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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “positioner,” “convex portion” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Imaizumi US 2021/0405557 (Imaizumi).
Regarding claim 1, Imaizumi teaches an image forming apparatus comprising:
a photoreceptor (6) that bears a toner image;
an intermediate transfer unit (8) that receives the toner image from the photoreceptor and bears the toner image (¶0034);
a transfer section (10) that transfers the toner image borne by the intermediate transfer unit to a recording medium (¶0035);
a fixing section (9) that fixes the toner image to the recording medium; and
a conveyance guide (shown as part of door in FIG 1 between elements 9 and 10) that is provided between the transfer section and the fixing section, and guides the recording medium to be conveyed from the transfer section toward the fixing section (FIG. 1),
wherein the intermediate transfer unit is attachable to and detachable from an apparatus body (¶0060-¶0098), and
during attachment or detachment of the intermediate transfer unit (8), the conveyance guide is retractable to a retracted position where the conveyance guide does not interfere with attachment or detachment of the intermediate transfer unit (FIG. 5, ¶0062-¶0064).
Regarding claim 2, Imaizumi teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the intermediate transfer unit (8) moves from a receiving position where the intermediate transfer unit receives the toner image from the photoreceptor to a separation position that is separated from the photoreceptor, and then is attached to or detached from the apparatus body (¶0060-¶0098), and
before the intermediate transfer unit (8) moves from the receiving position to the separation position (FIG. 5, 8), the conveyance guide retracts from a guide position for guiding the recording medium to the retracted position (i.e., the inner portion that is opened, ¶0062).
Regarding claim 3, Imaizumi teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
a positioner (41) that has a restriction surface (41c) extending in an upward-and-downward direction,
wherein the intermediate transfer unit (8) has a convex portion (33) that abuts against the restriction surface (41) with the position of the intermediate transfer unit in the upward-and-downward direction being defined (FIG. 7, ¶0067).
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 4-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imaizumi US 2021/0405557 (Imaizumi) and Sakuma et al. US 2014/0010575 A1 (Sakuma).
Regarding claims 4-6, Imaizumi teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 2. Imaizumi differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: details of the conveyance guide such as having a rotation shaft, and moving between the guide position and the retracted position by rotating about the rotation shaft. However this is a known technique. Sakuma teaches a guide member 30 that is has a rotation shaft (on axis X), and moves between the guide position and the retracted position by rotating about the rotation shaft (¶0060-¶0068). Furthermore Sakuma teaches the rotation shaft is pivotally supported by the intermediate transfer unit (FIG, 4). Furthermore Sakuma teaches the conveyance guide rotates in a rotation range in which a center of gravity does not overlap with the rotation shaft in an upward-and-downward direction in a plane orthogonal to the rotation shaft (FIG. 5).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add the guide 30 taught by Sakuma to the device taught by Imaizumi since Imaizumi is silent with regards to the guide shown and the guide taught by Sakuma conveys the advantage of stopping the transfer device from being dropped when detached from the apparatus (Sakuma, ¶0010).
Regarding claim 7, Imaizumi and Sakuma teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 4. Furthermore, Imaizumi teaches the conveyance guide has a slide projection (bosses 32 and 34, ¶0056) that extends in a direction parallel to the rotation shaft (FIG. 3), and
further includes a slider (rails 36) that is indirectly connected to the slide projection (32, 34) and is attached to be movable in one direction in a plane intersecting with the rotation shaft (¶0059).
Regarding claim 8, Imaizumi and Sakuma teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 7. Furthermore, Imaizumi teaches the slider (32, 34) has an engaging portion (see FIG. 9) connected to the slide projection via a first elastic member (38), and
a guide surface (36) that is arranged between the slide projection (FIG. 6 and 9) and the engaging portion in the one direction and faces in a second direction opposite to the first direction directed toward the engaging portion (FIG. 6 and (.
Regarding claim 9, Imaizumi and Sakuma teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 7. Furthermore, Imaizumi teaches the slider (32, 34) is provided in the intermediate transfer unit (FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 10, Imaizumi and Sakuma teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 7. Furthermore, Imaizumi teaches:
a housing (1) having an inner space in which the photoreceptor (6), the intermediate transfer unit, the transfer section, the fixing section and the conveyance guide are accommodated (FIG. 1); and
a second elastic member (38) that biases the slider in a first direction parallel to the one direction, wherein
the slider has a pressed portion (32, 34) at an end portion in the first direction,
the housing includes a door (14) that is openable in an open state in which at least part of the inner space is opened outwardly, and is closable in a close state in which the inner space is not opened outwardly (FIG. 1), and
the door has, in a surface facing the inner space, a pressing member that abuts against the pressed portion in the close state (FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 11, Imaizumi and Sakuma teach the image forming apparatus according to claim 4. Furthermore, Imaizumi teaches:
a positioner (32, 34) that has a restriction surface extending in an upward-and-downward direction (FIG, 6); and
a rotation lever (21) that is attached to the intermediate transfer unit so as to be rotatable about a lever rotation shaft projecting from a side surface of the intermediate transfer unit, and has a first end portion and a second end portion between which the lever rotation shaft is interposed (¶0057, ¶0069), wherein
the intermediate transfer unit (8) has a convex portion (33) that abuts against the restriction surface with a position of the intermediate transfer unit (8) in the upward-and-downward direction being defined (FIG. 2),
the convex portion (33) is arranged farther downwardly than the lever rotation shaft,
a distance between the first end portion and the lever rotation shaft is larger than a length of the restriction surface in the upward-and-downward direction (FIG. 2), and
the second end portion is connected to the conveyance guide (FIG. 2).
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.
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/JESSICA L ELEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852