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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of species S1, S4, and S7 in the reply filed on 11/18/2025 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Claims 4-8, 17, 19, and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/18/2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore,
“the first interval is longer than the second interval”, of claim 11
the “interval for the coated medium is longer than an interval for other medium, of claim 13
the drier, of claim 14
the ink jet image forming apparatus, of claim 15
the laminate image forming apparatus, of claim 16
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
TITLE - The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
JUMBO CASE - The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: The phrase “a separator including separation portion” lacks proper grammar. For the purpose of examination over prior art, this limitation is interpreted as “a separator including a separation portion”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 10 ,14-16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2023/0205119 to Fujiwara.
Fujiwara teaches:
(claim 1) A heating device, comprising: a rotator (20); a heater (22) including a main heat generating region (35, Fig.14) to heat the rotator; a pressurizer (21) including a conductive surface (21c, [0096]) to contact the rotator to form a nip (N) therebetween;
a charge eliminator (37);
a contact part (37a) to contact the rotator (Fig.24) ;
wherein the charge eliminator contacts to the conductive surface at a portion (one end of the one side in the arrangement direction) of the pressurizer, the portion being outside of the main heat generating region in a longitudinal direction of the heater (Fig. 3,5,6, 9,10); and
wherein the contact part contacts to the rotator at a position corresponding to the portion in the longitudinal direction of the heater (Fig.24). [0100,0168]
(claim 2) The heating device according to claim 1, further comprising: a maximum medium passage region, wherein the charge eliminator (37) contacts the pressurizer at a region which is outside of the region of the maximum medium passage region in the longitudinal direction of the heater (at least met by contact with core 21a).
(claim 9) A fixing device (9) to fix a toner on a medium (P), comprising: the heating device according to claim 1 (Fig.2).
(claim 10) An image forming apparatus (110, Fig.1), comprising: the fixing device according to claim 9.
(claim 14) A drier, comprising: the heating device according to claim 1 [0201].
(claim 15) An ink jet image forming apparatus, comprising: the drier according to claim 14 [0201].
(claim 16) A laminate processing apparatus, comprising: the heating device according to claim 1 [0201].
(claim 18) The heating device according to claim 1, wherein: the heater includes resistive heat generator (31) on a base (30), the pressurizer includes a pressure roller, and the rotator includes a fixing belt [0075, 0080].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0205119 to Fujiwara, as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of US 2004/0190924 to Iwasaki et al.
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Fujiwara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the image forming apparatus has an ability to print to a plurality of sizes of a medium, including a first size and a maximum size, the first size is smaller than the maximum size, but is silent about changing a medium interval according to medium size.
Iwasaki discloses an image forming apparatus in which an interval between mediums of a small size is increased during continuous printing, to account for a temperature rise in a non-paper conveyance region when mediums of a small size are conveyed through the fixing device, as compared to a maximum medium size (Figs.9-10, [0066,0141, 0145]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Fujiwara and Iwasaki such that, in an image forming apparatus according to claim 10,
(claim 11) the image forming apparatus is configured to fix toner on the medium of the first size with a first interval between each medium of the first size to be printed, the image forming apparatus is configured to fix toner on the medium of the maximum size with a second interval between each medium of the maximum size to be printed, and wherein the first interval is longer than the second interval; and
(claim 12) wherein: when printing the first size continuously, the first interval of a latter print is longer than the first interval of a previous print
for at least the purpose of preventing thermal degradation in the fixing device.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0205119 to Fujiwara, as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of JP 2007-078949 to Takada.
Regarding claim 13, Fujiwara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 10 but is silent about an interval for coated medium.
Takada discloses an image forming apparatus in which the transfer spacing between the recording paper sheets of coated paper is made smaller than when the recording paper is regular non-coated paper (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure an image forming apparatus according to claim 10 such that when printing on to a coated medium continuously, an interval for the coated medium is longer than an interval for other medium, for at least the purpose of preventing image defects and curling of the coated medium.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0205119 to Fujiwara, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 8693938 to Cardoso et al. and JP 2016-014822 to Kondo.
Regarding claim 3, Fujiwara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: a separator (65) including separation a portion, arranged to face downstream of the rotator in a rotation direction of the rotator, to separate a medium from the rotator [0176], but does not suggest the separator including the contact part.
Cardoso discloses a heating device (Fig.6), comprising: a rotator (602); a heater (not shown) including a main heat generating region to heat the rotator; a pressurizer (605) including a conductive surface to contact the rotator to form a nip therebetween; a charge eliminator (607); a separator (611) including separation a portion, arranged to face downstream of the rotator in a rotation direction (A) of the rotator, to separate a medium from the rotator, a contact part of the separator (tip of 611) to contact the rotator; wherein the charge eliminator contacts to the conductive surface at a portion of the pressurizer; and wherein the contact part contacts to the rotator at a position corresponding to the portion in the longitudinal direction of the heater.
Kondo discloses a heating device (16), comprising: a rotator (31); a heater (31d) to heat the rotator; a pressurizer (32) including a surface (32b) to contact the rotator to form a nip (27) therebetween; a separator (35) including separation a portion (35A), arranged to face downstream of the rotator in a rotation direction (Y1) of the rotator, to separate a medium from the rotator; a contact part (38), that is a part of the separator, the contact part contacts to the rotator such that a gap (D1) is created between the separation portion and the rotator. Kondo further teaches the separator configured such that charge elimination can take place (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Fujiwara, Cardoso and Kondo such that a heating device according to claim 1, further comprises: a separator including separation portion, arranged to face downstream of the rotator in a rotation direction of the rotator, to separate a medium from the rotator, wherein: the contact part is a part of the separator, the contact part contacts to the rotator such that a gap is created between the separation portion and the rotator, for at least the purpose of combining change elimination functionality into already existing components of the heating device.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARLENE HEREDIA whose telephone number is (571)272-8393. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30-5:30.
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, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Arlene Heredia Ocasio/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852