise manner depending on a degree of abnormality in the ejection state from the first head (Kyoso et al: displaying information indicating the generation of abnormality on a display and other display units, and a process of generating a warning sound, a voice message or the like for announcing the generation of abnormality (paragraph 0026). In case of an ejection abnormality is shown in which the measurement amount is higher than the degree of the ejection abnormality specified by the second threshold and is equal to or less than the degree of the ejection abnormality specified by the first threshold (paragraph 0027).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ueno in view of Abe further in view of Weaver et al to include: wherein the processing apparatus displays the first state information in a different manner depending on whether an ejection state from the first head is normal or abnormal.
The reason of doing so would be to view specific states of print head states of both recording apparatus.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8, 11 and 12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Michael Burleson whose telephone number is (571) 272-7460 and fax number is (571) 273-7460. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30p.m. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270- 3438.
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Michael Burleson
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2681
Michael Burleson
May 2, 2026
/MICHAEL BURLESON/
/AKWASI M SARPONG/SPE, Art Unit 2681 5/4/2026
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