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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 1-3 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi et al. (US 20180101114) in view of Onishi et al. (US 20140239064).
Regarding claim 1, Takeuchi teaches an image forming system comprising: a body portion including an image forming section that forms an image on a medium (abstract);
an image input section that inputs an image, the image input section being provided on an upper side of the body portion in an up-down direction p0019:The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming section 10, a reader 20);
and an operation section that receives an operation by an operator (p0019:The operating display 30 serves as a user interface), the operation section being disposed at a position adjacent to the reading section with an operation surface disposed along an outer side surface of the reading section, the operation section having a color similar to a color of the outer side surface of the reading section (30 in fig. 1 and p0053: the outer surface of the reader 20 and the outer surface of the image forming section 10 that are included in the background behind the operating display 30 in front view are colored in a similar color to that of the outer surface of the operating display 30).
Takeuchi does not teach a reading section that reads information stored in a storage medium, the reading section being provided in an inclined portion that straddles the body portion and the image input section, the inclined portion being inclined with a rising gradient from a front side that corresponds to a front surface of the body portion toward a rear side;
Onishi teaches a reading section that reads information stored in a storage medium, the reading section being provided in an inclined portion that straddles the body portion and the image input section, the inclined portion being inclined with a rising gradient from a front side that corresponds to a front surface of the body portion toward a rear side (p0017: it is possible to change the angle of the IC card reader 1 obliquely upward by rotating the IC card reader 1 and fig. 2);
Takeuchi and Ohishi are combinable because they both deal with printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Takeuchi with the teaching of Ohishi for purpose of reading operability thereof is improved (p0016).
Regarding claim 2, Takeuchi teaches the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein a first exterior member including the outer side surface of the reading section has a color similar to the color of the operation section including the operation surface (30 in fig. 1 and p0053: the outer surface of the reader 20 and the outer surface of the image forming section 10 that are included in the background behind the operating display 30 in front view are colored in a similar color to that of the outer surface of the operating display 30).
Regarding claim 3, Takeuchi in view of Ohishi teaches the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the reading section and the operation section are arranged in an order from left to right on an upper side of the body portion in a state of being viewed from a front side of the body portion (Ohishi:fig. 1: 1 IC reader 1 and 13 operation section), and the image forming system is configured such that a series of operations for reading information from the storage medium by the reading section, selecting a job by using the operation section, and executing the job are performed from left to right (Ohishi:fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 1 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 12, Takeuchi teaches the image forming system according to claim 2, comprising a document feeding device that feeds a document placed on a document placement section to a document discharge section via the image input section, the document feeding device being provided on the upper side of the body portion in the up-down direction, wherein there is a region that has a color similar to the color of the first exterior member, the region straddling a dividing line that divides the image input section and the document feeding device in the inclined portion (fig. 6).
Claim 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi in view of Ohishi as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Shigeno et al. (US 20230227284).
Regarding claim 4, Takeuchi in view of Ohishi does not teach the image forming system according to claim 3, comprising a discharge section on a lower side of the image input section in an upper portion of the body portion, the medium on which an image is formed by the image forming section is discharged to the discharge section, wherein a take-out opening where the medium is taken out from the discharge section is formed on a right side of the operation section in the state of being viewed from the front side of the body portion.
Shigeno teaches the image forming system according to claim 3, comprising a discharge section on a lower side of the image input section in an upper portion of the body portion (92 in fig. 1:discharge), the medium on which an image is formed by the image forming section is discharged to the discharge section, wherein a take-out opening where the medium is taken out from the discharge section is formed on a right side of the operation section in the state of being viewed from the front side of the body portion (8p in fig. 1: operation unit).
Takeuchi in view of Ohishi and Shigeno are combinable because they both deal with printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Takeuchi in view of Ohishi with the teaching of Shigeno for purpose to provide a sheet discharge device and an image scanning apparatus configured to suppress a sheet discharge failure (p0009).
Claim 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi in view of Onishi as applied to claim 2 above further in view of Kuroki (US 9769341).
Regarding claim 5, Takeuchi in view of Onishi does not teach the image forming system according to claim 2, wherein a first exterior member including the outer side surface of the reading section has a color similar to the color of the operation section including the operation surface, a second exterior member is provided at a position adjacent to a left side of the first exterior member in a state of being viewed from a front side of the body portion, and a color of the second exterior member is different from the color of the first exterior member.
Kuroki teaches wherein a first exterior member including the outer side surface of the reading section has a color similar to the color of the operation section including the operation surface (fig. 1: 5 and 6),a second exterior member is provided at a position adjacent to a left side of the first exterior member in a state of being viewed from a front side of the body portion, and a color of the second exterior member is different from the color of the first exterior member (21 in fig. 1).
Takeuchi in view of Ohishi and Kuroki are combinable because they both deal with printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Takeuchi in view of Ohishi with the teaching of Kuroki to provide an image forming apparatus that can guide the line of sight of the user naturally to a place where an operation is required.
Claims 6-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Shigeno as applied to claim 4 above further in view of Kuroki (US 9769341).
Regarding claim 6, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Shigeno and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 4, wherein a first exterior member including the outer side surface of the reading section has a color similar to the color of the operation section including the operation surface(Kuroki: fig. 1: 5 and 6), a second exterior member is provided at a position adjacent to a left side of the first exterior member in the state of being viewed from the front side of the body portion, and a color of the second exterior member is different from the color of the first exterior member(Kuroki:21 in fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 5 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 7, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 6, wherein a color of a wall surface of the discharge section is similar to the color of the first exterior member (fig. 6), and the color of the second exterior member is different from the color of the wall surface of the discharge section (Kuroki: 21 and 5 in fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 8, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 7, wherein a third exterior member is provided adjacent to the discharge section on a rear side of the discharge section in a depth direction in a side surface of the body portion, and a color of the third exterior member is similar to the color of the second exterior member (Kuroki: fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 9, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 6, wherein the color of the second exterior member is similar to a color of an outer surface above the inclined portion and a color of an outer surface below the discharge section (Kuroki: fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 10, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 5, wherein the color of the first exterior member and the color of the operation section are black or gray (Kuroki: fig. 1), and the color of the second exterior member is white or a light color having higher lightness than the color of the first exterior member and the color of the operation section (Kuroki: fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 11, Takeuchi in view of Onishi and Kuroki teaches the image forming system according to claim 9, wherein the color of the first exterior member and the color of the operation section are black or gray, and the color of the second exterior member is white or a light color having higher lightness than the color of the first exterior member and the color of the operation section (Kuroki: fig. 1).
The rational applied to the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Claim 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi in view of Onishi as applied to claim 12 above further in view of Takeishi (US 9527329).
Regarding claim 13, Takeuchi in view of Onishi does not explicitly disclose the image forming system according to claim 12, wherein the document feeding device is configured to be openable and closable between a position in which an input unit that receives an image to be input to the image input section is closed and a position in which the input unit is opened, a front side of the document feeding device is provided with a gripping portion that is capable of being gripped when an operator opens the document feeding device, and the gripping portion and an edge portion on the front side of the document placement section are continuously connected in a linear shape.
Takeishi teaches wherein the document feeding device is configured to be openable and closable between a position in which an input unit that receives an image to be input to the image input section is closed and a position in which the input unit is opened (col. 6 lines 45-55:A document table 32 is arranged above a main body 31 of the MFP 30. An automatic document feeder (ADF) 33 is disposed on the document table 32 in an openable and closable manner), a front side of the document feeding device is provided with a gripping portion that is capable of being gripped when an operator opens the document feeding device, and the gripping portion and an edge portion on the front side of the document placement section are continuously connected in a linear shape (fig. 1).
Takeuchi in view of Ohishi and Takeishi are combinable because they both deal with printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Takeuchi in view of Ohishi with the teaching of Takeishi to provide user friendly device.
Conclusion
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HELEN ZONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2683
/HELEN ZONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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