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 § 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(s) 1-2, 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LaCaze et al (U.S. Pub. 2017/0253024) in view of Izume (U.S. Pub. 2017/0157964)
Regarding claim 1, a printer comprising: an ink head including a plurality of nozzles aligned in a first direction to discharge ink (Figures 2-3; Abstract; Paragraphs 0029-0030)
A rotator to hold a printed object including an outer surface and rotate the printed object about an axis extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (Paragraphs 0016, 0028)
A controller configured or programmed to control the ink head and the rotator (Abstract; Paragraphs 0031-0033), and to include:
A nozzle range acquirer to acquire a nozzle usage range of nozzles of the plurality of nozzles that discharge ink (Paragraphs 0014, 0033)
Izume discloses a first position acquirer to acquire a first position that is desired print start position on the outer surface of the printed object (Paragraphs 0081, 0087, 0095; printing start positions are determined)
An alignment to rotate the printed object will be performed so that the first position of the printed object opposed the nozzles (Paragraphs 0081, 0087, 0095-0097)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of a first position acquirer as taught by Izume into the device comprising the nozzle range acquirer as taught by LaCaze, for the purpose of improving the printing accuracy of the printer by the inspection process to acquire the desired start position
Regarding claim 2, wherein the nozzle usage range acquirer is configured or programmed to acquire the nozzle usage range based on a curvature of the outer surface of the printed object (Paragraphs 0014, 0033)
Regarding claim 4, a pointer to irradiate light toward the printed object; wherein the first position acquirer is configured or programmed to acquire, as the first position, a position on the outer surface of the printed object that is irradiated with the light of the pointer (Figure 2; Paragraphs 0061, 0067)
Regarding claim 5, a print position alignment method for a printer including an ink head with a plurality of nozzles aligned in a first direction to discharge ink, and a rotator to hold a printed object including an outer surface and to rotate the printed object about an axis extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (Figures 2-3; Abstract; Paragraphs 0028-0030)
Acquiring a nozzle usage range of nozzles of the plurality of nozzles that discharge ink (Paragraphs 0014, 0033)
Izume discloses a first position acquirer to acquire a first position that is desired print start position on the outer surface of the printed object (Paragraphs 0081, 0087, 0095; printing start positions are determined)
An alignment to rotate the printed object will be performed so that the first position of the printed object opposed the nozzles (Paragraphs 0081, 0087, 0095-0097)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of a first position acquirer as taught by Izume into the device comprising the nozzle range acquirer as taught by LaCaze, for the purpose of improving the printing accuracy of the printer by the inspection process to acquire the desired start position
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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 primary reason for the allowance of claim 3 is the inclusion of the limitation of the controller is configured or programmed to include: a pass number acquirer to acquire a pass number, which is a number of times the ink head moves over a predetermined area of the outer surface of the printed object in the second direction in order to print on the predetermined area; and a second position acquirer to acquire a second position, which is a position at a rotationally downstream end of a most rotationally upstream one of divided ranges obtained by dividing the nozzle usage range based on the pass number; and the aligner is configured or programmed to rotate the printed object so that the first position and the second position coincide with each other. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S UHLENHAKE whose telephone number is (571)272-5916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X. Rodriguez 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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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 July 14, 2026
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