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 .
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi (US 2007/0058219 A1).
As to claim 1, Yamaguchi discloses an image forming system (see figures 1-3 and 7, and see par 0035, “apparatus 1 is a multi-function device (MFD) that integrally comprises a printer unit 2 … a scanner unit 3) including an image reading device (i.e., scanner unit 3, see pars 0035, 0039-0041 and 0046, “image reading unit 52” and see figure 3) which reads an image of a sheet (see par 41, i.e., “CIS unit 69 scans the document”) conveyed along a conveyance path (see pars 0040-0041, i.e., “contact glass 51”), wherein the image reading device (52) includes: a reading sensor (see par 0040, “CIS unit 69 is constituted by a CIS image sensor”) which optically reads the image; and a moving mechanism (see par 0048, i.e., “driving mechanism 71” and see figure 3) which moves the reading sensor (69) to a reading position closer to the conveyance path (see pars 0040-0041, i.e., “contact glass 51”) and readable the image (see pars 40-41, i.e., scans the document on glass 51) and a non-reading position (see par 0041, i.e., a home position, i.e., a reference position, positioned on the lower position of the left end portion of the contact glass 51 at the time of non-reading operation) separated from the conveyance path (51) farther than the reading position (see pars 40-41, i.e., the document whose image is to be read out is set on the contact glass 51, and scans the document on the contact glass 51).
As to claim 2, Yamaguchi discloses wherein the image reading device (i.e., scanner unit 3) includes a cover plate (i.e., document cover 6) movable to a cover position covering an image reading surface (see figures 1-3, i.e., contact glass 51) of the reading sensor (69) moved to the non-reading position (i.e., home position … non-reading see par 41) and a retracted position (i.e., see figure 2) exposing the image reading surface (51) of the reading sensor (69) moved to the reading position (see pars 40-41, i.e., the document whose image is to be read out is set on the contact glass 51, and scans the document on the contact glass 51).
As to claim 4, Yamaguchi discloses wherein the moving mechanism (71) moves the reading sensor (69) in a direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the sheet along the conveyance path (51), and the cover member (6) is moved in a direction parallel to the conveying direction.
As to claim 8, Yamaguchi discloses wherein the image reading device (i.e., scanner unit 3, see pars 0035, 0039-0041 and 0046, “image reading unit 52” and see figure 3, and see CIS 69) is disposed above a both-side printing conveyance path (see figure 6, i.e., conveyance path 22, see par 0055) , and the reading sensor (69) is moved to the non-reading position (see par 41, i.e., home position … non-reading operation) when power is turned off (i.e., inherently power can be turned off), when a one-side printing is performed (see par 35, i.e., operation modes such as printer mode and scan mode), and when it is in standby (inherently when in the printer mode, the scan mode is in standby).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, 5, 6 and 7 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:
Regarding dependent claim 3, the closest prior art of record, namely, Yamaguchi (US 2007/0058219 A1), discussed above, does not disclose, teach or suggest, wherein the cover member includes an adjustment reference white plate used for shading correction, and when the reading sensor is moved to the non-reading position, the shading correction for the reading sensor can be performed using the adjustment reference white plate, as recited in dependent claim 3.
Regarding dependent claim 5, the closest prior art of record, namely, Yamaguchi (US 2007/0058219 A1), discussed above, does not disclose, teach or suggest, wherein the moving mechanism moves the reading sensor in an upper-and-lower direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, as claimed in dependent claim 5.
Regarding dependent claim 6, the closest prior art of record, namely, Yamaguchi (US 2007/0058219 A1), discussed above, does not disclose, teach or suggest, wherein the reading sensor includes a transparent member covering the image reading surface, the cover member includes a cleaning member which can clean the transparent member, and when the reading sensor is moved to the non-reading position, as the cover member is moved from the retracted position to the cover position, the cleaning member cleans the transparent member, as recited in dependent claim 6.
Regarding dependent claim 7, the closest prior art of record, namely, Yamaguchi (US 2007/0058219 A1), discussed above, does not disclose, teach or suggest, wherein a height of the reading sensor at the reading position can be varied depending on a thickness of the sheet, as claimed in dependent claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Iida (US 2024/0300760 A1) teaches an image forming apparatus (see par 2) having a scanner (see figure 4) and a printer (see figs 1-2), a sensor (95) (see par 0051), and a sheet conveyance motor (192, see figure 6).
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/DOV POPOVICI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681