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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12 July 2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities: in lines 11 and 10, respectively, “at least sone” should be replaced by -- at least some --. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 5, the “(13)” that item matches the printing head should be erased. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 11 is further objected to because of the following informalities: in lines 2-3, “the recirculation container associated with the printing head and translatable along a predefined printing stroke together with the printing head” should be erased for being redundant and failing to further limit the claim since the limitation is already found on the claim it depends from.
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 7, “materaial” should be replaced by -- material --. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the one or more anti-sloshing devices" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since the claim previously recites “anti-sloshing devices”, and does not give the option of including just one. Claims 2-9 are rejected the same way since they depend on claim 1 and include all of its limitations. Also note that claims 2 and 3 also recite “the one or more anti-sloshing devices” in lines 11 and 1, respectively.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the one or more containers” in line 4, and "the one or more anti-sloshing devices" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since the claim previously recites “the recirculation container” and “anti-sloshing devices”, respectively. Please check the rest of the claims for consistency.
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.
(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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dorvat et al. (US 2023/0173818 – hereinafter Dorvat.)
Regarding claim 1,
Dorvat discloses a system [100 in figs. 1 and 4-5] for recirculation of ink or other material, fed to a printing head [108 in figs. 1 and 4-5], comprising:
one or more recirculation containers [104/112 in figs. 1 and 4-5] associated with a printing head [108 in figs. 1 and 4-5] and translatable along a predefined printing stroke together with the printing head [paragraph 0037; “the ink delivery system 100 would be mounted on a carriage moving back and force [sic] over a substrate”]; and
anti-sloshing devices [508/512 in fig. 5] of the ink or other material contained within the one or more recirculation containers [paragraph 0037; claim 32],
wherein the one or more anti-sloshing devices comprise walls or structural elements having a predetermined extension and a predetermined shape [a baffle is an internal partition/divider/wall], even different from each other [this limitation reads as being optional and is not given patentable weight], which are housed inside at least part of an internal chamber of the one or more containers and define impediments or brakes to a free flow of a liquid material inside the one or more containers following a translation of the one or more containers together with the printing head [paragraph 0037; fig. 5], and
wherein at least sone of the anti-sloshing devices are made in one piece with walls of a corresponding container [it is well-known that the baffles inside containers/tanks are dividers that will not be loose and moving around the interior (i.e., they are part of the walls of the tank, in this case the bottom or top wall/surface of the tank since fig. 5 shows a gap between the baffles and the side walls of the containers).]
Regarding claim 2,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the one or more containers comprise:
a first container [104 in figs. 4-5] of the ink or other material connected to a supply circuit of the ink or other material and provided upstream of the printing head [as seen in figs. 4-5; paragraph 0028]; and
a second container [112 in figs. 4-5] for of the ink or other material, connected downstream of the printing head (13) [as seen in figs. 4-5; paragraph 0028];
the system further comprising:
a first recirculation sub-unit [flow path with arrows 152 in fig. 4] that generates a first flow of the ink or other material from the first container towards the printing head and the second container [paragraph 0029]; and
a second recirculation sub-unit [flow path with pump 404 in fig. 4] that transfers the ink or other material from the second container to the first container [paragraph 0034],
wherein the first and/or the second container comprise the one or more anti-sloshing devices [as seen in fig. 5; paragraph 0037.]
Regarding claim 3,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the one or more anti-sloshing devices are configured as a plurality of bulkheads [baffles are bulkheads with holes in them] which extend for at least part of a volume within an interior the corresponding container and divide the interior into a plurality of chambers [as seen in fig. 5],
wherein the plurality of bulkheads or at least some bulkheads are of such dimensions and shapes with respect to the walls of the one or more containers so as to cause the plurality of chambers to be mutually communicating with at least a segment of one or more perimeter edges of the plurality of bulkheads [as seen in fig. 5], and
wherein the plurality of bulkheads or at least some of the bulkheads have communication openings [it is implicit and well-known that a baffle is a bulkhead with holes in it that allow liquid to move through.]
Regarding claim 4,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the bulkheads are oriented vertically and are parallel to each other [implicit from figs. 1 and 5.]
Regarding claim 5,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the bulkheads are provided in a lower part of the corresponding container [as is well-known and implicit from the figures and common knowledge about baffles.]
Regarding claim 6,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the bulkheads are provided interposed between two opposite side walls of the corresponding container and are fixed to each other and to the two opposite walls of the corresponding container with one or more transverse rods distributed along an extension of sides of the bulkheads [as is well-known and implicit from the figures and common knowledge about baffles.]
Regarding claim 7,
Dorvat further discloses the claimed limitations as set above and further teaches wherein the anti-sloshing devices are constituted by at least one pair of opposing fins [the baffles are side-by-side on the container, with their opposite sides facing each other] which are perforated or grid shaped [it is implicit and well-known that baffles are a partition/divider with holes in them that allow liquid to move through] and which depart respectively from one of at least two opposite walls of the corresponding container [as seen in fig. 5], the fins optionally ending in an intermediate area of the corresponding container at a distance from each other, forming an intermediate slot and having an orientation with a longitudinal portion that is horizontal or parallel to a bottom of the corresponding container [note that the “optionally” indicates that the recited characteristics of the fins are optional and the claimed limitation is met without them.]
Regarding claim 8,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the first and/or the second container comprises a discharge outlet [412 in fig. 4] on a bottom thereof, the discharge outlet being at a lowest point of a bottom of the first and/or the second container, the lowest point being located in correspondence with a bowl-shaped or well-shaped extension of at least part of the bottom of the first and/or the second container, the bowl-shaped or well-shaped extension having a funnel shape converging towards a corresponding opening of the discharge outlet [as seen in figs. 1 and 4.]
Regarding claim 9,
Dorvat further discloses wherein the bowl-shaped or well-shaped extension is provided below lower end edges of the plurality of bulkheads [as is well-known and implicit from the figures and common knowledge about baffles.]
Regarding claim 10,
Dorvat discloses a recirculation system [100 in figs.4-5] for ink or other material, fed to a printing head [108 figs.4-5], comprising:
a recirculation container [112 in figs. 4-5] associated with a printing head and translatable along a predefined printing stroke together with the printing head [paragraph 0037; “the ink delivery system 100 would be mounted on a carriage moving back and force [sic] over a substrate”],
wherein the recirculation container comprises a discharge outlet [412 in fig. 4] on a bottom thereof, the discharge outlet being provided at a lowest point of a bottom of the recirculation container, the lowest point being provided in correspondence with a bowl or well extension of at least a portion of the bottom of the recirculation container, the bowl or well extension having a funnel shape converging toward an opening of the discharge outlet [as seen in figs. 1 and 4.]
Regarding claim 11,
Dorvat further discloses the recirculation system further comprising:
the recirculation container associated with the printing head and translatable along a predefined printing stroke together with the printing head [this limitation is redundant since what is recites is already found on the clam is depends from]; and
anti-sloshing devices [508/512 in fig. 5] of the ink or other material contained within the one or more containers [paragraph 0037; claim 32],
wherein the one or more anti-sloshing devices comprise walls or structural elements having a predetermined extension and a predetermined shape [a baffle is an internal partition/divider/wall], even different from each other [this limitation reads as being optional and is not given patentable weight], which are housed inside at least part of an internal chamber of the one or more containers and define impediments or brakes to a free flow of a liquid material inside the one or more containers following a translation of the one or more containers together with the printing head [paragraph 0037; as seen in fig. 5], and
wherein at least sone of the anti-sloshing devices are made in one piece with walls of a corresponding container [it is well-known that the baffles inside containers/tanks are dividers that will not be loose and moving around the interior (i.e., they are part of the walls of the tank, in this case the bottom or top wall/surface of the tank since fig. 5 shows a gap between the baffles and the side walls of the containers).]
Regarding claim 12,
Dorvat discloses a recirculation system [100 in figs. 1 and 4-5] for ink or other material, fed to a printing head [108 in figs. 1 and 4-5], comprising:
a first container [104 in figs. 4-5] of the ink or other material, connected to a supply circuit and provided upstream of the printing head [as seen in figs. 4-5; paragraph 0028];
a second container [112 in figs. 4-5] for the ink or other material, connected downstream of the printing head [as seen in figs. 4-5; paragraph 0028];
a first recirculation sub-unit [flow path with arrows 152 in fig. 4] for generating a first flow of the ink or other material from the first container toward the printing head and the second container [paragraph 0029]; and
a second recirculation sub-unit [flow path with pump 404 in fig. 4] for transferring the ink or other material from the second container to the first container [paragraph 0034],
wherein the first container and the second container and optionally anti-sloshing devices provided in the first container and the second container [the “optionally” indicates that the anti-sloshing devices are optional and the claimed limitation is met without them; the claim should be amended to separately claim anti-sloshing devices as a component in the recirculation system; also, please note that fig. 5 and paragraph 0037 teach anti-sloshing devices 508/512] are made in one piece with an additive manufacturing process [as seen in figs. 1 and 4.]
Regarding claim 13,
Dorvat further discloses the recirculation system further comprising:
wherein the anti-sloshing devices comprise walls or structural elements having a predetermined extension and a predetermined shape [a baffle is an internal partition/divider/wall], even different from each other [this limitation reads as being optional and is not given patentable weight], which are housed inside at least part of an internal chamber of the first container and/or the second container and define impediments or brakes to a free flow of a liquid material inside the first container and/or the second container following a translation of the first container and/or the second container together with the printing head [paragraph 0037; fig. 5], and
wherein at least some of the anti-sloshing devices are made in one piece with walls of the first container and/or the second container [it is well-known that the baffles inside containers/tanks are dividers that will not be loose and moving around the interior (i.e., they are part of the walls of the tank, in this case the bottom or top wall/surface of the tank since fig. 5 shows a gap between the baffles and the side walls of the containers).]
Regarding claim 14,
Dorvat further discloses a printing apparatus [not shown but mentioned in Abstract and paragraphs 0011 and 0026] on a printing material [not shown but mentioned in paragraphs 0002 and 0029] comprising:
the recirculation system according to claim 10 [see Rejection above];
the printing head [108 in figs. 1 and 4-5] for ejecting onto the printing material the ink or other material [paragraph 0029]; and
a supply circuit [104 in fig. 4] to the printing head of the ink or other material [paragraph 0028],
wherein the supply circuit comprises a tank for containing the ink or other material, connected to the printing head through the recirculation system to generate a recirculation of the ink or other material through the printing head [as seen in fig. 4; paragraph 0028.]
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aruga et al. (US 2002/0085050) discloses a system [as seen in fig. 1] for circulation of ink fed to a printing head, comprising:
one or more containers [sub-tanks 7a-7d in fig. 1 / 7 in fig. 2] associated with a printing head [6 in fig. 2] and translatable along a predefined printing stroke together with the printing head [paragraphs 0066-0067]; and anti-sloshing devices [47 in figs. 3-4] of the ink contained within the one or more containers [as seen in figs. 3-4], wherein the one or more anti-sloshing devices comprise walls or structural elements having a predetermined extension and a predetermined shape [as seen in figs. 3-4], which are housed inside at least part of an internal chamber of the one or more containers and define impediments to a free flow of a liquid material inside the one or more containers following a translation of the one or more containers together with the printing head [paragraph 0090; as seen in figs. 3-4], and wherein at least some of the anti-sloshing devices are made in one piece with walls of a corresponding container [see figs. 3-4.]
Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853