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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
3. 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 1,8,9,12,14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being
anticipated by Takahashi et al. USP 9,440,478.
Takahashi discloses, regarding claim 1, A medium processing apparatus, comprising:
a conveyor (203) configured to convey a plurality of media;
a stacker (241) configured to stack the plurality of media conveyed by the conveyor; and
a crimper (261) configured to press and deform the plurality of media stacked on the stacker to bind the plurality of media, the crimper including
first binding teeth (26a) on one-a first side with respect to the plurality of media stacked on the stacker in a thickness direction of the plurality of media stacked on the stacker;
second binding teeth (26b) on another a second side with respect to the plurality of media stacked on the stacker in the thickness direction, the second binding teeth configured to being movable-move between a pinching position (fig.1b) at which the second binding teeth pinch the plurality of media with the first binding teeth, and a retracted position (fig.1a) at which the second binding teeth are retracted from the pinching position;
a first peeler (21) configured to move to a first separation position (fig.1b) at which the first peeler is separated from the plurality of media stacked on the stacker toward the first binding teeth, and a first peeling position (fig.1a) at which the first peeler peels the plurality of media stacked on the stacker from the first binding teeth;
a single driving source (271m) configured to provide a driving force; and
a driving force transmission mechanism (270) configured to,
move the second binding teeth between the pinching position (fig.1b) and the retracted position (fig.1a) by using the driving force of the single driving source, and to
move the first peeler from the first separation position (fig.1b) to the first peeling
position (fig.1a) in conjunction with the movement of the second binding teeth from the
pinching position to the retracted position (see at least C13/L49-65).
Regarding claim 8, wherein the first peeler further includes:
a guide face configured to guide the plurality of media between the first binding
teeth and the second binding teeth, and
the guide face is at an upstream end of the first peeler in a conveyance direction in which the plurality of media are conveyed by the conveyor (see at least fig.1b).
Regarding claim 9, wherein
the first peeler has a plate shape having an opening (21b) through which the first binding teeth (26a) are configured to protrude and retract (fig.16),
in response to the first peeler being located at the first separation position (fig.1b), the first binding teeth are further configured to protrude through the opening toward the plurality of media stacked on the stacker (as shown in at least fig.1b,16), and
in response to the first peeler being located at the first peeling position (fig.1a), the first binding teeth are further configured to retract through the opening to a side opposite to the plurality of media stacked on the stacker (as shown in at least fig.1a).
Regarding claim 12, further comprising:
a slider (230) configured to slide the crimper in a main scanning direction orthogonal to both a conveyance direction in which the plurality of media are conveyed by the conveyor and the thickness direction (see at least fig.3, C6/L14-22).
Regarding claim 14, further comprising:
a supply port (fig.4) through which the plurality of media are supplied from an image forming apparatus (101), the image forming apparatus configured to form at least one image on at least one medium of the plurality of media.
Regarding claim 15, An image forming apparatus (101; fig.1) comprising:
an image forming device (110) to form images on a plurality of media; and
the medium processing apparatus (201) according to claim 1, the medium processing apparatus configured to process the plurality of media on which the images are formed by the image forming device.
Regarding claim 16, An image forming system (100; fig.2), comprising:
an image forming apparatus (101) configured to form images on a plurality of media; and
the medium processing apparatus (201) according to claim 1, the medium processing apparatus configured to process the plurality of media on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus.
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi
et al. USP 9,440,478.
Takahashi discloses substantially all the limitations of the claims (see ¶3 above), but does not expressly disclose the crimper including a biasing member configured to bias the first peeler toward the first separation position; however, before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to provide a biasing member so as to provide the expected beneficial results of a stronger separation force between the crimper and the peeler (see MPEP 716.02(c) II).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi
et al. USP 9,440,478 in view of Abe et al. USP 9,764,920.
Takahashi discloses substantially all the limitations of the claims (see ¶3 above), but does not expressly disclose the limitations of claim 11.
Abe teaches the first peeler (10215C) to start moving from the first separation position (fig.20A) to the first peeling position (fig.20B) after the second binding teeth (10210C) start moving from the pinching position to the retracted position (C17/L31-34).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to start moving the first peeler from the first separation position to the first peeling position after the second binding teeth start moving from the pinching position to the retracted position, as taught by Abe, in the device of Takahashi, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of preventing movement interference between the sheet bundle and the crimper and peeler.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi
et al. USP 9,440,478 in view of Mitsui USP 11,655,119.
Takahashi discloses substantially all the limitations of the claims (see ¶3 above), but does not expressly disclose the limitations of claim 13.
Mitsui teaches the use of a staple binder (21) configured to cause a staple to pass through the plurality of media stacked on the stacker to bind the plurality of media (fig.1, C3/L21-26).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to provide a staple binder configured to cause a staple to pass through the plurality of media stacked on the stacker to bind the plurality of media, as taught by Mitsui, in the device of Takahashi, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing the option of staple binding or staple-free binding to the user, thus making the apparatus more versatile.
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 2-6,10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
10. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Makita et al. (USP 10,632,706) discloses A medium processing apparatus comprising a crimper including first binding teeth (61), second binding teeth (62), and a paper pushing unit (53) configured to contact a bundle of paper (B) during the binding operation (fig.13-15).
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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/LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 9/8/2026
