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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited on a Form PTO 1449 have been considered.
Specification
The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. However, the applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections
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.
Claims 1-2 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mizuno (US Pat. 10,449,778).
Mizuno discloses in Figures 1, 6 and 16 a filter unit for an ink-jet recording apparatus comprising:
1, a filter (24) configured to filter liquid (Figures 6 and 16);
a filter chamber (25) including a pre-filter chamber (26) and a post-filter chamber (27) that are partitioned by the filter (24) (Figure 6);
an introduction flow path (30) through which the liquid (ink) is introduced into the pre-filter chamber (26) through an introduction port (31) (Figure 6); and
a lead-out flow path (40) through which the liquid is led out from the post-filter chamber (27) through a lead-out port (43), wherein when the filter unit (16) is in a state of being attached to the upstream coupling portion (22) and the downstream coupling portion (23), the introduction port (31) is located in a lowermost portion of the pre-filter chamber (26), the lead-out port (41) is located in an uppermost portion of the post-filter chamber (27), and the pre-filter chamber (26) has a bottom surface (32) inclined upward from the location of the introduction port (33) (Figure 6).
2, wherein the pre-filter chamber (25) is located below an upper end of the filter (24) (Figure 6).
11, the upstream coupling portion (22); the downstream coupling portion (23); an upstream flow path (30) coupled to the upstream coupling portion (22); and a downstream flow path (40) coupled to the downstream coupling portion (23) (Figure 6).
12, a liquid ejection apparatus (1) comprising the liquid flow device (16) and a liquid ejection unit (11) configured to eject liquid (ink) (Figures 1 and 6).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. These prior art references (US Pat. 6,120,140; US Pat. 7,192,131; US Pat. 7,198,361) cited in the PTO 892 form show an ink filter which is deemed to be relevant to the present invention. These references should be reviewed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a filter unit attachable to and detachable from an upstream coupling portion and a downstream coupling portion located above the upstream coupling portion in a vertical direction, the filter unit comprising a filter that is defined as a first filter, the filter unit further comprises a second filter, and a bypass flow path coupling the pre-filter chamber with the lead-out flow path, the bypass flow path is coupled to a bypass port located in an uppermost portion of the pre-filter chamber, and the second filter is provided in the bypass flow path in the combination as claimed.
Claim 4 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a filter unit attachable to and detachable from an upstream coupling portion and a downstream coupling portion located above the upstream coupling portion in a vertical direction, the filter unit comprising a filter chamber that includes a partition wall partitioning between the pre-filter chamber and the post-filter chamber, the partition wall is provided to be inclined with respect to the vertical direction to make a space above the pre-filter chamber smaller than a space below the pre-filter chamber, and the filter is provided in an opening of the partition wall in the combination as claimed.
Claims 5-8 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. These claims would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a filter unit attachable to and detachable from an upstream coupling portion and a downstream coupling portion located above the upstream coupling portion in a vertical direction, the filter unit comprising a lead-out port that is defined as a first lead-out port and a lead-out flow path is defined as a first lead-out flow path, the filter unit further comprises a second lead-out flow path through which the liquid is led out from the post-filter chamber, and with the second lead-out flow path, the liquid led out from the post-filter chamber through the second lead-out port provided in a lowermost portion of the post-filter chamber joins the first lead-out flow path in the combination as claimed.
Claim 9 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a filter unit attachable to and detachable from an upstream coupling portion and a downstream coupling portion located above the upstream coupling portion in a vertical direction, the filter unit comprising a pre-filter chamber that has a plurality of ribs provided on a bottom surface of a pre-filter chamber in the combination as claimed.
Claim 10 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a filter unit attachable to and detachable from an upstream coupling portion and a downstream coupling portion located above the upstream coupling portion in a vertical direction, the filter unit comprising a pre-filter chamber that has a plurality of ribs provided on a side surface of a pre-filter chamber in the combination as claimed.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Anh Vo whose telephone number is (571) 272-2262. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:30 A.M.to 6:00 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner'ssupervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on (571) 431-0716. The fax phonenumber for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from thePatent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information forpublished applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Shouldyou have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the ElectronicBusiness Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from aUSPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated informationsystem, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANH T VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights