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
Claims 5, 7, 10 and 12-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 8/3/26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of species I, sub-species A in the reply filed on 8/3/26 is acknowledged.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Sakakibara et al. (US 2012/0008973).
With respect to claim 1, Sakakibara et al. disclose a cleaning device comprising: a capturing rotation member (e.g., fig. 15, item 101) that is rotatable and configured to capture an object (e.g., toner) to be captured on a surface to be cleaned by static electricity; a charging rotation member (e.g., item 121) that rotates while being in contact with the capturing rotation member (101) and configured to triboelectrically charge a peripheral surface of the capturing rotation member (as discussed at least in paragraph(s) 133-141); and a collecting rotation member (e.g., item 102) that rotates while in contact with the capturing rotation member (101) and configured to collect the object to be captured that adhered to the peripheral surface of the capturing rotation member (101), wherein in a rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) contacts the surface to be cleaned at a first position (e.g., position of item 8 contacting item 101), in the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) and the collecting rotation member (102) are in contact at a second position (e.g., position of item 102 contacting item 101), in the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) and the charging rotation member (121) are in contact at a third position (e.g., position of item 121 contacting item 101), the first position, the second position, and the third position along the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member are arranged in order (e.g., position of item 8 contacting item 101; position of item 121 contacting item 101; position of item 102 contacting item 101), the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101) is the same as a rotational direction of the charging rotation member (121), and the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101) is opposite to a rotational direction of the collecting rotation member (102).
With respect to claim 2, Sakakibara et al. further disclose wherein the capturing rotation member (101) comprises: a capturing brush; and a rotating shaft provided with the capturing brush (as discussed at least in paragraph 86, 89).
With respect to claim 3, Sakakibara et al. further disclose wherein the charging rotation member (121) comprises: a charging brush; and a rotating shaft provided with the charging brush (as discussed at least in paragraphs 132-147).
With respect to claim 4, Sakakibara et al. further disclose wherein in a triboelectric series, a material forming an outer peripheral of the collecting rotation member (102) is more easily charged positively than a material forming an outer peripheral of the capturing rotation member (101), and the material forming the outer peripheral of the capturing rotation member (101) is more easily charged positively than a material forming an outer peripheral of the charging rotation member (121, and/or as described at least in paragraphs 96-99, 119-147, 210-217 and/or as shown at least by figs. 1 and 4-16).
With respect to claim 11, Sakakibara et al. further disclose wherein the surface to be cleaned is a peripheral surface of an intermediate transfer member (e.g., intermediate transfer belt 8) provided in an image forming apparatus (as shown at least by figs. 1, 2 and/or 15).
With respect to claim 20, Sakakibara et al. disclose cleaning device comprising: a capturing rotation member (e.g., item 101) that is rotatable and configured to capture an object (e.g., toner) to be captured on a surface to be cleaned by static electricity; a charging rotation member (e.g., item 121) that is in contact with the capturing rotation member (101) and is configured to triboelectrically charge a peripheral surface of the capturing rotation member (101); and a collecting rotation member (e.g., 102) that rotates while being in contact with the capturing rotation member (101) and collects the object to be captured that adhered to the peripheral surface of the capturing rotation member (101), wherein in a rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) contacts the surface to be cleaned at a first position (as shown at least by figs. 1, 4 and/or 15), in the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) and the collecting rotation member (102) are in contact at a second position (as shown at least by figs. 1, 4 and/or 15), in the rotational direction of the capturing rotation member (101), the capturing rotation member (101) and the charging rotation member (121) are in contact at a third position (as shown at least by figs. 1, 4 and/or 15), a charge polarity of the object to be captured is a first polarity, and in a triboelectric series, a material of the capturing rotation member (101) is more likely to be charged to a second polarity than a material of the charging rotation member (121), and a material of the collecting rotation member (102) is more likely to be charged to the second polarity than the material of the capturing rotation member (101, as described at least in paragraphs 96-99, 119-147, 210-217 and/or as shown at least by figs. 1 and/or 4-16).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakakibara et al. (US 2012/0008973) in view of Yoshida et al. (US 5455661).
With respect to claims 8 and 9, Sakakibara et al. disclose the cleaning device according to Claim 1 (as discussed above), but do not disclose a charge eliminating member including a grounded conductive plate or sheet configured to eliminate charge on a surface of the charging rotation member.
With further respect to claims 8 and 9, Yoshida et al. teach a charge eliminating member including a grounded conductive plate or sheet (e.g., item(s) 28 and/or 29) configured to eliminate charge on a surface of the charging rotation member (e.g., item 12, as discussed at least in col. 5, line 1 – col. 11, line 25 and/or as shown at least by fig(s). 3-14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to implement the charge eliminating member of Yoshida et al. in the apparatus of Sakakibara et al. at least because there would have been a reasonable expectation of success in achieving charge removal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for indicating allowable subject matter: The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the claimed moving speed of a peripheral surface of the collecting rotation member is higher than a moving speed of a peripheral surface of the capturing rotation member in combination with the remaining claim elements as set forth in the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH S WONG whose telephone number is (571)272-8457. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter L Lindsay Jr. can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH S WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
JSW
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