DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is allowed.
Claim 7 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.
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) 1-5, 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103a as being unpatentable over Monclus Velasco et al. (2017/0008307) in view of Valero Navazo et al. (2016/0355027).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Monclus Velasco teaches a printing apparatus, method and computer readable storage medium comprising:
a printing unit (fig. 1, item 110) configured to eject liquid and perform printing;
a conveying unit (fig. 1, item 102/118) configured to convey a print medium in a first direction (fig.1, direction B) and a second direction (fig. 1, direction A) opposite to the first direction with respect to a printing unit (fig. 1, item 110)
a drying unit (fig. 1, item 114) provided downstream of the printing unit in the first direction and configured to dry the print medium on which an image is printed ([0015]);
a heating unit ([0015], convection heating module) provided in the drying unit and configured to heat air ([0015]);
an air blowing unit ([0015], impinging jets), provided in the drying unit, configured to blow air heated by the heating unit to the print medium ([0015]); and
a control unit (fig. 1, item 120) configured to perform control such that, in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the second direction by the conveying unit after the image on the print medium is passed through the drying unit by conveying the print medium in the first direction by the conveying unit, a heat transfer amount from the drying unit to the print medium is smaller than a heat transfer amount from the drying unit to the print medium in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the first direction ([0040], [0044], Note that, during printing, the heater is at 80 to 120 Celsius, and the media is rewound through the heating area as the heater is cooling, and thus heat transfer is smaller during the rewind than the forward feeding of the medium).
Monclus Velasco does not expressly teach wherein the air blowing unit is configured to take air from outside of the printing apparatus to the heating unit through an intake port or wherein the heating unit and the air blowing unit can be controlled individually. Valero Navazo teaches this (Valero Navazo, see fig. 3, Note blower 42 with intake port pulling air from outside of the housing to heater 50, and note that the fan and the heater are necessarily individually controllable as they are electronically separate components). 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 dryer with the architecture of Valero Navazo’s for that of Monclus Velasco because doing so would amount to combining a known heating unit design with a known printing device to obtain predictable results. In other words, because Monclus Velasco does not go into detail about the structure of its heating device, it would have been obvious to look to Valero Navazo for such information.
Regarding claim 2, Monclus Velasco in view of Valero Navazo teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drying unit includes a heating unit configured to heat air and an air blowing unit configured to blow the heated air to the print medium (Monclus Velsaco, [0015]).
Regarding claim 3, Monclus Velasco in view of Valero Navazo teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the air blowing unit such that in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the second direction by the conveying unit, an air volume blown from the drying unit to the print medium is smaller than an air volume blown in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the first direction (Monclus Velsaco, [0015], [0036], [0040], Note that the controller can turn off the heater upon rewind, which would result in a smaller air volume being blown. Alternatively, note that for a forced air heating module to provide less heat on rewind than on regular conveyance, the volume of forced air would need to be less on rewind assuming the temperature of the air heater remained constant).
Regarding claim 4, Monclus Velasco in view of Valero Navazo teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit stops the air blowing unit in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the second direction by the conveying unit (Monclus Velsaco, [0036]).
Regarding claim 5, Monclus Velasco in view of Valero Navazo teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the heating unit such that, in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the second direction by the conveying unit, a temperature of air blown from the drying unit to the print medium is lower than a temperature in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the first direction (Monclus Velsaco, [0015], [0044]).
Regarding claim 8, Monclus Velasco in view of Valero Navazo teaches the printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the conveying unit such that, in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the second direction by the conveying unit, a speed at which the conveying unit conveys the print medium is faster than a speed in a case where the print medium is conveyed in the first direction (Monclus Velsaco, [0046]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot in light of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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