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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11 March 2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2, “according to claim 2:” should be replaced by -- according to claim 2; -- (i.e. change the colon to a semicolon.) Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nakamura (JP 2016052749.)
Regarding claim 1,
Nakamura discloses a pressure measurement apparatus for measuring a pressure in a plurality of pressure transmission paths [pipes 63/64 in fig. 3] that apply pressure to an object [ink] via a gas [inside pressure tank 21/24 in fig. 3; paragraph 0045], the pressure measurement apparatus comprising:
at least one pressure measurement section [51/56 in fig. 3] comprising a measurement path with an internal space configured to receive the gas [paragraphs 0045-0046], and a pressure sensor [55/60 in fig. 3] configured to detect a pressure in the internal space [paragraphs 0050 and 0055]; and
at least one switching section [valves 52/57 in fig. 3] configured to selectively switch a connection destination of the measurement path from among the plurality of pressure transmission paths [paragraphs 0047-0052 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 2,
Nakamura further discloses wherein the object is a liquid that comes into contact with the gas discharged from a terminal end of each of the plurality of pressure transmission paths [as seen in fig. 3; paragraphs 0053-0057.]
Regarding claim 3,
Nakamura further discloses a recording apparatus, comprising:
the pressure measurement apparatus according to claim 2 [see Rejection above]:
the plurality of pressure transmission paths [as seen in fig. 3]; and
at least one liquid ejection section [head 11 (which consists of head modules 16) in fig. 3] configured to eject a liquid onto a recording material [paragraph 0021], wherein
each of the plurality of pressure transmission paths is configured to apply the pressure to the liquid that is supplied to or recovered from the at least one liquid ejection section [as seen in fig. 3; paragraph 0045.]
Regarding claim 6,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one liquid ejection section comprises a plurality of liquid ejection sections, each comprising a liquid ejection head [16 in fig. 3] configured to eject the liquid onto the recording material [paragraph 0021], a supply sub-tank [21 in fig. 3], having a first liquid region and a first gas region inside and configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3], and a recovery sub-tank [24 in fig. 3], having a second liquid region and a second gas region inside and configured to recover the liquid from the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3],
the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprise:
a plurality of supply pressure transmission paths [63 in fig. 3], each communicating with the first gas region of each supply sub-tank of the plurality of liquid ejection sections [as seen in fig. 3]; and
a plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths [64 in fig. 3], each communicating with the second gas region of each recovery sub-tank of the plurality of liquid ejection sections [as seen in fig. 3],
the at least one pressure measurement section comprises a first pressure measurement section [55 in fig. 3] and a second pressure measurement section [60 in fig. 3; paragraph 0045],
the at least one switching section [valves 52/57 in fig. 3] is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of a first internal space, as the internal space of the first pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of supply pressure transmission paths, and while the first internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor of the first pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the first internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094], and
the at least one switching section [valves 52/57 in fig. 3] is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of a second internal space, as the internal space of the second pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths, and while the second internal space communicates with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor of the second pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the second internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 7,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one switching section comprises a first switching section [52 in fig. 3] and a second switching section [57 in fig. 3],
the first switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the first internal space of the first pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of supply pressure transmission paths, and while the first internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor of the first pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the first internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094], and
the second switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the second internal space of the second pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths, and while the second internal space communicates with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor of the second pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the second internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 8,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one liquid ejection section comprises a plurality of liquid ejection sections, each comprising a liquid ejection head [16 in fig. 3] configured to eject the liquid onto the recording material [paragraph 0021], and a supply sub-tank [21 in fig. 3] having a first liquid region and a first gas region inside and configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3],
the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprise a plurality of supply pressure transmission paths [63 in fig. 3], each communicating with the first gas region of each supply sub-tank of the plurality of liquid ejection sections [as seen in fig. 3],
the at least one switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the internal space of the at least one pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of supply pressure transmission paths, and while the internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor measures the pressure in the internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 9,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one liquid ejection section comprises a plurality of liquid ejection sections, each comprising a liquid ejection head [16 in fig. 3] configured to eject the liquid onto the recording material [paragraph 0021], and a recovery sub-tank [24 in fig. 3] having a second liquid region and a second gas region inside and configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3],
the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprise a plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths [64 in fig. 3], each communicating with the second gas region of each recovery sub-tank of the plurality of liquid ejection sections [as seen in fig. 3],
the at least one switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the internal space of the at least one pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths, and while the internal space communicates with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections, the pressure sensor measures the pressure in the internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 10,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one liquid ejection section comprises a liquid ejection head [16 in fig. 3] configured to eject the liquid onto the recording material [paragraph 0021], a supply sub-tank [21 in fig. 3], having a first liquid region and a first gas region inside and configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3], and a recovery sub-tank [24 in fig. 3] having a second liquid region and a second gas region inside and configured to recover the liquid from the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3],
the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprise
at least one supply pressure transmission path [63 in fig. 3] communicating with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank of the at least one liquid ejection section [as seen in fig. 3], and
at least one recovery pressure transmission path [64 in fig. 3] communicating with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of the at least one liquid ejection section [as seen in fig. 3], and
the at least one switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the internal space of the at least one pressure measurement section, from among the at least one supply pressure transmission path or the at least one recovery pressure transmission path, and while the internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank or the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of the at least one liquid ejection section, the pressure sensor measures the pressure in the internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
Regarding claim 11,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
each of the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprises a pressure receiving section [valves 53/58 in fig. 3] configured to receive pressure from a gas pressure source via a gas,
the at least one switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the first internal space of the first pressure measurement section, from among the plurality of supply pressure transmission paths, and while the first internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections and the pressure receiving section, the pressure sensor of the first pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the first internal space, and
the at least one switching section is configured to selectively switch the connection destination of the second internal space of the second pressure measurement section from among the plurality of recovery pressure transmission paths, and while the second internal space communicates with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank of one of the plurality of liquid ejection sections and the pressure receiving section, the pressure sensor of the second pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the second internal space [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094-0095.]
Regarding claim 12,
Nakamura further discloses wherein
the at least one liquid ejection section comprises a liquid ejection head [16 in fig. 3] configured to eject the liquid onto the recording material [paragraph 0021], a supply sub-tank [21 in fig. 3], having a first liquid region and a first gas region inside and configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3], and a recovery sub-tank [24 in fig. 3] having a second liquid region and a second gas region inside and configured to recover the liquid from the liquid ejection head [as seen in fig. 3],
the plurality of pressure transmission paths comprise
a supply pressure transmission path [63 in fig. 3] communicating with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank [as seen in fig. 3], and
a recovery pressure transmission path [64 in fig. 3] communicating with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank [as seen in fig. 3],
the at least one pressure measurement section comprises a first pressure measurement section [55 in fig. 3] and a second pressure measurement section [60 in fig. 3; paragraph 0045],
the at least one switching section is configured to connect a first internal space, as the internal space of the first pressure measurement section, to the supply pressure transmission path, and while the first internal space communicates with the first gas region of the supply sub-tank, the pressure sensor of the first pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the first internal space, and the at least one switching section is configured to connect a second internal space as the internal space of the second pressure measurement section, to the recovery pressure transmission path, and while the second internal space communicates with the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank, the pressure sensor of the second pressure measurement section measures the pressure in the second internal space, simultaneously with the measurement of the pressure in the first internal space by the pressure sensor of the first pressure measurement section [paragraphs 0045-0050 and 0094.]
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Hori et al. (US 2022/0040974 – hereinafter Hori.) [0111-0122, 0142 – figs. 7-8]
Regarding claim 4,
Nakamura discloses the claimed limitations as set forth above and further teaches wherein the plurality of pressure transmission paths are configured to receive pressure via the gas from at least one gas pressure source [through pump 61 in fig. 3.]
Nakamura fails to expressly disclose the recording apparatus further comprising:
a carriage configured to support the at least one liquid ejection section and reciprocate in a main scanning direction,
wherein the at least one gas pressure source is disposed outside the carriage.
However, Hori discloses a liquid ejecting apparatus that may include a carriage on which a ink ejecting section [510 in fig. 7] is mounted, and may eject ink from the ink ejecting section mounted on the carriage as it moves along the printing paper to print an image; and also teaches an embodiment where a sub tank 70, a filter unit 81, a damper unit 83, an ink ejecting section 515, a feed pump 582, and a warming device 950 that constitute an ink circulation path 580 of the ink ejecting unit may be mounted on the carriage, while a pressure pump 56 for pressurizing the internal space of the sub-tank 70 is provided outside the carriage [paragraphs 0111-0122 and 0142; as seen in figs. 7-8.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nakamura invention to include a carriage configured to support the at least one liquid ejection section as taught by Hori for the purpose of having a printing apparatus that performs high-precision printing while being able to print on medium of different sizes by changing how far it travels.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Ishikawa (US 2016/0368273.)
Regarding claim 5,
Nakamura discloses the claimed limitations as set forth above and further teaches wherein the plurality of pressure transmission paths are configured to receive pressure via the gas from at least one gas pressure source [through pump 61 in fig. 3.]
Nakamura fails to expressly disclose the recording apparatus further comprising:
a carriage configured to support the at least one liquid ejection section and reciprocate in a main scanning direction,
wherein the at least one gas pressure source is mounted on the carriage.
However, Ishikawa discloses the ink jet apparatus [1 in fig. 1] that includes a plurality of the ink jet head units [4 in figs. 1-2 and 5], a plurality of ink cartridges [51 in fig. 2] each of which contains ink to be supplied to corresponding one of the ink jet head units, and a head support unit [6 in figs. 1-2] which movably supports the ink jet head unit [paragraph 0024], wherein each ink jet head unit includes an ink jet head [2 in fig. 5] and an ink circulating device [3 in fig. 6] which is integrally provided at an upper portion of the ink jet head and which includes an ink supply pump [34 in fig. 5], a circulation pump [35 in fig. 5], and the pressure adjusting unit [36 in fig. 5], the pressure adjusting unit including a first pressure adjusting unit [47 in fig. 5] and a second pressure adjusting unit [48 in fig. 5; paragraph 0038.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nakamura invention to include a carriage configured to support the at least one liquid ejection section, the carriage also mounting the gas pressure source as taught by Ishikawa for the purpose of having a printing apparatus with shorter pneumatic paths that performs high-precision printing while being able to print on medium of different sizes by changing how far it travels.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura.
Regarding claims 13-16,
Nakamura discloses the claimed limitations as set forth above but fails to expressly disclose wherein the volume of the first internal space of the first pressure measurement section is set to not more than the volume of the supply sub-tank (claim 13) or the volume of the first gas region of the supply sub-tank (claim 15), and wherein the volume of the second internal space of the second pressure measurement section is set to not more than the volume of the recovery sub-tank (claim 14) or the volume of the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank (claim 16).
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the volume relationships between components as listed above, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Antonie, 559 F.2d 618, 195 USPQ 6 (CCPA 1977). See also In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). One would have been motivated to optimize the volume relationships for the purpose of having highly accurate, rapid pressure monitoring in the printing apparatus.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Hanazawa et al. (US 2021/0292582 – hereinafter Hanazawa.)
Regarding claim 17,
Nakamura discloses the claimed limitations as set forth above and further teaches wherein the at least one liquid ejection section comprises an ink ejection section [11/16 in fig. 3] configured to eject ink as the liquid [paragraph 0021.]
Nakamura fails to expressly disclose wherein the at least one liquid ejection section further comprises
a pre-treatment liquid ejection section configured to eject a pre-treatment liquid as the liquid, and a post-treatment liquid ejection section configured to eject a post-treatment liquid as the liquid.
However, Hanazawa discloses a printing device [1 in fig. 1] configured to apply an ink to a print medium [10 in fig. 1] to form an image on the print medium, wherein the printing device includes a paper feeding unit [11 in fig. 1], and an ink applying unit [12 in fig. 1], and may include not only parts to discharge the ink but also a pre-treatment device and a post-treatment device, where a liquid stored part containing a pre- or post-treatment liquid and a liquid discharging head are additionally provided to discharge the pre- or post-treatment liquid by an inkjet printing method [paragraphs 0139 and 0147-0148.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nakamura invention to include a pre-treatment liquid section, and a post-treatment liquid ejection section as taught by Hanazawa for the purpose of enhancing print quality, long-term durability, and material compatibility.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura in view of Hakkaku (US Patent 6,048,055.)
Regarding claims 18 and 19,
Nakamura the claimed limitations as set forth above but fails to expressly disclose wherein the recording apparatus further comprises:
a filter disposed between the first gas region of the supply sub-tank and the first internal space of the first pressure measurement section in the supply pressure transmission path (claim 18) or between the second gas region of the recovery sub-tank and the second internal space of the second pressure measurement section in the recovery pressure transmission path.
However, Hakkaku discloses a printer [10 in figs. 1-2] that supplies ink to a print head [34 in figs. 1-2] by pressurizing the inside of an ink tank [62 in figs. 2 and 5] with pressurized air, wherein an air filter [88 in fig. 5] is provided in an air passage to prevent dust from entering the ink tank together with pressurized air [col. 1, line 11 through col.2, line 29 and col. 4, lines 52-59; as seen in fig. 5.]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pipes in the Nakamura invention to include an air filter as taught by Hakkaku for the purpose of preventing dust from entering the ink tank together with air, therefore preventing failure of the apparatus and improving the quality and efficiency of the ink discharge operation.
Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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