Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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.
2. Claims 1-3 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 7,912,418 (Hattori et al.) (hereinafter “Hattori”).
Regarding claim 1, Figs. 1-15 show a conveyance apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising:
a sheet conveyance path (path between portions 73 and 46 in Figs. 5-6) on which a sheet is conveyed;
a delivery port (port between P3 and 46 in Fig. 5) to which the sheet conveyed on the sheet conveyance path (path between portions 73 and 46 in Figs. 5-6) is delivered; and
a delivery upper surface portion (71) that is continuous with an upper surface of the sheet conveyance path (path between portions 73 and 46 in Figs. 5-6) and constitutes an upper surface of the delivery port (port between P3 and 46), wherein the delivery upper surface portion (71) includes an upstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the left of reference numeral 100b in Fig. 6) that is located on an upstream side in a direction in which the sheet is conveyed, and
a downstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the right of reference numeral 100b in Fig. 6) that is located on a downstream side in the direction in which the sheet is conveyed, and the downstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the right of reference numeral 100b) is located in a lower position than the upstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the left of reference numeral 100b).
Regarding claim 2, Figs. 1-15 show that the downstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the right of reference numeral 100b) extends in a first direction orthogonal to the direction in which the sheet is conveyed and up and down directions,
the downstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the right of reference numeral 100b) includes both end portions (end portions 73 and 73 in Fig. 7) in the first direction, and
a central portion (reference numeral 71 in Fig. 7) that is located in an upper position than the both end portions (73 and 73 in Fig. 7) between the both end portions (73 and 73 in Fig. 7), and the both end portions (73 and 73 in Fig. 7) are located in a lower position than the upstream upper surface portion (portion of 71 to the left of reference numeral 100b).
Regarding claim 3, Figs. 1-15 show that on the delivery port (port between P3 and 46), a conveyed sheet conveyed from the sheet conveyance path (path between portions 73 and 46 in Figs. 5-6) is stacked,
the stacked conveyed sheet warps more upward as the stacked conveyed sheet is closer to both end portions (73 and 73 in Fig. 7) in the first direction,
the both end portions (73 and 73 in Fig. 7) restrict a warp of the stacked conveyed sheet,
the central portion (reference numeral 71 in Fig. 7) and the stacked conveyed sheet have a space therebetween, and
the central portion (reference numeral 71 in Fig. 7) guides the sheet into the space.
Regarding claim 6, Fig. 3(b) shows an image scanning apparatus, comprising:
the conveyance apparatus according to claim 1; and
an image scanning part (184) that scans an image on the sheet conveyed by the conveyance apparatus (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 7, Fig. 1 shows an image forming apparatus, comprising:
the image scanning apparatus according to claim 6; and
an image forming part (including 16-18) that forms an image on a recording medium.
Allowable Subject Matter
3. Claims 4 and 5 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.
Conclusion
4. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US2003/0053153 (Morisaki) shows a sheet conveyance path (u-shaped path in Fig. 5), a delivery port (at 29), a delivery upper surface portion with an upstream surface portion (unnumbered cross-hatched portion above element 27b in Fig. 5) and a downstream upper surface portion (unnumbered curved portion directly above element 28). This reference meets the limitations of claims 1, 6 and 7.
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS A MORRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mike McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOMAS A MORRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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