DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 6-16 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/16/2026.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fujimaki (2020/0276806).
Regarding claim 1, Fujimaki teaches a liquid discharge device, comprising:
a liquid discharge head (fig. 1, item 7) to discharge a liquid to a target (fig. 4, item 8);
a holder (fig. 4, item 4) onto which the target is set and which moves in a first direction (fig. 4, direction A1) and a second direction (fig. 4, direction A2) opposite to the first direction;
a height detector (fig. 4, item 11) to detect the target on the holder at a first height (fig. 6, height corresponding to P1E) and/or at a second height lower (fig. 6, height corresponding to P6R) than the first height while the holder moves the target from a liquid discharge finish position (fig. 4, position shown) at a front side (fig. 4, A2 side) of the liquid discharge device toward a liquid discharge standby position (fig. 4, position at most A1 side) at a rear side (fig. 4, A1 side) of the liquid discharge device in the first direction; and
circuitry (fig. 5, item 1) configured to:
control the holder to move from the liquid discharge standby position at the rear side of the liquid discharge device to the liquid discharge finish position at the front side of the liquid discharge device ([0052]); and
under a condition that the height detector does not detect the target at the first height and does not detect the target at the second height while the holder moves the target from the liquid discharge finish position at the front side of the liquid discharge device toward the liquid discharge standby position at the rear side of the liquid discharge device in the first direction, control the liquid discharge head not to discharge the liquid on the target while the holder is moved between the liquid discharge finish position and the liquid discharge standby position ([0055]-[0059], Note that, when a medium is not detected by both PE1 and P6R, the liquid discharge device does not discharge liquid).
Regarding claim 2, Fujimaki teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: under a condition that the height detector detects the target at the second height while the height detector does not detect the target at the first height while the holder moves the target from the liquid discharge finish position at the front side of the liquid discharge device toward the liquid discharge standby position at the rear side of the liquid discharge device in the first direction, control the liquid discharge head to discharge the liquid on the target while the holder is moved between the liquid discharge standby position and the liquid discharge finish position ([0058], Note that when the medium is detected at P6 and not at P1, ink is ejected normally to form an image on the medium).
Regarding claim 3, Fujimaki teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the target is a fabric (see fig. 1, Note that the printer is a clothing/fabric/textile printer).
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) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujimaki in view of official notice.
Regarding claim 4, Fujimaki teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1. Fujimaki does not teach wherein the liquid contains a pigment. Examiner takes official notice that one of ordinary skill in the art would know that ink ejected by an inkjet printer of the type disclosed by Fujimaki could be pigment ink.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujimaki in view of Moriya et al. (2013/0314483).
Regarding claim 5, Fujimaki teaches the liquid discharge device according to claim 1. Fujimaki does not teach an elevator to move the holder in a vertical direction. Moriya teaches this (Moriya, see fig. 2, [0055]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the elevator disclosed by Moriya to the textile printer disclosed by Fujimaki because doing so would allow for a wider range of print gaps between the top of the print media and the liquid ejection device printhead.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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