DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 4-11 and 17-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/7/2026.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 and 16 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.
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, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito et al. (2022/0016916).
Regarding claim 1, Saito teaches a head unit of an inkjet recording apparatus, the head unit comprising a plurality of heads formed with nozzle arrays each including a plurality of nozzles that eject a liquid and performing recording by ejecting the liquid onto a recording medium, while reciprocating in a main scanning direction, wherein the plurality of heads includes:
a first head (fig. 4, item 300Pr) formed with a nozzle array (see fig. 4, note nozzle arrays) that ejects a reaction liquid which reacts with at least one selected from the group consisting of a color ink and a white ink ([0056], note that the primer reacts with both color and white inks); and
a second head (fig. 4, item 300W1) formed with a nozzle array that ejects the color ink and with a nozzle array that ejects the white ink (see fig. 4, note nozzle arrays), and
wherein the first head and the second head are disposed to be arranged along the main scanning direction (fig. 2, X direction) such that the nozzle array for the reaction liquid is located at a position closest to a first end portion (figs. 3, 4, portion of carriage corresponding to primer head) which is one end portion of the head unit (see figs. 3, 4, note that the “head unit” is being taken as the portion of the carriage on which the heads are mounted) in the main scanning direction and that the nozzle array for the white ink is located at a position closest to a second end portion (figs. 3, 4, portion of carriage at which white head is positioned) which is another end portion of the head unit in the main scanning direction (see figs. 3, 4).
Regarding claim 14, Saito teaches the inkjet recording apparatus comprising: the head unit according to claim 1;
a carriage (fig. 2, item 200) on which the head unit is to be mounted (see fig. 2); and a drive unit (fig. 2, item 205) that reciprocates the carriage in the main scanning direction (see fig. 2), wherein of a range of the recording medium in which the recording is performed, an end portion closer to the first end portion in the main scanning direction is a third end portion and an end portion closer to the second end portion in the main scanning direction is a fourth end portion (see figs. 3, 4), and in a printing mode in which the recording is performed using only the color ink, when moving the carriage in a direction toward the first end portion, the drive unit moves the carriage to a position where the nozzle array for the color ink adjacent to the nozzle array for the white ink in the second head passes through the third end portion, and when moving the carriage in a direction toward the second end portion, the drive unit moves the carriage to a position where the nozzle array for the color ink which is at a position closest to the first end portion in the second head passes through the fourth end portion (see figs. 3, 4, Note that, as defined in the rejection of claim 1, the limitations are met).
Regarding claim 15, Saito teaches the inkjet recording apparatus comprising: the head unit according to claim 1; a carriage (fig. 2, item 200) on which the head unit is to be mounted (see fig. 2); and a drive unit (fig. 2, item 205) that reciprocates the carriage in the main scanning direction (see fig. 2), wherein of a range of the recording medium in which the recording is performed, an end portion closer to the first end portion in the main scanning direction is a third end portion and an end portion closer to the second end portion in the main scanning direction is a fourth end portion (see figs. 2-4), and in a printing mode in which the recording is performed using only the color ink and the white ink, when moving the carriage in a direction toward the first end portion, the drive unit moves the carriage to a position where the nozzle array for the white ink in the second head passes through the third end portion (see figs. 2-4), and when moving the carriage in a direction toward the second end, the drive unit moves the carriage to a position where the nozzle array for the color ink which is at a position closest to the first end portion in the second head passes through the fourth end portion (see figs. 3, 4, Note that, as defined in the rejection of claim 1, the limitations are met).
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 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of Ishigai et al. (2023/0065145).
Regarding claim 2, Saito teaches the head unit according to claim 1. Saito does not wherein the first head is formed with a nozzle array for a reaction liquid for the white ink and with a nozzle array for a reaction liquid for the color ink. Ishigai teaches two distinct reaction liquids ejected from different nozzle arrays (Ishigai, [0032]-[0042]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to use two reaction liquids with two distinct purposes, as disclosed by Ishigai, in the device disclosed by Saito because doing so would allow for several qualities of print to be maintained. Upon combination of the references, the first and second treatment liquids of Ishigai would be used for the color and white inks of Saito, respectively. This is because the first treatment liquid is used to treat the medium before any ink is deposited, and white ink is generally deposited as a background color/coat on which to deposit the standard colors cyan, yellow, magenta and black. Thus, the first treatment liquid would be deposited, the white ink would be deposited on the treatment liquid, the second treatment liquid would be deposited on the white ink, and finally the color ink would be deposited on the second treatment liquid.
Upon combination, because there is only a single reaction liquid printhead 300Pr disclosed by Saito, both of the first and second reaction liquids would be ejected from that single printhead, each reaction liquid being ejected from at least one of the four shown nozzle arrays.
Claim(s) 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of Suyama et al. (2021/0086521).
Regarding claim 12, Saito in view of teaches the head unit according to claim 1. Saito does not teach a circulation device that supplies, for each of the liquids which are the color ink, the white ink, and the reaction liquid, the liquid to the nozzles, collects the liquid that has not been ejected from the nozzles, and supplies the liquid to the nozzles again. Suyama teaches this (Suyama, see fig. 6, Note that the ink is circulated through the head over and over). 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 printhead with a circulation device of the type disclosed by Suyama in the device of Saito because doing so would allow for refreshing of ink flow paths, thereby reducing the amount of stagnation and clogging in the flow paths themselves
Regarding claim 13, Saito in view of Suyama teaches the head unit according to claim 12, wherein, to the circulation device, the liquid is supplied from a tank included in an apparatus main body of the inkjet recording apparatus (Suyama, Note that this is necessarily the case. That is, if the liquid does not come from a tank, where does it come from?).
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853