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
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirata et al. (US PG Pub 2015/0123341) in view of Kashimura (US PG Pub 6,409,166) and Belinkov et al. (US Patent 5,508,790).
For claims 1 and 5: Hirata et al. teaches an image forming apparatus 100 comprising: an image forming unit 100 configured to form an image on a sheet (see Fig. 2, image forming section with transfer nip at 13, 11); a tray 8 including a stacking surface 30 (see Figs. 2 and 3) on which the sheet is stacked, the tray being configured to be movable between a closed position at which the tray faces a side surface of an apparatus main body including the image forming unit and an opened position at which the tray is opened from the apparatus main body to a position at which the sheet can be stacked (see Fig. 2, closed position and the dashed lines representing the open position, moving along the arc B); a sheet feed unit 27 configured to feed the sheet stacked on the tray 8 to the image forming unit (see Fig. 2, image forming unit generally denoted by 11, 13); an extension tray 32 configured to be movable between an extension position (see Fig. 3, movable in the direction F; the extension tray 32 is also rotatable along with the tray 30 in the direction B as seen in Fig. 2 and is in the internal position in the solid lines in Fig. 2) being a position upstream in a sheet feeding direction from the tray and a storage position being a position at which the extension tray is stored in the tray (see Fig. 11, and Fig. 2, the position where the extension tray 32 is internal to the tray 8 and particularly in the closed position seen in Fig. 2), the sheet being stacked on the extension tray 32 (see Fig. 3, the sheet can be supported on the extension tray 32). Hirata et al. does not teach an urging member configured to urge the extension tray toward the stacking surface of the tray in a state where the tray is located at the closed position and the extension tray is located at the storage position. However, Kashimura further depicts a groove for storing an extension tray 302 of a tray 300 (see Fig. 4, groove of tray 300 with the tray 302 therein, see Figs. 1 and 3 for the operation of the tray 302 as an extension tray). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Hirata et al. to provide a groove within the tray for storing the extension tray as taught by Kashimura for the purpose of supporting the extension tray in its storage position. The combination of Hirata et al. and Kashimura does not teach an urging member configured to urge the extension tray toward the stacking surface of the tray in a state where the tray is located at the closed position and the extension tray is located at the storage position. However, Belinkov et al. teaches an urging member 22 configured to urge a planar member 141 towards another surface in the closed position (see Fig. 1C). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to provide an urging member as taught by Belinkov et al. to urge the extension tray upward toward the stacking surface of the tray for the purpose of securing and locking the tray in position during storage.
For claim 2: The combination of Hirata et al., Kashimura and Belinkov et al. teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 and Belinkov teaches that the urging member 22 includes a contact member (see Fig. 1C, top surface thereof) configured to contact the extension tray (see Fig. 1C, bottom surface of a planar member), and an elastic member (see Fig. 1C, 1D, elastic member supporting the surface portion of 22 contacting the planar section) configured to urge the contact member toward the stacking surface of the tray, and wherein the contact member contacts the tray in a state where the extension tray is located at the extension position (see Fig. 1D, in the absence of the element 141, the contact member can contact the interior surface of the housing directly, the housing corresponding to the tray), and the contact member contacts the extension tray in a state where the extension tray is located at the storage position (see Fig. 1C, with the planar member 141 present, the contact portion 22 contacts a bottom potion of the member 141).
For claim 3: The combination of Hirata et al., Kashimura and Belinkov et al. teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 3 and Belinkov teaches that, wherein the contact member is rotatably provided on the tray (see Fig. 1C, 1D, rotatable provided within the housing), and wherein a rotation center shaft 22 of the contact member is orthogonal to a conveyance direction (see Fig. 1C, the conveyance direction corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the plate 141, the shaft 20 extends axially and orthogonal to this direction as seen in Fig. 1C).
For claim 4: The combination of Hirata et al., Kashimura and Belinkov et al. teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 and Kashimura teaches that the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extension tray is drawable with respect to the tray toward an upstream side in the sheet feeding direction (see Fig. 1, Fig. 3, Fig. 4).
For claim 5: The combination of Hirata et al., Kashimura and Belinkov et al. teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 and An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet; a tray including a stacking surface on which the sheet is stacked, the tray being configured to be movable between a closed position at which the tray is closed along a side surface of an apparatus main body including the image forming unit and an opened position at which the tray is opened from the apparatus main body to a position at which the sheet can be stacked; a sheet feed unit configured to feed the sheet stacked on the tray to the image forming unit; an extension tray configured to be rotatable between an extension position being a position upstream in a sheet feeding direction from the tray and a storage position being a position at which the extension tray is stored in the tray, the sheet being stacked on the extension tray; and an urging member disposed between the tray and the extension tray and configured to urge the extension tray in the sheet feeding direction in a state where the extension tray is located at the storage position.
Conclusion
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/DAVID H BANH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853