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 § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 19 is 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.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the sheet feeding operation" in line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 6-9 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hashimoto [JP2007-160533, machine translation provided].
Hashimoto discloses a lamination processing system, comprising: a lamination processing section (pair of rolls) for superimposing and laminating a film on a sheet (paragraph 0013, 0027, 0041); a reader (inclination detection sensor) that reads the sheet laminated with the film (paragraph 0013, 0015, 0021-22, 0032-35, 0044-46); and a detector (inclination detection member / controller) that detects a positional deviation of the sheet with respect to the film based on a reading result by the reader (paragraph 0013, 0015, 0032-35, 0038, 0044-48).
With respect to claim 6, Hashimoto discloses the reader (camera) capable of reading the sheet in a range wider than a film width in a width direction of the sheet orthogonal to a feeding direction of the sheet (paragraphs 0021-22).
With respect to claim 7, Hashimoto discloses the detector capable of detecting the positional deviation in a sheet feeding direction and in a sheet width direction orthogonal to a feeding direction (Figures 2-6; paragraph 0015, 0021-22; 0032-0035, 0044-48).
With respect to claim 8, Hashimoto discloses the detector is capable of detecting the positional deviation based on a position of an end portion of the sheet with respect to an end portion of the film (Figures 2-6; paragraph 0015, 0021-22; 0032-0035, 0044-48).
With respect to claim 9, Hashimoto discloses the detector is capable of detecting an inclination or protrusion of the sheet with respect to the film as the positional deviation (Figures 2-6; paragraph 0015, 0021-22; 0032-0035, 0044-48).
With respect to claim 14, Hashimoto discloses a controller capable of controlling a feeding operation of the sheet based on a deviation amount detected by the detector (paragraph 0038, 0044-49).
With respect to claim 15, Hashimoto discloses a controller capable of controlling a feeding speed of the sheet based on the deviation amount of the sheet in a feeding direction of the sheet (paragraph 0038, 0044-49).
With respect to claim 16, Hashimoto discloses a controller capable of shifting a feeding position of the sheet in a width direction of the sheet based on the deviation amount of the sheet in the width direction of the sheet (paragraph 0038, 0044-49).
With respect to claim 17, Hashimoto discloses a controller capable of controlling a skew correction of the sheet when the sheet is inclined with respect to the film (paragraph 0038, 0044-49).
With respect to claim 18, Hashimoto discloses a lamination processing method, comprising: overlapping and laminating a film to a sheet (paragraph 0013, 0027, 0041); reading the sheet laminated with the film (paragraph 0013, 0015, 0032-35, 0038, 0044-48); and detecting a positional deviation of the sheet with respect to the film based on a reading result (paragraph 0013, 0015, 0032-35, 0038, 0044-48).
With respect to claim 19, Hashimoto discloses controlling the sheet feeding operation based on a detected deviation amount of the positional deviation (paragraph 0013, 0015, 0032-35, 0038, 0044-48).
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, 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 2-3, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto in view of Sasaki et al. [US2002/0166635, “Sasaki”].
Hashimoto discloses a lamination processing system. Applicant is referred to paragraph 5 for a detailed discussion of Hashimoto. With respect to claim 2, Hashimoto discloses a single film roll rather than a pair of film rollers.
Sasaki discloses a lamination processing system. Sasaki discloses a system that includes a pair of film rolls (2, 3) and feeds sheet (250) between the pair of film rolls to superimpose films (240, 241) on both surfaces of the sheet (250) (Figure 1; paragraphs 0031-33, 0043).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Hashimoto by including a pair of film rolls as taught by Sasaki in order to improve the efficiency of applying films on both sides of the sheet by performing both processes simultaneously.
With respect to claim 3, Hashimoto fails to disclose a cutting section. Sasaki discloses a cutting section (cutter 7) that cuts the film laminated on the sheet for each sheet (paragraph 0031). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Hashimoto to include a cutting section as taught by Sasaki in order to improve the quality of the final product by ensuring the film is the correct size for joining to the sheet, and to improve efficiency by not wasting extra film material. Hashimoto discloses the reader capable of reading, one by one, the sheets on which the film is cut by the cutting section.
With respect to claim 11, Hashimoto discloses a read but fails to disclose a light emitter that emits light and a light receiver that receives reflected light. Sasaki discloses a film detection sensor (11) and suggests a reflective type sensor (paragraph 0031, 0033), which one of ordinary skill in art would appreciate a reflective type sensor would require a source of light as a light emitter and a receiver that is capable of receiving reflected light. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Hashimoto by including a reflective type sensor as taught by Sasaki in order to improve the performance of the sensors.
With respect to claim 13, Hashimoto as modified by Sasaki would include a reader capable of detecting a film region by comparing an amount of light received by the light receiver with a first threshold value and detects a sheet region by comparing the amount of light received by the light receiver with a second threshold value different from the first threshold value.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto, Sasaki, and further in view of Kitada [US2009/0260738].
Hashimoto as modified discloses a lamination processing system. Applicant is referred to paragraph 7 for a detailed discussion of Hashimoto as modified. Sasaki teaches the inclusion of a reflective type detector but does not disclose a transmittance type detector as required by claim 12. Kitada discloses a method and system for laminating. Kitada discloses the system includes a sensor and suggest transmittance type detectors and reflective type detectors as known alternatives (paragraph 0068). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Hashimoto by substituting detector types for either one of the known alterative types which are reflective type detectors and transmittance type detectors, as a substitution of known alternatives to achieve a predictable result is within the ability of one of ordinary skill.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5 and 10 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
June 19, 2026
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