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
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1,2,6,7,13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishikawa et al. USP 8,439,341.
Ishikawa discloses, regarding claims 1,13, An image forming system (1000) comprising:
an image forming unit (300) including an image forming portion configured to form an image on a sheet; and
a sheet processing apparatus (500) configured to perform a pressing process on a sheet bundle subjected to a half-folding process or the sheet bundle subjected to a saddle binding process and the half-folding process and perform a square back process on the sheet bundle subjected to the saddle binding process and the half-folding process, the sheet bundle being formed from sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming portion,
wherein the sheet processing apparatus includes
a conveyance portion (811a,811b; fig.2) configured to convey the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding process or the sheet bundle subjected to the saddle binding process and the half-folding process such that a spine of the sheet bundle is positioned downstream of a fore edge thereof in a conveyance direction in which the conveyance portion conveys the sheet bundle,
a pair of clamp units (890a,890b) configured to clamp the sheet bundle,
a first pressing unit (870) configured to press, toward the pair of clamp units, the spine of the sheet bundle protruding downstream in the conveyance direction with respect to the pair of clamp units in a state in which the sheet bundle is clamped by the pair of clamp units, so as to perform the square back process on the spine of the sheet bundle by moving the first pressing unit in a width direction (A) of the sheet bundle in a state in which the spine of the sheet bundle is pressed toward the pair of clamp units, and
a second pressing unit (861a,861b) configured to perform the pressing process on a folding line of the sheet bundle by moving in the width direction (A) of the sheet bundle while nipping the folding line of the sheet bundle.
Regarding claim 2, wherein a protrusion amount of the sheet bundle from a downstream end surface of the pair of clamp units in the conveyance direction in a case of performing the pressing process by the second pressing unit (position P1 in fig.4) is larger than a protrusion amount of the sheet bundle from the downstream end surface of the pair of clamp units in the conveyance direction in a case of performing the square back process (position P2 in fig.5) (see also at least C4/L40-60).
Regarding claim 6, further comprising:
a coupling mechanism configured to couple the first pressing unit and the second pressing unit to each other (both units move integrally as part of element 860; see at least fig.2-4); and
a drive source (910; fig.6) configured to move the first pressing unit and the second pressing unit coupled to each other by the coupling mechanism in the width direction of the sheet bundle.
Regarding claim 7, wherein the drive source moves the first pressing unit and the second pressing unit in the width direction (A) of the sheet bundle in a case where the second pressing unit is moved in the width direction of the sheet bundle and the first pressing unit is coupled to the second pressing unit by the coupling mechanism (see at least fig.3, and S1009 in fig.11).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3-5,8-12 are 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.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Watanabe et al. (USP 8,459,630) discloses a sheet processing apparatus comprising a first pressing unit (411) and a second pressing unit (403-406).
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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 C 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.
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/LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 6/18/2026
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