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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 06/16/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2023-099598 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-4 and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nishikawa et al. (2013/0073107) (hereinafter Nishikawa et al.).
Regarding Claim 1, Nishikawa et al. teaches a nozzle state inspection apparatus (180, Fig. 17) that inspects states of a plurality of nozzles (251, Figs, 14A 14B) included in an inkjet head (250, Figs. 14A & 14B) [Paragraphs 0174-0175, 0186, , 0195-0196], the nozzle state inspection apparatus (180) comprising a hardware processor (180D, Fig. 17), wherein the hardware processor (180D) is capable of forming a drive waveform (not shown in Figures) including first drive output (not shown in Figures) and second drive output (not shown in Figures) and outputting the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) to the plurality of nozzles (251) included in the inkjet head (250) [Paragraphs 0195-0196, 0201-0203, 0220], and the hardware processor (180D) acquires, in accordance with the drive waveform (not shown in Figures), a reverberation waveform (see Fig. 12) generated in a nozzle (251) to be measured among the plurality of nozzles (251) and inspects the nozzle (251) for abnormality [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0200-0203].
Regarding Claim 2, Nishikawa et al. teaches the nozzle state inspection apparatus (180), wherein the hardware processor (180D) detects the reverberation waveform commonly acquired for the plurality of nozzles (251) [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0200-0203].
Regarding Claim 3, Nishikawa et al. teaches the nozzle state inspection apparatus (180), further comprising a two-channel switch (not shown in Figures) that is connectable to each of the plurality of nozzles (251) and operates to switch between outputting the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) to the nozzles (251) and acquiring the reverberation waveform (not shown in Figures) from the nozzles (251) under control by the hardware processor (180D) [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0200-0203, 0341, 0345-0347].
Regarding Claim 4, Nishikawa et al. teaches the nozzle state inspection apparatus (180), wherein the first drive output (not shown in Figures) corresponds to a voltage that causes the reverberation waveform (not shown in Figures) to be generated in the nozzle (251) [Paragraphs 0106-0109], and the second drive output (not shown in Figures) corresponds to a voltage lower than the voltage that causes the reverberation waveform (not shown in Figures) to be generated in the nozzle (251) [Paragraphs 0106-0109, 0111-0119].
Regarding Claim 10, Nishikawa et al. teaches the nozzle state inspection (180), wherein the hardware processor (180D) inspects, in order, the plurality of nozzles (251) included in the inkjet head for abnormality by acquiring reverberation waveforms (not shown in Figures) of the plurality of nozzles (251) included in the inkjet head (250) as nozzles (251) to be measured [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0201-0203, 0220].
Regarding Claim 11, Nishikawa et al. teaches The nozzle state inspection (180), wherein the hardware processor (180D) forms and outputs a plurality of types of patterns of the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) having a plurality of periods by a combination of the first drive output (not shown in Figures) and the second drive output (not shown in Figures) during printing of the inkjet head (250), and controls sizes of droplets to be ejected from the nozzles (251) [Paragraphs 0199, 0267-0273, 0348-0350].
Regarding Claim 12, Nishikawa et al. teaches the nozzle state inspection (180), wherein the hardware processor (180D) controls, in each period of the drive waveform (not shown in Figures), an operation of the two-channel switch (not shown in Figures) as to whether or not the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) can be output to the nozzles (251) [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0201-0203, 0220].
Regarding Claim 13, Nishikawa et al. teaches a nozzle state inspection method for an inkjet head (250, Fig. 14A & 14B) including a plurality of nozzles (251, Figs. 14A & 14B) [Paragraphs 0174-0175, 0186, , 0195-0196], the nozzle state inspection method comprising: forming a drive waveform (not shown in Figures) including first drive output (not shown in Figures) and second drive output (not shown in Figures) and outputting the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) to the plurality of nozzles (251) included in the inkjet head (250) [Paragraphs 0195-0196, 0201-0203, 0220]; and acquiring, in accordance with the drive waveform (not shown in Figures), a reverberation waveform (not shown in Figures) generated in a nozzle (251) to be measured among the plurality of nozzles (251) and inspecting the nozzle (251) for abnormality [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0200-0203].
Regarding Claim 14, Nishikawa et al. teaches a non-transitory recording medium (see Fig. 17) storing a computer-readable nozzle state inspection program for an inkjet head (250, Figs. 14A&14B) including a plurality of nozzles (251, Fig. 14A & 14B) [Paragraphs 0174-0175, 0186, , 0195-0196], the nozzle state inspection program causing a computer to execute: form a drive waveform (not shown in Figures) including first drive output (not shown in Figures) and second drive output (not shown in Figures) and output the drive waveform (not shown in Figures) to the plurality of nozzles (251) included in the inkjet head (250) [Paragraphs 0195-0196, 0201-0203, 0220]; and acquire, in accordance with the drive waveform (not shown in Figures), a reverberation waveform (not shown in Figures) generated in a nozzle (251) to be measured among the plurality of nozzles (251) and inspect the nozzle (251) for abnormality [Paragraphs 0104, 0195-0196, 0200-0203].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason for the allowance of claims 5-9 is the inclusion of the limitation of a nozzle state inspection apparatus that includes a hardware processor controlling an operation of a two-channel switch to control whether or not to apply a drive waveform to a plurality of nozzles according to a type of image data in a pre-registered image. It is these limitations found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught, or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA SOLOMON whose telephone number is (571)272-1701. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30am -6pm, EST.
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/LISA SOLOMON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853