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 with traverse of Embodiment 3 (for group 1 – driving force receiving member) in the reply filed on 7/7/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Embodiments 3 and 5 share common features that would not require different fields of search. This is found persuasive. As such, the restriction requirement between Embodiments 3 and 5 is withdrawn, and these embodiments will be examined.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Embodiment 18 (for group 2 – toggle member) in the reply filed on 7/7/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Kawanami et al. (US 2022/0050416; “Kawanami”).
Regarding claim 1, Kawanami discloses a process cartridge PPK/PP (Figs. 2 & 3A) detachably installable in an imaging device 100 ([0069]), comprising:
a driving force receiving member 1c (Fig. 3A [0072]);
a housing (body of PP; Fig. 3A), comprising a drive end (right side) where the driving force receiving member 1c is provided and an opposite non-drive end (left side; Fig. 3A);
a photosensitive drum 1, rotatably mounted in the housing, wherein the photosensitive drum is driven by driving force received by the driving force receiving member 1c (Fig. 3A [0072]), and the driving force receiving member 1c is exposed from the drive end (Fig. 3A);
a charging member 5, configured to charge the photosensitive drum 1 (Fig. 2 [0081]);
a charging electrode assembly 6, comprising a power receiving portion 6 configured to receive electrical power and a power transmission portion (not shown, but must be present in order for the process cartridges to “have charging contacts 6 electrically connected to the charging rollers 5”) configured to make electrical connection with the charging member 5 (Fig. 20A [0148]), wherein the power receiving portion 6 is electrically connected to the power transmission portion ([0148]);
a chip 7, comprising a storage portion for storing process cartridge information and an electrical contact portion (portion of chip 7 that connects with contact portions 33a/39) electrically connected to the storage portion (Fig. 18C [0147]); and
a developing roller 3, rotatably mounted in the housing ([0072]), with the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing roller 3 being mounted in a lower side of the housing (Fig. 3A);
wherein the electrical contact portion (Fig. 18C) and the power receiving portion 6 (Fig. 20A) are disposed at an upper portion of the non-drive end (left side) (note that 41L is disposed on the left/non-drive side; [0088]), and are exposed upward from the housing ([0148]).
Regarding claim 2, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a first unit housing OP, a second unit housing DP, and a second end cover 1aL mounted at the non-drive end (Figs. 3A-3B), the second end cover 1aL engages with the first unit housing OP and the second unit housing DP (Figs. 3A-3B), the electrical contact portion is disposed on the second end cover 1aL (Fig. 18B), and the charging electrode assembly 6 is disposed on the second unit housing 1AL (Fig. 20A).
Regarding claim 3, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the electrical contact portion and the power receiving portion 6 both face upward (Figs. 18B-18C & 20A [0144, 0147-0148]).
Regarding claim 4, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a first unit housing OP, a second unit housing DP, and a second end cover 1aL mounted at the non-drive end (Figs. 3A-3B), the second end cover 1aL engages with the first unit housing OP and the second unit housing DP (Figs. 3A-3B), the second end cover 1aL is further provided with an electrical contact cavity, and at least the power receiving portion 6 is positioned in the electrical contact cavity (Fig. 20A).
Regarding claim 5, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the imaging device further comprises a door cover 31, and a top plate 33 (Fig. 14B) provided with a power output member 37 ([0148]) and a contact pin (“pressing portions 33a that are part of the contact portions 39 of the pressing unit 33 are also provided with contacts for the memory members 7” [0147]), the contact pin and the power output member 37 are both exposed downward (Figs. 18B & 20A-20B [0148]), before the door cover of the imaging device closes, the top plate does not abut against the process cartridge, when the door cover closes, the top plate 33 abuts against the process cartridge, the electrical contact portion achieves electrical connection with the contact pin, and the power receiving portion 6 also achieves electrical connection with the power output member 37 (see Figs. 14A-15B [0096]). (Note that the claims are drawn to a process cartridge and not an imaging device. As such, the claimed process cartridge is only required to be capable of connecting to an imaging device that has a door cover, top plate, etc.)
Regarding claim 6, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the power receiving portion 6 contacts either a lower conductive surface or a side conductive surface of the power output member 37 (Fig. 20A).
Regarding claim 7, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a toggle member 40 (Fig. 5A) configured to toggle the power receiving portion 6, causing the power receiving portion 6 to transition from a first state (when drawn out of apparatus main body 100A; Fig. 17A) where the power receiving portion is not capable of receiving power to a second state (when inserted into apparatus main body 100A; Fig. 15A) where the power receiving portion is capable of receiving power ([0089]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawanami (US 2022/0050416) in view of Kitajima et al. (US 2014/0086630; “Kitajima”).
Regarding claim 8, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the charging member 5 is rotatably supported by a bracket on the housing (although not explicitly disclosed, the charging member must be supported by some sort of bracket in order for the device to operate as intended).
Kawanami is silent regarding any spring used to maintain contact between the charging member and photosensitive drum.
Kitajima teaches a similar process cartridge 1 (Figs. 1-2 [0024]) wherein the charging member 8 is rotatably supported by a bracket 21 (Fig. 5) on the housing 17 (Fig. 6), a spring 25 is disposed between the bracket 21 and the housing 17 (Figs. 8-9), and through pushing of the spring 25, the charging member 8 maintains contact with the photosensitive drum 7 ([0069-0071]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a spring disposed between the bracket and housing of Kawanami, as taught by Kitajima. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order to maintain a stable charge nip between the charging member and photosensitive drum, thereby making it possible for the charging member to uniformly charge the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum (Kitajima [0071]).
Claim(s) 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawanami (US 2022/0050416) in view of Ichikawa et al. (JP 2007-241106; “Ichikawa”). (Note: cited paragraphs of Ichikawa are from the machine translation of the JP document included herewith.)
Regarding claim 9, Kawanami discloses the process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the charging member is rotatably supported by a bracket on the housing (although not explicitly disclosed, the charging member must be supported by some sort of bracket in order for the device to operate as intended).
Kawanami fails to teach the process cartridge further comprising a friction member disposed adjacent to and in contact with the charging member, wherein the friction member extends along a direction of a rotational axis of the driving force receiving member.
Ichikawa teaches disposing a friction member 200 adjacent to and in contact with a charging member 14, wherein the friction member 200 extends along a direction of a rotational axis of a driving force receiving member, and the charging member 14 is rotatably supported by a bracket 110 on a housing 120 (Fig. 13 [0149-0150]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the process cartridge of Kawanami to include a friction member disposed adjacent to and in contact with the charging member, wherein the friction member extends along a direction of a rotational axis of the driving force receiving member, as taught by Ichikawa. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order to clean the charging member while preventing the deformation of the charging member and suppressing the occurrence of rotation failure or charging failure (Ichikawa [0155]).
Regarding claim 10, modified Kawanami teaches the process cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the charging member is driven to rotate by a friction force between a surface of the photosensitive drum and a surface of the charging member (Ichikawa [0152, 0160]), and when the charging member loses its drive source, a friction force between the friction member and the charging member forces the charging member, which continues to rotate due to inertia, to stop rotating (Ichikawa [0155]).
Regarding claim 11, modified Kawanami teaches the process cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the friction member is an elastic component (the sponge layer is described as a spongy elastic layer; Ichikawa [0085]).
Regarding claim 12, modified Kawanami teaches the process cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the friction member is configured as a sponge body (Ichikawa [0149]).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is cited as related art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLA J THERRIEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2677. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 am - 4 pm EST.
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/CARLA J THERRIEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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