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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities: RH is not defined. For the purposes of Examination it will be understood to mean Relative Humidity. Appropriate correction is required.
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-3, 6-15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakamoto et al. US 2018/0136589 A1 (Sakamoto) and Matsushima et al. US 2017/0242373 A1 (Matsushima).
Regarding claims 1-3, Sakamoto teaches a transfer belt (10) comprising:
three layers of a front surface layer (16), a base material layer (14) including at least one elastic material selected from the group consisting of rubber and an elastomer (¶0029), and a back surface layer (12).
Sakamoto differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: the relationship between the volume resistivity of the layers. Matsushima teaches volume resistivity in an environment of 22° C and 55% RH and surface resistivity from 8 log Ω/square to 12 log Ω/square. Matsushima does not teach the three layers having a relationship of R1> R2 > R3 or R1< R2 < R3. However given that these claimed expressions result in a volume resistivity which is known (from 8 log Ω/square to 12 log Ω/square), as evidenced by Matsushima, the three layers having a relationship of R1> R2 > R3 or R1< R2 < R3 is little more than a design choice since combined the three layers must inherently add up to the overall surface resistivity is from 8 log Ω/square to 12 log Ω/square. Thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to ensure the volume resistivity of the three layers taught by Sakamoto falls within the parameters taught by Matsushima, thus resulting in either R1> R2 > R3 or R1< R2 < R3, since a person of ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her grasp and ascending or descending resistivity are both known options that would lead to anticipated success, namely a volume resistivity that is taught by Matsushima.
Regarding claim 6, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the front surface layer and the back surface layer each contain a conductive filler in a range of 0.1% by mass or more and 8.0% by mass or less (¶0021-¶0024).
Regarding claim 7, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the front surface layer and the back surface layer each contain the conductive filler in a range of 0.5% by mass or more and 4.0% by mass or less (¶0021-¶0024).
Regarding claim 8, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the front surface layer, and the back surface layer contain a conductive filler (¶0021-¶0025), and
a content of the conductive filler in one layer of the front surface layer and the back surface layer that has a higher volume resistivity is 0.1% by mass or more and 2.0% by mass or less, and a content of the conductive filler in the other layer of the front surface layer and the back surface layer that has a lower volume resistivity is 1.0% by mass or more and 8.0% by mass or less (¶0020-¶0024).
Regarding claim 9, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 8. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the content of the conductive filler in one layer of the front surface layer and the back surface layer that has a higher volume resistivity is 0.3% by mass or more and 1.8% by mass or less, and the content of the conductive filler in the other layer of the front surface layer and the back surface layer that has a lower volume resistivity is 1.5% by mass or more and 4.0% by mass or less (¶0020-¶0024).
Regarding claim 10, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the base material layer (12) contains at least one selected from the group consisting of chloroprene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, and a urethane elastomer as the elastic material (¶0019).
Regarding claim 11, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the front surface layer (16) contains a base resin and particles of a resin having a siloxane bond (¶0061), and
a content of the particles of the resin having a siloxane bond with respect to the base resin is 1.0% by mass or more and 20.0% by mass or less (¶0057-¶0065).
Regarding claim 12, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the transfer belt according to claim 1. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the content of the particles of the resin having a siloxane bond with respect to the base resin is 2.0% by mass or more and 15.0% by mass or less (¶0062).
Regarding claims 13-15 and 18, Sakamoto teaches a belt unit (42) comprising:
the transfer belt (10) according to claims 1-3 and 6; and
a plurality of rolls (423), around which the transfer belt is wound in a state where a tension is applied (¶0120). Sakamoto differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: a drive roller or that the belt is detachable. However this is known. Matsushima teaches at least one roll of the plurality of rolls is a drive roll (131) that rotates the transfer belt (¶0120), and the belt unit is attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus (¶0074). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the modification taught by Matsushima with the belt unit taught by Sakamoto since the technique of improving transfer belts by making the removable and have a drive roller, was part of the ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art in view of the teachings by Matsushima.
Regarding claim 19, Sakamoto teaches an image forming apparatus comprising:
an image carrier (413);
a charging unit (414) that charges a surface of the image carrier;
an electrostatic charge image forming unit (41) that forms an electrostatic charge image on the charged surface of the image carrier;
a developing unit (412) that accommodates a developer containing toner and develops the electrostatic charge image formed on the surface of the image carrier by using the developer to form a toner image; and
a transfer unit (422) that includes the belt unit (42/10) according to claim 13 and transfers the toner image to a recording medium.
Regarding claim 20, Sakamoto and Matsushima teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 19. Furthermore Sakamoto teaches the transfer unit includes an intermediate transfer member (10), a primary transfer unit (422) that transfers the toner image to a surface of the intermediate transfer member, and a secondary transfer unit (423) that transfers the toner image transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer member to the recording medium, and the secondary transfer unit includes the belt unit (43).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 16 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA L ELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9793. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Jr. Lindsay can be reached on (571)272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JESSICA L ELEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852