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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed on 4/16/25, the requirements 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) are met.
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 - 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-6, 8 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimizu et al. (U.S. 2016/0096369 A1).
Shimizu et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 1, a liquid discharge head (Title) comprising:
a first component (30, §§0030, 0037, 0053-0054 and Fig. 6) having a projection projecting in a first direction (right in Fig. 6); and
a second component (12, 14, 16, §0053 and Figs. 4, 6) bonded to the first component in a second direction (up in Fig. 6) orthogonal to the first direction,
the second component having a front peripheral face facing the first component and a side peripheral face intersecting the front peripheral face (Fig. 6),
wherein the front peripheral face has a groove (where fast-curing adhesive 41 is deposited, §0053 and Fig. 6) disposed at a position facing the projection and recessed in a third direction opposite to the second direction (down in Fig. 6), and
the groove is inside the side peripheral face in a fourth direction opposite to the first direction.
Regarding Claim 2, a nozzle plate (2, §0028 and Fig. 6) having a nozzle (1, §0028 and Fig. 6), wherein:
the first component includes a nozzle cover (4, 6, 9, §0028 and Fig. 6) covering the nozzle plate;
the second component includes a base bonded to the nozzle cover (Fig. 6);
the projection includes a portion of an outer edge of the nozzle cover which projects from a surrounding outer edge (e.g. from the surrounding edge of a recess part 47, §0050 and Fig. 6) in the first direction; and
the groove includes a recess or a through hole facing the portion of the outer edge of the nozzle cover (Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 3, a nozzle plate (2, §0028 and Fig. 6) having a nozzle (1, §0028 and Fig. 6), wherein:
the first component includes laminated substrates (2, 4, 6, 9, §0028 and Fig. 6) including a plurality of substrates;
the second component includes a common channel substrate (12, §0035 and Figs. 1-4, 6) bonded to the laminated substrates, the common channel substrate having a common channel communicating with the nozzle of the nozzle plate;
the projection includes a portion of an outer edge of the laminated substrates which projects from a surrounding outer edge (e.g. from the surrounding edge of a recess part 47, §0050 and Fig. 6) in the first direction; and
the groove includes a recess or a through hole facing the portion of the outer edge of the laminated substrates (Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 5, wherein the groove is filled with an adhesive (41, §0053 and Fig. 6) to bond the projection of the first component to the second component.
Regarding Claim 6, wherein the projection projects from an outer edge of the first component, and the projection has an end face in the first direction as a cut surface (Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 8, wherein the first component is laminated substrates including at least a first substrate and a second substrate laminated one on another (2, 4, 6, 9, §0028 and Fig. 6),
the laminated substrates are bonded to the second component (Fig. 6),
the first substrate has the projection (Fig. 6),
the second substrate has another projection projecting in the first direction (Fig. 6),
the groove faces the projection (Fig. 6), and
an adhesive (41, §0053 and Fig. 6) applied between the projection and the groove contacts a face of the projection facing the groove.
Regarding Claim 20, a liquid discharge apparatus (§§0065-0072 and Figs. 11-12) comprising:
the liquid discharge head (314, §§0067-0068 and Fig. 12), to discharge a liquid to a medium; and
a conveyor (324, 326, 327, §§0070-0071 and Figs. 11-12) to convey the medium to the liquid discharge head.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu et al. (U.S. 2016/0096369 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Furuya et al. (U.S. 2005/0212866 A1).
Shimizu et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 4, all limitations of Claim 1 (from which this Claim depends).
Shimizu et al. do not disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 4, wherein the groove has a through hole having a thread.
Furuya et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 4, wherein the periphery of the second component has a through hole (15, §0040 and Figs. 1-2) having a thread. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the threaded through hole of Furuya et al. to the liquid discharge head of Shimizu et al. to reliably connect the first and second components. Please note that the peripheral positions of the threaded through holes of Furuya et al. correspond to the position of the groove of Shimizu et al.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 9-19 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 7 is the inclusion of the limitations of a liquid discharge head including wherein the groove faces the cut surface of the projection. It is this limitation found in the claim, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 9-19 is the inclusion of the limitations of a liquid discharge head including wherein said another projection is shifted from the projection in a fifth direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction. It is this limitation found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV whose telephone number is (571)270-7049. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Douglas X Rodrigues can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/JASON S UHLENHAKE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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