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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/15/2025 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 4/15/2025 are acceptable for examination by the examiner.
Title
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6-9, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TSURUYA et al. (US 2005/163532 A1; cited by applicant).
TSURUYA teaches regarding claim 1, an image forming apparatus (figure 1) comprising: a toner cartridge 32a including a toner storage portion configured to store toner, a discharge opening communicating with the toner storage portion, and an information holding portion Re; a rotary 24 including a developing roller 33a, a developing-side storage portion configured to store toner to be supplied to the developing roller 33a, and an attached portion to which the toner cartridge is attached, the rotary 24 being configured to take a replacement posture in which attachment and detachment of the toner cartridge 32a to and from the attached portion are allowed; and a reading portion 100 configured to read information from the information holding portion Re, wherein the discharge opening faces up in a vertical direction when the toner cartridge 32a is attached to the attached portion of the rotary 24 in the replacement posture, wherein toner starts to flow into the developing-side storage portion from the toner cartridge 32a when the rotary 24 is rotated beyond a first angle in a predetermined direction from the replacement posture, and wherein in a case where the toner cartridge 32a is attached to the attached portion, the reading portion 100 is configured to read the information from the information holding portion before the rotary 24 is rotated beyond the first angle in the predetermined direction from the replacement posture (figures 1, 7; [0115-0118]; the general operation is described in other embodiment such as: [0031, 0057-0059, 0076, 0094, 0106]).
Regarding claim 3, the reading portion 100 is configured to read the information from the information holding portion Re in a state in which the rotary is rotated to a second angle from the replacement posture [0118].
Regarding claim 5, the second angle is smaller than an angle of repose of the toner stored in the toner cartridge attached to the attached portion [0076; 0094].
Regarding claim 6, the image forming apparatus further comprising: a drive source configured to rotationally drive the rotary; and a controller configured to control the drive source and obtain the information via the reading portion, wherein the controller is configured to: allow rotation of the rotary in the predetermined direction beyond the first angle in a case where a type of the toner cartridge indicated by the information matches a type of the toner cartridge supposed to be attached to the attached portion; and restrict the rotation of the rotary in the predetermined direction beyond the first angle in a case where the type of the toner cartridge indicated by the information does not match the type of the toner cartridge supposed to be attached to the attached portion (figures 11, 3B).
Regarding claim 7, the rotary is configured to take the replacement posture in the case where the type of the toner cartridge indicated by the information does not match the type of the toner cartridge supposed to be attached to the attached portion (figure 11; [0076]).
Regarding claim 8, the image forming apparatus further comprising: a body frame configured to accommodate the rotary and provided with an opening, wherein the rotary includes a support member provided with the attached portion and configured to support the toner cartridge, wherein the support member is movable between an accommodation position where the toner cartridge attached to the attached portion is accommodated in the body frame and an attachment/detachment position where attachment and detachment of the toner cartridge to and from the attached portion through the opening are allowed, and wherein in the case where the type of the toner cartridge indicated by the information does not match the type of the toner cartridge supposed to be attached to the attached portion, the controller moves the support member from the accommodation position to the attachment/detachment position in a state in which the rotary is in the replacement posture (figures 11-12, [0039]).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the reading portion is movable between a reading position and a retracted position and configured to be positioned at the retracted position while the rotary is rotated, the reading position being a position where the reading portion is capable of reading the information from the information holding portion, the retracted position being a position where the reading portion is retracted from the reading position (figures 3B, 5, 9, 11; when the rotary rotates, the cartridge is at a retracted position).
Regarding claim 11, in a case where the toner cartridge is a first toner cartridge, the rotary is configured such that the first toner cartridge and a second toner cartridge different from the first toner cartridge are attached to the rotary, and wherein the first toner cartridge and the second toner cartridge each store toner of a different color (figure 7).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuruya.
TSURUYA does not teaches where the discharge opening is location.
Regarding Claim 2, TSURUYA teaches an image forming apparatus comprising: a toner cartridge including a toner storage portion configured to store toner, [a discharge opening communicating with the toner storage portion], and an information holding portion; a rotary including a developing roller, a developing-side storage portion configured to store toner to be supplied to the developing roller, and an attached portion to which the toner cartridge is attached, the rotary being configured to take a replacement posture [0115-0118] in which attachment and detachment of the toner cartridge to and from the attached portion are allowed (figure 7); and a reading portion 442 configured to read information from the information holding portion, [wherein the discharge opening faces up in a vertical direction when the toner cartridge is attached to the attached portion of the rotary in the replacement posture, wherein the developing-side storage portion includes an inlet opening to receive toner from the toner cartridge and is configured such that an opening direction of the inlet opening is horizontal] in a case where the rotary is rotated to a first angle in a predetermined direction from the replacement posture, and wherein in a case where the toner cartridge is attached to the attached portion, the reading portion is configured to read the information from the information holding portion before the rotary is rotated beyond the first angle in the predetermined direction from the replacement posture [0115-0118].
However, regarding claims 2 and 10, the position of the discharge upward and the opening being closer to an outer end of the toner storage portion than to an inner end of the toner storage portion in a rotational radius direction of the rotary is a matter of design choice as long as the discharge opening aligns with an inlet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to use design choice with the teaching of TSURUYA to obtain a functional coupling between the toner cartridge and the developing device of the image forming device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. ISHIKAWA et al. (5,617,198) teaches discusses a toner inlet for a rotary developing device within an image forming apparatus.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANA GRAINGER whose telephone number is (571)272-2135. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 9-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached on 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QUANA GRAINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
QG
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