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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2023-134467, filed on 8/22/2023 and JP2024-088367 filed on 5/30/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "the fixing device according to claim 9" in line 11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. In the interest of compact prosecution, claim 17 will be examined as dependent on claim 16.
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.
Claims 1-15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoto (US PGP 2011-0177238).
Aoto teaches an intermediate transfer belt including a surface resin layer, containing spherical resin particles (Abstract). The spherical resin particles are preferably silicone resin particles ([0149]) having a particle diameter of 0.5 µm to 5 µm ([0151]). Example 2 uses silicone resin particles X-52-854 from Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. having a particle diameter of 0.8 µm ([0216]). This is the same siloxane compound as SQ2 of the instant application. The resin layer may further comprise conductive particles ([0142], [0061]). The content of the particles by mass with respect to the mass of the resin is not disclosed. However, the particles are only present at the surface of the layer, and do not penetrate into the thickness ([0063]). As the film is preferably from 200 µm to 2 mm thick ([0144]) and the particles are only 0.5 µm to 5 µm in diameter, the content of the particles would be expected to fall in the range of 1% to 10% by mass. Applicant describes the peel strength of the surface at 140°C to show that the film may have a surface which exhibits high oil repellency ([0064]). As the same siloxane compound is used the peeling strength of the film would be expected to be similar and fall under 24 kPa, as this is the compound that would contribute to the oil repellency in the film.
Aoto is silent regarding an integrated value of a statistical quantity L(r) of the particles. However, the transfer belt of Aoto would be expected to fall within the range of 0 to 1.6. Applicant describes a “value of the statistical quantity L(r) of 0 or more and 1.6 or less means that the particles of the siloxane compound SQ in the film are dispersed in a state that is fine (dense) and substantially uniform” ([0030]). Aoto teaches that the spherical resin particles are uniformly provided in the surface of the resin layer (Figure 1, [0056]). Further, it is undesirable for the particles to be stacked in the thickness direction and for the distribution of the particles to be ununiform ([0063], Figure 7). Based on these teachings and Figures 1-3 showing the particles to be densely configured, the statistical quantity limitation would be met.
Aoto teaches a transfer device comprising the intermediate transfer belt 501, a primary transfer device 507, and a secondary transfer device 605 (Figure 5, [0178-181]). The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 is described in paragraphs 188 through 193.
Claims 1 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Moorlag (US PGP 2012-0257914).
Moorlag teaches a fixing member that can include silsesquioxane-based particles in a polymer matrix (Abstract). The silsesquioxane-based particles may be polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane ([0036-42]). Moorlag is silent regarding an integrated value of a statistical quantity L(r) of the particles. However, the fixing member of Moorlag would be expected to fall within the range of 0 to 1.6. Applicant describes a “value of the statistical quantity L(r) of 0 or more and 1.6 or less means that the particles of the siloxane compound SQ in the film are dispersed in a state that is fine (dense) and substantially uniform” ([0030]). Figures 2 and 4 show that the structural features of the film (the distribution of the siloxane particles) are fine and substantially uniform. Therefore, the statistical quantity L(r) limitation would be met. It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use this fixing member in a fixing device and image forming apparatus in claims 16 and 17, as they are well known in the art.
Conclusion
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 10/08/2026
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