DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claim 4 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/20/2025.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the flow pass” lacks antecedent. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The claim recites a “persita” pump, but it is believed that “peristaltic” is the type of pump intended to be referred to. The specification has the same issue. Correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 5 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yokota et al. (2010/0085396).
Regarding claim 1, Yokota teaches a degassing device which removes air dissolved in a liquid under a pressure decreased atmosphere, the degassing device comprising:
a liquid tank (fig. 9, item 120) in which the liquid is stored;
a circulation flow pass (fig. 9, item 200) which communicates different positions of the liquid tank (see fig 9);
a circulation device (fig. 1, internal components of the pump 204 not including housing) which circulates the liquid through the circulation flow pass (see fig. 9);
a container (fig. 9, housing of pump 204) in which the circulation device is housed; and
a pressure decreasing device (fig. 9, item 128/126) which decreases pressure in the liquid tank and the container ([0147]).
Regarding claim 5, Yokota teaches the degassing device according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the flow pass in the circulation device is made of flexible member ([0108], Note that silicon tubes are flexible).
Regarding claim 7, Yokota teaches the degassing device according to claim 1, wherein the circulation flow pass communicates with a vicinity of a bottom surface and a vicinity of a liquid surface of the liquid tank, and an inlet port through which the liquid flows in from the circulation flow pass into the liquid tank is positioned higher than an outlet port through which the ink flows out from the liquid tank into the circulation flow pass (see fig. 9, Note outlet on bottom of tank and inlet on top).
Regarding claim 8, Yokota teaches the inkjet recording apparatus comprising: the degassing device according to claim 1; and a recording head (fig. 9, item 50) which ejects the liquid degassed by the degassing device ([0071]).
Regarding claim 9, Yokota teaches the inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the liquid is ink, and the degassing device degases the ink when a leaving time of the ink exceeds an allowable time ([0004], [0008], [0009]).
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) 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota in view of Kawase (6,315,402).
Regarding claim 2, Yokota teaches the degassing device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure decreasing device includes: a first pressure decreasing device which decreases a pressure of an inside of the liquid tank (see fig. 9). Yokota does not teach a second pressure decreasing device which decreases a pressure of an inside of the container. Kawase teaches this (Kawase, see fig. 2, Note second pressure decreasing device 67/50). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the second pressure decreasing device disclosed by Kawase to the circulation system disclosed by Yokota because doing so would allow for proper pressurization within the container, thereby ensuring proper circulation.
Upon combination of Kawase with Yokota, the resultant device would operate so that the second pressure decreasing device decreases the pressure of the inside of the container in parallel with the pressure decreasing of the inside of the liquid tank by the first pressure decreasing device
Regarding claim 3, Yokota in view of Kawase teaches the degassing device according to claim 2, wherein an atmospheric pressure difference between the inside of the liquid tank decreased in pressure by the first pressure decreasing device and the inside of the container decreased in pressure by the second pressure decreasing device is 30 kPa or less (Note that the atmospheric pressure in the tank and the controller are constantly changing, and thus, at some point, they must be within the claimed range).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goto et al. (2020/0398571).
Regarding claim 6, Yokota teaches the degassing device according to claim 1. Yokota does not teach what type of pump its circulation pump is. Goto teaches wherein a circulation device is a perista pump or a diaphragm pump (Goto, [0096]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a diaphragm pump, as disclosed by Goto, for the circulation pump disclosed by Yokota because doing so would amount to combining prior art teachings to obtain predictable results.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853