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) 1-3, 6-7, 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi (U.S. Pub. 2020/0338914) in view of Suyama et al (U.S. Pub. 2021/0086521)
Regarding claim 1, a liquid droplet jetting apparatus comprising: a liquid droplet jetting head (5) that jets a liquid; a relative movement mechanism that moves a substrate (40) and the liquid droplet jetting head relative to each other (Figure 4; Paragraphs 0067-0068)
A control device (20) that moves the substrate and the liquid droplet jetting head relative to each other and causes the liquid droplet jetting head to jet the liquid to print an image on the substrate (Figures 3-4; Paragraphs 0059-0060; 0066-0067)
Wherein a low-density gas having a lower density tan air is contained between the liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate (helium gas; Figure 4; Paragraphs 0029, 0072, 0084)
Suyama discloses wherein the liquid droplet jetting head includes a circulation flow channel inside the liquid droplet head; and the control device circulates the liquid through the circulation flow channel at least during printing (Figures 4, 6; Paragraphs 0041-0045, 0047; Abstract)
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 Suyama into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of suppressing the deterioration of an ink while suppressing the drying of the ink by circulating and supplying the ink to a discharge head
Regarding claim 2, Suyama discloses wherein the liquid droplet jetting head includes a jetting element including a nozzle, a pressure chamber and a jetting energy generation element; and the circulation flow channel includes a supply flow channel for supplying the liquid top the jetting element and a recovery flow channel for recovering the liquid from the jetting element (Figures 4, 6; Paragraphs 0031, 0038, 0041-0045, 0047)
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 Suyama into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of suppressing the deterioration of an ink while suppressing the drying of the ink by circulating and supplying the ink to a discharge head
Regarding claim 3, Suyama discloses wherein the control device sets a circulation amount of the liquid during the printing to be greater than a circulation amount of the liquid during non-printing (print mode [normal circulation] vs stop mode [low speed]; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0051-0057)
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 Suyama into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of suppressing the deterioration of an ink while suppressing the drying of the ink by circulating and supplying the ink to a discharge head
Regarding claim 6, a supply mechanism that supplies the low-density gas between the liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate; wherein the supply mechanism stops the supply of the low-density gas during the printing (Ohnishi discloses a third printing mode [helium-gas atmosphere printing mode] wherein helium is replaces the air and printing occurs [Paragraphs 0015, 0021, 0055], therefore the other printing modes, including idle time, will not supply the low density gas)
Regarding claim 7, a chamber (55) that internally houses the liquid droplet heating head and the relative movement mechanism (Figure 4)
Wherein the chamber has a carry-in slit through which the substrate is carried in and a carry-out slit through which the substrate is carried out, the carry-in slit and the carry-out slit being each provided with an openable closable shutter (rubber curtain 45 is provided on the inlet and outlet; Figure 4; Paragraph 0084)
Regarding claim 9, a supply mechanism that supplies the low-density gas between eh liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate; wherein the liquid contains a solvent (Paragraph 0087); the supply mechanism supplies the low-density gas containing agas of the solvent (Figure 4; Paragraphs 0029, 0072, 0084)
Regarding claim 10, Suyama discloses wherein the liquid is an aqueous ink containing water as a solvent (Paragraph 0080)
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 Suyama into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of suppressing the deterioration of an ink while suppressing the drying of the ink by circulating and supplying the ink to a discharge head
Regarding claim 11, a manufacturing method of a printed article, the manufacturing method comprising: supplying a low-density gas having a lower density than air between a liquid droplet jetting head and a substrate; moving the substrate and the liquid droplet jetting head relative to each other and causing the liquid droplet jetting head to jet a liquid, to print an image on the substrate (Figure 4; Paragraphs 0029, 0067-0068; 0072, 0084)
Suyama discloses circulating the liquid through a circulation flow channel of the liquid droplet jetting head at least during printing (Figures 4, 6; Paragraphs 0041-0045, 0047; Abstract)
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 Suyama into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of suppressing the deterioration of an ink while suppressing the drying of the ink by circulating and supplying the ink to a discharge head
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-7, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohnishi (U.S. Pub. 2020/0338914) in view of Hamazaki et al (U.S. Pub. 2009/0160887)
Regarding claim 1, a liquid droplet jetting apparatus comprising: a liquid droplet jetting head (5) that jets a liquid; a relative movement mechanism that moves a substrate (40) and the liquid droplet jetting head relative to each other (Figure 4; Paragraphs 0067-0068)
A control device (20) that moves the substrate and the liquid droplet jetting head relative to each other and causes the liquid droplet jetting head to jet the liquid to print an image on the substrate (Figures 3-4; Paragraphs 0059-0060; 0066-0067)
Wherein a low-density gas having a lower density tan air is contained between the liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate (helium gas; Figure 4; Paragraphs 0029, 0072, 0084)
Hamazaki discloses wherein the liquid droplet jetting head includes a circulation flow channel inside the liquid droplet head; and the control device circulates the liquid through the circulation flow channel at least during printing (Figure 1, Paragraphs 0065-0069, 0078-0084)
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 Hamazaki into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of preventing the increase of viscosity of a liquid in the vicinity of the nozzle
Regarding claim 2, Hamazaki discloses wherein the liquid droplet jetting head includes a jetting element including a nozzle, a pressure chamber and a jetting energy generation element; and the circulation flow channel includes a supply flow channel for supplying the liquid top the jetting element and a recovery flow channel for recovering the liquid from the jetting element (Abstract; Paragraphs 0052, 0065-0069, 0078-0084)
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 Hamazaki into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of preventing the increase of viscosity of a liquid in the vicinity of the nozzle
Regarding claim 4, Hamazaki discloses wherein the control device stops the circulation of the liquid during non-printing (when the ejection head is inactive for a predetermined period of time; Paragraphs 0083-0084; 0114-0115)
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 Hamazaki into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of preventing the increase of viscosity of a liquid in the vicinity of the nozzle
Regarding claim 5, Hamazaki discloses wherein the control device applies vibration to a non-jetting nozzle during the printing to an extent that the liquid droplet is not jetted (Paragraphs 0106-0109)
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 Hamazaki into the device of Ohnishi, for the purpose of preventing the increase of viscosity of a liquid in the vicinity of the nozzle
Regarding claim 6, a supply mechanism that supplies the low-density gas between the liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate; wherein the supply mechanism stops the supply of the low-density gas during the printing (Ohnishi discloses a third printing mode [helium-gas atmosphere printing mode] wherein helium is replaces the air and printing occurs [Paragraphs 0015, 0021, 0055], therefore the other printing modes, including idle time, will not supply the low-density gas)
Regarding claim 7, a chamber (55) that internally houses the liquid droplet heating head and the relative movement mechanism (Figure 4)
Wherein the chamber has a carry-in slit through which the substrate is carried in and a carry-out slit through which the substrate is carried out, the carry-in slit and the carry-out slit being each provided with an openable closable shutter (rubber curtain 45 is provided on the inlet and outlet; Figure 4; Paragraph 0084)
Regarding claim 9, a supply mechanism that supplies the low-density gas between eh liquid droplet jetting head and the substrate; wherein the liquid contains a solvent (Paragraph 0087); the supply mechanism supplies the low-density gas containing a gas of the solvent (Figure 4; Paragraphs 0029, 0072, 0084)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 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 8 is the inclusion of the limitation of a chamber that internally houses the liquid droplet jetting head and the relative movement mechanism, wherein the liquid contains a solvent, and the solvent is disposed inside the chamber in an open state. 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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JASON S UHLENHAKE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 July 23, 2026
Prosecution Insights