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.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the last limitation should probably be “the developer housing and the developing chamber come to communicate with each other.” Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusano et al. US 2019/0302651 A1 (Kusano) and Matsuzaki et al. US 2019/0113865 (Matsuzaki).
Regarding claim 1, Kusano teaches a developer container comprising:
a developing roller (22) configured to supply developer to a photosensitive drum;
a supplying roller (20) configured to be rotatable and to supply the developer to the developing roller;
a developing chamber (18b) provided with the developing roller and the supplying roller;
a developer housing (18a) configured to store the developer and having an opening (18c) that communicably connects the developer housing and the developing chamber; and
a stirring member (23) provided inside the developer housing and configured to stir the developer, and moreover configured to be rotatable in a same direction as a direction in which the supplying roller rotates (20 rotates “in contact with the developing roller 22” thus it is in the opposite direction of D and thus the same as F, FIG. 3), wherein
the developer housing is enabled to be provided with a sealing member (24) for sealing the opening (18c), from a side of the developer housing,
in a state where the opening is sealed by the sealing member (24), the sealing member is bonded at an upstream bonded portion (fold-back portion 24c) that is on an upstream side of the opening and also at a downstream bonded portion (24b) that is on a downstream side of the opening, in a rotating direction of the stirring member (¶0056-¶0057), and
the developer housing and the developing chamber come to communicate each other as a result of the sealing member peeling off, starting from the upstream bonded portion and then the downstream bonded portion (¶0056-¶0057).
Kusano differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: a height of a rotation shaft of the stirring member is equal to or higher than a height of a rotation shaft of the supplying roller, in a gravitational direction. However this is a known configuration. Matsuzaki teaches a height of a rotation shaft (20) of the stirring member (21b) is equal to or higher than a height of a rotation shaft of the supplying roller (23), in a gravitational direction (FIG. 3). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the developer container taught by Kusano as taught by Matsuzaki in order for the developer container taught by Kusano to be compatible with the type of image forming apparatus taught by Matsuzaki (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Kusano and Matsuzaki teach the developer container according to claim 1. Furthermore Kusano teaches a one-end side of the sealing member is attached to a rotation shaft of the stirring member (24a),
an another-end side of the sealing member is bonded at the upstream bonded portion and at the downstream bonded portion in a state where the opening is kept sealed with the sealing member (FIG. 3),
the upstream bonded portion (24c) of the sealing member is positioned nearer to the one-end side than the downstream bonded portion (FIG. 3), and
the sealing member (24) is configured to peel off starting from the upstream bonded portion, and then the downstream bonded portion in conjunction with rotation of the stirring member (¶0056-¶0057).
Regarding claim 3, Kusano teaches a developer container comprising:
a developing roller (22) configured to supply developer to a photosensitive drum;
a supplying roller (20) configured to be rotatable and to supply the developer to the developing roller;
a developing chamber (18b) provided with the developing roller and the supplying roller;
a developer housing (18a) configured to store the developer and having an opening (18c) that communicably connects the developer housing and the developing chamber; and
a stirring member (23) provided inside the developer housing and configured to stir the developer, and moreover configured to be rotatable in a same direction as a direction in which the supplying roller rotates (20 rotates “in contact with the developing roller 22” thus it is in the opposite direction of D and thus the same as F, FIG. 3), wherein
the developer housing is enabled to be provided with a sealing member (24) for sealing the opening (18c), from a side of the developer housing,
in a state where the opening is sealed by the sealing member (24), the sealing member is bonded at an upstream bonded portion (fold-back portion 24c) that is on an upstream side of the opening and also at a downstream bonded portion (24b) that is on a downstream side of the opening, in a rotating direction of the stirring member (¶0056-¶0057), and
the sealing member (24) includes a part that is attached to a rotation shaft of the stirring member (24a), a part that is bonded at the upstream bonded portion (24b), and a part bonded at the downstream bonded portion (24c), in this order, along a direction from a one-end side toward an another-end side (FIG. 3).
Kusano differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: a height of a rotation shaft of the stirring member is equal to or higher than a height of a rotation shaft of the supplying roller, in a gravitational direction. However this is a known configuration. Matsuzaki teaches a height of a rotation shaft (20) of the stirring member (21b) is equal to or higher than a height of a rotation shaft of the supplying roller (23), in a gravitational direction (FIG. 3). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the developer container taught by Kusano as taught by Matsuzaki in order for the developer container taught by Kusano to be compatible with the type of image forming apparatus taught by Matsuzaki (FIG. 1).
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