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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1 corresponding to claims 1-4, 13-16, and 17 in the reply filed on 07/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/05/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
(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 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tajima et al. (JP 2018187846 A).
Tajima discloses the following limitations:
Regarding claims 1 and 17, A liquid discharge apparatus (“head unit 1”, Figure 1) and an image forming apparatus (“ink jet recording apparatus I”, Figure 1) comprising:
a head (“recording head II”, Figure 2) having a nozzle surface (“nozzle surface 20a”, Figure 4) having nozzles (“nozzles 21”, Figure 4) to discharge a liquid (Paragraph [0013] describes how the “liquid ejecting head” includes nozzles for “ejecting liquid”.);
a head temperature adjuster (“heater 130”, Figure 7) to adjust head temperature of the head (Paragraph [0086] describes how the “heater 130” heats up the temperature of the “nozzle surface 20a” of the “recording head II”.);
a temperature sensor (“sensor 140”, Figure 5) to detect:
an indoor temperature; or a nozzle surface temperature around the nozzle surface (Paragraph [0073] describes how the “sensor 140” measures the temperature of the “recording head II” and is provided for the “nozzle surface 20a”.);
and circuitry (“determination unit 240”, Figure 10) configured to control the head temperature adjuster to adjust the head temperature based on the indoor temperature or the nozzle surface temperature detected by the temperature sensor (Paragraph [0107] describes how the “determination unit 240” receives data from the “sensor 140” and determines which “mode” based on the temperature measurements. Paragraph [0112] describes a “Mode 3”, executed by the “determination unit 240”, where the “heater 130” is used to adjust the temperature of the “recording head II”).
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) 2-4 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tajima et al. (JP 2018187846 A) in view of Shibata (JP 2018149764 A).
Tajima discloses the following limitations:
Regarding claim 2, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry (“determination unit 240”, Figure 10) controls the head temperature adjuster (Paragraph [0107] describes how the “determination unit 240” receives data from the “sensor 140” and determines which “mode” based on the temperature measurements. Paragraph [0112] describes a “Mode 3”, executed by the “determination unit 240”, where the “heater 130” is used to adjust the temperature of the “recording head II”).
Regarding claim 3, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1.
Tajima fails to teach the following limitations:
Regarding claim 2, wherein the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to stop adjusting the head temperature when the head has not discharged the liquid for a certain period.
Regarding claim 3, further comprising a cap filled with a wetting liquid to cover the nozzle surface.
Regarding claim 4, further comprising: a plurality of heads including the head, each of the plurality of heads having the nozzle surface; and a cap to cover the nozzle surface of each of the plurality of heads.
Regarding claim 15, wherein the head temperature adjuster includes a circulation channel to circulate a fluid through the circulation channel to adjust the head temperature.
Regarding claim 16, wherein the liquid is an aqueous pigment ink.
However, Shibata teaches the following limitations:
Regarding claim 2, wherein the circuitry (“ink temperature control unit 120”, Figure 8) controls the head temperature adjuster (“temperature adjustment unit 58”, Figure 6) to stop adjusting the head temperature when the head has not discharged the liquid for a certain period (Paragraph [0015] describes how the “operation of the temperature adjustment” is stopped when placed in “holiday mode” where the “nozzle surface” is covered by the “moisture retention cap” for a “period equal to or longer than a threshold period”.).
Tajima and Shibata are considered analogous to the art because they are in the same field involving a liquid discharge apparatus. Therefore, it would be obvious for someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the liquid discharge apparatus taught by Tajima to also apply wherein the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to stop adjusting the head temperature when the head has not discharged the liquid for a certain period taught by Shibata. This would have been done for the purpose of reducing power used for the temperature adjustment operation from the temperature adjustment unit (Shibata, paragraph [0015]).
Regarding claim 3, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cap (“moisturizing caps 82C, 82M, 82Y, and 82K”, Figure 2) filled with a wetting liquid to cover the nozzle surface (Paragraph [0066] describes how the “moisturizing caps 82” have a “cap liquid” for moisturizing the “nozzle surface 33”.).
Therefore, it would be obvious for someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the liquid discharge apparatus taught by Tajima to also apply further comprising a cap filled with a wetting liquid to cover the nozzle surface taught by Shibata. This would have been done for the purpose of moisturizing the nozzle surface (Shibata, paragraph [0066]).
Regarding claim 4, The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of heads including the head (“heads 32C, 32M, 32Y, and 32K”, Figure 2), each of the plurality of heads having the nozzle surface (Paragraph [0038] describes how each “head 32” includes a “nozzle surface 33”.); and a cap to cover the nozzle surface of each of the plurality of heads (Paragraph [0065] describes how the “moisturizing caps 82C, 82M, 82Y, and 82K” respectively cover each “nozzle surfaces 33” of “heads 32C, 32M, 32Y, and 32K”).
Therefore, it would be obvious for someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the liquid discharge apparatus taught by Tajima to also apply further comprising: a plurality of heads including the head, each of the plurality of heads having the nozzle surface; and a cap to cover the nozzle surface of each of the plurality of heads taught by Shibata. This would have been done for the purpose of covering the moisture retention space with the nozzle surface and prevent the non-discharge of the ink due to the drying of the inside of the nozzle (Shibata, paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 15, wherein the head temperature adjuster (“temperature adjustment unit 58”, Figure 6) includes a circulation channel (Paragraph [0046] describes how the “ink circulation unit 52” includes the “temperature adjustment unit 58” and a “supply channel 56”.) to circulate a fluid through the circulation channel to adjust the head temperature (Paragraphs [0050] and [0057] describes how the “supply channel 56” circulates the heat adjusted ink from the “temperature adjustment unit 58” and can adjust/maintain the temperature state of the “head 32”.).
Tajima and Ito are considered analogous to the art because they are in the same field involving a liquid discharge apparatus. Therefore, it would be obvious for someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the liquid discharge apparatus taught by Tajima to also apply wherein the head temperature adjuster includes a circulation channel to circulate a fluid through the circulation channel to adjust the head temperature taught by Shibata. This would have been done for the purpose of keeping the head and nozzle surface at the same temperature and discharge state (Shibata, paragraph [0057]).
Regarding claim 16, wherein the liquid is an aqueous pigment ink (Paragraph [0047] describes how the ink of the invention is “aqueous ink”. While paragraph [0035] describes how the “heads 32C, 32M, 32Y, and 32K” eject cyan ink droplets, magenta ink droplets, yellow ink droplets, and black ink droplets respectively.).
Therefore, it would be obvious for someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the liquid discharge apparatus taught by Tajima to also apply wherein the liquid is an aqueous pigment ink taught by Shibata. This would have been done for the purpose of recording an image of color on the sheet (Shibata, paragraph [0035]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14 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:
Regarding claim 13, the primary reason for allowance of claim 13 is the inclusion of “further comprising a cap to cover the nozzle surface, wherein the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to adjust the head temperature to a first temperature when the head discharges the liquid, and the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to adjust the head temperature to a second temperature different from the first temperature when the cap covers the nozzle surface.”
Regarding claim 14, the primary reason for allowance of claim 14 is the inclusion of “wherein the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to adjust the head temperature to a first temperature when the indoor temperature or the nozzle surface temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a temperature threshold, and the circuitry controls the head temperature adjuster to adjust the head temperature to a second temperature higher than the first temperature when the indoor temperature or the nozzle surface temperature detected by the temperature sensor is higher than the temperature threshold.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATASHA DEPHENIA QUINN whose telephone number is (571)272-6375. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30 - 4:00 CT.
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/N.D.Q./Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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