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). However, the request to retrieve supporting documentation failed on 6/5/25 (see PD.RETR.FAIL filed on that date). Therefore, the requirements 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) are not met.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited on a Form PTO 1449 have been considered.
Specification
The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. However, the 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 (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 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nguyen (U.S. Pat. 5,241,325).
Nguyen discloses the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 1, an inkjet image forming apparatus (Abstract) comprising:
a head module (C1, 91, col. 4, lines 44-60 and Figs. 1, 5) provided on a mounting base (51, col. 4, lines 44-60 and Figs. 1, 5) so as to be positionally adjustable in a first direction (rear-front direction, Figs. 1, 5);
an adjustment member (111, col. 4, lines 65-68, col. 5, lines 1-36 and Figs. 1, 5) that is provided on the mounting base so as to be movable in a second direction (left-right direction, col. 4, lines 65-68, col. 5, lines 1-36 and Figs. 1, 5) intersecting the first direction, adjusts a position of the head module in the first direction, and includes an abutting portion that abuts an abutted portion (97, col. 4, lines 65-68, col. 5, lines 1-4 and Figs. 1, 4-5) on a side of the head module; and
a first biasing member (113, col. 4, line 68, col. 5, lines 1-4 and Figs. 1, 5) that biases the abutted portion toward the abutting portion,
wherein at least one of the abutted portion and the abutting portion is an inclined surface inclined with respect to the second direction such that a movement of the adjustment member in the second direction is converted into a movement of the head module in the first direction (col. 4, lines 44-68, col. 5, lines 1-36 and Figs. 1, 5).
Regarding Claim 2, a second biasing member (113, col. 4, line 68, col. 5, lines 1-4 and Figs. 1, 5) that biases the abutting portion toward the abutted portion please note a “pair of retaining springs 113”).
Regarding Claim 3, wherein the first direction is a sub-scanning direction (Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 12, wherein the adjustment member includes an annular flange (Figs. 1, 4-5), and
wherein an outer circumferential surface of the flange is the abutting portion (Figs. 1, 4-5).
Regarding Claim 13, wherein a movement amount of the head module in the first direction is smaller than a movement amount of the adjustment member in the second direction (Figs. 1, 4-5; please note the dimension of the cam lever 117 compared to the abutting part of the cam 111).
Regarding Claim 14, a presser (pins protruding from backplate 95 to which retaining springs 113 are attached, Figs. 1, 5) that presses the head module toward the mounting base by an elastic force.
Regarding Claim 15, wherein the pressing force of the presser is set to a pressing force that does not hinder the position adjustment of the head module in the second direction (col. 4, line 68, col. 5, lines 1-4 and Figs. 1, 5; please note that the position adjustment of the head module in the second direction is taught to be operational), and
wherein a movement amount of the head module in the first direction is proportional to a movement amount of the adjustment member in the second direction (col. 5, lines 5-9).
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen (U.S. Pat. 5,241,325) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nishino (U.S. 2005/0206678 A1).
Nguyen discloses the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 7, all limitations of Claim 1 (from which this Claim depends).
Nguyen does not disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 7, wherein the abutted portion is an inclined surface inclined with respect to the second direction, and wherein the abutting portion is an R surface, an edge, or an inclined surface inclined in a direction opposite to the inclined surface of the abutted portion.
Nishino discloses the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 7, an abutted portion is an inclined surface (side surface of the fixing member 14, §0027 and Fig. 2) inclined with respect to the second direction, and wherein the abutting portion (side surface of the press-fixing member 15, §0027 and Fig. 2) is an R surface, an edge, or an inclined surface inclined in a direction opposite to the inclined surface of the abutted portion. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the inclined surface pair of Nishino to the apparatus of Nguyen to easily redirect actuating force as needed, so the actuator can be conveniently located.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 8-11 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 4-6 is the inclusion of the limitations of an inkjet image forming apparatus including wherein the head module includes a first positioning pin that engages with a first positioning hole provided in the mounting base, and wherein a movement of the head module in the sub-scanning direction is converted into a rotational movement about the first positioning pin. It is these limitations found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 8 is the inclusion of the limitations of an inkjet image forming apparatus including wherein in a case where the abutting portion is an R surface or an edge, a hardness of the abutted portion is higher than a hardness of the abutting portion.. It is these limitations found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 9-11 is the inclusion of the limitations of an inkjet image forming apparatus including wherein the adjustment member has a screw that screws into a screw hole provided in the mounting base, and the adjustment member moves in the second direction by a rotating operation of a tool that is connected from one side or the other side in the second direction. It is these limitations found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yamabe (U.S. 2016/0332442 A1) discloses an adjustment mechanism including a first plate, a second plate, a pivotable cam, and a first biasing unit. Seki et al. (U.S. 2020/0384763 A1) disclose a support member configured to support the jet section, and provided with a hole part including a through hole penetrating in a jet direction of the liquid, a biasing member disposed in the hole part, and configured to bias the support member toward the carriage, and a biased member which is disposed at a predetermined position with respect to the carriage, and is biased in the hole part by the biasing member to thereby set a position of the nozzle hole with respect to the carriage. Ueda et al. (U.S. 2005/0168514 A1) disclose a position adjusting structure for adjusting a position of a recording head with respect to a recording head mounting portion of a printer main body, the position adjusting structure including: a head mounting plane arranged on the recording head mounting portion; an adjusting member, which is transferable along a direction substantially perpendicular to the head mounting plane; and an inclined flat plane, which is arranged on either one of the recording head mounting portion or the adjusting member and is inclined against the head mounting plane; wherein, the adjusting member transfers the position of the recording head with respect to the recording head mounting portion according with transfer of the adjusting member.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV whose telephone number is (571)270-7049. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodrigues can be reached at (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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/ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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