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 § 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, 6-9, 11-13, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oya (U.S. Pub. 2015/0283813)
Regarding claims 1, 18, a recording element substrate (Figure 2) comprising: a substrate (40); an orifice plate (45) stacked on the substrate and having a liquid chamber (100) which stores liquid between the substrate and the orifice plate, the orifice plate having an ejection port (21) for ejecting the liquid in the liquid chamber (Figure 2; Paragraphs 0036, 0038-0040)
An energy generation element provided on the substrate and configured to generate energy for ejecting the liquid stored in the liquid chamber (Figure 2; Paragraphs 0039, 0051)
Wherein the orifice plate is provided with an opening (46) which is different from the ejection port (21), and a flexible member (48) which seals the opening (Figure 2; Paragraphs 0059-0060)
Regarding claim 3, wherein the flexible member (48) is composed of a member thinner than the orifice plate (45) (Figure 2)
Regarding claim 6, wherein the substrate has a liquid supply port (44) through which the liquid is supplied from outside (Figure 2; Paragraph 0058)
A liquid flow path configured to supply, to the liquid chamber, the liquid supplied through the liquid supply port is provided between the substrate and the orifice plate (Figure 2; Paragraphs 0057-0059)
Regarding claim 7, wherein the flexible member (48) is provided in a position overlapping the liquid supply port (44) in a stacking direction of the substrate and the orifice plate (Figure 2)
Regarding claim 8, wherein the orifice plate has a plurality of the ejection ports (21) arranged in a row, the substrate has a plurality of the liquid supply ports arranged in a row respectively corresponding to the plurality of the ejection ports, and the flexible member (48) is formed in a strip shape correspondingly to the row of the liquid supply ports (Figures 2-3; Paragraphs 0038-0040, 0057-0060)
Regarding claim 9, wherein the substrate has a plurality of the energy generation elements arranged in a row in a position corresponding to the row of the ejection ports in the stacking direction (Figures 2-3)
The substrate is provided with a first row of liquid supply ports, a second row of liquid supply ports, and a row of the energy generation elements sandwiched between the first row and the second row (Figures 2-3)
The flexible member includes a first strip shaped flexible member provided in a position corresponding to the first row of the liquid supply ports and a second strip shaped flexible member provided in a position corresponding to the second row of the liquid supply ports (Figures 2-3; Paragraphs 0038-0040, 0057-0060)
Regarding claim 11, wherein the orifice plate is provided with a plurality of the ejection orts, the substrate is provided with a plurality of the liquid supply ports respectively corresponding to the plurality of ejection ports, and the flexible member is formed individually correspondingly to each of the plurality of liquid supply ports (Figures 2-3; Paragraphs 0038-0040, 0057-0060)
Regarding claim 12, wherein the flexible member (48) is provided in a position overlapping a path for the liquid from the liquid flow path to the liquid chamber in the stacking direction of the substrate and the orifice plate (Figure 2)
Regarding claim 13, the orifice plate is provided with a plurality of the ejection ports in a row, a plurality of the liquid chambers are provided between the substrate and the orifice plate correspondingly to the plurality of the ejection ports respectively
The flexible member is formed in a strip shape to correspond to the plurality of the liquid chambers (Figures 2-3; Paragraphs 0038-0040, 0057-0060)
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) 2, 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oya (U.S. Pub. 2015/0283813) in view of Fukuzawa et al (U.S. Pub. 2020/0001603)
Regarding claim 2, Fukuzawa discloses wherein the flexible member (polyphenylene sulfide) has a lower strength than that of the orifice plate (harder material than the flexible plates) (Paragraph 0046)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Fukuzawa into the device of Oya, for the purpose of enhancing the quality of an object obtained by the liquid ejection (Paragraph 0089)
Regarding claim 4, Fukuzawa discloses wherein the flexible member is composed of a member having a smaller Young’s modulus than that of the orifice plate (Paragraph 0026)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Fukuzawa into the device of Oya, for the purpose of enhancing the quality of an object obtained by the liquid ejection (Paragraph 0089)
Regarding claim 5, Oya discloses the claimed invention except for wherein a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the flexible member and the orifice plate is within 15x10-6. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate wherein a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the flexible member and the orifice plate is within 15x10-6, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate wherein a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the flexible member and the orifice plate is within 15x10-6, for the purpose of providing a liquid ejecting head achieving high dimensional accuracy at a low cost (Paragraph 0018)
Claim(s) 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oya (U.S. Pub. 2015/0283813) in view of Hayashi et al (U.S. Pub. 2020/0384773)
Regarding claim 14, Hayashi discloses wherein the orifice plate is formed of a first resin layer (60; Paragraph 0030; synthetic resin) provided upright on the substrate to form a sidewall (Figure 3), and a second resin layer (55, 55a, 55b; holding frames formed of resin; Paragraph 0051) supported by the first resin layer so as to oppose the substrate, and provided with the ejection port (Figure 3)
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 Hayashi into the device of Oya, for the purpose of maintaining efficient liquid ejection from the nozzles (Paragraphs 0006-0008)
Regarding claim 15, Hayashi discloses wherein the flexible member (54b) is fixed on the second resin layer (55, 55a, 55b) (Figure 3; Paragraphs 0030, 0045, 0051)
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 Hayashi into the device of Oya, for the purpose of maintaining efficient liquid ejection from the nozzles (Paragraphs 0006-0008)
Regarding claim 16, Hayashi discloses wherein the flexible member (54b) is sandwiched and fixed between the first resin layer and the second resin layer (Figure 3; Paragraphs 0030, 0045, 0051)
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 Hayashi into the device of Oya, for the purpose of maintaining efficient liquid ejection from the nozzles (Paragraphs 0006-0008)
Regarding claim 17, Hayashi discloses wherein a part, which is sandwiched between the first resin layer and the second resin layer, of the flexible member is provided with a through hole (through hole is formed through holding frame and covered by damper 54b and cover 56b; Figure 3; Paragraphs 0030, 0045, 0051)
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 Hayashi into the device of Oya, for the purpose of maintaining efficient liquid ejection from the nozzles (Paragraphs 0006-0008)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 10 is the inclusion of the limitation of wherein the first strip-shaped flexible member and the second strip-shaped flexible member are connected by a flexible member for connection. 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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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 July 17, 2026
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