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). It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2024-052908 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsuyama (U.S. 2018/00001655 A1).
Matsuyama discloses the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 1, a negative pressure regulation valve (10, §§0044, 0046-0048, 0088-0089 and Figs. 1, 4-5) connected to a liquid flow path (20, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5) that allows communication between a liquid reservoir portion (19, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5), which contains a liquid (IK, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5), and a liquid ejection portion (2, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5), which ejects the liquid, the negative pressure regulation valve comprising:
an inflow-side pressure chamber (6, §0046 and Figs. 4-5) including a liquid inflow hole that communicates with a liquid inflow path that is the liquid flow path on a side of the liquid reservoir portion;
an outflow-side pressure chamber (7, §0046 and Figs. 4-5) including a liquid outflow hole that communicates with a liquid outflow path that is the liquid flow path on a side of the liquid ejection portion;
a communication hole (941, §0083 and Figs. 4-5) that allows communication between the inflow-side pressure chamber and the outflow-side pressure chamber; and
a valve member (81, §§0086, 0088-0089 and Figs. 4-5) inserted in the communication hole and movable, in accordance with change of pressure inside the outflow-side pressure chamber, to a closing position for closing the communication hole and an opening position for opening the communication hole,
wherein the outflow-side pressure chamber includes, as the liquid outflow hole,
a first outflow hole formed below the communication hole (93, §§0046-0048 and Figs. 4-5) and a
second outflow hole (92, §0080 and Figs. 4-5) formed above the communication hole, and
as seen from a communication direction of the communication hole, a first line extending in an outflow direction of the liquid from the first outflow hole and a second line extending in an outflow direction of the liquid from the second outflow hole do not coincide with each other (Figs. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 2, wherein the communication hole or a center of the outflow-side pressure chamber as seen from the communication direction is disposed between the first line and the second line (Figs. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 3, wherein the communication hole is formed at the center of the outflow-side pressure chamber as seen from the communication direction (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 4, wherein the first line and the second line, as seen from the communication direction, are not perpendicular with respect to an inner wall surface of the outflow-side pressure chamber (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 5, wherein the inner wall surface of the outflow-side pressure chamber is circular-shaped as seen from the communication direction (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 6, wherein a vector in the outflow direction of the first outflow hole and a vector in the outflow direction of the second outflow hole have rotation directions that coincide with each other when considered as rotation vectors with respect to the communication hole or a center position of the outflow-side pressure chamber (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 7, wherein the first outflow hole and the second outflow hole are disposed at positions that are point-symmetric with respect to the center position of the outflow-side pressure chamber (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 8, wherein the first outflow hole is formed at a lower end part of the outflow-side pressure chamber, and the second outflow hole is formed at an upper end part of the outflow-side pressure chamber (Figs. 4-6).
Regarding Claim 9, a diaphragm portion (72, §0083 and Figs. 4-5) that constitutes part of the outflow-side pressure chamber and that is displaced by pressure change inside the outflow-side pressure chamber (§0088 and Figs. 4-5), thereby changing capacity of the outflow-side pressure chamber; and
a biasing member (82, §§0086, 0088-0089 and Figs. 4-5) that biases the valve member in a direction toward the closing position,
wherein the valve member is caused by displacement of the diaphragm portion and a biasing force of the biasing member to move to the closing position and the opening position (§§0088-0089 and Figs. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 10, an inkjet recording apparatus (1, §0044 and Figs. 1-3), comprising:
an ink container (19, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5) that contains ink (IK, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5) that is a liquid;
one or more recording heads (2, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5) having a plurality of nozzles (21, §0064 and Fig. 3) that eject the ink; and
the negative pressure regulation valve connected to an ink flow path (20, §0044 and Figs. 1, 4-5) between the ink container and the recording heads.
Regarding Claim 11, wherein the ink flow path includes a first outflow path that communicates with the first outflow hole (Fig. 5), and
a second outflow path that communicates with the second outflow hole (Fig. 5), and
the first outflow path and the second outflow path communicate with the recording heads (Fig. 5).
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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