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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 8 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.
All claims must end in a period (MPEP 608.01(m)). Since claim 8 is lacking a period, it is unclear if the omission is merely a typo or if the claim is incomplete. As such, the claim is rendered indefinite.
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.
Claims 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647).
Regarding claim 2, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches an image forming apparatus (fig.1) comprising: a first surface (fig.3A&B, #2a parallel with #53) which is configured to be an outside surface of the image forming apparatus with respect to a first direction (fig.3A&B, direction perpendicular to the plane of #53) and on which an air inlet opening is formed (fg.3A&B, #59); a fan disposed inside of the first surface with respect to the first direction (fig.3C, #58), the fan being configured to take in an air into an inside of the image forming apparatus through the air inlet opening (para.0030-0031) and send the air in a second direction perpendicular to both the first direction and a vertical direction (fig.5, air flow along straight section of #51 is perpendicular to the vertical and direction into the center of fan #58); and a duct including (i) an upstream opening which is formed at an upstream end of the duct with respect to the second direction (fig.5, #57a) and (ii) a downstream opening which is formed at a downstream end of the duct in the second direction (fig.5, portion of #57 connected to #54d; second direction is left-right in fig.5), wherein the air taken in by the fan flows inside the duct through the upstream opening and is discharged outside the duct through the downstream opening (see fig.6), wherein with respect to the vertical direction, at least part of the upstream opening and at least part of the downstream opening are at a same level (fig.5, part of #57a that joins with horizontal part of #57 is at same level as #54d), and wherein with respect to the first direction, at least part of the upstream opening and at least part of the downstream opening are at a same distance (fig.3B, walls #54a and #54b are a uniform depth, thus portion of #57/#54 adjacent to #57a and adjacent to #54b are at the same distance in a into-the-plate#53 direction).
Regarding claim 3, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches an image forming apparatus further comprising: an electric component disposed inside the duct (fig.3C&6, unlabeled component on #50; para.0032).
Regarding claim 4, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches an image forming apparatus further comprising: a power supply board including the electric component and being disposed inside the duct (fig.3C&6, #50; para.0029&0032: an electronic component utilized power and thus, circuit board #50 is a board that supplies power to the component), and a supporting member to which the power supply board is fixed, wherein the supporting member is part of the duct (fig.3B&6, #54; para.0032).
Regarding claim 5, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches an image forming apparatus wherein at least part of the air inlet opening is disposed upstream of the upstream opening with respect to the second direction (fig.3A&5 #59 is overlapping with #58, thus upstream of where #57a opens and where #57a joins with horizontal #57).
Claims 2-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806).
Regarding claim 2, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus (fig.1&2) comprising: a first surface (fig.2, left panel #62) which is configured to be an outside surface of the image forming apparatus with respect to a first direction (fig.2, direction parallel to right-hand panel #62) and on which an air inlet opening is formed (fig.2, opening in left wall through which #61 passes and where #60 is); a fan disposed inside of the first surface with respect to the first direction (fig.4, #64), the fan being configured to take in an air into an inside of the image forming apparatus through the air inlet opening (fig.4, through entering #60 and #66; para.0044) and send the air in a second direction perpendicular to both the first direction and a vertical direction (see fig.4, air flow across #63 perpendicular to the vertical and into-the-page directions); and a duct (fig.2&3) including (i) an upstream opening which is formed at an upstream end of the duct with respect to the second direction (fig.3&4, in vicinity of #64a) and (ii) a downstream opening which is formed at a downstream end of the duct in the second direction (fig.2&3, downstream part of duct adjacent to #68), wherein the air taken in by the fan flows inside the duct through the upstream opening and is discharged outside the duct through the downstream opening (see fig.2&4), wherein with respect to the vertical direction, at least part of the upstream opening and at least part of the downstream opening are at a same level (see fig.2&4), and wherein with respect to the first direction, at least part of the upstream opening and at least part of the downstream opening are at a same distance (see fig.2&4).
Regarding claim 3, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus further comprising: an electric component disposed inside the duct (fig.3, unlabeled component on #63; para.0046).
Regarding claim 4, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus further comprising: a power supply board including the electric component and being disposed inside the duct (fig.3; #63; para.0054), and a supporting member to which the power supply board is fixed, wherein the supporting member is part of the duct (fig.3, not shown, but must be present to hold #63 in position shown).
Regarding claim 5, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus wherein at least part of the air inlet opening is disposed upstream of the upstream opening with respect to the second direction (fig.4, area of #60 is upstream of #64A).
Regarding claim 6, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus wherein a discharge opening is formed on the first surface (fig.2, #68 on left #62), wherein the air passing through the downstream opening is discharged outside the image forming apparatus through the discharge opening (see fig.2), and wherein at least part of the discharge opening is disposed downstream of the downstream opening with respect to the second direction (fig.2&4, if this was not the case, the most downstream components of #63 would not be sufficiently cooled).
Regarding claim 7, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) teaches an image forming apparatus wherein a rotational axis of the fan extends along the second direction (fig.4, #64 appears to have an axis that extends along the second direction as well as a vertical direction component).
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) in view of Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806).
Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, upon which claim 7 depends.
However, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches the use of a blower style fan and fails to teach a rotational axis of the fan extending along the second direction.
Regarding claim 7, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) discloses an image forming apparatus (fig.1&2) with an air feeding device (fig.4, #64) placed inside a cover and drawing air from outside (fig.4, see flow) to be directed at an angle into a path that travels substantially horizontally past an electronic component (see fig.4), wherein the air feeding device can be one of a blower style fan, an axial flow fan, or a sirocco fan (para.0045).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the blower of Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) by using another style of fan because they are shown to be known equivalents in the art by Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806).
Upon substitution of an axial flow fan or ‘sirocco’ fan in the configuration of Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647), the rotational axis of such a fan once configured for the structure of Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) would result in an extension substantially along the second direction in order to accurately direct air flow in that direction.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) in view of Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495).
Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, upon which claim 8 depends.
However, Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) fails to teach the use of an environmental condition sensor.
Regarding claim 8, Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495) teaches an image forming apparatus comprising an air inlet on an external cover of the apparatus casing (fig.2, #200 in the vicinity of indicator #30 in fig.1) further comprising: a sensor unit disposed inside of the first surface (fig.2, #30 inside opening; p.5, para.1, 2&5) with respect to the first direction and being configured to detect an environmental condition (p.4, para.1-3 and 6), and wherein the sensor unit is arranged within a region between the air inlet opening and a rotational axis of the fan with respect to the first direction (fig.2, #30 between #202 and external inlet in side wall) and is arranged at a position upstream of the fan with respect to the second direction (fig.2: #30 is offset from the axial center of the fan in the horizontal direction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the apparatus of Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) to have an environmental sensor mounted between the inlet and the fan as in Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495) in order to be able to accurately control the apparatus functions according the ambient air temperature to ensure good image quality (p.12, para.4).
Upon combination, if the sensor would be positioned as it is in Sako fig.2, slightly to the left of axial center of the fan, the result in fig.5 of Ueno (US Pub.2017/0003647) would place the sensor slightly upstream of the axial center of the fan #58.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) in view of Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495).
Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806)teaches all of the limitations of claim 2, upon which claim 8 depends.
However, Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) fails to teach the use of an environmental condition sensor.
Regarding claim 8, Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495) teaches an image forming apparatus comprising an air inlet on an external cover of the apparatus casing (fig.2, #200 in the vicinity of indicator #30 in fig.1) further comprising: a sensor unit disposed inside of the first surface (fig.2, #30 inside opening; p.5, para.1, 2&5) with respect to the first direction and being configured to detect an environmental condition (p.4, para.1-3 and 6), and wherein the sensor unit is arranged within a region between the air inlet opening and a rotational axis of the fan with respect to the first direction (fig.2, #30 between #202 and external inlet in side wall) and is arranged at a position upstream of the fan with respect to the second direction (fig.2: #30 is offset from the axial center of the fan in the horizontal direction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the apparatus of Shiomi (US Pub.2016/0209806) to have an environmental sensor mounted upstream of the fan as in Sako (JP Pub.2013-152495) in order to be able to accurately control the apparatus functions according the ambient air temperature to ensure good image quality (p.12, para.4).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oguni et al. (US Pub.2024/0255895) is listed as a related case that does not constitute prior art.
Oguni et al. (US Pub.2025/0383624) is listed as a related case that does not constitute prior art.
Takahashi (US Pub.2021/0405578) teaches a duct formed across a power supply board but the direction of air flow is not perpendicular to the vertical direction.
Hamasaki (US Pub.2022/0015219) teaches a duct formed across a power supply board but the relational directions of the critical features to not align with those claimed.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA K ROTH whose telephone number is (571)272-2154. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:30AM-3:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LKR/
12/30/2025
/STEPHANIE E BLOSS/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852