DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-3, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fujikura et al. (US Pub No. 2023/0303347 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Fujikura et al. discloses
a loading table (22) on which a plurality of sheets are loaded;
a flotation air supply unit (30, 50) that causes the sheets to float by supplying air toward the edge surfaces of the plurality of sheets which are loaded on the loading table;
a suction conveying unit (40) that suctions and conveys the topmost sheet among the plurality of sheets which are caused to float by the supply of air;
an image capturing unit (70/72, [0069]) that captures an image of a flotation state of the plurality of sheets which are caused to float by the supply of air;
a control parameter adjusting unit (61D, Fig. 8) that adjusts control parameters of the flotation air supply unit based on information on the flotation state obtained from the image captured by the image capturing unit ([0080]-[0084]); and
a control unit (61E, Fig. 8) that controls the flotation air supply unit based on the control parameters adjusted by the control parameter adjusting unit ([0085]).
Regarding Claim 2, Fujikura et al. discloses
the control parameter adjusting unit obtains at least one of a position of the floating sheets (i.e. [0078]-[0080]), a number of floating sheets, a state of suction to the suction conveying unit, a shifted state of the sheets, and a scattered state of the sheets as information on the flotation state.
Regarding Claim 3, Fujikura et al. discloses
the control parameter adjusting unit adjusts the control parameters based on the information on the flotation state obtained from the captured image and the results of sheet feeding ([0080]).
Regarding Claim 8, Fujikura et al. discloses
causing a plurality of sheets of paper which loaded on a loading table (22) to float by supplying air (via 30, 50) toward edge surfaces of the sheets;
suctioning and conveying (via 40) the topmost sheet of the plurality of floating sheets;
capturing an image (via 70/72, [0069]) of a flotation state of the plurality of sheets of paper by supplying the air;
adjusting control parameters (via 61D, Fig. 8) of a flotation air supply unit that supplies the air based on information on the flotation state obtained from the captured image; and
controlling (61E, Fig. 8) the flotation air supply unit based on the adjusted control parameters.
Regarding Claim 9, Fujikura et al. discloses
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium (63) containing a sheet supply program (i.e. 63A) that causes a computer to execute the steps of:
causing a plurality of sheets of paper which loaded on a loading table (22) to float by supplying air (via 30, 50) toward edge surfaces of the sheets;
suctioning and conveying (via 40) the topmost sheet of the plurality of floating sheets;
capturing an image (via 70/72, [0069]) of a flotation state of the plurality of sheets of paper by supplying the air;
adjusting control parameters (via 61D, Fig. 8) of a flotation air supply unit that supplies the air based on information on the flotation state obtained from the captured image; and
controlling (61E, Fig. 8) the flotation air supply unit based on the adjusted control parameters.
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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujikura et al. (US Pub No. 2023/0303347 A1) in view of Takahashi et al. (US Patent No. 12,515,904 B2).
Regarding Claim 4, Fujikura et al. discloses adjusting the control parameters based on the information on the flotation state obtained from the captured image and the results of sheet feeding ([0080]) but not explicitly based on sheet quality information.
Takahashi et al. discloses doing so based on sheet quality information (lines 19-43 of Column 4), for the purpose of reducing co-feeding. It is noted that as per [0065] of Applicant’s specification, “sheet quality” refers to sheet size and type.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Fujikura et al. by including the sheet quality
information basis as disclosed by Takahashi et al., for the purpose of reducing co-
feeding.
Claim(s) 5, 6 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujikura et al. (US Pub No. 2023/0303347 A1) in view of Gunji (US Pub No. 2020/0230981 A1).
Regarding Claims 5, 6 and 10, Fujikura et al. discloses adjusting control parameters based on flotation state information obtained from the captured image when the sheet feeding was performed as per Claim 1 above but does not disclose a learning model.
Gunji discloses a learning model obtained by prior reinforcement learning ([0064], [0069]) and trained by rewards ([0069]), for the purpose of precisely correcting a setting value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Fujikura et al. by including the learning model as
disclosed by Gunji, for the purpose of precisely correcting a setting value. It is noted that
since Fujikura et al. already adjusts the control parameters using the claimed
relationship, the learning model would merely be applied to the same relationship and
that the rewards would be based on the flotation state/sheet feeding (i.e. the same input
as used by Fujikura et al.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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: None of the prior art of record shows terminating adjustment of a control parameter when positive rewards are obtained consecutively by the same control parameters (Claim 7).
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 PRASAD GOKHALE whose telephone number is (571)270-3543. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am - 5:30pm.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PRASAD V GOKHALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 January 21, 2026