Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. Applicant’s election of Species V (Figs. 17-18) in the reply filed on 12/12/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Claims 2 and 4 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
3. Claims 1 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 5,540,370 (Ring) (hereinafter “Ring”).
Regarding claim 1, Figs. 1-8 show an image forming system (Fig. 1 and column 1, lines 9-10) comprising:
a conveyor belt (21) configured to convey a sheet in a conveyance direction (12);
a plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) arranged along the conveyance direction (12), and configured to be rotationally driven at least in the conveyance direction (12) with the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt (21);
a regulation portion (36) having a contact portion (38) configured to come into contact with a side edge that is an edge of the sheet in a sheet width direction, and configured to regulate movement of the sheet in the sheet width direction beyond the contact portion (38) in a case where the side edge of the sheet comes into contact with the contact portion (38), the sheet being conveyed using the conveyor belt (21) and the rotary members (31), the sheet width direction being a direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12);
a load changing unit (including 29 and 32) configured to change a load applied from at least some of the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) to the sheet;
a sheet information recognition unit (including 35, 110 and 111) configured to recognize information (see, e.g., column 7, line 54 to column 8, line 67 explaining when different groups of detected documents start and end) regarding the sheet to be conveyed;
a control unit (Fig. 8) configured to control the load changing unit (including 29 and 32); and
an image forming unit (“printing” in column 1, lines 9-10 inherently requires an image forming unit) configured to form an image on the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt (21) and the rotary members (31 and 31),
wherein the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) are configured to allow a predetermined sheet to move in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12) in a case where the regulation portion (36) comes into contact with the side edge of the sheet in a state where the sheet is conveyed in the conveyance direction (12) by the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31), and
the control unit (Fig. 8) is configured to control the load changing unit (including 29 and 32) according to the information regarding the sheet recognized by the sheet information recognition unit (including 35, 110 and 111).
Regarding claim 5, Figs. 1-8 show that the rotary members (31 and 31) are spheres configured to rotate in an arbitrary direction.
Regarding claim 6, Figs. 1-8 show a sheet conveyance apparatus (Fig. 1) that conveys a sheet toward an image forming apparatus (Fig. 1 and column 1, lines 9-10), the sheet conveyance apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising:
a conveyor belt (21) configured to convey the sheet in a conveyance direction (12);
a plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) arranged along the conveyance direction (12), and configured to be rotationally driven at least in the conveyance direction (12) with the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt (21);
a regulation portion (36) having a contact portion (38) configured to come into contact with a side edge that is an edge of the sheet in a sheet width direction, and configured to regulate movement of the sheet in the sheet width direction beyond the contact portion (38) in a case where the side edge of the sheet comes into contact with the contact portion (36), the sheet being conveyed using the conveyor belt (21) and the rotary members (31 and 31), the sheet width direction being a direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12);
a load changing unit (including 29 and 32) configured to change a load applied from at least some of the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) to the sheet;
a sheet information recognition unit (including 35, 110 and 111) configured to recognize information (see, e.g., column 7, line 54 to column 8, line 67 explaining when different groups of detected documents start and end) regarding the sheet to be conveyed; and
a control unit (Fig. 8) configured to control the load changing unit (including 29 and 32), wherein
the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) are configured to allow a predetermined sheet to move in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12) in a case where the regulation portion (36) comes into contact with the side edge of the sheet in a state where the sheet is conveyed in the conveyance direction (12) by the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31), and
the control unit (Fig. 8) is configured to control the load changing unit (including 29 and 32) according to the information regarding the sheet recognized by the sheet information recognition unit (including 35, 110 and 111).
Regarding claim 7, Figs. 1-8 show a sheet conveyance apparatus (14) that conveys a sheet toward an image forming apparatus (Fig. 1 and column 1, lines 9-10), the sheet conveyance apparatus (14) comprising:
a conveyor belt (21) configured to convey the sheet in a conveyance direction (12);
a plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) arranged along the conveyance direction (12), and configured to be rotationally driven at least in the conveyance direction (12) with the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt (21);
a regulation portion (36) having a contact portion (38) configured to come into contact with a side edge that is an edge of the sheet in a sheet width direction, and configured to regulate movement of the sheet in the sheet width direction beyond the contact portion (38) in a case where the side edge of the sheet comes into contact with the contact portion (38), the sheet being conveyed using the conveyor belt (21) and the rotary members (31 and 31), the sheet width direction being a direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12);
a reception unit (controller in Fig. 8) configured to receive a command (end of group of sheets in column 7, line 54 to column 8, line 67) from the image forming apparatus (Fig. 1 and column 1, lines 9-10); and
a load changing unit (including 29 and 32) configured to change a load applied from at least some of the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) to the sheet,
wherein the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31) are configured to allow a predetermined sheet to move in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction (12) in a case where the regulation portion (36) comes into contact with the side edge of the sheet in a state where the sheet is conveyed in the conveyance direction (12) by the conveyor belt (21) and the plurality of rotary members (31 and 31), and
the load changing unit (including 29 and 32) is configured to change the load applied to the predetermined sheet according to the command received by the reception unit (controller in Fig. 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claims 3 and 8 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.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS A MORRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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, Mike 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THOMAS A MORRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653