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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi (US 2019/0281171 A1).
Regarding claim 1: Hayashi discloses one or more controllers including one or more processors (The controller 40, such as circuitry or one or more processors, controls the image forming apparatus 1000 entirely and performs image processing on image data output from the image scanning unit 11., par. 39); and one or more memories (Fig. 1B, RAM 42, ROM 41 and Fig. 2, image memory 51), the one or more controllers (The controller 40, such as circuitry or one or more processors, controls the image forming apparatus 1000 entirely and performs image processing on image data output from the image scanning unit 11., par. 39) configured to: acquire data on a scanned image obtained by reading the printing material (In step S1405, the machine number acquired from the image data used for diagnosis under the simple diagnosis mode and the machine number acquired from the image data of the scanned image to be used for diagnosis under the detailed diagnosis mode are compared., par. 158) on which the pattern image is formed (Hereinafter, a description is given of a second example of the diagnosis process under the detailed diagnosis mode in step S1208 (FIG. 12) with reference to FIG. 14 (FIGS. 14A and 14B). In this example case, a to-be-printed test pattern is added with information on the machine number, print date and time, the test pattern printed, and then the printed test pattern is scanned by the scanner 50., par. 154); detect a periodic image defect (In step S708, it is determined whether the abnormality occurs periodically or cyclically. The periodically or cyclically occurring abnormality is abnormality caused by rotating parts (rotators) such as the photosensitive drum 20, the development roller, the primary transfer roller 25, the secondary transfer roller 26, and the like. Since the cycle of the rotators are different depending on the rotators, it can be estimated which rotator causes the abnormality based on the occurring cycle of abnormality., par. 114) from the data (As to the extraction of abnormality information, in step S701, a direction that the document is scanned by the scan unit 62 is determined using the image data of the document scanned by the scan unit 62., par. 107); identify a component of the image forming apparatus that has caused the image defect (The diagnosis unit 65 analyzes the cause of abnormality based on the information on the abnormal portion acquired by processing the abnormality information. When the causes of abnormality are analyzed, a portion or part where the abnormality (defect) occurring in the image forming apparatus 1000 is estimated., par. 90) based on a period of the detected image defect (The abnormality information can include other information, such as information indicating a position in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction indicating a location of the abnormality occurrence, information indicating presence or absence of periodicity of abnormality, information indicating an interval when the periodicity of abnormality is observed, information on stain indicating too low density or too high density, information indicating whether the shape is a stripe, information indicating whether the shape is a band greater than the stripe, information indicating whether the shape is raindrop, and information indicating whether the abnormality is a single or a group., par. 87); and in a case where a job of forming the pattern image on a plurality of printing materials is interrupted, resume forming the pattern image from a beginning of the job (If it is determined that the image printed under the simple diagnosis mode is newer than the image printed under the detailed diagnosis mode in step S1407 (S1407: NO), the sequence proceeds to step S1410. Since there is a possibility that the scanning in step S1403 is performed after correcting a trouble detected during the diagnosis under the simple diagnosis mode, in step S1410, the diagnosis under the detailed diagnosis mode is performed and then the diagnosis result of the detailed diagnosis mode is compared with the diagnosis result of the simple diagnosis mode., par. 164).
Regarding claim 2: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to acquire the data corresponding to the job from the beginning of the data again in a case where the job is interrupted (The diagnosis processing for the image forming apparatus 1000 can be performed as described above. Hereinafter, a description is given of screens displayed for a user using the operation unit 15 and receiving an input of the user with reference to FIGS. 10 (10A, 10B, 10C and 10D) and 11 (11A, 11B, 11C and 11D)., par. 127).
Regarding claim 3: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the job is a job of forming a pattern image in a single color on each piece of the plurality of printing materials (In step S707, it is determined whether the abnormality occurs in a color plate of any one of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), in all of the color plates of YMCK, in any of two color plates of YMCK, or in any of three color plates of YMCK. In this determination, the abnormality in the single color or a plurality of colors are determined, and it can be determined whether the abnormality occurs at a position before the primary transfer stage (toner transfer from the photosensitive drum 20 to the intermediate transfer belt 24) or at a position after the primary transfer stage. That is, it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position before the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the single color, and it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position after the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the plurality of colors., par. 113 and The pattern 75 can be a pattern of single color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black printed on each sheet such as paper. Further, a sheet can be divided into segments for each color region, and a pattern of each color can be printed on each color region on one sheet as the pattern 75. Further, two or more colors can be overlayered and printed without dividing the sheet into each color region to prepare the pattern 75., par. 176).
Regarding claim 4: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the job is a job of forming on the printing materials a plurality of the pattern images corresponding to a plurality of respective colors (In step S707, it is determined whether the abnormality occurs in a color plate of any one of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), in all of the color plates of YMCK, in any of two color plates of YMCK, or in any of three color plates of YMCK. In this determination, the abnormality in the single color or a plurality of colors are determined, and it can be determined whether the abnormality occurs at a position before the primary transfer stage (toner transfer from the photosensitive drum 20 to the intermediate transfer belt 24) or at a position after the primary transfer stage. That is, it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position before the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the single color, and it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position after the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the plurality of colors., par. 113 and FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a test chart of “unevenness detection pattern” indicated in FIG. 4, which includes a pattern 75 formed with a uniform writing value on the entire face. That is, the pattern 75 is a test pattern set with a constant density, such as a value of 64 or a value of 128 value with respect to 8 bits (256 values). The pattern 75 can be a pattern of single color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black printed on each sheet such as paper. Further, a sheet can be divided into segments for each color region, and a pattern of each color can be printed on each color region on one sheet as the pattern 75. Further, two or more colors can be overlayered and printed without dividing the sheet into each color region to prepare the pattern 75., par. 176).
Regarding claim 5: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 4. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to detect the image defect in the plurality of respective colors based on a plurality of the scanned images obtained by reading a plurality of the printing materials on which a plurality of the pattern images corresponding to the plurality of respective colors are formed (In step S707, it is determined whether the abnormality occurs in a color plate of any one of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), in all of the color plates of YMCK, in any of two color plates of YMCK, or in any of three color plates of YMCK. In this determination, the abnormality in the single color or a plurality of colors are determined, and it can be determined whether the abnormality occurs at a position before the primary transfer stage (toner transfer from the photosensitive drum 20 to the intermediate transfer belt 24) or at a position after the primary transfer stage. That is, it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position before the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the single color, and it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position after the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the plurality of colors., par. 113).
Regarding claim 6: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to based on information indicating a length between two or more of the image defects in one of the scanned images, or a length between two or more of the image defects in continuous two or more of the scanned images, and information indicating a length of an outer circumference in a rotation direction of components of the image forming apparatus, identify the component of the image forming apparatus that has caused the image defects (In step S706, the shape and size of the abnormality occurring at the position detected in step S704 are detected. The size of abnormality can be determined whether the abnormality is, for example, a stripe pattern or a dot pattern. In a case of the stripe pattern, a length of the stripe can be determined, and it is determined whether an edge of the stripe is sharp or blurred. If the edge of the stripe is sharp, it can be assumed that the abnormality is caused by an optical system that performs writing and scanning, and if the end of the stripe pattern is blurred, it can be assumed that the abnormality is caused by a factor other than the optical system., par. 112 and Further, when the cyclic abnormality detection under the simple diagnosis mode is calculated by setting an interval of ±2 mm with respect to a length of 60 mm, the cyclic abnormality detection in the detailed diagnosis mode can be calculated by setting an interval of, for example, ±1 mm, which is smaller than the interval of ±2 mm set for the simple diagnosis mode. Further, in the cyclic abnormality detection, the detectable skew angle can be set greater to enhance the detection accuracy of the occurrence position of abnormality., par. 120).
Regarding claim 7: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to detect at least of a dot-like or streak-like stain and a misalignment of an image forming position as the image defect (The stripe is linear, and the band has a given width, which are elongated in one direction. The toner drop means the toner is dropped. The black dot and white dot indicates a black point and a white point, respectively. The background stain is a stain caused by a toner adhering to a portion where toner is not supposed to be adhered. The residual image/offset means the previously printed image remains and appears faintly on sheet. The density unevenness means that the density is not uniform due to a thick density portion and a thin density portion., par. 102 and In step S706, the shape and size of the abnormality occurring at the position detected in step S704 are detected. The size of abnormality can be determined whether the abnormality is, for example, a stripe pattern or a dot pattern. In a case of the stripe pattern, a length of the stripe can be determined, and it is determined whether an edge of the stripe is sharp or blurred. If the edge of the stripe is sharp, it can be assumed that the abnormality is caused by an optical system that performs writing and scanning, and if the end of the stripe pattern is blurred, it can be assumed that the abnormality is caused by a factor other than the optical system., par. 112).
Regarding claim 8: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to set whether to identify the image defect for each color of a plurality of colors (In step S707, it is determined whether the abnormality occurs in a color plate of any one of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), in all of the color plates of YMCK, in any of two color plates of YMCK, or in any of three color plates of YMCK. In this determination, the abnormality in the single color or a plurality of colors are determined, and it can be determined whether the abnormality occurs at a position before the primary transfer stage (toner transfer from the photosensitive drum 20 to the intermediate transfer belt 24) or at a position after the primary transfer stage. That is, it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position before the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the single color, and it can be determined that the abnormality occurs at the position after the primary transfer stage if the abnormality occurs in the plurality of colors., par. 113).
Regarding claim 9: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to acquire the data on the scanned image by reading the printing material which is conveyed from the image forming apparatus and in which an image is formed (The scanner 50 scans or reads a test pattern or test chart to be described later, which is used as one example of original document image., par. 45).
Regarding claim 10: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to output to a display device a screen indicating a result, based on the scanned image, of identifying the component of the image forming apparatus that has caused the image defect (The notification unit 67 notifies a result of the diagnosis to a user by displaying a diagnosis result using the operation unit 15. In addition to the notification to the user, the notification unit 67 can also notify the diagnosis result to a service center under an instruction from the user., par. 59).
Regarding claim 11: Hayashi satisfies all the elements of claim 1. Hayashi further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured further to delete the data on the scanned image been reading in a case where the job is interrupted (In step S506, it is determined whether the input reception unit 63 has received an interruption or abortion (cancellation) of the diagnosis from the user, whether the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, or whether the diagnosis has completed. The diagnosis time limit is measured by a timer. If the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, a timer interruption is performed., par. 67).
Regarding claim 12: Arguments analogous to those stated in the rejection of claim 1 are applicable. In addition, Hayashi discloses and in a case where a job of forming the pattern image is interrupted, resume the job from the pattern image at a beginning in a color of the pattern image been reading at a time of interruption of the job (In step S506, it is determined whether the input reception unit 63 has received an interruption or abortion (cancellation) of the diagnosis from the user, whether the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, or whether the diagnosis has completed. The diagnosis time limit is measured by a timer. If the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, a timer interruption is performed. If the cancellation is not received, the current time counted from the start of diagnosis is still within the diagnosis time limit, or the diagnosis has not completed (S506: NO), the diagnosis is being continued. On the other hand, if the cancellation is received, if the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, or if the diagnosis has completed (S506: YES), the sequence proceeds to step S507 to notify the diagnosis result to the user. If the diagnosis of all of abnormal portions has completed, the diagnosis result includes diagnosis results of all abnormal portions. However, if the cancellation is received or if the current time counted from the start of diagnosis becomes the diagnosis time limit, the diagnosis result includes diagnosis results of a part of abnormal portions. The notification to the user can be performed by displaying abnormality information on the operation unit 15 such as the presence or absence of abnormal portion. If the presence of abnormal portion is identified, an abnormality type, a portion where the abnormality occurs, and a countermeasure method are further displayed as the abnormality information to notify the abnormality information to the user. The notification can be performed by the notification unit 67., pars. 67-69).
Regarding claim 13: The structural elements of apparatus claim 1 perform all of the steps of method claim 13. Thus, claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons discussed in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 14: The structural elements of apparatus claim 12 perform all of the steps of method claim 14. Thus, claim 14 is rejected for the same reasons discussed in the rejection of claim 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLOTTE M BAKER whose telephone number is (571)272-7459. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
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/CHARLOTTE M BAKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
02 July 2026
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