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 .
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, 3-6, 8, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sugiyama (US 2018/0309896), cited in the IDS dated 12/16/24.
Regarding claim 1, Sugiyama discloses an imager comprising:
an imaging circuit board including a hole (see Fig. 1 and paras 39, 47, and 64, image sensor unit 1 includes sensor substrate 15 that includes a wiring board 152, the sensor substrate 15 includes holes);
a frame including a projection that includes a base and an end portion projecting from the hole (see Fig. 1 and paras 44-45, 55, 68, and 73, housing 10 includes attachments protrusions to connecting a rigid member 4, substrate 15, light guide 12 and light guide cover 13); and
a restrictor located between the end portion and the hole, wherein the restrictor includes an opening through which the base passes (see Fig. 5 and paras 55-56, 58-61, 69-69, and 78, fitting protrusions 44 are restrictors that are located between the housing 10 and the rigid member 4),
wherein the imaging circuit board is fixed to the frame by the end portion and the restrictor, and the opening is smaller than the hole in a main scanning direction of the imaging circuit board (see Figs. 1 and 5 and paras 74-75 and 78, sensor substrate 15 is fixed to housing 10 via fitting protrusions).
Regarding claim 3, Sugiyama further discloses wherein the restrictor includes paper, metal, or resin (see paras 59 and 61, the protrusions are resin).
Regarding claim 4, Sugiyama further discloses wherein clearance between the hole and the base is larger in the main scanning direction than in a sub-scanning direction in the imaging circuit board (see paras 60, 63, 68, and 73, clearance is larger in the main scanning direction than in the sub-scanning direction).
Regarding claim 5, Sugiyama further discloses an image reading apparatus comprising the imager according to claim 1; and control circuitry configured to control imaging operation performed by the imager (see para 64, image sensor unit 1 is assembled in an image reading apparatus 7).
Regarding claim 6, Sugiyama discloses an imager comprising:
an imaging circuit board including a hole (see Fig. 1 and paras 39, 47, and 64, image sensor unit 1 includes sensor substrate 15 that includes a wiring board 152, the sensor substrate 15 includes holes); and
a frame including a projection that includes a base and an end portion projecting from the hole (see Fig. 1 and paras 44-45, 55, 68, and 73, housing 10 includes attachments protrusions to connecting a rigid member 4, substrate 15, light guide 12 and light guide cover 13),
wherein the end portion is longer than the base in a sub-scanning direction of the imaging circuit board and is equal to or shorter than the base in a main scanning direction of the imaging circuit board (see Fig. 1), and
the imaging circuit board is fixed to the frame by the end portion in the sub-scanning direction (see paras 44-45, 55, 59-61, 68, 73, and 78, sensor substrate 15 is fixed to housing 10 via fitting protrusions).
Regarding claim 8, Sugiyama further discloses wherein clearance between the hole and the base is larger in the main scanning direction than in the sub-scanning direction (see paras 60, 63, 68, and 73, clearance is larger in the main scanning direction than in the sub-scanning direction).
Regarding claim 9, Sugiyama further discloses an image reading apparatus comprising: the imager according to claim 6; and control circuitry configured to control imaging operation performed by the imager (see para 64, image sensor unit 1 is assembled in an image reading apparatus 7).
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.
Claims 2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Sugiyama as applied to claims 1 and 6 above, and further in view of Shishido (JP 2013-171963), reference will be made to the provided machine translation.
Sugiyama does not disclose expressly wherein the restrictor restricts a part of the end portion that is melted from flowing into the hole.
Shishido discloses wherein the restrictor restricts a part of the end portion that is melted from flowing into the hole (see page 4, paras 5-10, resist regions prevent solder from flowing into holes 16 of the printed circuit board 10).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the resist regions, as described by Shishido, with the system of Sugiyama.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to prevent the possibility of contact and short circuit (Shishido page 2 para 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Shishido with Sugiyama to obtain the invention as specified in claims 2 and 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK R MILIA whose telephone number is (571) 272-7408. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.
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, Akwasi Sarpong can be reached at 571-270-3438. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARK R MILIA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
Prosecution Insights