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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/21/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 52-67 are 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.
Regarding claims 52,62,64, claim 52 line 12, claim 64 line 14, and claim 62 line 3 recite the term “optionally”. It is not clear if the optionally claimed limitations following the term optionally are being positively claimed as part of the claimed printing system.
Regarding claims 53-61,63,65-67, claims 53-63, 65-67 are rejected at least for inheriting the above discussed issues of claim 52 due to their dependency.
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 52-71 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Friedrich et al. (US 2019/0381808).
Regarding claim 52, Friedrich et al teaches a printing system (figs.1,6,9,17) comprising a conveyor system (figs.1,6) and a plurality of processing stations (110,120,130,140,150 figs.1,6; 901,915, 903,905-910,912-914 fig.9; 1710a,1710b, 1720a,1720b,1720c, 1770,1760,1740,1750 fig.17), the conveyor system comprising two or more closed-loop tracks (tracks on which the plurality of pallets 104 are disposed on figs.1,6), each track defining an object stream independently controllably transitioned by the conveyor system through the plurality of processing stations, each of the closed-loop tracks being equipped with a plurality of support surfaces adapted to receive same or different object (fabric substrate 102 fig.1);
the plurality of processing stations comprises a loading zone (110 figs.1,6; 901,915 fig.9; 1710a,1710b fig.17); a pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) equipped with one or more film deposition tools for forming a wet pretreatment film of a pretreatment formulation on a surface of the object and one or more drying tools configured to dry the wet film formed on the surface of the object; a printing station (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) equipped with one or more print heads or a print head assembly or an array of print heads arranged and operable to form an image on a surface region of the dry film; and optionally a drying or curing station (140 figs.1,6; 909,910,914 fig.9; 1770,1760 fig.17) configured for drying or curing the image (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 53, Friedrich et al teaches wherein the pretreatment station (120,130,140 figs.1,6;903,905-910 fig.9) is equipped with a heating press member configured to contact the wet pretreatment film for a period of time sufficient to cause drying.
Regarding claim 54, Friedrich et al teaches wherein the heating press member uniformly acts on the wet surface and applies pressure for a period of time sufficient to dry the wet film (140 figs.1,6;909,910 fig.9).
Regarding claim 55, Friedrich et al teaches wherein the loading zone (110 figs.1,6; 901,915 fig.9; 1710a,1710b fig.17) configured to receive, manually or automatically, for every object stream, one or more objects to be processed according to a predefined processing protocol, and to allow for unloading of objects after the objects have transitioned through the processing stations (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 56, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) is positioned upstream to the loading station and is configured and operable to prime the object surface to receive thereon an ink formulation (figs.1,6,9-11,17)..
Regarding claim 57, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) comprises one or more film forming tools for depositing a wet film of one or more types of pretreatment formulations onto a surface region of the object intended to be patterned or printed on and one or more drying tools for drying the wet film of the pretreatment formulation or for increasing the wet film viscosity to a degree suitable for receiving an ink formulation thereon (figs.1,6,9-11,17)..
Regarding claim 58, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the one or more drying tools (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) comprises a hot air source (figs.1,6,9-11,17)..
Regarding claim 59, Friedrich et al further teaches further comprising a curing or a drying station positioned upstream to the printing station (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 60, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the printing station (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) is equipped with a printing assembly configured and operated for printing on a dry pretreatment film formed on the surface of the object traversing the printing station (figs.1,6,9-11,17)..
Regarding claim 61, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the printing assembly (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) comprises one or more print head units or a print head assembly, or an array or a plurality of print head units (figs.1,6,9-11,17) .
Regarding claim 62, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the printing assembly (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) is provided on a movable support bridge or on a raised movable platform positioned above and optionally perpendicular to an axis defined by a path of the conveyor, wherein the printing assembly is configured and operable to affect movement along an axis of the bridge, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the bridge and/or to a direction above and below the axis of the bridge (figs.1,6,9-11,17)..
Regarding claim 63, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the movable support bridge is mounted on a pair of parallel fixed support tracks (of 104) and is configured for slidingly transition between any two points along the fixed support tracks, within the printing station, along the axis defined by the path of the conveyor (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 64, Friedrich et al teaches a printing system (figs.1,6,9,17) for forming an image on a garment (fabric substrate 102 fig.1), the system comprising a conveyor system (figs.1,6) and a plurality of processing stations (110,120,130,140,150 figs.1,6; 901,915, 903,905-910,912-914 fig.9; 1710a,1710b, 1720a,1720b,1720c, 1770,1760,1740,1750 fig.17), the conveyor system comprising two or more closed-loop tracks (tracks on which the plurality of pallets 104 are disposed on figs.1,6), each track defining an object stream independently controllably transitioned by the conveyor system through the plurality of processing stations, each of the closed-loop tracks being equipped with a plurality of support surfaces adapted to receive same or different garment (fabric substrate 102 fig.1);
the plurality of processing stations comprises a loading zone (110 figs.1,6; 901,915 fig.9; 1710a,1710b fig.17); a pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) equipped with one or more film deposition tools for forming a wet pretreatment film of a pretreatment formulation on a surface of the garment and one or more drying tools configured to dry the wet film formed on the surface of the garment, wherein the one or more drying tools comprises a heating press member configured to contact press the wet film for a period of time sufficient to dry the film and flatten the garment; a printing station (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) equipped with one or more print heads or a print head assembly or an array of print heads arranged and operable to form an image on a surface region of the dry film; and optionally a drying or curing station (140 figs.1,6; 909,910,914 fig.9; 1770,1760 fig.17) configured for drying or curing the image (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 65, Friedrich et al further teaches comprising an optical scanner or sensor configured to identify information coded on a tag assigned to each of the objects or to a plurality or groups of objects and relay the information to a respective control unit configured to instruct operation of a specific processing profile relating to the object (figs.1,6,9-11,17; paragraphs 0101,0102).
Regarding claim 66, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein the tag is a barcode or an RFID tag (figs.8-11).
Regarding claim 67, Friedrich et al further teaches comprising a control system (160) for instructing operation of the system, or any of the system parts, in sequence or simultaneously, based on a predefined printing protocol(figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 68, Friedrich et al teaches a process of printing an image on a surface region of an object (figs.1,6,9-11,17), the process comprising
advancing two or more streams of objects along two or more predefined closed-loop printing tracks (tracks on which the plurality of pallets 104 are disposed on figs.1,6) traversing a pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) and a printing station (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17),
operating at least one film-forming tool provided in said pretreatment station (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) to affect deposition of a wet film of a pretreatment formulation on a surface region of an object in each of the two or more streams of objects and operating a drying tool to cause drying of the wet film,
advancing the object having the dry film on its surface to a printing station (150 figs.1,6; 912,913 fig.9; 1740,1750 fig.17) and operating at least one print head unit to apply one or more patterns, forming the image on the surface region of the dry film (figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 69, Friedrich et al further teaches comprising advancing two or more objects simultaneously, wherein each object (102) is associated with a different processing profile(figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 70, Friedrich et al further teaches wherein each of the objects (102) having different processing profiles is formed with a different pretreatment formulation, ink formulation and/or deposition conditions(figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Regarding claim 71, Friedrich et al further teaches comprising forming the wet film (120,130 figs.1,6;903,905-908 fig.9) by spraying or brushing or printing the film onto a surface region of the object(figs.1,6,9-11,17).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENOK D LEGESSE whose telephone number is (571)270-1615. The examiner can normally be reached General Schedule 9:00 am- 5:00 pm, IFP.
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/HENOK D LEGESSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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