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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2023-213643 was received on 14 January 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03 December 2024 and 15 May 2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 03 December 2024 are accepted.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gebhardt et al. (WO 2013/178675 A1), hereinafter Gebhardt.
With regard to Claim 1, Gebhardt discloses a head unit (¶0057; printing unit D with head 5; Figs. 1-5) comprising:
a recording head (5) that has a nozzle surface on which a plurality of nozzles are disposed (¶0038) and is movable between a first position and a second position (¶0056-0058; Figs. 2A-2B; 1);
a cap (cover 5.2; ¶0058) that is provided on the recording head (¶0074; closure 5.2 can be designed as automatically snapping cover which, when printhead 5 is moved, can be automatically pushed, retracted, or folded in front of nozzle surface 5.1 from an area near the nozzle surface 5.1, by the inkjet printhead 5 or its holder 6) and is movable between a third position that covers the nozzle surface (¶0058; 0074) and a fourth position that opens the nozzle surface (¶0058; 0074); and
an interlocking mechanism that moves the cap from the third position to the fourth position by an operation of moving the recording head from the first position to the second position (¶0057-0058; 0068-0074; Figs. 1-2, 4-5) and moves the cap from the fourth position to the third position by an operation of moving the recording head from the second position to the first position (¶0057-0058; 0068-0074; Figs. 1-2, 4-5).
With regard to Claim 15, Gebhardt further discloses a driving unit that moves the recording head between the first position and the second position (¶0054).
With regard to Claim 16, Gebhardt discloses an ink jet recording device (Abstract) comprising: a transport unit that transports a medium (Abstract); and the head unit according to claim 1 that records an image on the medium by jetting an ink from the nozzle toward the medium transported by the transport unit (Abstract; Figs. 3-4; See Claim 1 above).
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-6, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinoshita et al. (US 6,015,211), hereinafter Kinoshita, in view of Gebhardt.
With regard to Claim 1, Kinoshita discloses a head unit (Fig. 4) comprising:
a recording head (print head 13) that has a nozzle surface on which a plurality of nozzles are disposed (Col. 11, Lines 54-61) and is movable between a first position and a second position (Col. 12, Lines 39-52; Figs. 2, 4, 6, 19, and 20);
a cap (cap portion 50a) that is provided on the recording head (Figs. 2, 4, 6, 19, and 20) and is movable between a third position that covers the nozzle surface Figs. 2, 4, 6, 19, and 20) and a fourth position that opens the nozzle surface (Figs. 2, 4, 6, 19, and 20); and
an interlocking mechanism that moves the cap from the third position to the fourth position by an operation of moving the recording head from the first position to the second position (¶0057-0058; 0068-0074; Figs. 1-2, 4-5) and moves the cap from the fourth position to the third position by an operation of moving the recording head from the second position to the first position (¶0057-0058; 0068-0074; Figs. 1-2, 4-5).
Kinoshita discloses the cap member is provided in confrontation with the print head surface and supported on the case 2 that houses the print head 13 (Col. 13, Lines 61- Col. 14, Line 15), but does not explicitly disclose a cap that is provided on the recording head.
The secondary reference of Gebhardt discloses a cap member provided on the recording head (¶0074; closure 5.2 can be designed as automatically snapping cover which, when printhead 5 is moved, can be automatically pushed, retracted, or folded in front of nozzle surface 5.1 from an area near the nozzle surface 5.1, by the inkjet printhead 5 or its holder 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the cap member on the head of Gebhardt, with the head unit of Kinoshita, in order to simplify the apparatus, and allow easy disassembly and assembly of the printhead, as taught by Gebhart (¶0075).
With regard to Claim 2, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the recording head moves between the first position and the second position by linear motion (Figs. 4, 6 and 20-21; Col 13, Line 62 to Col 14, Line 65; Col. 15), the cap moves between the third position and the fourth position by arc motion (Figs. 4, 6 and 20-21; Col 13, Line 62 to Col 14, Line 65; Col. 15) and the interlocking mechanism converts the linear motion of the recording head into the arc motion of the cap (Figs. 4, 6 and 20-21; Col 13, Line 62 to Col 14, Line 65; Col. 15).
With regard to Claim 3, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the interlocking mechanism includes a biasing member that biases the cap toward the fourth position, and an engaging member that engages with the cap at a constant position with respect to the recording head that moves from the second position to the first position and moves the cap from the fourth position to the third position against a biasing force of the biasing member.
With respect to Claim 3 above, Kinoshita discloses the similar structure and parts as set forth in claim 4 below, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to re-arrange the parts, specifically the biasing, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
With regard to Claim 4, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the interlocking mechanism includes a biasing member that biases the cap toward the third position (Col. 14, Lines 1-25; sprint 53 urges cap 52 into capping position), and an engaging member that engages with the cap at a constant position with respect to the recording head that moves from the first position to the second position and moves the cap from the third position to the fourth position against a biasing force of the biasing member (Col. 7, Lines 51-60; Figs. 20-21).
With regard to Claim 5, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the interlocking mechanism is configured by a combination of gears including a rack and a pinion (Fig. 11).
With regard to Claim 6, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the interlocking mechanism is configured by a cam mechanism or a link mechanism that converts linear motion into arc motion (Figs. 4, 6 and 20-21; Col 13, Line 62 to Col 14, Line 65; Col. 15).
With regard to Claim 14, Kinoshita further discloses wherein the cap (15/150; Fig. 19-21; Fig. 4) moves between the third position and the fourth position by arc motion (15/150; Fig. 19-21; Fig. 4) about an axis parallel to an arrangement direction of the nozzle (Fig. 22), and in a cross section orthogonal to the axis (15/150; Fig. 19-21; Fig. 4), a portion of the cap closest to the axis is an edge portion of the cap (15/150; Fig. 19-21; Fig. 4).
Claims 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gebhardt, in view of Sugimoto (US PGPub 2011/0242195 A1).
With regard to Claim 17, Gebhardt does not explicitly disclose wherein the head unit records the image on the medium in a single pass.
The secondary reference of Sugimoto discloses wherein the head unit records the image on the medium in a single pass (Fig. 1; ¶0026).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the single pass head of Sugimoto, with the head of Gebhardt, in order to enable ink droplets to be ejected across the full recording width of the conveyed recording sheet, as taught by Sugimoto (¶0026).
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: The primary reasons for allowability for Claim 7 is that applicants claimed invention includes a head unit wherein the cap has a hollow shape that is open, and an opening portion is disposed to face the nozzle surface at the third position. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claims 8-13 are allowable because they depend from Claim 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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