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
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, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oyama (US PG Pub 2017/0277101).
For claim 1: Oyama teaches an image forming apparatus (see Fig. 1) comprising an image forming portion 50, 54, 55 (see Fig. 1) configured to form an image on a sheet S; a re-feeding portion L2 configured to feed again the sheet S on which an image has been formed by the image forming portion 50 to the image forming portion 50; and a reverse portion 80 configured to reverse the sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming portion and to convey the reversed sheet to the re-feeding portion L2 (see paragraphs 38-40), wherein the reverse portion includes 80: a reverse roller 81 configured to convey the sheet while rotating in a first direction (see paragraph 40, rotating in a forward rotation mode) and thereafter to convey the sheet while rotation in a second direction opposite of the first direction (see paragraph 40, reverse rotation mode); a helical gear (see Fig. 2, see paragraph 50, gear 87) provided on a shaft of the reverse roller 81 (see Fig. 2), the helical gear 87 being configured to rotate together with the reverse roller 81 to transmit a driving force to the reverse roller; and a pressing member 94, 941 configured to press the reverse roller 81 in an axial direction (see Fig. 2).
For claim 3: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the reverse roller also functions as a discharge roller that discharges the sheet outside the image forming apparatus (see Fig. 1, roller 81 with roller 82 function as discharge rollers discharging the sheet to the outside 84 of the printer in Fig. 1).
For claim 5: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus according to The image forming apparatus according to wherein the reverse roller 81 has an abutting member 942 that is abutted by a pressing force of the pressing member 94, 941.
For claim 7: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus of claim 7 wherein the abutting member 942 is abutted by the pressing force of the pressing member 94, 941 against a supporting member 851, 85 configured to support the reverse roller 81 (see Fig. 2, pressing against 942 and the shaft of 851, 85 of the reverse roller 81 so that a movement of the reverse roller 81 in the axial direction is restricted (see Fig. 2, restricted at least from movement in the direction of the spring 941).
For claim 8: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a bearing 97 configured to rotatably support the reverse roller 81 wherein the abutting member 942 is abutted against the support member 851, 85 by the pressing force of the pressing member 94, 941 via the bearing 97 so that the movement of the reverse roller in the axial direction is restricted (see Fig. 2).
For claim 10: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pressing member 94, 941 is configured to press a shaft end portion 942 of the reverse roller 81 in an axial direction.
For claim 12: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein a pressing force receiving member 942 is provided on one shaft end portion of the reverse roller 81 opposite to the other end portion where the helical gear 87 is provided, wherein the pressing member 94, 941 is configured to press the pressing force receiving member 942 in the axial direction (see Fig. 2).
For claim 13: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the pressing member 94, 941 includes a spring 941.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oyama (US PG Pub 2017/0277101) in view of Ogata et al. (US PG Pub 2017/0305711).
For claim 2: Oyama teaches all of the limitations of claim 2 except a switching member provided between the image forming portion and the reverse roller, the switching member being configured to be switched to a first position where the switching member guides the sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming portion to the reverse roller, and to a second position where the switching member guides the sheet that is reversed and conveyed by the reverse roller to the re-feeding portion. However, Ogata et al. teaches a switching member 24 provided between the image forming portion 10 and the reverse roller 22 (see Fig. 1), the switching member 24 being configured to be switched to a first position where the switching member guides the sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming portion to the reverse roller (see Fig. 1, solid portion of element 24, the element forms a path between the image forming member 10 and the reversing and discharging roller 22), and to a second position where the switching member 24 (see Fig. 1, dashed line position of element 24) guides the sheet that is reversed and conveyed by the reverse roller to the re-feeding portion 25. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Oyama to provide a switching member as taught by Ogata et al. for the purpose of guiding the sheet to its respective destinations during discharging, feeding and reversing.
For claim 4: Oyama teaches the image forming apparatus of claim 1 and further teaches and a discharge roller 81, 82 configured to discharge the sheet S on which an image is formed to the stacking portion 84, wherein the reverse roller 81, 82 functions as the discharge roller 81, 82, but does not teach a reading portion provided above the image forming portion via a space in the image forming apparatus, the image reading portion being configured to read an image of a document; a stacking portion provided in the space formed between the image forming portion and the image reading portion, the stacking portion being configured to stack the discharged sheet on which an image has been formed. However, Ogata et al. teaches a reading portion 200 provided above the image forming portion 1 via a space 23 (see Fig. 1, generally the exterior region about and above portion 23) in the image forming apparatus 100, the image reading portion 200 being configured to read an image of a document (see paragraph 34); a stacking portion 23 provided in the space 23 formed between the image forming portion 1, 10 and the image reading portion 2, the stacking portion 23 being configured to stack the discharged sheet on which an image has been formed (see Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Oyama to provide a reading portion as taught by Ogata et al. for the purpose of providing a commonly used multifunction device capable of scanning and printing.
Claims 6, 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oyama (US PG Pub 2017/0277101).
For claim 9: Oyama teaches all of the limitations of claim 9 except that the pressing force of the pressing member is set to be greater than a moving force in the axial direction that affects the reversing roller during rotation of the reverse roller. However, provision of this force by the pressing member would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention through routine experimentation. In particular, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the pressing member to have a pressing force greater than the moving force of the reversing roller to maintain the reversing roller in a stable position during operation thereof.
For claims 6 and 11: Oyama teaches all of the limitations of claims 6 and 11 except that the helical gear functions as the abutting member and the pressing member is configured to press a surface of a thrust end of the helical gear in the axial direction respectively. However, each of these distinction can be overcome by a rearrangement of the known parts to provide the spring member which provides an axial force against the side portion of the helical gear. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Oyama to provide the pressing member against the side of the helical gear as a mere rearrangement of the known parts to provide an axial force to maintain the position of the reversing roller while reducing the axial length of the device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on June 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Oyama does not provide for a “a helical gear provided on a shaft of the reverse roller, the helical gear being configured to rotate together with the reverse roller to transmit a driving force to the reverse roller”. It does not appear disputed that the helical gear is provided on the shaft of the reverse roller, as can clearly be seen in Fig. 2, and that the gear 87 rotates together with the roller 81 as can be seen in Fig. 2. At issue is whether the gear is configured to transmit a driving force to the reverse roller. The recitation of the claim is “configured to transmit a driving force to the reverse roller”, the gear 87 is provided in engagement with the shaft 85 and the roller 81 and rotates together therewith, so any rotational forces applied to the gear 87 would be transmitted to the elements 85, 81. In claims 1-13, the driving force as recited does not need to be a driving force specifically from a motor or motor gear. Claim 14 does provide this requirement although it is noted that the driving force recited in claim 14 is given different antecedent basis from the driving force of claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14 and 15 are 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 14 require that the helical gear recite driving force from a motor-side gear and transmit the driving force to the reverse roller which is not the construction of Oyama.
Claim 15 requires that the reverse roller receive both a first thrust force in a first direction and a second thrust force acting in a second opposite direction, but while a thrust moving in a left direction is taught by Oyama in paragraph 53 inter alia, there is no second thrust acting in a second opposite direction.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID H BANH whose telephone number is (571)270-3851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-8PM.
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/DAVID H BANH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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