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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 11, the word “passage” should be replaced with passing. 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.
Claims 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsai et al. US 2008/0031667 A1 (hereinafter “Tsai”, cited in an IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Tsai, with reference to FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, discloses a document conveying device (100) comprising:
a conveyance path which is formed between a document feed port and a document discharge port, and along which a document is conveyed through a reading position, wherein
the conveyance path includes;
a carry-in path (121 in FIG. 2) formed between the document feed port (1211) and a first passing point (1111) in front of the reading position;
a reading path formed between the first passing point and a second passing point (1112) beyond the reading position that passes through the reading position (position below 150);
an escape path (112) formed between the first passing point and the second passing point that does not through the reading position;
a loop path (1214) which starts from the second passing point and returns to the second passing point; and
a discharge path (1215) formed between the first passing point and the document discharge port, wherein
the document is conveyed through the carry-in path, the reading path, the loop path, the escape path, and the discharge path in this order at a time of single- sided reading (shown in FIG. 3A), and,
the document is conveyed through the carry-in path, the reading path, the loop path, the reading path, and the discharge path in this order at a time of doble- sided reading (shown in FIG. 4A).
Regarding claim 2, comprising:
a first branch member (140) which is turnably supported above the carry-in path at the first passing point, and turned downward by its own weight to guide the document from the reading path to the discharge path, wherein
when the document is conveyed from the carry-in path to the reading path, the branch member is pushed up by the document to be turned upward and to allow the document to pass through.
Regarding claim 3, comprising:
a second branch member (130) which is disposed at the second passing point, and switched between a first posture (FIG. 3A) that guides the document from the reading path to the loop path and guides the document from the loop path to the escape path, and a second posture (FIG. 4A) that guides the document from the loop path to the reading path;
a first actuator (190) which is activated by the document being conveyed along the carry-in path; and
a second actuator (200) which is actuated by the document being conveyed along the loop path, wherein
at the time of doble-sided reading, the second branch member is switched from the first posture to the second posture by the second actuator so that the document is conveyed to the reading path,
after the document is passed the reading path, the second branch member is switched from the second posture to the first posture so that a next document is conveyed from the reading path to the loop path.
Regarding claim 4, comprising:
a discharge tray (surface downstream of 1212) on which the document discharged through the discharge port is loaded, wherein the loop path is disposed below the discharge tray (shown in FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 6, refer to annotated FIG. 2 shown below, comprising:
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a pair of carry-in rollers including a driving roller and a driven roller, which conveys the document along the carry-in path; and
a pair of discharge rollers including a driving roller and a driven roller, which conveys the document along the discharge path, wherein
the driving roller of the pair of carry-in rollers is also used as the driving roller of the pair of discharge rollers.
Regarding claim 7, refer to annotated FIG. 2 shown above, comprising:
a pair of going conveying rollers including a driving roller and a driven roller, which conveys the document along a going path of the loop path; and
a pair of returning conveying rollers including a driving roller and a driven roller, which conveys the document along a returning path of the loop path, wherein
the driving roller of the pair of going conveying rollers is also used as the driving roller of the pair of returning conveying rollers.
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 (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 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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai in view of Endo US 6,032,941 (hereinafter “Endo”).
Tsai teaches the claimed invention except is silent to teaching wherein a length of the loop path is equal to a length of A4 vertical size or A4 horizontal size.
Endo teaches a loop that is able to accommodate different size sheets including two A4 sheets (FIG. 3C) and an A3 sheet (FIG. 3B), but also mentions that the size and number of sheets containable in a loop (reversing path) is not restricted to those sizes and “but the length of the reversing paths can suitably set as required”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Tsai’s loop path length to be equal to a length of a desired (required) fed sheet as taught by Endo in order to ensure a desired fed sheet of specific length such as A4 is conveyed with efficiency (greater throughput).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3094. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5:30pm.
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/LUIS A GONZALEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653