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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 6-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamoto (US 2013/0136315 A1) in view of Haruta (US 2023/0142237 A1),
Regarding claim 1, Kawamoto teaches an image forming apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: cause a reading device to read a printed matter printed by a printing apparatus based on print data to generate a first image to be inspected (pars. 0035–0036, Fig. 2);
detect a defect on the printed matter based on a master image and the first image, the master image being generated from the print data of the printed matter (pars. 0046, 0056);
detect a defect on a second image to be inspected and a defect state of the defect, the second image being generated by the reading device without sheet passage (pars. 0066–0067, 0090, Fig. 8A);
set a region including a position of the defect detected on the second image to be excluded from detection of a defect on the first image (pars. 0111–0112); and
notify a user in a case that the defect state is determined to exceed a threshold value (pars. 0108, 0113).
Kawamoto does not teach setting the region to “an inspection exclusion region to be excluded from detection of a defect on the first image.”
Haruta teaches this in par. 104 and Fig. 10.
It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the stain-position data detected by Kawamoto’s scanning without sheets as Haruta’s inspection exclusion region. The reason is because Kawamoto already excludes that data from the comparing process and Haruta supplies a known region-based framework for excluding a designated area from inspection to reduce false print-defect determinations.
Regarding claim 2, Haruta teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: control a display to display a threshold setting screen for receiving a setting of the threshold value (pars. 0105–0106, Fig. 10); and in a case that the defect state is determined to exceed the threshold value set on the threshold setting screen, notify the user of an abnormality (pars. 0118–0119, Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 3, the defect state is a number of defects (Kawamoto, par. 0113); and the circuitry is further configured to receive a setting of the threshold value for the number of defects (Haruta pars. 0105–0106).
Regarding claim 6, see Haruta the defect state is an area of the defect (par. 0131); and the circuitry is further configured to receive a setting of the threshold value for the area of the defect (pars. 0105–0106).
Regarding claim 7, the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: the defect state is a brightness value of the defect (Kawamoto, par. 0067); and the circuitry is further configured to receive a setting of the threshold value for the brightness value of the defect (Haruta, pars. 0106, 0130).
Regarding claim 8, see Kawamoto pars. 0055, 0102–0103, 0108.
Regarding claim 9, see Haruta par. 0104, Fig. 10.
Regarding claim 10, see Haruta, par. 0144, Fig. 14C.
Regarding claim 11, see Haruta, par. 0106, Fig. 10.
Regarding claims 12-14, see the rejection of claim 1.
Claim(s) 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamoto (US 2013/0136315 A1) in view of Haruta (US 2023/0142237 A1) in further view of Ohashi (US 2002/0176634 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Kawamoto and Haruta do not teach that “the defect state is a width of the defect” and “the circuitry is further configured to receive a setting of the threshold value for the width of the defect.”
Ohashi teaches this in pars. 0046–0047, Figs. 4A–4B.
It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in Kawamoto and Haruta the abilitiy to have a threshold for the width as taught by Ohashi. The reason is to have a set run length.
Regarding claim 5, see Ohashi pars. 0074–0077; Fig. 2A.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Itan (20180089820), teaches scanner that identifies streaks and defects.
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/HADI AKHAVANNIK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2676
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