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.
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.
Claims 1-12 are 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.
The term “at a vicinity of a center” in claims 1 and 10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “at a vicinity of a center” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what areas are included at/in the vicinity of the center.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi JP 2023165131.
Regarding claim 1, Yamaguchi discloses:
A heating device comprising:
a first rotator (42) (FIG. 2); and
a second rotator (41) (FIG. 2) facing an outer surface of the first rotator,
wherein the first rotator includes:
a nip forming member (45a) (FIG. 2) in contact with an inner face of the first rotator to form a nip portion between the first rotator and the second rotator;
a heating source (43) (FIG. 2) to heat the first rotator;
a reflector (48) (FIGs. 2 and 3) elongated in a longitudinal direction, the reflector to reflect heat generated by the heating source to the inner face of the first rotator;
a support (44) (FIGs. 2 and 3) to receive a pressure from the second rotator via the nip forming member; and
a base (45b) (FIGs. 2 and 3) interposed between the support and the nip forming member, and
the reflector includes:
a reflecting section (48a) (FIG. 2) facing the heating source; and
a heat transmission section (48b) (FIG. 2) between the base and the nip forming member, and
the heat transmission section includes:
a positioning section (central section that comprises a majority of the total length of heat transmission section in longitudinal direction) disposed at a vicinity of a center of the heat transmission section in the longitudinal direction, the positioning section positions the reflector with respect to the base (FIG. 2) (the positioning section is sandwiched between the base and nip forming member), the positioning section having a first contacting area (majority of total contact area) contacting with the nip forming member (FIGs. 2 and 3); and
end sections (narrow sections at longitudinal ends smaller than positioning/central section) closer to both ends of the heat transmission section than the positioning section in the longitudinal direction, each of the end sections having a second contacting area smaller than the first contacting area to contact with the nip forming member (each of the end sections are narrower and contact the nip forming member less than the positioning/central section).
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Regarding claim 2, Yamaguchi discloses:
wherein the positioning section is disposed at the center of the heat transmission section in the longitudinal direction.
Regarding claim 4, Yamaguchi discloses:
wherein the reflector includes multiple heat transmission sections including the heat transmission section (the reflector can be divided into any number of sections in the longitudinal direction or divided into a set number of sections 48b) (FIG. 7), and
the multiple heat transmission sections are divided from one another and arrayed in the longitudinal direction (FIG. 7).
Regarding claim 8, Yamaguchi discloses:
A fixing device (40) (FIG. 1) comprising:
the heating device according to claim 1 to heat a recording medium, on which an unfixed image is formed, to fix the unfixed image onto the recording medium.
Regarding claim 9, Yamaguchi discloses:
An image forming apparatus (FIG. 1) comprising the heating device according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Yamaguchi discloses:
A heating device comprising:
a first rotator (42) (FIG. 2); and
a second rotator (41) (FIG. 2) facing an outer surface of the first rotator,
wherein the first rotator includes:
a nip forming member (45a) (FIG. 2) in contact with an inner face of the first rotator to form a nip portion between the first rotator and the second rotator;
a heating source (43) (FIG. 2) to heat the first rotator;
a reflector (48) (FIGs. 2 and 3) elongated in a longitudinal direction, the reflector to reflect heat generated by the heating source to the inner face of the first rotator;
a support (44) (FIGs. 2 and 3) to receive a pressure from the second rotator via the nip forming member; and
a base (45b) (FIGs. 2 and 3) interposed between the support and the nip forming member, and
the reflector includes:
a reflecting section (48a) (FIG. 2) facing the heating source; and
a heat transmission section (48b) (FIG. 2) between the base and the nip forming member, and
the heat transmission section includes:
a positioning section (central section that comprises a majority of the total length of heat transmission section in width direction of sheet) disposed at a vicinity of a center of the sheet in a width direction of the sheet passing through the nip portion and facing the heat transmission section, the positioning section positions the reflector with respect to the base (FIG. 2) (the positioning section is sandwiched between the base and nip forming member), the positioning section having a first contacting area (majority of total contact area) contacting with the nip forming member (FIGs. 2 and 3); and
end sections (narrow sections at longitudinal ends smaller than positioning/central section) closer to both ends of the sheet in the width direction than the positioning section in the longitudinal direction, each of the end sections having a second contacting area smaller than the first contacting area to contact with the nip forming member (each of the end sections are narrower and contact the nip forming member less than the positioning/central section).
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Regarding claim 11, Yamaguchi discloses:
A fixing device (40) (FIG. 1) comprising:
the heating device according to claim 10 to heat a recording medium, on which an unfixed image is formed, to fix the unfixed image onto the recording medium.
Regarding claim 12, Yamaguchi discloses:
An image forming apparatus (FIG. 1) comprising the heating device according to claim 10.
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi JP 2023165131 in view of Endo US 20230393505.
Regarding claim 3, Yamaguchi discloses the limitations of claim 1 as set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the end sections have holes or recesses, the holes or the recesses are arranged in the heat transmission section separately in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, the heat transmission section includes a heat transfer assist section disposed between the holes or between the recesses, and the heat transfer assist section contacts the nip forming member.
Endo discloses wherein end sections of a heat transmission section (280) (FIG. 12) have holes or recesses (289) (FIG. 12),
the holes or the recesses are arranged in the heat transmission section separately in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction (FIG. 12),
the heat transmission section includes a heat transfer assist section (solid section of 283) (FIG. 12) disposed between the holes or between the recesses, and
the heat transfer assist section contacts the nip forming member (40) (FIG. 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus as disclosed by Yamaguchi to include the holes or recesses as disclosed by Endo in order to control the amount of heat located at the longitudinal ends of nip.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi JP 2023165131 in view of Suzuki US 20160252856.
Regarding claim 5, Yamaguchi discloses the limitations of claim 1 as set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the base has engagement projections on an upstream end and a downstream end of the base in a conveyance direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, and the nip forming member has engagement holes engageable with the engagement projections of the base.
Suzuki discloses a base (160) (FIG. 2) interposed between a support (150) (FIG. 2) and nip forming member (130) (FIG. 2),
wherein the base has engagement projections (162A) (FIG. 2) on an upstream end and a downstream end of the base in a conveyance direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, and
the nip forming member has engagement holes (H1) (FIG. 3) engageable with the engagement projections of the base.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus as disclosed by Yamaguchi to include the engagement projections as disclosed by Suzuki in order to better position base and nip forming member.
Regarding claim 6, Yamaguchi in view of Suzuki teaches:
wherein the end sections have holes or recesses (obvious to provide holes to allow the engagement projection to engage the nip forming member on the upstream side) (FIG. 2) (Yamaguchi), and
the engagement projections of the base protrude toward the nip forming member through the holes of the end sections in the heat transmission section (when modifying the base of Yamaguchi to include the engagement projections as disclosed by Suzuki).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi JP 2023165131 in view of Yamaguchi et al. US 20220291613.
Regarding claim 7, Yamaguchi discloses the limitations of claim 1 as set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the support has a fitting hole, and the base has a fitting projection insertable and fittable into the fitting hole in the support in an insertion direction, the fitting projection is inserted and fitted into the fitting hole by an insertion amount in the insertion direction, and a distance between a portion of the support and a portion of the reflector facing each other in the insertion direction is shorter than the insertion amount when the fitting projection is fitted into the fitting hole.
Yamaguchi et al. discloses wherein the support (25) (FIG. 2) has a fitting hole, and the base (41) (FIG. 2) has a fitting projection (41a) (FIG. 2) insertable and fittable into the fitting hole in the support in an insertion direction, the fitting projection is inserted and fitted into the fitting hole by an insertion amount in the insertion direction (FIG. 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus as disclosed by Yamaguchi to include the fitting hole and projection as disclosed by Yamaguchi et al. in order to position the base with respect to the support [0056] (Yamaguchi et al.).
When making such a modification, a distance between a portion of the support and a portion of the reflector facing each other in the insertion direction would be shorter than the insertion amount when the fitting projection is fitted into the fitting hole (see FIG. 2 of Yamaguchi and FIG. 2 of Yamaguchi et al.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II whose telephone number is (571)272-6619. The examiner can normally be reached T-Th 9-5.
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/THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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