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 .
Amendment received 6/22/26 was entered into the record.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the circuitry configured to move the movable conveyance guide from the first position to the second position based on a conveyance speed of the two-ply sheet (the subject matter of claim 13); the circuitry configured to move the movable conveyance guide from the second position to the first position based on a drive timing of the conveyance roller pair (the subject matter of claim 15) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 1-12 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. US 2021/0294249 (“Takahashi”).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi disclosed a sheet separation device comprising:
a winding roller (20) configured to rotate in a given rotational direction to wind a two-ply sheet (PJ) having two sheets overlapped and bonded together at a bonding portion (A), and
a separator (17) configured to separate a non-bonding portion of the two-ply sheet;
the sheet separation device configured to insert an inner sheet between the two sheets separated from each other;
a conveyance roller pair (6) configured to,
convey the two-ply sheet from the sheet separation device along a conveyance passage in a first direction (Figure 4B), and
convey the two-ply sheet toward the sheet separation device along the conveyance passage in a second direction opposite to the first direction (Figure 4D);
branched conveyance passages (see Figure 1),
branched from the conveyance passage in separate directions; and
between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair across the conveyance passage (Figure 1); and
a movable conveyance guide (16) configured to move in the first direction and the second direction in the conveyance passage to guide the two-ply sheet or the inner sheet (Figure 13), the movable conveyance guide being separate from the separator (Figures 10D and 13), and the movable conveyance guide being permanently present in the conveyance passage (the conveyance passage including the region which the claws 16 reside), wherein the separator is between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair in the conveyance passage (see at least Figures 7A-7C).
Regarding claim 2, Takahashi disclosed the movable conveyance guide is opposite the winding roller with the conveyance passage in between (see at least Figure 7A), and
the sheet separation device further includes,
circuitry configured to control a movement of the movable conveyance guide (paragraph 0071),
the circuitry is further configured to move the movable conveyance guide between a first position and a second position (paragraph 0160), where the first position is in a first conveyance guide range from the winding roller to an upstream side of the separator in the first direction in the conveyance passage, and second position is in a second conveyance guide range from the upstream side of the separator to the conveyance roller pair in the first direction in the conveyance passage (see at least Figure 13 noting the two ends of travel for tables 75 would mark the first and second positions of the movable conveyance guide).
Regarding claim 3, Takahashi disclosed the circuitry is further configured to: move the movable conveyance guide from the first position to the second position in sync with a conveyance of the two-ply sheet in the first direction in the conveyance passage, in response to the separator being at a retracted position away from the conveyance passage in a width direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, and the two-ply sheet being conveyed in the first direction (paragraphs 0159-0160).
Regarding claim 4, Takahashi disclosed the circuitry is further configured to: move the movable conveyance guide from the second position to the first position in sync with a conveyance of the two-ply sheet in the second direction in the conveyance passage, in response to the separator being at a retracted position away from the conveyance passage in a width direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, and the two-ply sheet being conveyed in the second direction (paragraphs 0159-0160).
Regarding claim 5, Takahashi disclosed wherein the movable conveyance guide is at the first position, in response to the two-ply sheet being conveyed in the first direction or the second direction in the conveyance passage; and the separator is configured to, move from a retracted position, and be inserted into a space between the two sheets of the two-ply sheet separated from each other (see paragraph 0150 and Figure 13).
Regarding claim 6, Takahashi disclosed the circuitry is further configured to: move the movable conveyance guide from the first position to the second position in sync with a conveyance of the inner sheet in the first direction in the conveyance passage, in response to the two sheets of the two-ply sheet being separated from each other at the branched conveyance passages in the conveyance passage, and the inner sheet being inserted between the two sheets of the two-ply sheet separated from each other (see paragraphs 0159-0160 and Figures 6A-8C).
Regarding claim 7, Takahashi disclosed the circuitry is further configured to: move the movable conveyance guide from the second position to the first position, in response to the two-ply sheet being conveyed in the first direction by the conveyance roller pair, with the inner sheet inserted between the two sheets of the two- ply sheet (see paragraphs 0159-0160 and Figures 6A-8C).
Regarding claim 8, Takahashi disclosed a sheet laminator comprising a sheet separation device including,
a winding roller (20) configured to rotate in a given rotational direction to wind a two-ply sheet (PJ) having two sheets overlapped and bonded together at a bonding portion (A), and
a separator (17) configured to separate a non-bonding portion of the two-ply sheet;
the sheet separation device configured to insert an inner sheet between the two sheets separated from each other;
a conveyance roller pair (6) configured to,
convey the two-ply sheet from the sheet separation device along a conveyance passage in a first direction (Figure 4B), and
convey the two-ply sheet toward the sheet separation device along the conveyance passage in a second direction opposite to the first direction (Figure 4D);
branched conveyance passages (see Figure 1),
branched from the conveyance passage in separate directions; and
between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair across the conveyance passage (Figure 1); and
a movable conveyance guide (16) configured to move in the first direction and the second direction in the conveyance passage to guide the two-ply sheet or the inner sheet (Figure 13), the movable conveyance guide being separate from the separator (Figures 10D and 13), and the movable conveyance guide being permanently present in the conveyance passage (the conveyance passage including the region which the claws 16 reside), wherein the separator is between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair in the conveyance passage (see at least Figures 7A-7C); and
a sheet lamination device (50) configured to perform a sheet laminating operation on the two-ply sheet having the inner sheet inserted between the two sheets separated by the sheet separation device.
Regarding claim 9, Takahashi disclosed an image forming system comprising: the sheet laminator according to claim 8; and an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on the inner sheet (Figure 19).
Regarding claim 10, Takahashi disclosed the sheet laminator is configured to be detachably attached to the image forming apparatus (Figure 19).
Regarding claim 11, Takahashi disclosed an image forming system comprising a sheet separation device including:
a winding roller (20) configured to rotate in a given rotational direction to wind a two-ply sheet (PJ) having two sheets overlapped and bonded together at a bonding portion (A), and
a separator (17) configured to separate a non-bonding portion of the two-ply sheet;
the sheet separation device configured to insert an inner sheet between the two sheets separated from each other;
a conveyance roller pair (6) configured to,
convey the two-ply sheet from the sheet separation device along a conveyance passage in a first direction (Figure 4B), and
convey the two-ply sheet toward the sheet separation device along the conveyance passage in a second direction opposite to the first direction (Figure 4D);
branched conveyance passages (see Figure 1),
branched from the conveyance passage in separate directions; and
between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair across the conveyance passage (Figure 1); and
a movable conveyance guide (16) configured to move in the first direction and the second direction in the conveyance passage to guide the two-ply sheet or the inner sheet (Figure 13), the movable conveyance guide being separate from the separator (Figures 10D and 13), and the movable conveyance guide being permanently present in the conveyance passage (the conveyance passage including the region which the claws 16 reside), wherein the separator is between the winding roller and the conveyance roller pair in the conveyance passage (see at least Figures 7A-7C); and
an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on the inner sheet (Figure 11).
Regarding claim 12, Takahashi disclosed the sheet separation device is configured to be detachably attached to the image forming apparatus (Figure 19).
Regarding claim 16, Takahashi disclosed the movable conveyance guide further includes: a conveyance guide plate (15) extending in a third direction orthogonal to the first direction, the conveyance guide plate parallel to the conveyance passage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-15 and 17-20 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/22/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that Takahashi failed to teach that the movable conveyance guide is separate from the separator and permanently present in the conveying passage.
The Examiner disagrees. The claims must be given their broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the disclosure as a whole. The movable conveyance guide, separation claw 16, is indeed separate from the separator, separation claw 17. Furthermore, it is permanently present in the conveying passage, when considering the conveyance passage as including the region which the claws 16 reside as mentioned above. Next, Applicant argued that separation claw 16 does not “move the two-ply sheet or the inner sheet in the second direction” as required. In response, the Examiner notes that the argued for quote does not appear in the claims. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD J SANDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-3096. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HOWARD J SANDERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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