xzsklaDETAILED 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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albertin & Ferrarotti (US20090213195A1; herein referred to as “Albertin”) in view of Phillips (see NPL attachment) further in view of Ogimura (US20160243858A1).
With respect to Claim 1, Albertin teaches an ink jet recording method (Albertin: ¶0002-0004) using an ink jet recording apparatus (i.e., “ink-jet printers”; Albertin: ¶0002), the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
an ink comprising a pigment (i.e., “inks of different colors”; Albertin: ¶0061)
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the ink (i.e., “cartridge body” aka “body”; Albertin: ¶0102, ¶0055, and Fig. 1, element “1”), and is formed from a thermoplastic resin composition (i.e., “a thermoplastic polymeric compound” such as “polyphenylene ether (PPE)”; Albertin: ¶0110) comprising a filler material (i.e., “glass fibre reinforcement” as a filler in a “modified PPE resin”; Albertin: ¶0110); and
a recording head (i.e., “printhead”; Albertin: ¶0055-0056 and Fig. 1, element “5”) to be bonded to the ink storage portion (i.e., “adhesive laid between the printhead and the body”; Albertin: ¶0059), the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice (i.e., “ink delivery slots”; Albertin: ¶0055 and Fig. 1, element “6”) configured to eject the ink supplied from the ink storage portion (Albertin: ¶0059),
the ink jet recording method (Albertin: ¶0002-0004) comprising recording an image by applying the aqueous ink ejected from the ejection orifice (i.e., “nozzle arrays” used to eject ink through “slots of the printhead”; Albertin: ¶0002-0004 and ¶0059) to a recording medium (i.e., “printing medium”; Albertin: ¶0002-0004),
wherein the ink storage portion comprises three or more storage parts divided independently of each other (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”), and the three or more storage parts are arrayed in one predetermined direction (Albertin: Fig. 1, elements “1”, “10”, and “11a”-“11c”).
Albertin is silent on the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
an aqueous ink comprising a pigment;
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the aqueous ink
the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink supplied from the ink storage portion
wherein a specific gravity of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side is larger than a specific gravity of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions.
Phillips teaches the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
an aqueous ink comprising a pigment (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the aqueous ink (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink supplied from the ink storage portion (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
aqueous ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
aqueous ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
Ogimura teaches the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
wherein a specific gravity of the pigment in the ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side is larger than a specific gravity of the pigment in the ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions (Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Ogimura teaches that inks with higher specific gravities are less influenced by wind when being ejected from an inkjet printer, and therefore are less likely to be shifted from their intended landing position on a print medium (i.e., these inks have lower “shift distance” and therefore higher quality; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Using the teaching of Ogimura regarding specific gravity’s influence of shift distance, a user can place a pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity within one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side to decrease that “center” ink’s shift distance compared to the other inks. Decreasing the shift distance of the center ink (i.e., the colored ink being ejected with different colored inks being ejected on each side of it), will decrease color mixing on the print medium, thereby enabling a higher quality product. Note that the colored ink in the center storage part is the colored ink ejected by the center ejection nozzles in the printer (i.e., “nozzle arrays” used to eject ink through “slots of the printhead”; Albertin: ¶0002-0004 and ¶0059; Fig. 1, element “6”; Fig. 2, element “11a”-“11c”).
Albertin teaches that “different colors” or “different intensities of the same color” can be stored within the storage parts (Albertin: ¶0060-0061), but is silent on the particular arrangement of colors within the storage parts. Therefore, the ink stored in the storage parts could be arranged to increase print quality using the teachings of Ogimura (i.e., how specific gravity influences shift distance).
Note that the Ogimura does not specify the type of pigmented inkjet ink (i.e., if it is aqueous or not).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use aqueous pigmented ink (Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document) as the type of “inks of different colors” taught in Albertin (Albertin: ¶0061) being stored in the multiple storage parts (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”), because, as taught by Phillips: “Aqueous inks for industrial inkjet printing are potentially advantageous for many different applications” (Phillips: see highlighted section on page 1 of the NPL document).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to optimize the arrangement of colored inks with the storage portions taught in Albertin (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”) to improve print quality using the teachings of Ogimura (Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Shift distance is especially relevant when using an inkjet printer with multiple colors, as the placement of each different color droplet contributes to the overall quality of the printed image. Therefore, it is beneficial to have the colored ink that is most near the other colored inks that will be ejected (i.e., the colored ink that is ejected in the center of two or more other colored inks) have the lowest shift distance (i.e., be the least likely to be shifted from its intended landing position, making it less likely to mix with the other ink colors on the print medium). Using the teaching of Ogimura regarding specific gravity’s influence of shift distance, a user would place a pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity within one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side to decrease that “center” ink’s shift distance compared to the other inks. This will enable a higher quality product.
With respect to Claim 7, Albertin teaches the ink jet recording method according to claim 1 (see discussion in Claim 1), wherein the ink storage portion (i.e., “cartridge body” aka “cartridge”; Albertin: ¶0102, ¶0055, ¶0005, and Fig. 1, element “1”) is replaced with another ink storage portion after the aqueous ink stored therein has been consumed (Albertin: ¶0005).
With respect to Claim 9, Albertin teaches an ink jet recording apparatus (i.e., “ink-jet printers”; Albertin: ¶0002) comprising:
an ink comprising a pigment (i.e., “inks of different colors”; Albertin: ¶0061)
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the ink (i.e., “cartridge body” aka “body”; Albertin: ¶0102, ¶0055, and Fig. 1, element “1”), and is formed from a thermoplastic resin composition (i.e., “a thermoplastic polymeric compound” such as “polyphenylene ether (PPE)”; Albertin: ¶0110) comprising a filler material (i.e., “glass fibre reinforcement” as a filler in a “modified PPE resin”; Albertin: ¶0110); and
a recording head (i.e., “printhead”; Albertin: ¶0055-0056 and Fig. 1, element “5”) to be bonded to the ink storage portion (i.e., “adhesive laid between the printhead and the body”; Albertin: ¶0059), the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice (i.e., “ink delivery slots”; Albertin: ¶0055 and Fig. 1, element “6”) configured to eject the ink supplied from the ink storage portion (Albertin: ¶0059),
wherein the ink storage portion comprises three or more storage parts divided independently of each other (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”), and the three or more storage parts are arrayed in one predetermined direction (Albertin: Fig. 1, elements “1”, “10”, and “11a”-“11c”)
Albertin is silent on the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
an aqueous ink comprising a pigment;
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the aqueous ink
the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink supplied from the ink storage portion
wherein a specific gravity of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side is larger than a specific gravity of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions.
Phillips teaches the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
an aqueous ink comprising a pigment (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
an ink storage portion which is configured to store the aqueous ink (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
the recording head having formed therein an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink supplied from the ink storage portion (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
aqueous ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
aqueous ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions (i.e., “pigment dispersions in water…suitable for inkjet printing” (emphasis added); Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document).
Ogimura teaches the ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
wherein a specific gravity of the pigment in the ink stored in a corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side is larger than a specific gravity of the pigment in the ink stored in each of corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both end portions (Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Ogimura teaches that inks with higher specific gravities are less influenced by wind when being ejected from an inkjet printer, and therefore are less likely to be shifted from their intended landing position on a print medium (i.e., these inks have lower “shift distance” and therefore higher quality; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Using the teaching of Ogimura regarding specific gravity’s influence of shift distance, a user can place a pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity within one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side to decrease that “center” ink’s shift distance compared to the other inks. Decreasing the shift distance of the center ink (i.e., the colored ink being ejected with different colored inks being ejected on each side of it), will decrease color mixing on the print medium, thereby enabling a higher quality product. Note that the colored ink in the center storage part is the colored ink ejected by the center ejection nozzles in the printer (i.e., “nozzle arrays” used to eject ink through “slots of the printhead”; Albertin: ¶0002-0004 and ¶0059; Fig. 1, element “6”; Fig. 2, element “11a”-“11c”).
Albertin teaches that “different colors” or “different intensities of the same color” can be stored within the storage parts (Albertin: ¶0060-0061), but is silent on the particular arrangement of colors within the storage parts. Therefore, the ink stored in the storage parts could be arranged to increase print quality using the teachings of Ogimura (i.e., how specific gravity influences shift distance).
Note that the Ogimura does not specify the type of pigmented inkjet ink (i.e., if it is aqueous or not).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use aqueous pigmented ink (Phillips: see highlighted section on page 2 of the NPL document) as the type of “inks of different colors” taught in Albertin (Albertin: ¶0061) being stored in the multiple storage parts (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”), because, as taught by Phillips: “Aqueous inks for industrial inkjet printing are potentially advantageous for many different applications” (Phillips: see highlighted section on page 1 of the NPL document).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to optimize the arrangement of colored inks with the storage portions taught in Albertin (i.e., “ink chambers”; Albertin: ¶0022 and Fig. 1, elements “11a”-“11c”) to improve print quality using the teachings of Ogimura (Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100). Shift distance is especially relevant when using an inkjet printer with multiple colors, as the placement of each different color droplet contributes to the overall quality of the printed image. Therefore, it is beneficial to have the colored ink that is most near the other colored inks that will be ejected (i.e., the colored ink that is ejected in the center of two or more other colored inks) have the lowest shift distance (i.e., be the least likely to be shifted from its intended landing position, potentially mixing with the other ink colors on the print medium). Using the teaching of Ogimura regarding specific gravity’s influence of shift distance, a user can place a pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity within one of the three or more storage parts arranged on an inner side to decrease that “center” ink’s shift distance compared to the other inks. This will enable a higher quality product.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, further in view of Kimura & Toida (US20180355198A1; herein referred to as “Kimura”), further in view of Goto et al. (US20140002539A1; herein referred to as “Goto”).
A compiled set of relevant data from Goto and Kimura has been provided in the table below for reference:
Inks
Average Particle Diameter (i.e., "particle size") (nm)
Content of water-soluble organic solvent (%)
Content of Pigment (%)
Citations
Magenta (4A)
111
30
37.5
Goto:
Example 4a (¶0499);
Table 1A, row associated with "4A";
Preparation Example 4A (¶0488)
Cyan (14A)
120
30
37.5
Goto:
Example 14A (¶0485);
Table 4A, row associated with "14A";
Preparation Example 1A (¶0374)
Green
(i.e., polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine)
>1000 nm
(e.g., Example 11 is 70 nm)
0.02-40%
0.1-20%
Kimura:
Table 4, column associated with "Example 11";
¶0145 (“The water-soluble organic solvent is added in an amount of preferably 20 to 200…based on 100 parts by mass of the total amount of the pigment”; i.e., if pigment is 20% by mass of ink, then water-soluble organic solvent could be up to 40% by mass of ink);
¶0164
Note that the total content of water-soluble organic solvents in each ink from Goto was calculated by adding the provided content for each water-soluble organic solvent chemical in each ink. The sum is provided in the table above.
With respect to Claim 2, Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, teaches the ink jet recording method according to Claim 1 (Albertin: ¶0002-0004).
Note that, as established in Claim 1, an aqueous pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity is the ink stored in the storage part arranged on the inner side and other aqueous pigmented inks with lower specific gravities are stored in the storage parts that are arranged on both end portions.
Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura is silent on the following:
the aqueous ink further comprises a water-soluble organic solvent, and
a content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side is larger than a content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions.
Kimura teaches the following:
the aqueous ink (“an aqueous ink for inkjet recording… a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment”; Kimura: Abstract) further comprises a water-soluble organic solvent (Kimura: ¶0145), and
the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (Kimura: ¶0132).
Kimura teaches that the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than pigments “used for basic color (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black)” (Kimura: ¶0132). Therefore, using the teachings of Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment would be placed in the inner storage part when paired with basic color inks (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, or black).
Goto teaches the following:
the aqueous ink (i.e., “inkjet ink, which contains: water”; Goto: ¶0013-0014) further comprises a water-soluble organic solvent (i.e., “polyhydric alcohols” which are water-soluble chemicals; Goto: ¶0013, ¶0015 and ¶0018-0019).
a content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (i.e., the content of water-soluble organic solvent may be 40% by mass within the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigmented ink taught in Kimura; Kimura: see table above for data and citations) is larger than a content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions (i.e., the content of water-soluble organic solvent may be 30% by mass within the magenta pigmented ink “4A” as well as 30% by mass within the cyan pigmented ink “14A”; Goto: see table above for data and citations).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of an aqueous ink using a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment as this pigment provides green coloring to an ink which is beneficial for printing images which have green colors (¶0119 and ¶0121-0122). Incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan, is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan inks stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of inks taught in Goto as the “basic color” inks taught in Kimura, because the inks taught in Goto have been optimized to reduce cockling and curling of the recording material after printing (Goto: ¶0025-0026). Moreover, incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan, is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan inks stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
With respect to Claim 3, Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, teaches the ink jet recording method according to Claim 1 (Albertin: ¶0002-0004).
Note that, as established in Claim 1, an aqueous pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity is the ink stored in the storage part arranged on the inner side and other aqueous pigmented inks with lower specific gravities are stored in the storage parts that are arranged on both end portions.
Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura is silent on a content of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side is smaller than a content of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions.
Kimura teaches the pigment in the aqueous ink (“an aqueous ink for inkjet recording… a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment”; Kimura: Abstract) stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (Kimura: ¶0132).
Kimura teaches that the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than pigments “used for basic color (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black)” (Kimura: ¶0132). Therefore, using the teachings of Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment would be placed in the inner storage part when paired with basic color inks (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, or black).
Goto teaches a content of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (i.e., the content of pigment may be 20% by mass within the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigmented ink taught in Kimura; Kimura: see table above for data and citations) is smaller than a content of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions (i.e., the content of pigment may be 37.5% by mass within the magenta pigmented ink “4A” as well as 37.5% by mass within the cyan pigmented ink “14A”; Goto: see table above for data and citations).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of an aqueous ink using a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment as this pigment provides green coloring to an ink which is beneficial for printing images which have green colors (¶0119 and ¶0121-0122). Incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of inks taught in Goto as the “basic color” inks taught in Kimura, because the inks taught in Goto have been optimized to reduce cockling and curling of the recording material after printing (Goto: ¶0025-0026). Moreover, incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
With respect to Claim 4, Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, teaches the ink jet recording method according to Claim 1 (Albertin: ¶0002-0004).
Note that, as established in Claim 1, an aqueous pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity is the ink stored in the storage part arranged on the inner side and other aqueous pigmented inks with lower specific gravities are stored in the storage parts that are arranged on both end portions.
Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura is silent on an average particle diameter of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side is smaller than an average particle diameter of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions.
Kimura teaches the following:
the aqueous ink (“an aqueous ink for inkjet recording… a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment”; Kimura: Abstract) stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (Kimura: ¶0132).
Kimura teaches that the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than pigments “used for basic color (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black)” (Kimura: ¶0132). Therefore, using the teachings of Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment would be placed in the inner storage part when paired with basic color inks (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, or black).
Goto teaches an average particle diameter of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side is (i.e., Ink Example 11’s average particle diameter of 70 nm; Ink Example 11 is a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigmented ink taught in Kimura; Kimura: see table above for data and citations) smaller than an average particle diameter of the pigment in the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions (i.e., the “particle size” of magenta pigmented ink “4A”, 111 nm, as the “particle size” of the cyan pigmented ink “14A”, 120 nm; Goto: see table above for data and citations).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of inks taught in Goto within the inkjet printer taught in Albertin, because the inks taught in Goto have been optimized to reduce cockling and curling of the recording material after printing (Goto: ¶0025-0026).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of an aqueous ink using a polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment as this pigment provides green coloring to an ink which is beneficial for printing images which have green colors (¶0119 and ¶0121-0122). Incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select the usage of inks taught in Goto as the “basic color” inks taught in Kimura, because the inks taught in Goto have been optimized to reduce cockling and curling of the recording material after printing (Goto: ¶0025-0026). Moreover, incorporating additional colored ink for use within a printer, such as inks with the basic colors magenta and cyan is beneficial for printing multi-color images. As discussed above, given polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment has a higher specific gravity than those basic colors (Kimura: ¶0132), the polyhalogenated metal phthalocyanine pigment color would have been stored in the inner storage portion with the magenta and cyan stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albertin in view of Phillips (see NPL attachment), further in view of Ogimura, further in view of Hakamada et al. (US20080136875A1; herein referred to as “Hakamada”).
A compiled set of relevant data from Hakamada has been provided in the table below for reference:
Inks
Specific Gravity (unitless)
Viscosity(mPa-s)
Citations
Ink 5
(color: Red 112)
1.017
3.3
Hakamada:
Table 1, column associated with Ink “5”;
Pigment Dispersion 1 (¶0122-0124)
Ink 11
(color: Green 7)
1.039
3.2
Hakamada:
Table 1, column associated with Ink “11”;
Pigment Dispersion 3 (¶0128-0130)
Ink 12
(color: Red 149)
1.028
4.1
Hakamada:
Table 1, column associated with Ink “12”;
Pigment Dispersion 2 (¶0125-0127)
With respect to Claim 5, Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura teaches the ink jet recording method according to Claim 1 (Albertin: ¶0002-0004).
Note that, as established in Claim 1, an aqueous pigmented ink with the highest specific gravity is the ink stored in the storage part arranged on the inner side and other aqueous pigmented inks with lower specific gravities are stored in the storage parts that are arranged on both end portions.
Albertin in view of Phillips, further in view of Ogimura, is silent on a viscosity of the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side is lower than a viscosity of the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions.
Hakamada teaches a viscosity of the aqueous ink stored in the corresponding one of the three or more storage parts arranged on the inner side (i.e., Ink 11 (color: Green 7); Hakamada: see table above for data and citations) is lower than a viscosity of the aqueous ink stored in each of the corresponding two of the three or more storage parts arranged at both the end portions (i.e., Ink 5 (color: Red 112) and Ink 12 (color: Red 149); Hakamada: see table above for data and citations).
Note that Ink 11 has a higher specific gravity than Inks 5 and 12.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to select multiple different colors for use within an inkjet printer (i.e., Green 7, Red 112, and Red 149) since this enables the printer to produce multi-color products. As discussed above, given Ink 11 has a higher specific gravity than Ink 5 and 12, Ink 11 would have been stored in the inner storage portion with Inks 5 and 12 stored in the outer portions (i.e., the ink with highest specific gravity stored in the center; Ogimura: ¶0027 and ¶0100).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albertin in view of Phillips (see NPL attachment), further in view of Ogimura, and further in view of O'Reilly et al. (US 20160332454 A1; herein referred to as “O'Reilly”).
With respect to Claim 6, Albertin teaches the ink jet recording method according to claim 1 (see discussion in Claim 1), wherein the recording head (i.e., “printhead”; Albertin: ¶0056 and Fig. 1, element “5”) has formed therein an ejection orifice array (i.e., “arrays of ejecting nozzles”; nozzles are also referred to as “slots of printhead 5”; Albertin: ¶0055, ¶0058, and Fig. 1) in which a plurality of the ejection orifices is arrayed in parallel to a longitudinal direction of the ink storage portion (Albertin: ¶0058 and Fig. 1). Note that the array of nozzles (i.e., the “slots of printhead 5”) are arranged to be above the “ink delivery slots 6”, which are shown to be arrayed in parallel to a longitudinal direction of the ink storage portions as shown in Albertin Fig. 1 (Albertin: ¶0058 and Fig. 1)
Albertin is silent on the ink storage portion has a ratio (A/B) of a length A in the longitudinal direction to a length B in a transverse direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, the ratio (A/B) being 2.0 times or more to 4.0 times or less.
O'Reilly teaches the ink storage portion (i.e., “housing”; O'Reilly: ¶0016 and Fig. 4-5, element “107”) has a ratio (A/B) of a length A in the longitudinal direction (i.e., “length Lh of the housing”, such as 66 mm; O'Reilly: ¶0016 and Fig. 5, element “Lh”) to a length B in a transverse direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (i.e., “total width of the housing”, such as 32 mm; O'Reilly: ¶0018 and Fig. 4, element “Wh”), the ratio (A/B) being 2.0 times or more to 4.0 times or less (i.e., 66 mm ÷ 32 mm = 2.1, which is within the claimed range; O'Reilly: ¶0016 and ¶0018).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to design the dimensions of the outer structure of the ink storage portion (i.e., the body taught in Albertin) using the housing dimension ratio taught in O’Reilly. O’Reilly teaches the dimensions specified above cause the housing of their ink storage portion to have “a relatively long body” which enables the overall structure is intended to “hold relatively large volumes of ink” (¶0016 and Fig. 4-5, element “107”). This decreases the frequency required by a user to replenish the ink within the printer.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albertin in view of Phillips (see NPL attachment), further in view of Ogimura, and further in view of William et al. (US 20020027580 A1; herein referred to as “William”).
With respect to Claim 8, Albertin teaches the ink jet recording method according to claim 1 (see discussion in Claim 1).
Albertin is silent on wherein the ink jet recording apparatus further comprises:
a second ink storage portion having a capacity larger than a capacity of the ink storage portion; and
a tube through which the aqueous ink flows between the second ink storage portion and the ink storage portion.
William teaches an inkjet recording apparatus further comprising:
a second ink storage portion (William: ¶0016; Fig. 1a and 1b, element “10”) having a capacity larger than a capacity of the ink storage portion (Williams: ¶0025; Fig. 3, element “120”); and
a tube (William: ¶0025; Fig. 1, element “115”) through which the aqueous ink flows between the second ink storage portion and the ink storage portion (William: ¶0025, Fig. 3, elements “120”, “137”, and “132”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the inkjet recording apparatus taught in Albertin with an “ink supply system” taught in William, given the second ink storage portion (i.e., the “reservoirs” of ink) provide a continuous supply of ink to the ink storage portion (i.e., the “ink cartridges”) in a printer (Williams: ¶0015). This decreases the frequency of replacing the ink being used by the printer.
Conclusion
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/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/ Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/SHLOMIT CHELST/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853