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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of the species of Example 1-Fig.7 in the reply filed on 12/16/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 8-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/16/2025.
Specification
TITLE - The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
JUMBO CASE - The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore,
- performing the blowing operation for a first time in the predetermined period in a case where the environmental humidity detected by the detection portion is a first humidity
- performing the blowing operation for a second time longer than the first time in the predetermined period in a case where the environmental humidity detected by the detection portion is a second humidity higher than the first humidity
- performing the blowing operation in the predetermined period, in a case where the sheet supported on the sheet support portion is a predetermined sheet
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: an image forming portion, an image bearing member, a charging unit, an exposing unit, a developing unit, a driving portion, a sheet support portion, a sheet blowing portion, a sheet feeding portion, a control portion in claim 1; a detection portion in claim 5.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. The specification does not enable making of the image forming apparatus wherein the sheet S is blown with air by the air blowing portions 511A, 512A while being supported by the manual feed tray 235.
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) 1-4 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0219776 to Iwami in view of US 2016/0131999 to Kojima et al.
Regarding claim 1, Iwami teaches an image forming apparatus (600) configured to form an image on a sheet (S), comprising:
an image forming portion (201B) including a rotatable image bearing member (212), a charging unit (213) configured to charge the image bearing member, an exposing unit (122) configured to expose the image bearing member charged by the charging unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing member, and a developing unit (214) configured to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member using developer [0025];
a driving portion (not shown) configured to rotationally drive the image bearing member;
a sheet support portion (514) configured to support the sheet [0036];
a sheet blowing portion (511a,511b) configured to perform a blowing operation of blowing air to the sheet supported on the sheet support portion [0037];
a sheet feeding portion (506) configured to perform a feeding operation of feeding the sheet supported on the sheet support portion [0035]; and
a control portion (100) configured to execute a mode in which, in a predetermined period after the sheet fed by the sheet feeding portion passes through a transfer position at which a toner image formed by the image forming portion is transferred to the sheet and before a succeeding sheet fed by the sheet feeding portion passes through the transfer position, the blowing operation is performed in a state where the feeding operation is stopped (Fig.7, feeding is stopped every predetermined number of sheets to execute air blowing operation [0055-0058]).
Iwami appears silent about stopping rotation of the image bearing member during the mode. Kojima teaches stopping a driving motor for the photoconductive drum when an inter-sheet time including a post-processing operation is longer than the time to stop/start image formation (Fig.8, [0076]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Iwami and Kojima such that the control portion is configured to control the driving portion to stop rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, for at least the purpose of reducing wear of the image bearing member without impacting productivity, while the blowing operation (i.e., a pre-processing operation) is executed.
The combination further renders obvious,
(claim 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portion is configured to control the driving portion to stop the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where a time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (Kojima: [0073]).
(claim 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control portion is configured to execute the mode without stopping the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where the time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is less than the predetermined time (Kojima teaches the drive motor is not stopped when the inter-sheet time is short).
(claim 4) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portion is configured to execute the mode without stopping the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where a time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is less than a predetermined time (Kojima teaches the drive motor is not stopped when the inter-sheet time is short).
(claim 6) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet blowing portion is configured to perform the blowing operation in the predetermined period, in a case where the sheet supported on the sheet support portion is a predetermined sheet (Iwami: coated paper/smooth surface sheets [0002, 0042]).
(claim 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image forming apparatus body including the image forming portion, wherein the sheet support portion is a manual feed tray provided on a side surface of the image forming apparatus body (Iwami: [0029]).
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0033800 to Aoki in view of US 20040022551 to Ito et al.
Regarding claim 1, Aoki teaches an image forming apparatus (100) configured to form an image on a sheet (2), comprising:
an image forming portion (120) including a rotatable image bearing member (5), a charging unit (7) configured to charge the image bearing member, an exposing unit (122) configured to expose the image bearing member charged by the charging unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing member, and a developing unit (6) configured to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member using developer [0032];
a driving portion (306) configured to rotationally drive the image bearing member [0025];
a sheet support portion (507) configured to support the sheet;
a sheet blowing portion (611a,611b) configured to perform a blowing operation of blowing air to the sheet supported on the sheet support portion [0056];
a sheet feeding portion (501+502) configured to perform a feeding operation of feeding the sheet supported on the sheet support portion [0029]; and
a control portion (301) configured to execute a mode in which, in a predetermined period after the sheet fed by the sheet feeding portion passes through a transfer position at which a toner image formed by the image forming portion is transferred to the sheet and before a succeeding sheet fed by the sheet feeding portion passes through the transfer position, the blowing operation is performed in a state where the feeding operation is stopped (Fig.9, [0062]),
Aoki appears silent about stopping rotation of the image bearing member during the mode. Ito teaches halting rotation of the photoconductive drum at a timing between image formation on a first side and a second side on a printed sheet as to prolong the life of the photoconductive drum and reduce power consumption in the image forming apparatus [0111-0112]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aoki and Ito such that the control portion is configured to control the driving portion to stop rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, for at least the purpose of reducing wear of the image bearing member.
The combination further renders obvious,
(claim 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portion is configured to control the driving portion to stop the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where a time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (Ito: rotation of the drum is stopped when there is enough time, i.e. double-sided [0080-0086]).
(claim 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control portion is configured to execute the mode without stopping the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where the time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is less than the predetermined time (Ito: rotation of the drum is not stopped when there is not enough time, i.e. single-sided [0080-0086]).
(claim 4) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portion is configured to execute the mode without stopping the rotation of the image bearing member during the mode, in a case where a time for which the sheet blowing portion performs the blowing operation in the predetermined period is less than a predetermined time (Ito: rotation of the drum is not stopped when there is not enough time, i.e. single-sided [0080-0086]).
(claim 5) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection portion (614) configured to detect environmental humidity [0063], wherein the sheet blowing portion is configured to (i) perform the blowing operation for a first time in the predetermined period in a case where the environmental humidity detected by the detection portion is a first humidity and (ii) perform the blowing operation for a second time longer than the first time in the predetermined period in a case where the environmental humidity detected by the detection portion is a second humidity higher than the first humidity (Figs. 8-10, e.g. blowing operation is OFF in low temp/low humidity environment [0093-0122]).
(claim 6) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet blowing portion is configured to perform the blowing operation in the predetermined period, in a case where the sheet supported on the sheet support portion is a predetermined sheet (Aoki: coated paper/smooth surface sheets [0002-0004, 0058]).
(claim 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image forming apparatus body including the image forming portion, wherein the sheet support portion is a manual feed tray provided on a side surface of the image forming apparatus body (Aoki: Fig.1, [0029-0030]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARLENE HEREDIA whose telephone number is (571)272-8393. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at (571)272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Arlene Heredia Ocasio/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852