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
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 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(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ishidate (JP 2013222142) in view of Koga et al (US 7451973).
Re 1 and 13, Ishidate discloses an image forming apparatus (Fig 1) comprising: an image forming portion (10) configured to form an image on a sheet (14); and an apparatus (1) comprising: a storage (35) on which an item is placed (par 23); an electrical component (31); a storage frame (30) in which the storage and the electrical component are stored (par 24-25); a power supply portion (60) provided outside the storage frame and configured to supply power to the electrical component (par 30); a cable (82) configured to connect the electrical component and the power supply portion via an opening portion (83) provided in the storage frame (par 29); and a seal member (80) provided between the opening portion and the cable (par 31).
Ishidate fails to disclose the item is a sheet, the apparatus is a sheet stacking apparatus, and a sheet feeding portion configured to feed the sheet placed on the storage.
However, Koga teaches An image forming apparatus (900) comprising: an image forming portion (901) configured to form an image on a sheet (S); and a sheet stacking apparatus (1001) on which the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming portion is stacked (col 3 ln 50- col 4 ln 36), the sheet stacking apparatus including: a storage (56) on which the sheet is placed (col 5 ln 22-60); a sheet feeding portion (11) configured to feed the sheet placed on the storage (col 4 ln 40-67); an electrical component (300, 400); a storage frame (10) in which the storage and the electrical component are stored (col 6 ln 40-67); a power supply portion (330, 430) provided outside the storage frame and configured to supply power to the electrical component; a cable configured to connect the electrical component and the power supply portion via an opening portion provided in the storage frame (Fig 8).
Given the teachings of Koga, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the apparatus of Ishidate with a sheet stacking apparatus.
Doing so would allow various sized image forming apparatuses to have one or more electrical components hermetically closed within the housing where an electrical component aids in feeding sheets from a detachably attached sheet stacking tray for sheets difficult to feed and separate due to coating. Many components of the image forming apparatus are protected and sealed but eliminate the stress on the electrical cable without reducing sealing performance around any electrical component.
RE 2, Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the storage frame stores the sheet feeding portion (Koga Fig 8 & 15).
Re 3, Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the seal member (80) is an elastic member (par 28), wherein the opening portion (83) is defined by one portion and the other portion of the storage frame (par 29), and wherein the seal member comprises a first seal member (80a) configured to seal the opening portion between the one portion of the storage frame and the cable and a second seal member (80a) configured to seal the opening portion between the other portion of the storage frame and the cable (par 30, Fig 5b).
RE 4 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the seal member (80) is an elastic member (par 28), wherein the seal member is wound around an outer periphery of the cable (Fig 5b), and wherein the seal member seals the opening portion between the cable and the storage frame (par 30-31).
RE 5 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the seal member (80) is an elastic member (par 28), wherein the seal member has a cylindrical shape fitted onto an outer periphery of the cable (Fig 5b), and wherein the seal member seals the opening portion between the cable and the storage frame (par 30-31).
Re 6 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, where an outer diameter D1 of the cable, an inner diameter D2 of the opening portion, and an inner diameter D3 of the seal member abutting against the cable satisfy a relationship of D1-D3>D2-D1 (par 30-31).
Re 7, Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the electrical component is a fan configured to blow air to the sheet placed on the storage (Koga Fig 4 & 12, Koga col 6 ln 5-39).
RE 8, Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the electrical component is a sensor configured to detect the sheet (Koga col 6 ln 5-39).
Re 9 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the seal member is a sponge (par 39).
RE 10 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the storage frame (30) includes a sealing cover (49) removably attached to the storage frame, and wherein the opening portion is provided in the sealing cover (Fig 7).
Re 11 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the storage frame (30) includes a sealing lid (81) attached to the sealing cover (49), and wherein the opening portion is defined by a first halved opening portion provided in the sealing cover and a second halved opening portion provided in the sealing lid (Fig 9, 10).
Re 12 Ishidate as modified by Koga teaches, wherein the seal member has a first seal member having a first halved cylindrical portion (80a) and a second seal member having a second halved cylindrical portion (80a) (Fig 5b, par 30-31).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christle I. Marshall whose telephone number is (571) 270-3086. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday 7:30AM - 4:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached on (571) 272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Christle I Marshall/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876