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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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
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 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 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kasai (US Pub. 2019/0061388 in view of Tokuda (JP 2016128328).
Kasai discloses in Figures in Figures 1-3 a label printer comprising:
Regarding claim 1, a print head (8) configured to perform printing on label paper (P) obtained by attaching a label (Pb) to a backing paper (Pa) (Figure 2);
a peeling unit (4) configured to peel the label (Pb) from the backing paper (Pa) (Figure 2);
a first roller (11) disposed upstream of the peeling unit (4) in a transport path of the label paper (P) (Figure 2);
a second roller (31) disposed downstream of the peeling unit (4) in a transport path of the backing paper (Pa) (Figure 2);
a detection unit (32) configured to detect an end position of the label paper (P) (Figure 2); and
a control unit (40) (Figure 3);
the control unit (40) performs feedback control on the peeling plate driving unit based on a detection result of the detection unit (32) so that a variation in the end position of the label paper (P) is reduced (Figures 2-3).
Kasai does not disclose the peeling unit includes a peeling plate rotatable on the same plane as a paper surface of the label paper with a support shaft as a fulcrum; and a peeling plate driving unit configured to rotate the peeling plate with the support shaft as a fulcrum.
Tokuda discloses in Figures 1-2 a printing apparatus comprising the peeling unit (3) includes a peeling plate (13) rotatable on the same plane as a paper surface (101a) of the label paper (100) with a support shaft (14) as a fulcrum (Figures 1-2); and
a peeling plate driving unit (15) configured to rotate the peeling plate (13) with the support shaft (14) as a fulcrum (Figures 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Tokuda in the Kasai’s label printer
for the purpose of reliably printing on the label in the vicinity of the rear end of the label paper and to effectively use the label.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the detection unit (32) is disposed between the first roller (11) and the peeling plate (4).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. These prior art references (US Pat. 8,813,646; US Pub. 2013/0084121) cited in the PTO 892 form show a thermal printer which is deemed to be relevant to the present invention. These references should be reviewed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of record fail to teach or suggest a printing apparatus comprising a function of a complex number s indicating a rotation angle θ of the peeling plate in the same plane as the paper surface of the label paper with the support shaft as a fulcrum is a function θ (s), a function of the complex number s indicating a position of the label paper on the first roller is a function U(s), a function of the complex number s indicating a position of the label paper on the peeling plate is a function X(s), a function of the complex number s indicating a position of the label paper on the second roller is a function Z(s), a distance from the first roller to the peeling plate is m.sub.0, a distance from the first roller to the detection unit is m.sub.1, and a distance from the detection unit to the peeling plate is m.sub.2, a transfer function indicating a relationship between a function X(s) of the complex number s and a function θ (s) of the complex number s is [Math.1] X(s)θ(s)=(1+m2m0Ts)vs, a transfer function indicating a relationship between the function X(s) of the complex number s and the function U(s) of the complex number s is [Math.2] X(s)U(s)=1+m2m0Ts1+Ts, a transfer function indicating a relationship between the function Z(s) of the complex number s and the function X(s) of the complex number s is [Math.3] Z(s)X(s)=11+m2m0Ts, and T is a value obtained by dividing m.sub.0 by a transport speed v of the label paper .in the combination as claimed.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Anh Vo whose telephone number is (571) 272-2262. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:30 A.M.to 6:00 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner'ssupervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on (571) 431-0716. The fax phonenumber for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANH T VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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