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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Applicant has not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) discussed below.
Reference US 2019/0327376 A1 is a general background reference covering: An edge detection unit is arranged in a conveying portion conveying a sheet and detects the edge of the sheet in the width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. A light source unit is arranged opposite the sheet. A detecting portion holder holds the edge detection unit and the light source unit. A conveying roller pair positions the sheet conveyed toward the edge detection unit. A unit housing houses the detecting portion holder and the conveying roller pair. The edge detection unit has a contact glass making contact with the sheet. The light source unit has a facing glass facing the contact glass. One glass out of the contact glass and the facing glass is inclined downward at a first angle with respect to the tangent line, which passes through the nip portion between the conveying roller pair, toward the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. (see abstract).
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, 2, 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilsher et al. (Wilsher) (US 2018/0205845 A1 in view of Kohara et al. (Kohara) (US 2011/0228285 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wilsher discloses an image scanning device (e.g., FIG. 1 illustrates a document scanning device in accordance with one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, paragraph 11) comprising:
a transport section that transports a document along a transport path; and an image scanning unit that is configured to scan an image from the document transported by the transport section (e.g., Belt rollers 18, 20 together define a first nip 23, through which the belt 12 and a document 26 pass, for guiding and positioning of the document while it is transported along the belt 12 towards the first scanning head 24, paragraph 17); and
wherein
the image scanning unit has
a scanning section that is configured to scan the image from the document transported by the transport section (e.g., A first backing member 34, positioned on the underside of the first belt 12, forms a contact with the underside of belt 12 in order to stabilize the belt and position the document in a fixed vertical position, during the scanning process carried out by the first scan head 24, paragraph 20),
a glass plate that is configured to contact the document between the scanning section and the transport path (e.g., a first transparent scan platen 36 (e.g., a flat glass, or plastic plate) is interposed between the first scan head 24 and the belt 12, directly above the backing member 32, paragraph 20).
Wilsher does not specifically disclose a first conductive section electrically conductable with the image scanning unit, a second conductive section electrically conductive with the glass plate;
the image scanning unit is configured to displace along a displacement direction that intersects the transport path, and the first conductive section is configured to follow a displacement of the image scanning unit and to maintain electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the second conductive section by following the displacement of the image scanning unit.
Kohara discloses a first conductive section electrically conductable with the image scanning unit, a second conductive section electrically conductive with the glass plate (e.g,. The liquid crystal sheet 137a includes, as shown in FIG. 4B, a liquid crystal layer 101, two transparent electrically conductive films 102 and two resin films 103. The liquid crystal layer 101 is such that fine capsules 101c in which liquid crystal molecules are sealed are dispersed in a resin 101b and has a thickness on the order of 20 .mu.m. The transparent electrically conductive films 102 are provided on both sides of the liquid crystal layer 101 and act as electrodes for applying the voltage. The resin films 103 further sandwich the transparent electrically conductive films 103 from the outside to support the transparent electrically conductive films 102 and are made of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), paragraph 54),
the image scanning unit is configured to displace along a displacement direction that intersects the transport path, and the first conductive section is configured to follow a displacement of the image scanning unit and to maintain electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the second conductive section by following the displacement of the image scanning unit (e.g., In the liquid crystal sheet 137a, the voltage can be applied between the two transparent electrically conductive films 102 by the scanner control part 14, the transmittance of the liquid crystal sheet 137a changes according to a state of the voltage being applied, and thus, a transmission state of the contact glass 7 is controlled. FIGS. 5A and 5B show the state, paragraph 55).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Wilsher to include a first conductive section electrically conductable with the image scanning unit, a second conductive section electrically conductive with the glass plate; the image scanning unit is configured to displace along a displacement direction that intersects the transport path, and the first conductive section is configured to follow a displacement of the image scanning unit and to maintain electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the second conductive section by following the displacement of the image scanning unit as taught by Kohara. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Wilsher by the teaching of Kohara to have a transmission state of the contact glass is controlled.
Regarding claim 2, Wilsher discloses wherein the image scanning unit has a unit housing that is not electrically conductive with the glass plate (e.g., The scanning device 10 includes a housing 27 which defines an inlet slot 28, at a first end 29 of the housing and an outlet slot 30 at a second, opposite end 31 of the housing, paragraph 18).
Wilsher does not specifically disclose the unit housing houses at least the second conductive section, the second conductive section has a contacted section which is exposed from the unit housing at a first intersection direction side amongst intersection directions that intersect the displacement direction, and
the first conductive section maintains electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the contacted section by following displacement of the image scanning unit.
Kohara discloses the unit housing houses at least the second conductive section,
the second conductive section has a contacted section which is exposed from the unit housing at a first intersection direction side amongst intersection directions that intersect the displacement direction, and the first conductive section maintains electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the contacted section by following displacement of the image scanning unit (e.g., The liquid crystal sheet 137a includes, as shown in FIG. 4B, a liquid crystal layer 101, two transparent electrically conductive films 102 and two resin films 103. The liquid crystal layer 101 is such that fine capsules 101c in which liquid crystal molecules are sealed are dispersed in a resin 101b and has a thickness on the order of 20 .mu.m. The transparent electrically conductive films 102 are provided on both sides of the liquid crystal layer 101 and act as electrodes for applying the voltage. The resin films 103 further sandwich the transparent electrically conductive films 103 from the outside to support the transparent electrically conductive films 102 and are made of transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET), paragraphs 54, 55).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Wilsher to include the unit housing houses at least the second conductive section, the second conductive section has a contacted section which is exposed from the unit housing at a first intersection direction side amongst intersection directions that intersect the displacement direction, and
the first conductive section maintains electrical conductivity with the glass plate by maintaining a state where the first conductive section is in contact with the contacted section by following displacement of the image scanning unit as taught by Kohara. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Wilsher by the teaching of Kohara to use for particular application.
Regarding claim 7, Wilsher discloses further comprising:
an attachment section, wherein the image scanning unit has a one end portion on the first intersection direction side and an other end portion on a second intersection direction side, which is the opposite direction from the first intersection direction (e.g., The scanning device 10 includes a housing 27 which defines an inlet slot 28, at a first end 29 of the housing and an outlet slot 30 at a second, opposite end 31 of the housing. The first belt 12 may extend outwardly from the inlet slot 28 of the scanning device housing to accept documents 26 placed directly on the belt, paragraph 18), and
the one end portion is supported by the attachment section in a state where the contacted section is in contact with the first conductive section, and the image scanning unit is configured to be attached to or detached from the attachment section by attaching or detaching the other end portion to or from the attachment section (e.g., Alternatively, it may accept documents through the slot 28, enabling the document to be fed through the slot and placed onto the belt. In some embodiments the exemplary scanning device is integrated with a conventional document feeder mechanism which drops documents onto the belt. Such a feeder mechanism may optionally be lifted or removed for direct access to the belt 12 for manual feeding of documents that are small, rigid, delicate, random size, or otherwise of a special form factor that benefits from the precaution of manual placement onto the belt surface, paragraph 18).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is allowed.
Claim 3 is 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.
Referring to claim 3, the prior art searched and of record neither anticipates nor suggests in the claimed combinations, [3. The image scanning device according to claim 2, wherein the first conductive section has an elastic section that is configured to deform elastically, and
the elastic section maintains electrical conductivity with the glass plate by deforming elastically to maintain a state where the elastic section is in contact with the contacted section by following displacement of the image scanning unit.]
Claims 4-6 depend on claim 3.
Conclusion
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/QUANG N VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683