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
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4,6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fukui USP 8,545,007.
Fukui discloses, regarding claim 1, A sheet conveyor comprising:
a drum (44) to:
carry a sheet on a circumferential surface of the drum; and
rotate to convey the sheet (see at least ¶0039); and
adhering part (166,167) to adhere the sheet to the circumferential surface of the drum,
wherein the drum (fig.6) has:
both end parts in an axial direction of the drum, the both end parts each having a first outer diameter in a radial direction orthogonal to the axial direction (see end parts adjacent center part 221 in fig.6); and
a center part (221) between the both end parts in the axial direction of the drum, the center part having a second outer diameter smaller than the first outer diameter in the radial direction.
Regarding claim 2, wherein the both end parts of the drum respectively face both ends (226) of the sheet (14) in a width direction of the sheet parallel to the axial direction,
the center part of the drum faces a center of the sheet in the width direction, and
the first outer diameter of each of the both end parts is larger than the second outer diameter of the center part in the radial direction (larger due to coating sections 220) (see fig.6).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the drum includes a suction plate (302) having multiple suction holes (322) on a circumferential surface of the suction plate (fig.10,11), and
the adhering part includes a suction pump (167) to suck the sheet through the multiple suction holes.
Regarding claim 4, wherein the drum further includes a cylinder (main body section 300), and
the suction plate (302) is flexibly attached to a circumferential surface of the cylinder to allow a center of the sheet, adhered to the suction plate, in a width direction of the sheet to be concaved toward the center part of the drum (C19/L62-67).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the suction plate (302) is detachably attachable to the cylinder (C19/L62-67), and
the suction plate has rigidity undeformed by a suction force of the suction pump (C21/L20-29).
Regarding claim 7, wherein the drum rotates in a conveyance direction to convey the sheet,
the drum has multiple suction regions divided in a circumferential direction of the drum (one section shown in fig.6, second section is on the opposite side of the drum adjacent recess sections 210),
the drum sequentially sucks the sheet in each of the multiple suction regions from a downstream side of the multiple suction regions in the conveyance direction (fig.6,10).
Regarding claim 8, An image forming apparatus (10) comprising the sheet conveyor according to claim 1 (see at least fig.1,6).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claim 5 is 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.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rasmussen et al. (USP 6,254,081) discloses a drum an adhering part (34), end parts and a center part separated by grooves (37) which have an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the end parts and center part (fig.1).
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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, Michael C McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 2/17/2026