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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iida et al. US 2010/0072692.
Iida discloses a media conveying apparatus, comprising:
(Re claim 1) “a pair of first defining members defining an upstream part of a conveyance path in a conveyance direction” (t2 figure 10A) t2 defines the upper wall of the lower path upstream of the conveyance direction. “a pair of second defining members defining a downstream part of the conveyance path in the conveyance direction;” (t4 figure 8A) T4 defined the upper or lower wall of two paths defined by addition members. “a first conveyor to convey a medium in the upstream part defined by the pair of first defining members in the conveyance direction” (6 figure 10A). “a second conveyor to convey the medium in the downstream part defined by the pair of second defining members in the conveyance direction” (11 figure 10A). “a tray disposed downstream from the pair of second defining members in the conveyance direction, the tray to stack the medium ejected from the conveyance path” (D figure 10a) two trays are shown on the left side of the apparatus. “wherein the pair of first defining members and the pair of second defining members are movable relative to each other in the conveyance direction to lengthen and shorten the conveyance path including the upstream part and the downstream part (F,R,P figure 7,10A) Elements F and R are shifted to the left lengthening the conveyance path to leave room for element P.
Iida discloses a media conveying apparatus, comprising:
(Re claim 13) “a conveyance path including a first conveyance path; and a second conveyance path downstream from the first conveyance path in a conveyance direction” (figure 10A). “a first conveyor to convey a medium in the first conveyance path in the conveyance direction” (6 figure 10A). “a second conveyor to convey the medium in the second conveyance path in the conveyance direction” (11 figure 10A). “a tray downstream from the second conveyance path in the conveyance direction, the tray to stack the medium ejected from the second conveyance path” (D figure 10a) two trays are shown on the left side of the apparatus. “wherein the first conveyor and the second conveyor are movable relative to each other in the conveyance direction to lengthen and shorten the conveyance path” (F,R,P figure 7,10A) Elements F and R are shifted to the left lengthening the conveyance path to leave room for element P.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2,3,5 and 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iida in view of Kobayashi US 2017/0123364.
Iida discloses the system as rejected above.
(Re claim 2) Iida does not disclose a pair of guides disposed at an upstream end of the pair of second defining members in the conveyance direction, wherein a distance between the pair of guides increases toward an upstream side in the conveyance direction.
Kobayashi teaches a pair of guides disposed at an upstream end of the pair of second defining members in the conveyance direction, wherein a distance between the pair of guides increases toward an upstream side in the conveyance direction (41, 65 figure 3) Kobayashi teaches a plurality of guides disposed on defining members to help guide the medium.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida to include a pair of guides disposed at an upstream end of the pair of second defining members in the conveyance direction, wherein a distance between the pair of guides increases toward an upstream side in the conveyance direction because it helps guide the medium in transit and prevents jams.
(Re claim 3) “a housing that houses the pair of second defining members and the second conveyor” (R,F figure 10A).
Iida does not disclose a cover to move to a closed position to close an opening and an open position to open the opening, the housing having the opening at a position to face the pair of guides.
The office takes official notice that openable covers on printers and copiers to access components to service the system of free up jammed paper are well known in the art and would have been obvious to one skilled in the art.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida to include a cover to move to a closed position to close an opening and an open position to open the opening, the housing having the opening at a position to face the pair of guides because it allows for freeing of paper jams or servicing the system.
(Re claim 5) “a sensor to output a detection signal when the medium is located between the pair of guides; and a notifier to notify that the medium is stuck in the conveyance path in a case where output of the detection signal from the sensor is not stopped even when the second conveyor is driven by a predetermined amount after the output of the detection signal is started” (para 0088, figure 9).
(Re claim 8) Iida does not disclose a lift to raise and lower the tray.
Kobayashi teaches a lift to raise and lower the tray (para 0063).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida to include a lift to raise a lower the tray because it allows for improved stacking of the discharged medium.
(Re claim 9) “An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming device to form an image on a medium; a housing that houses the image forming device and has an in-body space; and the media conveying apparatus according to claim 1, the media conveying apparatus detachably installed in the in-body space” (3 figure 6,10A).
Iida does not disclose that the tray moves up and down along an outer wall of the housing.
Kobayashi teaches that the tray moves up and down along an outer wall of the housing (A figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida to include that the tray moves up and down along an outer wall of the housing because it allows for larger stacks.
(Re claim 10) “a post-processing device detachably installed in the in-body space, the post-processing device being to perform post processing on the medium on which an image has been formed by the image forming device, wherein the media conveying apparatus is detachably connected to the post-processing device, and conveys the medium subjected to the post processing toward the tray” (F, R, P figure 3A, 10A).
(Re claim 11) “wherein the pair of first defining members and the pair of second defining members lengthen and shorten the conveyance path including the upstream part and the downstream part, in accordance with a size of an optional device located between and connected to the image forming device and the post-processing device in the in-body space.” (F, R, P figure 3A, 10A).
(Re claim 12) “a controller to control drive timings of the first conveyor and the second conveyor according to a length of the conveyance path between the first conveyor and the second conveyor” (F,R,P figure 10A) The timing depends on which modules are installed and the modules determine the length.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iida/Kobayashi in view of Fuchi et al. US 2019/0300320.
Iida/Kobayashi discloses the system as rejected in claim 3.
Iida/Kobayashi does not disclose wherein one of the pair of guides is rotatable in a direction away from another of the pair of guides, with a downstream end of the one of the pair of guides in the conveyance direction serving as a rotation center.
Fuchi teaches one of the pair of guides is rotatable in a direction away from another of the pair of guides, with a downstream end of the one of the pair of guides in the conveyance direction serving as a rotation center (42,43 figure 3 , ‘swingable upward and downward’ para 0038).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida/Kobayashi to include one of the pair of guides is rotatable in a direction away from another of the pair of guides, with a downstream end of the one of the pair of guides in the conveyance direction serving as a rotation center because it allows for adjustments to improve the sheet feeding characteristics.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iida in view of Shibaski et al. US 2015/0028540.
Iida discloses the system as rejected above in claims 1 and:
“a drive roller; a driven roller facing the drive roller across the conveyance path, the driven
roller being to be brought into contact with and separated from the drive roller;
a drive motor to generate driving force for rotating the drive roller” (6, 11 figure 10A).
Iida does not disclose a pressing mechanism to press the driven roller against the drive roller.
Shibaski teaches a pressing mechanism to press the driven roller against the drive roller (550 figure 23A, para 0009).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the system of Iida to include a pressing mechanism to press the driven roller against the drive roller because it helps ensure that the rollers are in contact with each other while adjusting to medium thickness.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The present prior art of record does not disclose or suggest a first conveyance unit including a first housing, a second conveyance unit including a second housing, wherein the conveyance path is shortened as the first housing enters the second housing.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6,876,830 and 2008/0298867 disclose modular printing systems which allow for the installation of post processing elements.
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TIMOTHY R. WAGGONER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655 B
/TIMOTHY R WAGGONER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655