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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/27/2025 and 6/2/2025 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 1/27/2025 are acceptable for examination by the examiner.
Title
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objection
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities. Claim 5 recites “the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer comprises an applied film comprising PTFE particles and a fluororesin or acrylic particles and polyvinyl alcohol resin or polyvinyl acetal resin. It is unclear in the claims if:
acrylic particles and (polyvinyl alcohol resin or polyvinyl acetal resin)
OR
(acrylic particles and polyvinyl alcohol resin) or polyvinyl acetal resin
is being claimed.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites a nanoindentation hardness test but does NOT specify which test is used or the specific method used during testing to obtain the claimed range. The claimed location of the indenter for the coated blade is a non-standard distance. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of this application may not have performed or replicated this test. The rejection below is based on the Martens Hardness testing as discussed in the instant invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by OHMORI (US 2023/236536 A1; cited by applicant).
Regarding claim 1, OHMORI teaches an image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearer 21; a charging device 20 to charge a surface of the image bearer; an irradiator 12 to irradiate the surface of the image bearer charged to form a latent electrostatic image; a developing device 13 to develop the latent electrostatic image to form a toner image; a transfer device 60 to transfer the toner image to a recording medium; a fixing device 15 to fix the toner image transferred to the recording medium; and a cleaning device 25 comprising: a cleaning blade 62 comprising: an elastic cleaning +blade substrate 622 comprising: a front end portion; and a front edge ridge part; an undersurface; an edge layer; and a coating layer 62a-d disposed on the front end portion [0048], the coating layer being in contact with the surface of the image bearer to clean the surface of the image bearer (shown in figure 1); and a cleaning blade supporting member 621 to support the elastic cleaning blade substrate 622, wherein a maximum penetration depth hmax of an indenter of a microhardness tester is between 4.0 µm and 10.0 µm at a position 100 µm inward from the front edge ridge part on the undersurface of the elastic cleaning blade substrate as measured according to a nanoindentation hardness test (figures 1-2, [0018, 0028, 0048, 0122-0124]; OHMORI teaches a Martens Hardness tester having an indenter position of 20 microns, but does not limit the measurement to this position [0128]. The hardness measurement is an average [0129] of 4 to 6 locations).
Regarding claim 2, the maximum penetration depth hmax is between 5.5 µm and 7.5 µm [0127; according to ISO 14577].
Regarding claim 3, the coating layer has a thickness between 0.5 µm and 10 microns [0041] at the position 100 µm [0044] inward from the front edge ridge part [0041].
Regarding claim 4, the coating layer comprises particles [0040] and a resin binding the particles with the elastic cleaning blade substrate [0080-0084].
Regarding claim 5, the coating layer comprises an applied film comprising PTFE particles and a fluororesin or acrylic particles and polyvinyl alcohol resin or polyvinyl acetal resin ([0081]; acrylic-based resins).
Regarding claim 6, the elastic cleaning blade substrate has a single layer structure of polyurethane rubber or a laminate structure of polyurethane rubber with different Martens hardness [0101, 0103].
Regarding claim 7, the elastic cleaning blade substrate has the single layer structure and the polyurethane rubber has a Martens hardness between 0.5 N/mm² and 2 N/mm² [0028].
Regarding claim 8, OHMORI teaches a process cartridge (shown in figure 4) comprising: an image bearer 21; and a cleaning device 25 comprising: a cleaning blade 25 comprising: an elastic cleaning blade substrate (shown in figure 1) comprising: a front end portion 62d; and a front edge ridge part; an undersurface; an edge layer 62a; and a coating layer 623 disposed on the front end portion, the coating layer being in contact with the surface of the image bearer to clean the surface of the image bearer 21; and a cleaning blade supporting member 621 to support the elastic cleaning blade substrate 622, wherein a maximum penetration depth hmax of an indenter of a microhardness tester is between 4.0 µm and 10.0 µm at a position 100 µm inward from the front edge ridge part on the undersurface of the clastic cleaning blade substrate as measured according to a nanoindentation hardness test (figure 1-2 and 4 [0018, 0028, 0048, 0122-0124]; OHMORI teaches a Martens Hardness tester having an indenter position of 20 microns, but does not limit the measurement to this position [0128]. The hardness measurement is an average [0129] of 4 to 6 locations).
Regarding claim 9, the process cartridge [0247], further comprising at least one of a charging device 20 to charge a surface of the image bearer, an irradiator 12 to irradiate the surface of the image bearer charged to form a latent electrostatic image, a developing device 13 to develop the latent electrostatic image to form a toner image, or a transfer device 60 or 23 to transfer the toner image to a recording medium (shown in figure 4).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. NAKAYAMA (US 2003/0081971 A1) teaches a tip end coated cleaning blade.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANA GRAINGER whose telephone number is (571)272-2135. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 9-5.
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, Walter 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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/QUANA GRAINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
QG