Detailed Action
The communications received 05/28/2025 have been filed and considered by the Examiner. Claims 1-7 are pending.
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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oguchi (2018/0347115) hereinafter OGU.
As for claim 1, OGU teaches a method of manufacturing a sheet [Abstract], comprising:
depositing a material containing fibers to form a web [Fig. 1 #60; 0060-63];
moistening the formed web [Fig. 1 #78; 0066];
transporting the web downstream with the web pressed against a first roller by a pressing roller [Fig. 1 #86; 0077-78];
after a transportation roller located downstream of the first roller nips the web, stretching the web with the pressing roller away from the first roller and the web (it is understood that the applied tension creates stretching) [Fig. 1 #85; 0077-78; 0096];
and drying the moistened web by heating the first roller, to manufacture a sheet (via the application of heat) [0095].
As for claim 2, OGU teaches claim 1 and further teaches when a leading end of the web reaches the transportation roller located downstream of the first roller and configured to transport the web, pressing the web wound around the first roller against the first roller by using the pressing roller (as this is understood to occur via the development of the accumulated web) [0063-68].
As for claim 4, OGU teaches claim 1 and after the pressing roller moves away from the web (when rolling, one segment of the pression roller rolls away from the web), pressing the web against the first roller by using the pressing roller (the other portion of the roller presses the web into the heating first roller) [0068].
As for claim 5, OGU teaches claim 4 and it is understood that if one considers the pressing load that is present at the location on the surface of the pressing roller that is moving away from the web, that will be a lower pressure than when the same location on the surface of the pressing roller moves back into contact with the web i.e. when the pressing roller moves towards the web after moving once away [0068].
As for claim 6, OGU teaches claim and a sheet manufacturing apparatus comprising:
a deposition unit configured to deposit a material containing fibers to form a web (accumulation unit) [Fig. 1 #60; 0060-63];
a humidification unit configured to moisten the formed web (moisture adjusting unit) [Fig. 1 #78; 0066];
and a forming unit configured to form the web into a sheet (sheet forming unit with cutting unit rollers) [Fig. 1 #84 and 90a; 0068; 0076],
wherein the forming unit includes a first roller configured to heat and dry the moistened web [Fig. 1 #84], a transportation roller located downstream of the first roller and configured to nip and transport the web [Fig. 1 #90a], and a pressing roller configured to press the web against the first roller (the bottom of the pair) [Fig. 1 #86], “the pressing roller presses the web against the first roller during a period from a point before a leading end of the web reaches a position of the pressing roller until the transportation roller nips the web, and the pressing roller moves away from the first roller and the web after the transportation roller nips the web” is a manner of operating the device which does not distinguish the apparatus of the prior art from the apparatus of the claimed invention [MEPP 2114].
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OGU in view of Murakami (US 2008/0317487) hereinafter MUR.
As for claim 3, OGU teaches claim 1 but does not teach the measuring of temperature and resultant control of the heating roller. However OGU does teach a control of the sheet manufacturing apparatus [0008; 0032] and that the heating roller is used to aid in the treatment of a resin applied to the web [0067].
MUR teaches that rollers which are used to interact with paper that have resin applied [Abstract] can include thermometers to detect the temperature at the surface of their heating rollers in order to maintain a surface temperature at a predetermined level [0166]. This aids in the control of the behavior of the resin as controlled application of the temperature determines which handling regime the resin will be in (closer to glass transition temperature, melting temperature etc.) [0135].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added the thermometer and control of the heated roller of MUR to the heated roller of OGU in order to better control the handling of the resin as it integrates with the paper web. As both OGU and MUR pertain to treating paper with resin, they are analogous art and one of ordinary skill in the art expects success in the combination.
As for claim 7, OGU teaches claim 6 but fails to teach a spring located in such a way that it could be operated to change a pressing load of the pressing roller for pressing the sheet against the first roller. However OGU does teach that the rollers are used to incorporate a binding resin into the web [0067].
MUR teaches that rollers which are used to interact with paper that have resin applied [Abstract] can include springs to aid in the application of pressure [0193]. This is done to aid in achieving the appropriate amount of pressure for binding the resin (to achieve plastic adhesion) [0150; 0178].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added a spring to the configuration to change the pressing load of the pressing roller of OGU as MUR teaches that a spring can be used to aid in achieving the appropriate amount of pressure for binding the resin with the paper/web. As both OGU and MUR pertain to the application of resin to bind paper, they are analogous art and one of ordinary skill in the art expects success in the application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elisa Vera whose telephone number is (571)270-7414. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 - 4:30.
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/E.V./Examiner, Art Unit 1748
/Abbas Rashid/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1748
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