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 § 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, 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Toyofuku et al (U.S. Pub. 2022/0305794)
Regarding claim 1, a liquid ejecting system comprising: a liquid ejecting head (41; Abstract; Paragraphs 0018-0019; Figure 2); Transmission control portion (data transmitted to computer; Paragraph 0115); and a reception control portion (data will be received; S14-S30; Figure 7; Paragraphs 0112-0125)
The liquid ejection head includes a nozzle, a piezoelectric element (PZT) that is driven by a drive signal being supplied (Paragraphs 0019, 0028-0029)
A diaphragm (412i) that vibrates by driving the piezoelectric element (Figure 3; Paragraphs 0116-0017)
A pressure chamber (412d) which is filled with a liquid and to which a pressure for ejecting the liquid from the nozzle is applied by the vibration of the diaphragm (Figure 3; Paragraphs 0031)
A detection portion that detects residual vibration (S14; Figure 7; Paragraph 0115) of the diaphragm after the piezoelectric element is driven (Abstract; Paragraphs 0112-0116)
The transmission control portion transmits residual vibration information indicting the residual vibration detected by the detection portion to a server (CPU 12 transmits data on the voltage to the computer 60; Paragraphs 0115-0117; Figure 7)
The reception control portion receives adjustment information for adjusting a waveform of the drive signal, which is generated based on the residual vibration indicated by the residual vibration information, from the server (S14-S30; Figure 7; Paragraphs 0112-0125)
Regarding claim 7, an acceptance portion that accepts a selection from a user as to whether or not to adopt the adjustment information, wherein the transmission control portion transmits adaption information indicating an adoption result of the adjustment information to the server (Figure 7; S26-S38; Paragraphs 0074-0076)
Regarding claim 8, the server stores the adoption information in a storage portion in association with the residual vibration information (Figures 1, 7; Paragraphs 0015-0016, 0115-0117; Figure 7)
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) 2-3, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toyofuku et al (U.S. Pub. 2022/0305794) in view of Yamagata et al (U.S. Pub. 2023/0280951)
Regarding claim 2, Yamagata discloses an acceptance portion that accepts a selection from a user (instruction from the user via display panel) as to whether or not to transmit condition information (inquiry information) on a use condition of the liquid ejection head; when transmission of the condition information is selected, the transmission control portion transmits the condition information (Paragraphs 0019, 0066; Figure 1)
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 Yamagata into the device of Toyofuku, for the purpose of providing control to a user in order to manage the printer and consumables
Regarding claim 3, Yamagata discloses the condition information includes information on a type of liquid (type of ink stored) (Paragraph 0019; Figure 1)
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 Yamagata into the device of Toyofuku, for the purpose of providing control to a user in order to manage the printer and consumables
Regarding claim 6, Toyofuku discloses when the transmission control portion transmits the residual vibration information and the condition information and specific adjustment information corresponding to the condition information is stored in a database (memory 13 of CPU; Figure 1; Paragraph 0016) referred to by the server, the reception control portion receives the specific adjustment information from the server (Figure 7; Paragraphs 0112-0125)
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toyofuku et al (U.S. Pub. 2022/0305794) in view of Furuya (U.S. Pat. 5,784,078)
Regarding claim 4, Furuya discloses it is known in the art to transmit printer conditions including temperatures (Column 5, Lines 16-47)
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 Furuya into the device of Toyofuku, for the purpose of maintaining a high performing print apparatus
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toyofuku et al (U.S. Pub. 2022/0305794) in view of Sato et al (U.S. Pub. 2021/0101384)
Regarding claim 5, Sato discloses it is known in the art to transmit printer conditions including pressure information (Paragraph 0078)
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 Sato into the device of Toyofuku, for the purpose of maintaining a high performing print apparatus
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 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 9 is the inclusion of the limitation of the transmission control portion transmits information indicating only the residual vibration corresponding to one nozzle representing the plurality of nozzles to the server, as the residual vibration information. 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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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.
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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 August 11, 2026
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