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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Claims 1-4, 7, and 9-13 in the reply filed on 13 July 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no undue burden. This is not found persuasive because the claims have separate status in the art due to differing classifications.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 5-6, 8 and 14-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2023-169174 and 2024-089931 was received on 05 December 2025 and 04 December 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 27 November 2024 and 11 April 2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 19 September 2024 are accepted.
Specification
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohhashi (US PGPub 2015/0094873 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Ohhashi discloses a printing apparatus having a connection unit configured to connect to an external power source (Fig. 4A; AC Adapter 111; ¶0039);
an electric power storage unit configured to store electric power supplied from the external power source through the connection unit (Fig. 4A; battery 310; ¶0039);
a printing unit configured to perform printing by ejecting an ink onto a print medium conveyed by a conveyance unit (Fig. 2B);
a recovery unit configured to perform a recovery operation of maintaining or restoring an ink ejection characteristic of the printing unit (Fig. 8; S207; 0088-0090); and
a control unit configured to execute the recovery operation according to an amount of electric power stored in the electric power storage unit after the supply of electric power from the external power source stops (¶0047; if AC adapter not plugged in, the switching circuit 112 switched the power source to the connected power source/supply, i.e. battery 310; ¶0088-0090, if power from the battery is dead as detected by a signal to the controller, cancel print job and perform the cleaning operation, S207, which includes capping the printhead nozzles).
With regard to Claim 2, Ohhashi further discloses wherein the recovery unit is a cap part that performs capping as the recovery operation for protecting a nozzle surface of the printing unit in which a nozzle for ejecting the ink is formed (¶0088-0090), and the control unit stores electric power supplied from the external power source at a predetermined timing such that the capping can be completed after the supply of electric power from the external power source stops (¶0084-0089; Fig. 8).
With regard to Claim 3, Ohhashi further discloses wherein the predetermined timing is before a start of a sheet discharge process of discharging the print medium which is executed after an end of a printing process of performing printing based on a job (¶0088-0089, printing operation is cancelled immediately, and cleaning operation is performed).
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) 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohhashi (US PGPub 20145/0094873 A1), in view of Ohashi (JP 2011/235572 A), using a machine translation.
With regard to Claim 9, Ohhashi further discloses wherein the recovery unit includes a cap part that executes capping for protecting a nozzle surface of the printing unit in which a nozzle for ejecting the ink is formed (¶0088-0089), and performs the recovery operation according to the amount of electric power stored in the electric power storage unit so as to preferentially execute the capping in a case where the supply of electric power from the external power source stops (¶0088-0089).
However, Ohhashi does not explicitly disclose a maintenance part that brings an inside of the cap part to a negative pressure by suction, and the control unit executes the capping with the cap part and a first operation as the recovery operation, the first operation being an operation of discharging the ink from the nozzle by bringing the inside of the cap part to a negative pressure in a state where the capping is performed.
The secondary reference of Ohashi discloses a maintenance part that brings an inside of the cap part to a negative pressure by suction (¶0029-0032), and the control unit executes the capping with the cap part and a first operation as the recovery operation (¶0029-0032), the first operation being an operation of discharging the ink from the nozzle by bringing the inside of the cap part to a negative pressure in a state where the capping is performed (¶0029-0032).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the negative pressure by suction of the cap of Ohashi, with the cap of Ohhashi, in order to prevent ink drying by removing thickened recording fluid, as taught by Ohashi (¶0032).
With regard to Claim 10, Ohashi further discloses in a case of executing the capping and the first operation according to the amount of electric power stored in the electric power storage unit, the control unit executes the recovery operation after executing the capping (¶0032, recovery operation performed after head is capped by the cap).
With regard to Claim 11, Ohashi further discloses wherein the maintenance part further wipes the nozzle surface (¶0029-0030), and the control unit executes the capping with the cap part (¶0032), the first operation (¶0032), and a second operation of wiping the nozzle surface as the recovery operation (¶0029-0030).
With regard to Claim 12, Ohashi further discloses wherein in a case of executing the capping, the first operation, and the second operation according to the amount of electric power stored in the electric power storage unit, the control unit executes the capping after executing the first operation and the second operation (¶0029-0032).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reasons for allowability for Claim 4 is that applicants claimed invention includes a printing apparatus wherein an amount of electric power to be stored in the electric power storage unit at the predetermined timing includes an amount of electric power required for the sheet discharge process and an amount of electric power required for the capping. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claim 7 is allowable because it depends from Claim 4.
Claim 13 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reasons for allowability for Claim 13 is that applicants claimed invention includes a printing apparatus wherein the control unit changes the number of times to execute the recovery operation with the maintenance part according to the amount of electric power stored in the electric power storage unit. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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