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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 06/02/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/02/2026.
Specification
TITLE - The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
“JUMBO CASE” - The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites inter alia
(i) an image bearer to bear a toner image
(ii) a primary transferor to be applied with a primary transfer voltage
(iii) the primary transferor primarily transfers the toner image formed on the image bearer onto the intermediate transferor
(iv) a primary transfer electric current detector to detect an electric current value of an electric current supplied to the primary transferor
Claim 3 subsequently recites
(v) wherein the toner image primarily transferred by the primary transferor supplied with the electric current detected by the primary transfer electric current detector is in black
It is unclear how the toner image is transferred with the detected electric current instead of the applied primary transfer voltage. It is unclear if the detected electric current corresponds to the applied primary transfer voltage (i.e. is a current detected when the primary transfer voltage is applied to transfer a black toner image onto the intermediate transferor) or a current related to black toner image transfer detected at some other time/by other conditions, as permissible by the non-limiting recitation in claim 1. For the purpose of examination over prior art, this limitation is interpreted as the later.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2018/0181020 to Ito et al.
Ito teaches:
(claim 1) An image forming apparatus (Fig.11) comprising:
an image bearer (1d) to bear a toner image;
a primary transferor (14d) to be applied with a primary transfer voltage;
an intermediate transferor (10) via which the primary transferor is disposed opposite the image bearer to form a primary transfer portion where the primary transferor primarily transfers the toner image formed on the image bearer onto the intermediate transferor [0070];
a primary transfer electric current detector (100) to detect an electric current value of an electric current supplied to the primary transferor [0074];
a control-input device to receive intermediate transferor replacement data that indicates that the intermediate transferor is replaced (implicitly disclosed, [0071]); and
a controller (100) configured to:
perform a primary transfer voltage determination control that determines the primary transfer voltage based on the detected electric current value [0059-0062]; and
perform the primary transfer voltage determination control at a time when the control-input device receives the intermediate transferor replacement data and a time after an initial image formation after the intermediate transferor is replaced [0071].
(claim 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: another image bearer (e.g. 1b) to bear another toner image in a color different from a color of the toner image borne on the image bearer; and another primary transferor e.g. 14b) disposed opposite said another image bearer [0035], wherein the controller is configured to determine the primary transfer voltage to be applied to the primary transferor and said another primary transferor based on the electric current value detected by the primary transfer electric current detector [0059-0062].
(claim 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toner image primarily transferred by the primary transferor supplied with the electric current detected by the primary transfer electric current detector is in black [0035, 0038].
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) 1-5, 7, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over US 2018/0210376 to Hirai et al.
Hirai teaches:
(claim 1) An image forming apparatus (100) comprising:
an image bearer (1K) to bear a toner image;
a primary transferor (5K) to be applied with a primary transfer voltage;
an intermediate transferor (8) via which the primary transferor is disposed opposite the image bearer to form a primary transfer portion where the primary transferor primarily transfers the toner image formed on the image bearer onto the intermediate transferor;
a primary transfer electric current detector (31, Fig.15) to detect an electric current value of an electric current supplied to the primary transferor;
a control-input device (29 or 200, Fig.15) to receive intermediate transferor replacement data that indicates that the intermediate transferor is replaced (implicitly disclosed, Fig.11, [0045, 0091]); and
a controller (26) configured to:
perform a primary transfer voltage determination control that determines the primary transfer voltage based on the detected electric current value (Fig.14, S2); and
perform the primary transfer voltage determination control at a time when the control-input device receives the intermediate transferor replacement data (e.g., power activation after replacement) and a time after an initial image formation (e.g. post-rotation) after the intermediate transferor is replaced [0047, 0102].
(claim 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: another image bearer (e.g. 1Y) to bear another toner image in a color different from a color of the toner image borne on the image bearer; and another primary transferor (e.g. 5Y) disposed opposite said another image bearer [0028], wherein the controller is configured to determine the primary transfer voltage to be applied to the primary transferor and said another primary transferor based on the electric current value detected by the primary transfer electric current detector [0048, 0081, 0087].
(claim 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toner image primarily transferred by the primary transferor supplied with the electric current detected by the primary transfer electric current detector is in black [0035, 0038, 0045].
(claim 4) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a memory (27, Fig.15) to store a usage status of the intermediate transferor (e.g. print sheet number), wherein the intermediate transferor replacement data includes reset data that resets the usage status (see b counter in Fig.11), the reset data received by the control-input device [0045, 0081, 0091].
(claim 5) The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the usage status includes a number of pages printed from start of usage of the intermediate transferor (Fig.11, [0081]).
(claim 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to calculate the primary transfer voltage according to a transformation formula that transforms the electric current value detected by the primary transfer electric current detector to the primary transfer voltage(electrical resistance value based on Ohm’s law, Fig.14:S3).
(claim 8) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image bearer includes a photoconductor, wherein the intermediate transferor includes an intermediate transfer belt, wherein the primary transferor includes a primary transfer roller, and wherein the control-input device includes a control panel [0028-0030, 0045, 0090-0091].
In the alternative, if Hirai is interpreted as not anticipating performing primary transfer voltage determination control based of receiving intermediate transferor replacement data from the control-input device, a configuration in which an operator (e.g., service/maintenance person), uses the operation unit 29 to input replacement setting of different replaceable components of the image forming apparatus is a well-known configuration in the electrophotographic arts that would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0210376 to Hirai et al., as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of US 20180335739 to Hiroi.
Regarding claim 6, Hirai teaches an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to perform the primary transfer voltage determination control based on acceptance of a print job but does not explicitly suggest performing the primary transfer voltage determination control based on the number of pages printed.
Hiroi discloses an image forming apparatus wherein the controller is configured to perform primary transfer voltage determination control that determines the primary transfer voltage based on a resistance change of the intermediate transfer belt based on the number of pages printed (see Fig.10: S18-S24, [0098]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hirai and Hiroi to arrive at an image forming apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the controller is configured to perform the primary transfer voltage determination control based on the number of pages printed, for at least the purpose of preventing image transfer defects as the intermediate transferor ages.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARLENE HEREDIA whose telephone number is (571)272-8393. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30-5:30.
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/Arlene Heredia Ocasio/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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