DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the Application filed on May 9, 2024, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-098126, filed on June 14, 2023. An action on the merits follows. Claims 1-15 are pending on the application.
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 .
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 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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 4-7 and 12-15 are 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.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “extracts a feature value from entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images, the read image being stored in the memory” in lines 2-3 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of the claim the claimed “the read image” recited in line 3 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claims 5-7 are rejected by virtue of being dependent upon rejected base claim 4.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “the read image” in line 4 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 4 the claimed “the read image” recited in line 4 of claim 5 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 6 recites the limitation “the read image” in line 4 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 4 the claimed “the read image” recited in line 4 of claim 6 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “the read image” in line 4 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 4 the claimed “the read image” recited in line 4 of claim 7 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 12 recites the limitation “extracting a feature value from entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images, the read image being stored in the memory” in lines 2-3 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of the claim the claimed “the read image” recited in line 3 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claims 13-15 are rejected by virtue of being dependent upon rejected base claim 12.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “the read image” in lines 3-4 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 12 the claimed “the read image” recited in lines 3-4 of claim 13 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “the read image” in line 2 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 12 the claimed “the read image” recited in line 2 of claim 14 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 15 recites the limitation “the read image” in line 2 of the claim. However, it is not clear which one of the claimed “each read image of the plurality of read images” recited in lines 2-3 of claim 12 the claimed “the read image” recited in line 2 of claim 15 corresponds to, for example. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
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 1-2 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KATOH et al. (US PG Publication No. 2022/0109768 A1), hereafter referred to as KATOH, in view of MINAMI et al. (Japanese Publication No. JP2014131125 A), hereafter referred to as MINAMI, Applicant cited prior art, and in further view of YAMADA et al. (US PG Publication No. 2008/0100881 A1), hereafter referred to as YAMADA.
Regarding claim 1, KATOH discloses an image reading device (Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium) comprising:
an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each document read by the image sensor (Par. [0025-68]: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. The image reading device 1000 of the embodiment includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices 107 and 108, each of which is a contact-type color image reading device. The CIS reading devices 107 and 108 enable simultaneous reading of two surfaces (i.e., a front surface and a rear surface) of a document… A document stack 1 of documents to be read is set on the document setting section A… turning section D turns over the transported document and transports the turned document with an image surface (i.e., a surface with an image to be read) thereof facing down to face a front-surface CIS reading device 107… The first reading and transporting section E reads the image of the front surface of the document from under a contact glass. The second reading and transporting section F reads the image of the rear surface of the document after the reading in the first reading and transporting section E. After the reading of the images of the front and rear surfaces of the document, the sheet ejection section G ejects the document to the outside of the image reading device 10X). The stacking section H holds a stack of read documents… FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… The reading control unit 309 controls the reading of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108… Each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 generates and outputs 8-bit digital image data for each of the three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) based on shading information of the document obtained through scanning the front surface or the rear surface of the document; Par. [0123]: Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions; image reading device comprising: an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each document read by the image sensor (e.g. image reading device includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices (i.e. an image sensor), including a front-surface (i.e. a front-side) CIS reading device and a rear-surface (i.e. rear-side) CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including a front surface and a rear surface of a document (i.e. a front-side image and a rear-side image for each document read by the image sensor), an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (i.e. an image processing circuit), for example, and each of the front-surface CIS reading device and the rear-surface CIS reading device generates and outputs digital image data of the document obtained through scanning the front surface or the rear surface of the document (i.e. image reading device comprising: an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each document read by the image sensor), as described above), for example); and
a memory for storing the front-side image and the rear-side image (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; a memory for storing the front-side image and the rear-side image (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces, including a front surface and a rear surface of a document (i.e. the front-side image and the rear-side image), as indicated above, for example, in which the image data of the document read by the CIS devices is temporarily stored in the local memory and the image data read from the local memory is stored in a memory in the controller via the image processing ASIC (i.e. a memory for storing the front-side image and the rear-side image), as indicated above), for example),
the image processing circuit including:
a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on one of the front-side image and the rear-side image, and store, for each document, the front-side image and the rear-side image in the memory; and
a second image processing circuit configured to perform second image processing on the one of the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed, being read from the memory (Par. [0046-72]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… In the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode. In the serial mode, after the image data of a document has been read from the local memory 203, the image data of the next document is written to the local memory 203. In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel. Information representing the set reading mode is stored in the memory 204. The reading mode is set by the user via the operation and display device… FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the image reading device 1000, which are implemented when the controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program. The controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302, a skew angle determination unit 303, a document origin coordinate determination unit 304, a skew correction unit 305, a position correction unit 306, an image data output unit 307, a skew correction determination unit 308, a reading control unit 309, an error notification unit 310, and a document length detection unit 311, as illustrated in FIG. 3… In the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment, the skew correction process for two reading devices, i.e., the front-surface CIS reading device 107 (an example of the first reading device) and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 (an example of the second reading device), is performed by a skew correction function… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108. The skew angle determination unit 303 determines the skew angle of the document area with detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected by the document edge detection unit 302…The skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the image of the front surface of the document based on the determined skew angle. The skew correction unit 305 further generates the skew angle for the image of the rear surface of the document, which corresponds to the reverse of the skew angle used in the skew correction on the image of the front surface of the document. Then, the skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the image of the rear surface of the document with the skew angle generated for the image of the rear surface of the document. Consequently, the skew correction is performed on both the image of the front surface and the image of the rear surface with the skew correction function for one system (i.e., the skew correction function for the image of the front surface of the document)… The position correction unit 306 performs position correction by translation with the coordinate information of the position of the origin of the document area determined by the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 and the information of the skew correction. The image data output unit 307 outputs image data for subsequent processing based on the information of the position correction… The skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the read image by rotating the read image with the information of the skew angle determined by the skew angle determination unit 303. The position correction unit 306 performs the position correction by translation with the coordinate information of the position of the origin of the document area determined by the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 and the information of the skew correction. The image data output unit 307 outputs the image data for subsequent processing based on the information of the position correction; Par. [0123]: Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions; the image processing circuit including: a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on one of the front-side image and the rear-side image, and store, for each document, the front-side image and the rear-side image in the memory; and a second image processing circuit configured to perform second image processing on the one of the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed, being read from the memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces, including a front surface and a rear surface of a document (i.e. the front-side image and the rear-side image), as indicated above, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on one of the front surface image and the rear surface image being stored at and read from the memory, for example, in which the image data of the document read by the CIS devices is stored in the local memory (i.e. the front-side image and the rear-side image, on which first, second, third… Nth image processing is performed, being read from the memory), for example, and the image data read from the local memory is stored in a memory in the controller via the image processing ASIC (i.e. store, for each document, the front-side image and the rear-side image in the memory), as indicated above), for example),
the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images (Par. [0046-50]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… In the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode. In the serial mode, after the image data of a document has been read from the local memory 203, the image data of the next document is written to the local memory 203. In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel… In accordance with the set reading mode, the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces, including a front surface and a rear surface of a document (i.e. the front-side image and the rear-side image), as indicated above, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on one of the front surface image and the rear surface image being stored at and read from the memory, including image data of the document read by the CIS devices is stored in the local memory, for example, and including a parallel mode in which the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory are executed in parallel (i.e. the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH teachings above disclose “reading of two surfaces (i.e., a front surface and a rear surface) of a document”, a “document stack 1 of documents to be read”, “a stack of read documents”, as indicated above, for example. However, KATOH teachings above do not expressly disclose each page of a plurality of pages of a document and each of the plurality of pages of the document as further recited in claim 1.
However, MINAMI teaches each page of a plurality of pages of a document and each of the plurality of pages of the document (Par. [0008]: a document reading apparatus including: an image reading unit configured to read an image of a document and output image data for each page… when the image reading unit reads the document of a plurality of pages, the preview image creation unit creates the preview image in the first page, and waits until the preview image of the first page of the document reading device that reads the document is created on and after the second page… reading an image of a document to output image data for each page; Par. [0036-40]: control unit 8 performs image processing on the read image for each page by the image processing unit 10 and temporarily stores the image in the storage unit 9… control unit 8 ends all the reading of the document placed on the document reading unit 2, and determines whether or not the correction by the finished preview has ended. That is, the control unit 8 reads all pages of the document; each page of a plurality of pages of a document and each of the plurality of pages of the document (e.g. document reading apparatus configured to read an image of a document of a plurality of pages and output image data for each page, including a control unit that reads all pages of the document (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of a document and each of the plurality of pages of the document), for example, and performs image processing on the read image for each page, as indicated above), for example).
KATOH and MINAMI are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with each page of a plurality of pages of a document and each of the plurality of pages of the document (as taught by MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]) to read an image of a document and output image data for each page and to read all pages of the document, (MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]).
KATOH and MINAMI, as a whole, teach the image reading device, as indicated above, but fail to teach the following as further recited in claim 1.
However, YAMADA teaches a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area Par. [0026-42]: FIG. 1 is an illustrative drawing showing an image reading apparatus… ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 1 is comprised upside of the image reading apparatus. An optical image reading device 2 is comprised lower side of the image reading apparatus… The ADF 1 comprises a tray 11 for putting on document, CIS (Contact Image Sensor) 13 for reading document… The image reading apparatus set in the third mode reads both sides of a document by CCD 26 and CIS 13 and processes the both sides of a document image… image forming apparatus comprises a front side of document reader 51, a reverse side document reader 52, an image data processor 40, a controlling image device 41… The image data processor 40 comprises a data converter 53, 54, a CPU 55, a CPU memory 56, a memory controller 57 and a image processor 59, connected via a bus 61. The memory controller 57 is connected to a memory 58, the image processor 59 is connected to an output image processor 71… Image data read by the front side of the document reader 51 and image data read by the reverse side of the document reader 52 are transmitted to the image data processor 40 ; (Par. [0057-66]: FIG. 7 shows the relationship between output and input data of the memory controller 57, the memory 58 and the image processor 59 and operation clock. The memory controller 57 writes front side image data output by the data converter 53 and reverse side image data output by the data converter 54 parallel to a predetermined front side of image data storage area 58a and a predetermined reverse side of image data storage area 58b… FIG. 8A shows that the memory controller 57 starts writing front side image data and reverse side image data to the predetermined front side image data storage area 58a and the predetermined reverse side image data storage area 58b… FIG. 8C shows that the memory controller 57 continues reading the front side image data from the predetermined front side image data storage area 58a and writing the reverse side image data to the predetermined reverse side image data storage area 58b… FIG. 10 shows one example of a sequence of writing and reading the front side image data and the reverse side image data of plural documents; a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area (e.g. an image reading apparatus including memory controller that writes (i.e. stores) front side image data and reverse side image data to a predetermined front side of image data storage area and a predetermined reverse side of image data storage area (i.e. a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image), respectively for example, including image data read by the front side of the document reader 51 and image data read by the reverse side of the document reader 52 (i.e. alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing applications. Therefore, the combined teachings of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, as a whole, would have rendered obvious the invention recited in claim 1 with a reasonable expectation of success in order to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area (as taught by YAMADA, Abstract, Par. [026-42, 57-66]) to control reading from and writing into the memory (YAMADA, Abstract, Par. [026-42, 57-66]).
Regarding claim 2, claim 1 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), wherein the first image processing circuit performs the first image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image, and
wherein the second image processing circuit performs the second image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed (KATOH, (Par. [0046-72]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… In the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode. In the serial mode, after the image data of a document has been read from the local memory 203, the image data of the next document is written to the local memory 203. In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel. Information representing the set reading mode is stored in the memory 204. The reading mode is set by the user via the operation and display device… FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the image reading device 1000, which are implemented when the controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program. The controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302, a skew angle determination unit 303, a document origin coordinate determination unit 304, a skew correction unit 305, a position correction unit 306, an image data output unit 307, a skew correction determination unit 308, a reading control unit 309, an error notification unit 310, and a document length detection unit 311, as illustrated in FIG. 3… In the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment, the skew correction process for two reading devices, i.e., the front-surface CIS reading device 107 (an example of the first reading device) and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 (an example of the second reading device), is performed by a skew correction function… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108. The skew angle determination unit 303 determines the skew angle of the document area with detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected by the document edge detection unit 302…The skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the image of the front surface of the document based on the determined skew angle. The skew correction unit 305 further generates the skew angle for the image of the rear surface of the document, which corresponds to the reverse of the skew angle used in the skew correction on the image of the front surface of the document. Then, the skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the image of the rear surface of the document with the skew angle generated for the image of the rear surface of the document. Consequently, the skew correction is performed on both the image of the front surface and the image of the rear surface with the skew correction function for one system (i.e., the skew correction function for the image of the front surface of the document)… The position correction unit 306 performs position correction by translation with the coordinate information of the position of the origin of the document area determined by the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 and the information of the skew correction. The image data output unit 307 outputs image data for subsequent processing based on the information of the position correction… The skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the read image by rotating the read image with the information of the skew angle determined by the skew angle determination unit 303. The position correction unit 306 performs the position correction by translation with the coordinate information of the position of the origin of the document area determined by the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 and the information of the skew correction. The image data output unit 307 outputs the image data for subsequent processing based on the information of the position correction; Par. [0123]: Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions; wherein the first image processing circuit performs the first image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image, and wherein the second image processing circuit performs the second image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces, including a front surface and a rear surface of a document (i.e. the front-side image and the rear-side image), as indicated above, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on one of the front surface image and the rear surface image being stored at and read from the memory (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit performs the first image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image, and wherein the second image processing circuit performs the second image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed), for example, in which the image data of the document read by the CIS devices is stored in the local memory, and the image data read from the local memory is stored in a memory in the controller via the image processing ASIC, as indicated above), for example).
Regarding claim 8, claim 1 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), an image forming apparatus (KATOH, Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium) comprising:
the image reading device of claim 1 (KATOH, Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium); and
an image forming device to form an image based on each of the plurality of read images (KATOH, Par. [0023-25]: image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An image reading device such as a scanner will be described here as an example of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus, however, may be a multifunction peripheral (MFP)… The present invention is applicable to any image forming apparatus with an image reading function… FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 1000 of the embodiment… Together with an image forming device 2000… the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment may form an image forming apparatus such as an MFP. The image forming device 2000 forms an image output from the image reading device 1000).
Regarding claim 9, is a corresponding method claim rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 10, claim 9 is incorporated and is a corresponding method claim rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 2 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 and 11 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUILLERMO M RIVERA-MARTINEZ whose telephone number is (571) 272-4979. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 am to 5 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Bee can be reached on 571-270-5183. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GUILLERMO M RIVERA-MARTINEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2677