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. 2021-192447 was received on 27 November 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09 December 2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 09 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 1-6, 9 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (US PGPub 2017/0282564 A1), hereinafter Suzuki.
With regard to Claim 1, Suzuki discloses a liquid discharge apparatus (Fig. 1; Abstract) comprising:
a container configured to contain liquid to be supplied to a discharge head and including an injection portion for injecting the liquid into the container (Figs. 1-4 and 10-11; ¶0086; tank 10; ¶0095);
a cap member including a cap portion for capping the injection portion and swingable to a closed position where the cap portion closes the injection portion and an open position where the cap portion does not close the injection portion (Figs. 4, 7, 11; cap member 57 having cap portion 53; ¶0105, injection portion 45; see Fig. 4 for cap closed and cap opened examples); and
a tank access cover (Figs. 1-4; ¶0105, cover 47) swingable to a closed position covering the cap member (Figs. 1-3) and an open position exposing the cap member (Fig. 4),
wherein a swing axis of the cap member (See Fig. 9, cap member 57 swing axis is x-direction) and a swing axis of the tank access cover are in different directions each other (cover 47 swing axis is y-direction as shown, See Figs. 3-4, 9).
With regard to Claim 2, Suzuki further discloses wherein the swing axis of the cap member is parallel to a first direction (See Fig. 9, cap member 57 swing axis is x-direction) and the swing axis of the tank access cover is parallel to a second direction (cover 47 swing axis is y-direction as shown, See Figs. 3-4, 9), and wherein the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal (Figs. 3-4, 9, x and y axis are orthogonal).
With regard to Claim 3, Suzuki further discloses an access cover (scanner unit 5; ¶0080, See Fig. 3) configured to be opened in performing a maintenance operation on an inside of the liquid discharge apparatus (scanner unit 5; ¶0080, See Fig. 3), wherein the access cover does not cover the cap member (scanner unit 5; ¶0080, See Fig. 3).
With regard to Claim 4, Suzuki further discloses a carriage configured to carry the discharge head (Fig. 3; ¶0090, 0095).
With regard to Claim 5, Suzuki further discloses a reading unit configured to read document images (¶0088, scanner unit 5).
With regard to Claim 6, Suzuki further discloses wherein the reading unit is opened in performing a maintenance operation on an inside of the liquid discharge apparatus (Fig. 3).
With regard to Claim 9, Suzuki further discloses a tube (Fig. 3; tube 43) configured to connect the discharge head and the container (¶0095).
With regard to Claim 14, Suzuki further discloses a discharge portion from which a recording medium recorded by the discharge head is discharged (Fig. 1; paper ejection portion 21; ¶0084), wherein the container is provided on a right side of the discharge portion when the liquid discharge apparatus is viewed from the front (Fig. 1).
With regard to Claim 15, Suzuki further discloses wherein the liquid is ink (Abstract), and the liquid discharge apparatus is a recording apparatus configured to discharge the ink to a recording medium by the discharge head (¶0006-0008).
With regard to Claim 16, Suzuki further discloses wherein a bottle (Fig. 21; bottle 94) for ink replenishment is inserted in the injection portion (Figs. 10-11, 21; ¶0132-0134).
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 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki, in view of Tanaka et al. (US PGPub 2018/0311964 A1), hereinafter Tanaka.
With regard to Claim 7, Suzuki further discloses a conveying roller configured to convey a recording medium in a conveying direction (¶0090, 0098); and a setting portion for setting the recording medium, the setting portion being provided upstream of the conveying roller in the conveying direction (¶0090, 0098).
Suzuki discloses feeding the medium to the printhead and then ejecting the medium, but does not explicitly disclose a conveying roller; the setting portion being provided upstream of the conveying roller in the conveying direction.
The secondary reference of Tanaka discloses a conveying roller (Fig. 2; conveyance roller 16; ¶0022); the setting portion being provided upstream of the conveying roller in the conveying direction (feeding unit 500).
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 conveyance roller of Tanaka, with the liquid discharge apparatus of Suzuki, in order to convey the recording medium, as taught by Tanaka (¶0022).
With regard to Claim 8, Suzuki does not explicitly disclose a feeding cover configured to cover the setting portion.
The secondary reference of Tanaka discloses a feeding cover configured to cover the setting portion (Figs. 1-2, 5; see foldable cover for medium setting unit (unlabeled)).
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki, in view of Matsumura et al. (US PGPub 2017/0120617 A1), hereinafter Matsumura.
With regard to Claim 10, Suzuki does not explicitly disclose a cap configured to cap a discharge surface of the discharge head.
The secondary reference of Matsumura discloses a cap configured to cap a discharge surface of the discharge head (¶0025, suction cap).
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 suction cap of Matsumura, with the discharge apparatus of Suzuki, in order to recover an ejection performance of the recording head, as taught by Matsumura (¶0025).
With regard to Claim 11, Matsumura further discloses a pump, connected to the cap, for suction a liquid from the discharge head (¶0025, 0032, suction mechanism 52 performs suction operation via the cap).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki, in view of Oguchi et al. (US PGPub 2021/0060964 A1), hereinafter Oguchi.
With regard to Claim 12, Suzuki further discloses an operational unit (See Fig. 2, operation panel console on front face 22 of printer), however Suzuki does not explicitly disclose the operational unit is configured to receive operations by an operator.
The secondary reference of Oguchi discloses an operational unit configured to receive operations by an operator (¶0023).
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 operation panel of Oguchi, with the operational console of Suzuki, in order to perform various operations of the printing apparatus and display information or the like, as taught by Oguchi (¶0023).
With regard to Claim 13, Suzuki further discloses a carriage configured to carry the discharge head in a scanning direction (Fig. 3; ¶0090, 0095); and a discharge portion from which a recording medium recorded by the discharge head is discharged (Fig. 1; paper eject portion 21; ¶0084), wherein the operational unit and the discharge portion overlap in the scanning direction (Figs. 1-3).
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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