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 based on an application filed in Japan on 9/1/23. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 2023-141976 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi, US 2021/0300090 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Yamaguchi ‘090 discloses a tray 11 comprising: a first accommodating part (i.e., a portion of inside part of 11) configured to accommodate a first roll R1 including a first sheet wound thereon (see figure 2), and a second accommodating part (i.e., a portion of inside part of 11) configured to accommodate a second roll R2 including a second sheet, which width is smaller than a width of the first sheet (see figure 3), wound thereon, wherein the first accommodating part includes a pair of first guide surfaces (i.e., walls of 100a, or 214a-b, see figure 2 and 7A) which face, respectively, end surfaces in a width direction of the first roll R1 accommodated in the first accommodating part, the second accommodating part includes a pair of second guide surfaces (no reference number, see figure 3 and the drawing below) which face, respectively, end surface in the width direction of the second roll accommodated in the second accommodating part, and the pair of the second guide surfaces are disposed on an inner side in the width direction with respect to the pair of the first guide surfaces, see figures 1-7B.
Regarding claim 2, Yamaguchi ‘090 discloses a portion of a part (i.e., imaginary lines showing R1 and R2), of the second accommodating part, in which the second roll R2 is present within a part, of the first accommodating part, in which the first roll R1 is accommodated, see figure 3.
Regarding claim 3, Yamaguchi ‘090 discloses another part (i.e., a second roll surface is below from a first roll surface, see the drawing below), of the second accommodating part, which is different from the part, is positioned below the first accommodating part.
Regarding claims 4-8, Yamaguchi ‘090 discloses the tray 11 further comprising a passage having an inlet (i.e., near 25 and a direction of the sheet A, see figure 1) the first accommodating part includes a pair of first supporting parts (rollers 21, 22, with a pair of dividing support parts 21a, 22a) separated from each other in the width direction, the pair of first supporting parts is configured to contact an outer circumferential surface of a lower part of the first roll R1, respectively, at both ends in the width direction of the first roll and to support the first roll below, the second accommodating part includes a pair of second supporting parts (rollers 23, 24, with a pair of dividing support parts, 23a, 24a) separated from each other in the width direction, the pair of second support parts is configured to contact an outer circumferential surface of a lower part of the second roll R2, respectively, at both ends in the width direction of the second roll and to support the second roll from below, the another part includes at least a part of the pair of second support parts (see drawing below), and the pair of second guide surfaces, at least the part of the pair of second support parts is positioned below the pair of first supporting parts, and the pair of second guide surfaces are disposed between the pair of first supporting parts and the pair of second supporting parts in the width direction, see figure 3 and the drawing below.
Regarding claim 9, Yamaguchi ‘090 discloses the pair of second guide surfaces (no reference number, see figure 3 and the drawing below) are disposed, respectively, at positions not overlapping with the pair of the first guide surfaces along the width direction.
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-6947. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M or Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Victoria Augustine, can be reached on (313) 446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SK
1/5/26
/SANG K KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654