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 § 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.
Claims 1-9, 12, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shoji et al. (US PG Pub 2023/0266699) in view of Okamoto et al. (US PG Pub 2020/0189307).
For claim 1: Shoji et al. teaches a sheet thermocompression apparatus for bonding a plurality of sheets to one another (see paragraph 173, heating device for any of a plurality of devices, in one embodiment, the device being a laminator which applies a covering member to a paper sheet, which can be considered two sheets), and configured to be compatible with the sheets with a plurality of prescribed sizes (see Fig. 7, at least sizes P1, P2), the sheet thermocompression apparatus comprising; and a thermocompression unit 21, 22 including a pressing member 21, a longitudinal direction of the pressing member is a direction along one edge of the sheets loaded on the loading portion (see Fig. 7, the axial extension of the pressing member 21 is a direction of one edge of the sheet), a heating source 22, 31 heating the pressing member 21 (see Fig. 7, heating the element 22 and the substrate P1 and heating the pressing member 21 by proximity), and a temperature measuring sensor 25A arranged at a position not overlapping a minimum sheet with a minimum size of the prescribed sizes loaded on the loading portion in the loading direction (see Fig. 7, not overlapping a sheet of size P2), and detects a temperature of the heating source 22, 31 (see paragraph 72, Fig. 7).
Shoji et al. does not teach a loading portion to be loaded with the bundle of sheets each including the adhesion layer formed thereon nor does it teach pressing on the bundle of sheets with the pressing member. However, Okamoto et al. teaches a loading portion 40 to be loaded with a bundle of sheets (see paragraph 33) having an adhesion layer form thereon (see paragraph 33, application with adhesive 55) and a pressing member 65b pressing the sheets (see paragraph 55, Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to adapt the mechanism of Shoji et al. into a bookbinding structure as taught by Okamoto et al. for the purpose of binding multiple pages into a booklet.
For claim 2: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 1, and Shoji et al. teaches a control portion 220, 210 executing a temperature raising suppression operation of suppressing temperature raising of the heating source on the basis of a measurement result of the temperature measuring sensor 25A (see paragraph 84, and also sensor 25B).
For claim 3. The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches t sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 1, and Shoji et al. teaches that the pressing member 21 overlaps from one end to another end in the longitudinal direction of a maximum sheet loaded on the loading portion in the loading direction, in a case where the maximum sheet represents the sheet with a maximum size D of the prescribed sizes (see Fig. 7).
For claim 4: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet all of the limitations of claim 4 except that , wherein the temperature measuring sensor is arranged at a position of within 50 mm from an end, which is in the longitudinal direction, of the minimum sheet loaded on the loading portion in the longitudinal direction.
For claim 5: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 1, and Shoji et al. teaches that in a case where the temperature measuring sensor is a first temperature measuring sensor 25A, the thermocompression unit includes a second temperature 25B measuring sensor arranged at a position overlapping the minimum sheet P2 loaded on the loading portion in the loading direction (see Fig. 7).
For claim 6: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 1 and Shoji et al. teaches that the heating source 22, 31 includes a substrate 30 which is long in the longitudinal direction (see Fig. 7), and a heat generator 31 provided at the substrate 30 (see paragraph 66).
For claim 7. The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 6. For the purposes of claim 7, the substrate can be considered element 32 which is an insulation layer having higher thermal resistance, and thus the conductivity of the pressing member is larger of equal to the thermal conductivity of the substrate, which can be iron (see paragraph 63).
For claim 8: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 6, and Shoji et al. that the substrate is a ceramic base material (see paragraph 81, ceramic material for element 30).
For claim 9: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches the sheet thermocompression apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thermocompression unit has an intermediate member 32 sandwiched between the pressing member 21 and the heating source 30 in the loading direction, and having lower rigidity than those of the pressing member 21 and the heating source 30 (see paragraph 81, the base 30 may be copper, see paragraph 63, the pressing member may comprised of iron, see paragraph 82, the layer 32 may be glass).
Regarding claims 12 and 15: The combination of Shoji et l. and Okamoto et al. as applied to claim 5 above teaches the thermocompression apparatus and multifunction device comprising an image forming apparatus and post-treatment apparatus including the thermocompression apparatus (see Okamoto et al., Fig. 1, image forming apparatus A, post-processing device B having thermocompression apparatus 40), the thermocompression apparatus having the limitations as recited om claims 12 and 15.
Regarding claim 14: The combination of Shoji et l. and Okamoto et al. as applied to claim 1 above teaches multifunction device comprising an image forming apparatus and post-treatment apparatus including the thermocompression apparatus (see Okamoto et al., Fig. 1, image forming apparatus A, post-processing device B having thermocompression apparatus 40), the thermocompression apparatus having the limitations as recited in claim 14.
Claims 10, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shoji et al. (US PG Pub 2023/0266699) and Okamoto et al. (US PG Pub 2020/0189307) as applied to claims 2 and 12 above, and further in view of Hollis (US Patent 4,343,667).
For claims 10 and 13: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches all of the limitations of claims 10 and 13 except that the control portion extends, as the temperature raising suppression operation, an interval of a pressurization operation by the pressing member of the sheets loaded on the loading portion when a measurement result of the temperature measuring sensor exceeds a prescribed threshold value. However, Hollis teaches that a control portion that extends, as the temperature raising suppression operation, an interval of a pressurization operation by the pressing member of the sheets loaded on the loading portion when a measurement result of the temperature measuring sensor exceeds a prescribed threshold value (see column 2, lines 45-64, using a longer duration and reducing the temperature). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention by utilizing a longer heating period when a lower temperature is necessitated as taught by Hollis for the purpose of minimizing the risk of thermal degradation of the substrate and wear on the apparatus.
For claim 16: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches all teaches the apparatus of claim 2, and Okamoto et al. further teaches a multifunction device comprising an image forming apparatus A for forming an image on a sheet, and a post treatment apparatus B including the thermocompression apparatus 40, and a conveyance medium for conveying the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus to the thermocompression apparatus (see Fig. 1, pathways marked at 14, 28, 32). The combination does not teach that the control portion extends, as the temperature raising suppression operation, an interval of a pressurization operation by the pressing member of the sheets loaded on the loading portion when a measurement result of the temperature measuring sensor exceeds a prescribed threshold value. However, Hollis teaches that a control portion that extends, as the temperature raising suppression operation, an interval of a pressurization operation by the pressing member of the sheets loaded on the loading portion when a measurement result of the temperature measuring sensor exceeds a prescribed threshold value (see column 2, lines 45-64, using a longer duration and reducing the temperature). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention by utilizing a longer heating period when a lower temperature is necessitated as taught by Hollis for the purpose of minimizing the risk of thermal degradation of the substrate and wear on the apparatus.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shoji et al. (US PG Pub 2023/0266699) and Okamoto et al. (US PG Pub 2020/0189307) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shida et al. (US Patent 6,616,135).
For claim 11: The combination of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. teaches all of the limitations of claim 11 except that the loading portion has an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a position in a vertical direction along the longitudinal direction of the sheets loaded on the loading portion, and a position in a transverse direction orthogonal to the vertical direction. However, Shida et al. teaches that the loading portion has an adjustment mechanism 201, 202 for adjusting a position in a vertical direction along the longitudinal direction of the sheets loaded on the loading portion, and a position in a transverse direction orthogonal to the vertical direction 204 (see Fig. 10a, see column 12, lines 55-67). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Shoji et al. and Okamoto et al. to provide an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the sheets for the purpose of aligning the sheets prior to bonding the sheets.
Conclusion
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/DAVID H BANH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853