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 § 103
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claim(s) 1, 2, 5 & 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takao Miyazaki (US 6876374) in view of Morikawa et al. (US 7843476).
Takao Miyazaki disclose the following claimed limitations:
* Re clms 1 & 9, a printing device & method (Abst., figs 1-13);
* a first conveying member/feeder shaft 70/ configured to convey an ink ribbon/thermal transfer material 81, 82/ in a sub-scanning direction/see arrow in fig. 11), the ink ribbon/81, 82/ including a base layer/81, a support layer 51, release layer 53 and heat resistant layer/ a first ink layer/83/ having a first ink/yellow 59/, and a second ink layer/84/ having a second ink/magenta 62/ different from the first ink/yellow 59/, wherein the base layer/81/, the first ink layer/83/, and the second ink layer/84/ are overlaid in this order (see figs 11-12);
* a second conveying member/platen roller 72/ configured to convey, in the sub-scanning direction (see fig 11), a printing medium/image receiving paper 75/ that is overlaid on the ink ribbon/81, 81/ and faces the second ink layer/84/ (see fig 12);
* a line thermal head/71/ having a plurality of heating elements arranged in a main scanning direction orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction, wherein the plurality of heating elements is configured to be in contact with the ink ribbon/81, 82/ from the base layer/81/ side to heat the ink ribbon/81, 82/ while the ink ribbon is conveyed by the first conveying member/feeder shaft 70/; (col 6, lines 31-44. fig 11-12).
* Re clm 2, wherein the second energy/magenta coloring energy/ is greater than the first energy/yellow coloring energy/ (col 14, lines 4-18, fig 13).
* Re clm 5, wherein the second energy/magenta coloring energy/ is smaller than the first energy (col 13, lines 16-39, fig 11).
Takao Miyazaki does not disclose the following claimed limitations:
* a transfer member positioned downstream of the line thermal head in the sub-scanning direction, the transfer member being configured to transfer at least one of the first ink and the second ink from the ink ribbon heated by the line thermal head onto the printing medium, by separating the ink ribbon conveyed by the first conveying member from the printing medium;
* a processor configured to control the first conveying member, the second conveying member, the line thermal head, and the transfer member, wherein the processor is configured to perform
* wherein the transfer member transfers both the first ink and the second ink onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the first heating operation
* wherein the transfer member transfers the second ink onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the second heating operation
Morikawa et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
* a transfer member/6b, 14/ positioned downstream of the line thermal head/2/ in the sub-scanning direction, the transfer member/6b, 14/col 8, lines 24-57 being configured to transfer at least one of the first ink and the second ink from the ink ribbon heated by the line thermal head onto the printing medium, by separating the ink ribbon conveyed by the first conveying member from the printing medium ( col 7, lines 21-67, col 8, lines 1-57, figs 1-2);
* a processor/control circuit/ configured to control the first conveying member, the second conveying member, the line thermal head, and the transfer member, wherein the processor is configured to perform: (col 7, line 45-col 8, line 57, col 19, line 45- col 20, line 8, figs 1-2);
* color material of the ink ribbon/3/ is thermally transferred onto the printing medium/4/ (col 7, line 45-col 8, line 57, col 19, line 45- col 20, line 8, figs 1-2);
* wherein the transfer member/6b, 14/ transfers both the first ink/yellow/ and the second ink/magenta/ onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the first heating operation (col 7, lines 33-45, col 8, lines 23-58, col 19, line 45- col 20, line 7, figs 1-2) ;
* wherein the transfer member transfers the second ink/magenta/ onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the second heating operation (col 7, lines 33-45, col 8, lines 23-58, fig 1-2).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to utilize a transfer member positioned downstream of the line thermal head in the sub-scanning direction, the transfer member being configured to transfer at least one of the first ink and the second ink from the ink ribbon heated by the line thermal head onto the printing medium, by separating the ink ribbon conveyed by the first conveying member from the printing medium; a processor configured to control the first conveying member, the second conveying member, the line thermal head, and the transfer member, wherein the processor is configured to perform, wherein the transfer member transfers both the first ink and the second ink onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the first heating operation, wherein the transfer member transfers the second ink onto the printing medium from the ink ribbon heated through the second heating operation, taught by Morikawa et al. into Takao Miyazaki for the purpose of preventing transmission of thermal energy toward the substrate at the time of thermal transfer of color material onto a printing medium and improving thermal efficiency, thereby improving print quality of printed image and acquiring high-quality images and characters with reduced power at high speed..
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3-4 & 6-8 are 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 primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 3 is the inclusion of the limitations of a printing device that includes wherein the first heating operation supplies the first energy to the first heating element by supplying a first power for a first time, wherein the second heating operation supplies the second energy to the second heating element by supplying the first power for a second time longer than the first time. It is this limitation found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 4 is the inclusion of the limitations of a printing device that includes wherein the first heating operation supplies the first energy to the first heating element by supplying a first power for a first time, wherein the second heating operation supplies the second energy to the second heating element by supplying a second power for the first time, the second power being greater than the first power. It is this limitation found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 6 is the inclusion of the limitations of a printing device that includes wherein the first heating operation supplies the first energy to the first heating element by supplying a first power for a first time, wherein the second heating operation supplies the second energy to the second heating element by supplying the first power for a second time shorter than the first time. It is this limitation found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 7 is the inclusion of the limitations of a printing device that includes wherein the first heating operation supplies the first energy to the first heating element by supplying a first power for a first time, wherein the second heating operation supplies the second energy to the second heating element by supplying a second power for the first time, the second power being smaller than the first power. It is this limitation found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 8 is the inclusion of the limitations of a printing device that includes wherein in a case where the first heating operation heats the ink ribbon, a bond strength between the base layer and the first ink layer becomes smaller than both a bond strength between the first ink layer and the second ink layer and a bond strength between the second ink layer and the printing medium, wherein in a case where the second heating operation heats the ink ribbon, the bond strength between the first ink layer and the second ink layer becomes smaller than both the bond strength between the base layer and the first ink layer and the bond strength between the second ink layer and the printing medium. It is these limitations found in the claims, as they are claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following prior art also, fails to explicitly teach all limitations and/or not combinable to meet the claimed invention.
Tanaka (US 6380964) disclose a thermal transfer recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a thermal head and a platen roller opposed to the thermal head, and prints on a sheet by causing a wax, a sublimation dye, or the like applied on the ink sheet to melt or sublime by the heat of the thermal head. The thermal transfer recording apparatus is provides a take-up tensile force applied to the ink sheet is made greater at both edges of the ink sheet than at the center.
Communication With The USPTO
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTAL FEGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-2254. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 930-530pm.
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/KRISTAL FEGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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