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 based on an application filed in Japan on 3/30/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2023-055096 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Herrmann et al (U.S. Pat. 9,855,775)
Regarding claim 1, a recording apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejection head (array of print heads 14) including a plurality of nozzles configured to eject a liquid onto a medium (Figure 1; Column 2, Lines 39-46)
A facing portion (upper portion of the media conveyer which transports the media; Column 1, Lines 44-48) disposed to face the liquid ejection head, wherein the liquid ejection head includes a plurality of head chips (ejection faces of the print heads 14) including the nozzles, in a plate member (frame 28; Column 4, Lines 15-33) facing the facing portion
A cutout portion (40) is formed in a peripheral edge of the plate member to avoid the head chips (Figure 4), and a contact member (18) configured to come into contact with the medium is disposed in the cutout portion (Figures 2-4; Column 5, Lines 1-40)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 2 is the inclusion of the limitation of the contact member is a driven roller configured to be driven into rotation while in contact with the medium. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for the allowance of claims 3-6 is the inclusion of the limitation of the plurality of head chips are alternately disposed at upstream positions and downstream positions along a medium width direction that is a direction intersecting with a medium transport direction; and the cutout portion is interposed between two of the head chips adjacent in the medium width direction. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for the allowance of claims 7-9 is the inclusion of the limitation of the contact member is provided in a frame located between the liquid ejection head and the facing portion in a movement direction of the liquid ejection head, the frame being provided independently of the liquid ejection head; and a gap is formed so that the wiper is interposed between the frame and the liquid ejection head by the liquid ejection head moving from the recording position to the wiping position. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S UHLENHAKE whose telephone number is (571)272-5916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X. Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 December 16, 2025