6/24/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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
4. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 12/02/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Election/Restrictions
5. Applicant’s election without traverse of species I, disclosed in claims 1-4, 7-9, 11 and 14-20 in the reply filed on 06/24/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
7. Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
8. Regarding claim 8: Applicant disclosed the limitation “wherein, in a case where the flexible member is viewed in a direction perpendicular to a fixing surface to which the flexible member of the base body is fixed, the flexible member is provided at a position that overlaps the space and does not overlap the fixing surface”. It is unclear how the flexible member can be attached to a fixing surface of the base body without overlapping the fixing surface.
For examination purposes, the limitation will be construed as meaning that the flexible member does not exceed the fixing surface of the base body.
9. claim 9 is also rejected as being dependent on claim 9.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Claims 1-4, 7-9, 11 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda (US Pub. Nº 2002/0175976), in view of Yoshimura (JP 2012-139990).
13. Regarding independent claim 1: Okuda disclosed a liquid discharge head ([0032], line 1; also see Fig. 8a) comprising:
a nozzle from which a liquid is discharged ([0069], lines 9-10; also see Fig. 8a, reference 10);
pressure generator that generates a pressure for discharging the liquid from the nozzle ([0069], lines 5-6; also see Fig. 8a, reference 14);
a pressure chamber in which the pressure generator is formed inside ([0069], lines 2-3; also see Fig. 8a, reference 12);
a liquid flow-passage that communicates with the nozzle ([0069], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a, reference 15);
a space formed adjacently to the liquid flow-passage and separated from the liquid flow-passage ([0074], line 1; also see Fig. 8a, reference 13);
a base body constituting a wall part forming the liquid flow-passage and a wall part constituting the space ([0074], line 1; also see Fig. 8a, reference 4); and
a flexible member ([0071], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a, reference 3) made of a resin ([0071], line 1), fixed to the base body (Fig. 8a, reference 4), and separating the liquid flow-passage and the space (see Fig. 8a), the flexible member being warped in accordance with pressure fluctuation generated in the pressure chamber ([0071], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a. the flexible film 3 covering the space 13 forms a damper).
Okuda is silent about an inorganic film being provided on a surface of the flexible member.
Yoshimura disclosed a liquid discharge head (see Fig. 4), comprising a nozzle (Fig. 4, reference 4), a pressure chamber (Fig. 4, reference 6), a liquid flow path (Fig. 4, references 7, 8), a pressure generator (Fig. 4, reference 12), a space formed adjacently to the liquid flow-passage (Fig. 4, reference 38), a flexible member made of a resin ([0013], lines 1-2 and [0051], lines 4-7), fixed to a base body (Fig. 4, reference 20), wherein an inorganic film is provided on a surface of the flexible member ([0051], lines 4-7 and [0053], lines 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yoshimura with those of Okuda by providing a metal oxide film on the surface of the polyimide film of Okuda in order to prevent moisture evaporation of the ink in the common chamber as disclosed by Yoshimura in paragraph [0052].
14. Regarding claim 2: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film is constituted such that warping of the flexible member in a state in which the pressure generator is not generating a pressure is reduced (Yoshimura [0051], lines 4-7 and [0053], lines 1-2; a metallic layer applied on a surface of a flexible resin layer will intrinsically reduce the warping of the flexible resin layer).
15. Regarding claim 3: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film is formed on a surface facing the liquid flow-passage side of the flexible member (Yoshimura [0051], lines 4-7; also see Fig. 4, reference 35a on the lower surface of the resin film 35b).
16. Regarding claim 4: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 3, wherein a heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member is larger than the heat expansion coefficient of the base body (Yoshimura disclosed that the substrate is made of silicon and the flexible film 35b is made of a resin, therefore, the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member is larger than the heat expansion coefficient of the base body), and the heat expansion coefficient of the inorganic film is smaller than the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member (Yoshimura disclosed that the inorganic film is made of titanium oxide and the flexible member is made of polyimide, therefore, the heat expansion coefficient of the inorganic film is smaller than the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member).
17. Regarding claim 7: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the inorganic film is smaller than the thickness of the flexible member (Yoshimura Fig. 4 shows a thickness of the inorganic film 35a that is smaller than that of the flexible member 35a).
18. Regarding claim 8: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the flexible member is viewed in a direction perpendicular to a fixing surface to which the flexible member of the base body is fixed, the flexible member is provided at a position that overlaps the space and does not overlap the fixing surface (Yoshimura Fig. 4, the flexible member 35a does not exceed the limits of fixing surface of the base body 20).
19. Regarding claim 9: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the flexible members are disposed adjacently in a direction parallel to the fixing surface at intervals from each other (Okuda, Fig. 7; also see Yoshimura, Figs. 2 and 3).
20. Regarding claim 11: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film includes at least one of titanium oxide, tantalum oxide, and silicon carbide (Yoshimura [0053], lines 1-2).
21. Regarding claim 14: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic film is provided also on a surface on a side opposite to a fixing surface to which the flexible member of the base body is fixed (Yoshimura [0051], lines 4-6; also see Fig. 4, references 35a on both sides of 35b).
22. Regarding claim 15: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the base body is formed of a silicon substrate (Yoshimura [0022], line 4).
23. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda (US Pub. Nº 2002/0175976), in view of Yoshimura (JP 2012-139990) as applied to claims 1-4, 7-9, 11 and 14-15 above and further in view of Takeuchi (JP 2021-137974).
24. Regarding claim 16: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the liquid discharge head has a nozzle substrate (Okuda Fig. 8, reference 1) including the nozzle (Okuda Fig. 8, reference 10), a pressure chamber substrate (Okuda Fig. 8, reference 5) including the pressure chamber (Okuda Fig. 8, reference 12), and a flow-passage substrate (Okuda Fig. 8, references 2, 4) including the liquid flow-passage communicating with the pressure chamber in this order (Okuda Fig. 8, reference 15).
The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura is silent about the inorganic film being provided such that a liquid path including the liquid flow-passage, the pressure chamber, and the nozzle are continuously covered.
Takeuchi disclosed a liquid discharge head (see Fig. 4), comprising a nozzle (Fig. 4, reference NZ), a pressure generator (Fig. 4, reference 34), a pressure chamber (Fig. 4, reference C1), a liquid flow passage (Fig. 4, reference 31a-c) and further comprising an inorganic film ([0038], lines 1-2), provided such that a liquid path including the liquid flow-passage, the pressure chamber, and the nozzle are continuously covered (Fig. 4 shows the inorganic film 62 covering a liquid path including the liquid flow-passage 31a-c, the pressure chamber C1, and the nozzle NZ continuously).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Takeuchi with those of the combination of Okuda and Yoshimura by covering the entire liquid flow passage with an inorganic film in order to prevent crosstalk between adjacent pressure chambers and adjacent liquid flow paths as disclosed by Takeuchi in paragraph [0045], lines 18-20.
25. Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda (US Pub. Nº 2002/0175976), in view of Yoshimura (JP 2012-139990).
26. Regarding claim 17: Okuda disclosed a manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head ([0032], line 1; also see Fig. 8a), the liquid discharge head including a nozzle from which a liquid is discharged ([0069], lines 9-10; also see Fig. 8a, reference 10), pressure generator that generates a pressure for discharging the liquid from the nozzle ([0069], lines 5-6; also see Fig. 8a, reference 14), a pressure chamber in which the pressure generator is formed inside ([0069], lines 2-3; also see Fig. 8a, reference 12), a liquid flow-passage communicating with the nozzle ([0069], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a, reference 15), a space formed adjacently to the liquid flow-passage and separated from the liquid flow-passage ([0074], line 1; also see Fig. 8a, reference 13), a base body constituting a wall part forming the liquid flow-passage and a wall part forming the space ([0074], line 1; also see Fig. 8a, reference 4), a flexible member ([0071], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a, reference 3) made of a resin ([0071], line 1), which is fixed to the base body (Fig. 8a, reference 4), separates the liquid flow-passage and the space from each other (see Fig. 8a) and is warped in accordance with pressure fluctuation generated in the pressure chamber ([0071], lines 3-4; also see Fig. 8a. the flexible film 3 covering the space 13 forms a damper), the manufacturing method comprising:
a process of applying an adhesive on a surface of the base body ([0067], lines 1-3);
a process of bonding the flexible member on the surface of the base body on which the adhesive was applied ([0067], lines 1-3);
a process of executing heat treatment and hardening the adhesive (the drying process of the adhesive not shown).
Okuda is silent about an inorganic film provided on a surface of the flexible member, using a process of forming the inorganic film on the surface of the flexible member.
Yoshimura disclosed a liquid discharge head (see Fig. 4), comprising a nozzle (Fig. 4, reference 4), a pressure chamber (Fig. 4, reference 6), a liquid flow path (Fig. 4, references 7, 8), a pressure generator (Fig. 4, reference 12), a space formed adjacently to the liquid flow-passage (Fig. 4, reference 38), a flexible member made of a resin ([0013], lines 1-2 and [0051], lines 4-7), fixed to a base body (Fig. 4, reference 20), wherein an inorganic film is provided on a surface of the flexible member ([0051], lines 4-7 and [0053], lines 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yoshimura with those of Okuda by providing a metal oxide film on the surface of the polyimide film of Okuda in order to prevent moisture evaporation of the ink in the common chamber as disclosed by Yoshimura in paragraph [0052].
27. Regarding claim 18: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head according to claim 17, wherein the inorganic film is formed such that the inorganic film covers exposed surfaces of the base body and the flexible member (Yoshimura Fig. 4, metallic film 35a covers exposed surfaces of base body 20 and the flexible member 35b).
28. Regarding claim 19: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head according to claim 17, wherein the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member is larger than the heat expansion coefficient of the base body (Yoshimura disclosed that the substrate is made of silicon and the flexible film 35b is made of a resin, therefore, the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member is larger than the heat expansion coefficient of the base body), and the heat expansion coefficient of the inorganic film is smaller than the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member (Yoshimura disclosed that the inorganic film is made of titanium oxide and the flexible member is made of polyimide, therefore, the heat expansion coefficient of the inorganic film is smaller than the heat expansion coefficient of the flexible member); and wherein the inorganic film is formed on a surface on a side opposite to a fixed surface fixed to the base body of the flexible member (Yoshimura [0051], lines 4-7).
29. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda (US Pub. Nº 2002/0175976), in view of Yoshimura (JP 2012-139990) as applied to claims 17-19 above and further in view of Takeuchi (JP 2021-137974).
30. Regarding claim 20: The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura disclosed the manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head according to claim 17.
The combination of Okuda and Yoshimura is silent about wherein, in the process of forming the inorganic film on the surface of the flexible member, the inorganic film is formed also at least on a surface of one of the nozzle, the liquid flow-passage, the pressure chamber, and the pressure generator at the same time.
Takeuchi disclosed a liquid discharge head (see Fig. 4), comprising a nozzle (Fig. 4, reference NZ), a pressure generator (Fig. 4, reference 34), a pressure chamber (Fig. 4, reference C1), a liquid flow passage (Fig. 4, reference 31a-c) and further comprising an inorganic film ([0038], lines 1-2), provided such that a liquid path including the liquid flow-passage, the pressure chamber, and the nozzle are continuously covered (Fig. 4 shows the inorganic film 62 covering a liquid path including the liquid flow-passage 31a-c, the pressure chamber C1, and the nozzle NZ continuously).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Takeuchi with those of the combination of Okuda and Yoshimura by covering the entire liquid flow passage with an inorganic film in order to prevent crosstalk between adjacent pressure chambers and adjacent liquid flow paths as disclosed by Takeuchi in paragraph [0045], lines 18-20.
Conclusion
31. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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33. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICARDO MAGALLANES can be reached at (571)272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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