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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgement is made of the receipt of Preliminary Amendment filed 03 July 2024.
Non-Final Rejection
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited on a Form PTO 1449 have been considered.
Specification
The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. However, the applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 9 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hagiwara et al. (US Pub. 2010/0289854).
Hagiwara et al. disclose in Figures 1-4 and 9 a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
Regarding claim 1, a carriage (carriage or 20) configured to move along a print surface of a medium (S) (Figure 9, paragraph 0069);
an inkjet head (10) configured to be detachably disposed on the carriage (20) and eject ink onto the medium (S) (Figure 9, paragraph 0065 and 0069); and
a fixing unit (30) configured to fix the inkjet head (10) to the carriage (20) by pressing the inkjet head (10) from above (Figures 2-4).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the fixing unit (30) includes: a first fixing component (left number 35), configured to fix the fixing unit (30) to the carriage (20); and
a second fixing component (right number 35), configured to fix the inkjet head (10) to the carriage (20) (Figures 2-4).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the first fixing component (left number 35) is a male screw which is inserted into a hole (left number 34) formed in the fixing unit (30), and the male screw is screwed into a female screw (left number 22) formed in the carriage (20) (Figures 2-4).
Regarding claims 9, 11-12, a printing device (I) comprising the ink ejection mechanism (1) (Figure 9).
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 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 6, 8, 10, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hagiwara et al. (US Pub. 2010/0289854) in view of Murakami et al. (US Pub. 2018/0056657).
Hagiwara et al. disclose in Figures 1-4 and 9 a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
Regarding a part of claim 10, a method for fixing an inkjet head (10) that is detachably disposed on a carriage (20) which moves along a print surface of a medium (S) and that ejects ink onto the medium (S) (see Figure 9, paragraph 0069), the method comprising:
a first step of disposing the inkjet head (10) on the carriage (2) (Figure 2, 4 and 9);
a second step of disposing, on the carriage (20) from above the inkjet head (10), a fixing unit (30) that fixes the inkjet head (10) to the carriage (20);
a third step of fixing the fixing unit (30) to the carriage (20) by a first fixing component (left number 35) provided in the fixing unit (30) (Figures 2-4); and
a fifth step of fixing the inkjet head (10) to the carriage (20) by a second fixing component (right number 35) provided in the fixing unit (Figures 2-4).
Regarding claims 15 and 17, a printing device (I) comprising the ink ejection mechanism (1) (Figure 9).
However, Hagiwara et al. do not disclose wherein the carriage includes a position adjuster configured to adjust a position of the inkjet head in a horizontal direction on an upper surface of the carriage; and a fourth step of adjusting a horizontal position of the inkjet head on an upper surface of the carriage by a position adjuster provided on the upper surface of the carriage.
Nevertheless, Murakami et al. disclose in Figures 1-6 a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
Regarding claim 6, wherein the carriage (6) includes a position adjuster (30) configured to adjust a position of the inkjet head (8) in a horizontal direction on an upper surface of the carriage (6) (Figures 1-3, paragraph 0021).
Regarding claim 8, wherein a pressure adjuster configured to adjust pressure of the ink and supply the ink to the inkjet head (8) is disposed on top of the inkjet head (8), and an ink supply connector (24a-24d) is coupled to a plurality of ink inflow units (7) of the pressure adjuster to be simultaneously detachable together (Figures 1-6, paragraph 0061).
Regarding a part of claim 10, a fourth step of adjusting a horizontal position of the inkjet head (8) on an upper surface of the carriage (6) by a position adjuster provided on the upper surface of the carriage (6) (Figures 1-6, paragraphs 0021, 0070-0071 and 0091).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Murakami et al. in the Hagiwara et al.’s liquid ejecting apparatus for the purpose of adjusting a liquid ejecting apparatus by an adjuster based on an ejection result in the ejecting of the liquid.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. These prior art references (US Pat. 5,359,357; US Pat. 5,552,816; US Pat. 6,481,829; US Pub. 2014/0168302) cited in the PTO 892 form show an ink jet printer which is deemed to be relevant to the present invention. These references should be reviewed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 and 13-14 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. These claims would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest an ink ejection mechanism comprising second fixing component that includes an operation member, provided outside a side surface portion of a fixing unit, and a head fixing member that is provided inside the fixing unit and is configured to hold down the inkjet head from above depending on an operation on the operation member to fix the inkjet head to the carriage in the combination as claimed.
Claims 7 and 16 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. These claims would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest an ink ejection mechanism comprising a position adjuster that includes a cylindrical rotary member configured to rotate around a central shaft, and the cylindrical rotary member has a contact surface which comes into contact with a side surface of an inkjet head directly or via another member, the contact surface having a thickness which changes in a rotation direction in the combination as claimed.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Anh Vo whose telephone number is (571) 272-2262. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:30 A.M.to 6:00 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner'ssupervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on (571) 431-0716. The fax phonenumber 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 thePatent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information forpublished 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 http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Shouldyou have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the ElectronicBusiness Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from aUSPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated informationsystem, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANH T VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853