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 .
Priority
Foreign priority papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or 35 U.S.C. § 365(a)-(c) are acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) submitted by applicant on 06/24/2024 and 09/09/2024 has/have been considered. The submission(s) is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of 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.
Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
1. Claim(s) 1-6 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No.20210370692 to Sawase et al. (hereinafter “Sawase”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No.20060001721 to Yraceburu et al. (hereinafter “Yraceburu”).
With respect to claim 1, Sawase discloses an inkjet recording apparatus (printer 1 FIG. 1) comprising: an image forming portion configured to form an ink image on a sheet (30 FIG. 1, sheet P); a sheet conveyance portion configured to convey the sheet on which the ink image is carried (51 FIG. 1), and a drying device configured to dry the sheet by blowing air on the sheet conveyed to the sheet conveyance portion (dryer 50 FIG. 1), wherein the drying device includes a suction opening configured to suck air (542); a first duct including the suction opening (the duct where the fan 542 is located in FIG. 9); a blowing hole through which the air sucked from the suction opening is blown toward the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyance portion (nozzle 544 FIG. 9); a second duct including the blowing hole (channel 543 FIG. 9); a heating means configured to heat air inside of the second duct (heater 545 FIG. 9); and a first fan configured to send the air from the suction opening to the blowing hole (542 FIG. 9), wherein the suction opening is provided on a front side of the inkjet recording apparatus with respect to the second duct (542 is both more to the right and more to the top if FIG. 9 of Sawase, Also,FIG. 3 of Yarceburu discloses the suction opening from the front side.), and wherein the first duct forms a first flow passage which is a flow passage of air flowing on the front side of the inkjet recording apparatus with respect to the second duct (Duct with 542 in it. FIG. 9 of Sawase, Also, see FIG. 3 of Yarceburu), and a second flow passage which is a flow passage of air flowing downstream of the first flow passage in a flow passage direction of the air from the suction opening to the blowing hole and above with respect to the second duct in a vertical direction (543 of Sawase, Also, see FIG. 3 of Yarceburu).
However, Sawase fails to specifically disclose:
That the air is sucked from outside of the inkjet recording apparatus.
Yraceburu discloses:
Sucking the air from outside of the inkjet recording apparatus (ambient air FIG. 3).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the air outside the recording apparatus as disclosed by Yraceburu with the method/apparatus of Sawase. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide air for the air handling device. (FIG. 3 of Yraceburu).
With respect to claim 2, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses wherein the suction opening is provided toward downward in the vertical direction (542 of Sawase)
With respect to claim 3, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses further comprising a discharging opening through which the air blown from the blowing hole is discharged to outside of the inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the discharging opening is disposed on a back side of the inkjet recording apparatus (Opening in the left side of FIG. 9, Also, Yraceburu discloses discharging air. FIG. 3).
With respect to claim 4, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses wherein the first fan is disposed upstream of the heating means in the flow passage direction (fan 542 FIG. 9).
With respect to claim 5, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses wherein the sheet conveyance portion includes a rotatable endless belt, a plurality of stretching rollers configured to stretch the belt and a belt heater configured to heat the belt, and heats and conveys the sheet by the belt (belt heater 550 FIG. 9).
With respect to claim 6, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses wherein the sheet conveyance portion includes a second fan configured to suck air, wherein the belt absorbs the sheet on a surface of the belt by the air being sucked by the second fan and conveys the sheet (514 FIG. 9).
With respect to claim 9, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses wherein the first duct includes an outer casing facing outside air of the inkjet recording apparatus (542 of FIG. 9 Sawase, 65 FIG. 3 of Yraceburu ).
2. Claim(s) 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No.20210370692 to Sawase et al. (hereinafter “Sawase”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No.20060001721 to Yraceburu et al. (hereinafter “Yraceburu”) and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No.20210107275 to Peeters et al. (hereinafter “Peeters”).
With respect to claim 7, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses inkjet recording apparatus.
However, Sawase in view of Yraceburu fails to specifically disclose:
further comprising a third duct configured to guide a part of the air sucked from the second fan to the second duct.
The tertiary reference Peeters discloses:
further comprising a third duct configured to guide a part of the air sucked from the second fan to the second duct (FIG. 1 of Peeters discloses recirculating the sucked air.).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the third duct as disclosed by Peeters with the method/apparatus of Sawase. The motivation for doing so would have been to return the air to the blower. (FIG. 1 of Peeters).
With respect to claim 8, Sawase in view of Yraceburu and Peeters discloses further comprising a fourth duct configured to guide a part of the air blown from the blowing hole to the second duct (FIG. 1 of Peeters discloses recirculating the sucked air.).
3. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No.20210370692 to Sawase et al. (hereinafter “Sawase”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No.20060001721 to Yraceburu et al. (hereinafter “Yraceburu”) and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No.2011037819 to Miztani (hereinafter “Mizutani”).
With respect to claim 10, Sawase in view of Yraceburu discloses the inkjet recording apparatus.
However, Sawase in view of Yraceburu fails to specifically disclose:
further comprising a displacement portion including a rotational axis along a conveyance direction of the sheet and capable of being displaced between a closed position and an open position by rotation, and a lower door including at least the sheet conveyance portion and an upper door including at least the blowing hole in a case in which the displacement portion is the open position, wherein the suction opening is provided on the upper door.
The tertiary reference Miztani discloses:
further comprising a displacement portion including a rotational axis along a conveyance direction of the sheet and capable of being displaced between a closed position and an open position by rotation, and a lower door including at least the sheet conveyance portion and an upper door including at least the blowing hole in a case in which the displacement portion is the open position, wherein the suction opening is provided on the upper door (32 FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, Mizutani also discloses sucking air from outside the printer.).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the displacement portion disclosed by Miztani with the method/apparatus of Sawase. The motivation for doing so would have been to access the area where the sheet goes. (FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 of Miztani).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record, whether or not relied upon, is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20220080749 to Kawamichi et al. discloses blowers above the sheet and a suction device inside the belt.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bradley W Thies whose telephone number is (571)270-5667. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30 am -6:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas 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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/BRADLEY W THIES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853