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 .
2. This office action is responsive to the application Nº 19/060,630 filed on February 21st, 2025 in which claims 1-4 are pending and ready for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
5. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 02/21/2025 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kyoso et al. (US Pub. Nº 2015/0336381), in view of Nishikawa et al. (US Pub. Nº 2013/0083107).
9. Regarding independent claim 1: Kyoso et al. disclosed an image forming apparatus ([0287], line 1; also see Fig. 24, reference 110) comprising:
an ejection portion including a plurality of nozzles arranged along a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of a sheet, and configured to eject ink from each of the nozzles ([0031], lines 1-4);
a formation processing portion configured to use the ejection portion to form, on the sheet, acquisition images ([0022], lines 2-3) including a first acquisition image used to detect the nozzles in an abnormal state and a second acquisition image used to detect the nozzles in a non-ejecting state among abnormal states ([0113], lines 1-4);
a reading processing portion configured to read the acquisition images formed on the sheet ([0022], line 3);
an acquisition processing portion configured to detect the nozzles in the abnormal state and the nozzles in the non-ejecting state based on a reading result by the reading processing portion ([0121], lines 1-4 and [0124], lines 1-3); and
a determination processing portion configured to determine whether or not there is a nozzle in a bent trajectory state among the abnormal states, based on an acquisition result obtained by the acquisition processing portion ([0116], lines 2-3 and [0120], lines 1-2).
Kyoso et al. did not explicitly disclose acquiring the number of the nozzles in the abnormal state and the number of the nozzles in the non-ejecting state based on a reading result by the reading processing portion.
Nishikawa et al. disclosed an image forming apparatus (Fig. 13, reference 100) comprising a unit for forming a test pattern on a substrate ([0063], lines 1-2), a unit for reading the printed test pattern ([0169], lines 1-2), and a unit for acquiring the number of defective nozzles ([0298], lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nishikawa et al. with those of Kyoso et al. by acquiring the number of defective nozzles in order to alert the operator of the image forming apparatus when said number reaches a level not suitable for image quality correction as disclosed by Nishikawa et al. ([0302], lines 1-4).
10. Regarding claim 2: The combination of Kyoso et al. and Nishikawa et al. disclosed the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, comprising an execution processing portion configured to execute a detection process to detect the nozzle in the bent trajectory state when the determination processing portion determines that there is a nozzle in the bent trajectory state (Kyoso et al. [0116], lines 2-3 and [0120], lines 1-2).
11. Regarding claim 3: The combination of Kyoso et al. and Nishikawa et al. disclosed the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a notification processing portion configured to, when it is determined by the determination processing portion that there is the nozzle in the bent trajectory state, issue a notification to that effect (Kyoso et al. [0025], lines 1-3).
12. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kyoso et al. (US Pub. Nº 2015/0336381), in view of Nishikawa et al. (US Pub. Nº 2013/0083107).
13. Regarding independent claim 4: Kyoso et al. disclosed a nozzle inspection method ([0003], line 1) that is executed in an image forming apparatus ([0287], line 1; also see Fig. 24, reference 110) that comprises an ejection portion including a plurality of nozzles arranged along a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of a sheet, and configured to eject ink from each of the nozzles ([0031], lines 1-4),
the nozzle inspection method comprising:
a formation step of using the ejection portion to form, on the sheet, acquisition images including a first acquisition image ([0022], lines 2-3) used to detect the nozzles in an abnormal state and a second acquisition image used to detect the nozzles in a non-ejecting state among abnormal states ([0113], lines 1-4);
a reading step of reading the acquisition images formed on the sheet ([0022], line 3);
an acquisition step of detecting the nozzles in the abnormal state and the nozzles in the non-ejecting state based on a reading result by the reading step ([0121], lines 1-4 and [0124], lines 1-3); and
a determination step of determining whether or not there is a nozzle in a bent trajectory state among the abnormal states, based on an acquisition result obtained by the acquisition step ([0116], lines 2-3 and [0120], lines 1-2).
Kyoso et al. did not explicitly disclose acquiring the number of the nozzles in the abnormal state and the number of the nozzles in the non-ejecting state based on a reading result by the reading processing portion.
Nishikawa et al. disclosed an image forming apparatus (Fig. 13, reference 100) comprising a unit for forming a test pattern on a substrate ([0063], lines 1-2), a unit for reading the printed test pattern ([0169], lines 1-2), and a unit for acquiring the number of defective nozzles ([0298], lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nishikawa et al. with those of Kyoso et al. by acquiring the number of defective nozzles in order to alert the operator of the image forming apparatus when said number reaches a level not suitable for image quality correction as disclosed by Nishikawa et al. ([0302], lines 1-4).
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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16. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICARDO MAGALLANES can be reached at (571)272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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