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
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.
Claims 1, 3, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Honsu et al. WO 2017/163755 A1 (hereinafter “Honsu”).
Regarding claim 1, Honsu, with reference to FIGS. 1-3, discloses a medium transport device (10) comprising:
a first roller pair (upstream roller pair in FIG. 1) configured to transport a medium (100) in a transport direction;
a second roller pair (downstream roller pair in FIG. 1) arranged downstream of the first roller pair in the transport direction; and
an ultrasonic detection unit arranged between the first roller pair and the second roller pair in the transport direction, wherein
the ultrasonic detection unit includes:
a transmission sensor chip (21, refer to FIG. 3) configured to emit an ultrasonic wave along a first axis toward a first surface of the medium being transported;
a reception sensor chip (22, refer to FIG. 3) being configured to receive an ultrasonic wave and being arranged at a position on the first axis so that the medium is sandwiched between the reception sensor chip and the transmission sensor chip;
a transmission substrate (31) being provided with the transmission sensor chip and including a substrate surface on which the transmission sensor chip is placed;
a reception substrate (32) being provided with the reception sensor chip and including a first substrate surface on which the reception sensor chip is placed;
an amplifier (33) being provided at the reception substrate and being configured to amplify a reception signal of an ultrasonic wave received by the reception sensor chip; and
a shielding member (14, refer to FIG. 3) being provided at the reception substrate and being configured to cover at least a part of the amplifier, and
a height of the reception sensor chip with respect to the reception substrate is lower than a height of the shielding member with respect to the reception substrate (refer to FIG. 3).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the amplifier and the shielding member are provided to a substrate surface of the reception substrate, the substrate surface being opposite to the first substrate surface on which the reception sensor chip is placed (refer to FIG. 3).
Regarding claim 6, wherein at least a part of the reception substrate (32) and at least a part of the shielding member (14) are present within any one of: a range of the first roller pair in a normal line direction with respect to a surface of the medium at a nipping position of the first roller pair, and a range of the second roller pair in a normal line direction with respect to a surface of the medium at a nipping position of the second roller pair (refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3).
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 (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 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 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honsu in view of Yamada et al. US 2020/0039774 A1 (hereinafter “Yamada”, cited in an IDS).
Regarding claims 7-9, Honsu teaches the claimed invention except
wherein the reception sensor chip includes a piezoelectric element, the first axis is inclined with respect to a surface of the medium passing through between the transmission sensor chip and the reception sensor chip, and when the ultrasonic detection unit is calibrated, the reception sensor chip receives an ultrasonic wave while a bias voltage is applied to the reception sensor chip including the piezoelectric element, and the amplifier amplifies the reception signal (claim 7),
wherein the first axis is inclined with respect to a surface of the medium passing through between the transmission sensor chip and the reception sensor chip, and when the ultrasonic detection unit detects double feeding of media, the reception sensor chip receives an ultrasonic wave while a bias voltage is applied to the reception sensor chip, and the amplifier amplifies the reception signal, and
an image reading apparatus comprising: the medium transport device according to claim 1 and a reading unit being located downstream of the second roller pair in the transport direction and being configured to read an image of the medium.
Yamada teaches use of an ultrasonic detection unit (15, 151) in an image reading device (10) for detecting double feeding of media before the media reaches a reading unit located downstream of a second roller pair (133, refer to FIG. 2). The sensor center axis (15C) is “inclined with respect to a normal line of the surface of the paper sheet P, it is possible to reduce reception of unnecessary ultrasonic components such as the multi-reflected ultrasonic wave, and it is possible to detect the multi-feeding at high accuracy.”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use Honsu’s ultrasonic detection unit in an image reading apparatus as taught by Yamada in order to detect double feeding of sheets being fed toward a reading unit, thereby avoiding a jam condition in an image reading apparatus.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3094. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5:30pm.
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/LUIS A GONZALEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653