DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: The phrase “fourth sheet stacking provided” in line 3 should be recited as --fourth sheet stacking portion provided--. Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1, 3, 4-7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonami et al. (US Pub No. 2025/0100839 A1) in view of Koyama (US Pub No. 2023/0122113 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Tonami et al. discloses
a first sheet stacking portion (21, Fig. 3) on which a sheet is stacked;
a second sheet stacking portion (comprising 22 and 23) on which the sheet is stacked,
wherein the sheet feeding apparatus further comprises an indication portion provided on the second sheet stacking portion (i.e. the ribs/lines shown on 22 in Fig. 3, since the claim does not define the indication portion to be any specific structure, marking, scale or pattern with any numbers or letters), the indication portion indicating positions of both side ends of the sheet (i.e. the ribs/lines provide reference lines relative to which the positions of the side ends of the sheet can be seen), and
wherein the second sheet stacking portion is provided in a detachably attachable manner (i.e. is capable of being detached since it is not integral with 21) upstream of the first sheet stacking portion (i.e. upwards along 25 in Fig. 3) in a feeding direction (i.e. downwards along 25 in Fig. 3) of the sheet.
Tonami et al. depicts sheet side end restricting portions on 21 in Fig. 3 and Fig. 10 but does not explicitly disclose them.
Koyama discloses sheet side end restricting portions (410, 450) that restrict side ends of the sheet stacked on the first sheet stacking portion (300), for the purpose of aligning and guiding sheets.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Tonami et al. by explicitly including the sheet side
end restricting portion as disclosed by Koyama, for the purpose of aligning and guiding
sheets. It is noted that by this modification, the positions of the side ends of the sheet
would be indicated in the state where the side end of the sheet is restricted by the sheet
side end restricting portion, particularly in symmetry due to the pinion.
Regarding Claim 3, Tonami et al. does not disclose the indication portion to be engraved.
Koyama discloses indication portion (760) is engraved ([0140]) on a stacking surface (i.e. upper surface) of the second stacking portion (700) on which the sheet is stacked, for the purpose of reliably marking the surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Tonami et al. by including an engraved marking as
disclosed by Koyama, for the purpose of reliably marking the surface.
Regarding Claim 4, Tonami et al. discloses the side end of the sheet stacked on the second sheet stacking portion is not restricted on the second sheet stacking portion (i.e. 22 and 23 do not have side end restricting portions).
Regarding Claim 5, Tonami et al. discloses
the second sheet stacking portion is comprised of a third sheet stacking portion (22) and a fourth sheet stacking (23) provided upstream of the third sheet stacking portion in the feeding direction (Fig. 3).
Tonami et al. does not disclose the third to be made from resin or the fourth to be made from metal.
However, since the specification is silent as to any criticality, it would have been
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the
invention of Tonami et al. and Koyama by making the third sheet stacking portion from
resin, and the fourth sheet stacking portion from metal, since it has been held to be
within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of
its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. It is noted this
can be arrived at by routine experimentation given a finite choice of suitable materials.
Regarding Claim 6, Tonami et al. discloses
the indication portion is provided on the third stacking portion (i.e. per Claim 1 above, the ribs/lines are shown on 22 in Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 7, the limitation of a sheet longer than 458.3 mm is directed towards the material worked upon (see MPEP 2115).
Regarding Claim 10, Tonami et al. discloses
an image forming portion (i.e. printer, [0101]) configured to form an image on the sheet fed by the sheet feeding apparatus; and
an apparatus main body (1) of the image forming apparatus that accommodates the image forming portion (i.e. with [0101]),
wherein the first sheet stacking portion (21) is rotatably provided (via 24) on a side portion of the apparatus main body ([0039]).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonami et al. (US Pub No. 2025/0100839 A1) in view of Koyama (US Pub No. 2023/0122113 A1) in view of Di Fulvio et al. (US Patent No. 3,715,117).
Regarding Claim 2, Tonami et al. and Koyama do not disclose indication of a distance.
Di Fulvio et al. discloses an indication portion (52) indicates a distance (i.e. “5, 6, 7, 8”, Fig. 2) from a conveying center (i.e. approximate location of numeral ‘16’ in Fig. 2) in a width direction (i.e. up/down in Fig. 2) perpendicular to the feeding direction (i.e. left/right in Fig. 2), for the purpose of determining sheet width.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Tonami et al. and Koyama by including the distance
indication as disclosed by Di Fulvio et al, for the purpose of determining sheet width. It
is noted the claim does not specify any units/measure of distance.
Claim(s) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonami et al. (US Pub No. 2025/0100839 A1) in view of Koyama (US Pub No. 2023/0122113 A1) in view of Morita et al. (JP 2662839).
Regarding Claim 8, Tonami et al. discloses
the indication portion is provided on the first sheet stacking portion in addition to the second sheet stacking portion (i.e. see the markings on the upstream end of 21, on either side of 22, in Fig. 3), but does not disclose indicating sheet size.
Morita et al. discloses wherein the indication portion (16) provided on the first sheet stacking portion (10) indicates a size of the sheet in the width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the sheet (“On the upstream side of the guide plate 13 on the front side of the tray main body 10, a size label is attached as a first display section 16 for displaying the paper size.”), for the purpose of displaying paper size.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Tonami et al. and Koyama by including displaying
paper size as disclosed by Morita et al, for the purpose of displaying paper size.
Regarding Claim 9, Tonami et al. does not disclose the indication portion on the first sheet stacking portion located as claimed.
Morita et al. discloses the indication portion (16) provided on the first sheet stacking portion (10) is provided between the sheet side end restricting portion (13) and the indication portion (22) provided on the second sheet stacking portion (11) in the feeding direction, for the purpose of displaying sheet size of longer sheets.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the invention of Tonami et al. and Koyama by including the
indication portion to be located as disclosed by Morita et al, for the purpose of
displaying sheet size of longer sheets.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/PRASAD V GOKHALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 March 20, 2026
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