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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 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.
Claims 1, 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koga US 2008/0247774 A1 (Koga).
Regarding claim 1, Koga teaches a drying device, comprising:
a housing (900) in which an exhaust opening (392) and a connection opening (380) are arranged;
a conveyor (105) housed in the housing to convey a recording medium along a conveyance path (¶0033);
a heater (309) housed in the housing to heat the recording medium on the conveyance path (¶0049);
a connection terminal to connect a line routed from an outside of the housing, the line being connected to the connection terminal inside the housing (¶0093-¶0094);
a humidity sensor (91) to detect humidity inside the housing (¶0047);
an airflow fan (380) to move air inside the housing to generate an airflow passing the connection terminal (¶0067);
an exhaust fan (390) to discharge air inside the housing to an outside of the housing through the exhaust opening (¶0067);
a duct fan (¶0084) to discharge air inside the housing through an exhaust duct connected to the connection opening (¶0049, ¶0084); and
processing circuitry configured to control operations (FIG. 5) of the airflow fan, the exhaust fan, and the duct fan based on a detected humidity that is detected by the humidity sensor (91).
Regarding claim 2, Koga teaches the drying device according to claim 1, wherein the humidity sensor (91) is disposed to detect a humidity in a vicinity of the connection terminal, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
operate only the airflow fan among the airflow fan, the exhaust fan, and the duct fan, when the detected humidity exceeds a threshold value (H1/H2) in a state in which the airflow fan, the exhaust fan, and the duct fan are stopped (S104);
operate the exhaust fan (s105), when the detected humidity exceeds the threshold value after the airflow fan is operated for a first prescribed time; and
operate the duct fan (s106), when the detected humidity exceeds the threshold value after the exhaust fan is operated for a second prescribed time.
Regarding claim 6, Koga teaches an image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming device (901) to form an image on a recording medium; and
the drying device (350) according to claim 1.
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 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 of this title, 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 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koga US 2008/247774 A1 (Koga).
Regarding claim 3, Koga teaches the drying device according to claim 2. Koga differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: the processing circuitry is configured to stop the exhaust fan and operate the duct fan, when the detected humidity exceeds the threshold value after the exhaust fan is operated for the second prescribed time. However this IS suggested when Koga teaches stopping operations when the humidity level has not exceeded either HI or H2. Thus It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to stop the exhaust fan and operate only the duct fan when the detected humidity exceeds the threshold value after the exhaust fan is operated for the second prescribed time, since this would facility maintaining the device above the H2 threshold.
Regarding claim 4, Koga teaches the drying device according to claim 1. Koga differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: the terminal board, airflow fans, humidity sensors being a plurality. Although the reference does not disclose a plurality of terminal boards, fans or humidity sensors, the court has held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced, In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). Therefore It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to duplicate the terminal board, fans and/or humidity sensor since doing so does not produce unexpected results, but rather the expected results of a machine with redundancy built in thus accounting for instances of failure of one of the terminal boards, fans or humidity sensor.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koga US 2008/0247774 A1 (Koga) and Fukusaka US 2009/0066010 A1 (Fukusaka).
Regarding claim 5, Koga teaches a drying system, comprising:
a first drying device (309) including:
a housing (900) in which an exhaust opening (392) and a connection opening (380) are arranged;
a conveyor (105) housed in the housing to convey a recording medium along a conveyance path (¶0033);
a heater (309) housed in the housing to heat the recording medium on the conveyance path (¶0049);
a connection terminal to connect a line routed from an outside of the housing, the line being connected to the connection terminal inside the housing (¶0093-¶0094);
a humidity sensor (91) to detect humidity inside the housing (¶0047);
an airflow fan (380) to move air inside the housing to generate an airflow passing the connection terminal (¶0067);
an exhaust fan (390) to discharge air inside the housing to an outside of the housing through the exhaust opening (392, ¶0067);
a duct fan (380, ¶0084) to discharge air inside the housing;
through an exhaust duct (351) connected to the connection opening (¶0049, ¶0084); and
a duct fan to discharge air inside the housing;
processing circuitry configured to (FIG. 5)
control operations of the airflow fan and the exhaust fan of the first drying device and the duct fan based on a detected humidity that is detected by the humidity sensor of the first drying device (FIG. 5).
Koga differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: a second drying device, control operations of the airflow fan and the exhaust fan of the second drying device and the duct fan based on a detected humidity that is detected by the humidity sensor of the second drying device; a first exhaust duct; a second exhaust duct; and a common exhaust duct. However this configuration is known. Fukusaka teaches a second drying device (144),
control operations of the airflow fan and the exhaust fan of the second drying device and the duct fan based on a detected humidity that is detected by the humidity sensor of the second drying device (FIG. 6); a first exhaust duct having an upstream end (A) connected to the connection opening (140) of the first drying device (143); a second exhaust duct having an upstream end (B) connected to the connection opening of the second drying device (144); and a common exhaust duct (140) having an upstream end communicating with each of a downstream end of the first exhaust duct and a downstream end of the second exhaust duct, the duct fan disposed in the common exhaust duct (FIG. 3). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device taught by Koga to include the configuration with a second dehumidifier as taught by Fukusaka since Fukusaka teaches this allows for the possibility of swiftly conditioning humidity in the sheet storage case (¶0012).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA L ELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9793. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Jr. Lindsay can be reached on (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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/JESSICA L ELEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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