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 § 103
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 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 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haga et al. (US 2023/0117107 – hereinafter Haga) in view of Qin et al. (CN112706524A – hereinafter Qin.)
Regarding claim 1,
Haga discloses a liquid ejection device [11 in figs. 1-2], comprising:
an ejection portion [ejecting head 23 in fig. 2] having a first accommodation space configured to accommodate a liquid [temporarily while it is either ejected or circulated] and eject the liquid accommodated in the first accommodation space from an ejection port [22 in fig. 2] communicating with the first accommodation space [paragraphs 0040 and 0049];
an accommodating portion [35 in fig. 2] having a second accommodation space [68 in fig. 2] below the ejection port [as seen in fig. 2] and configured to accommodate the liquid to be supplied to the ejection portion, wherein in the accommodating portion, a space above a water level of the liquid accommodated in the second accommodation space communicates with the atmosphere [via opening-to-atmosphere portion 69 in fig. 2; paragraphs 0040-0044];
a lowering processing portion [38 in fig. 2] configured to lower the water level of the liquid accommodated in the accommodating portion with respect to the ejection port [by supplying ink to the ejecting head; paragraphs 0076 and 0184-0186]; and
a circulation processing portion [40 / 36 in fig. 2] configured to circulate the liquid along a circulation path [through passage 39 and first reservoir 33 in fig. 2] passing through the ejection portion after the water level of the liquid is lowered by the lowering processing portion [paragraphs 0045, 0053, 0184-0186 and 0190-0191.]
Haga fails to expressly disclose the liquid ejection device further including:
a raising and lowering portion configured to raise and lower the accommodating portion, wherein
the lowering processing portion lowers the water level of the liquid using the raising and lowering portion.
Qin discloses a method and apparatus for stabilizing an ink supply circulating throughout, the apparatus comprising: a printhead [7 in fig. 4] having a first receiving space for receiving liquid to be ejected; an ink cartridge [6 in fig. 4] configured to accommodate the liquid to be supplied to the printhead; a circulation processing section to circulate the liquid through the printhead [paragraph 0061]; and a height adjustment mechanism [15 in fig. 4] which raises and lowers the ink cartridge [paragraphs 0048-0050.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Haga invention to include means a raising and lowering portion configured to raise and lower the accommodating portion (that is therefore working in conjunction with the lowering processing portion in the invention) as taught by Qui for the purpose of maintaining the pressure of the ink within the system during consumption within a preset range [paragraphs 0010 and 0016.]
Regarding claim 5,
Haga further discloses wherein
the lowering processing portion lowers the water level of the liquid in a case where an elapsed time since the last ejection of the liquid by the ejection portion exceeds a predetermined reference time, and
the circulation processing portion circulates the liquid along the circulation path in a case where the elapsed time since the last ejection of the liquid by the ejection portion exceeds the predetermined reference time [please note that since the claim is defined by a conditional limitation (by "in a case"), the claim requirements are met at least when the condition is not satisfied.]
Regarding claim 6,
The steps of this method claim are deemed to be inherent in view of the functions of the apparatus disclosed above, since it would be necessary to perform the claimed method steps in order for the apparatus to perform its intended functions.
Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571)272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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