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 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.
Claim(s) 12, 13 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2005045644 (Yoshiyuki).
With regards to claim 12, Yoshiyuki discloses:
12. A printing device comprising:
a platen (6);
a print head (21);
a reader (18) positioned upstream of the print head in a first moving direction;
a platen moving member (8); and
a controller (100) comprising one or more processors, the controller being configured to perform:
a first reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in the first moving direction (S12); and
reading, by controlling the reader, a surface of a printing target on the platen to obtain first scan data (S12);
a printing process after starting the first reading process, the printing process including:
printing, by controlling the print head, an image on the surface of the printing target on the platen (S20);
a first information providing process after completing the first reading process, the first information providing process including: providing information based on the first scan data (information concerning the scan data is provided to the controller).
13. The printing device according to claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to further perform:
detecting, before starting the first information providing process, a defect of the surface based on the first scan data, wherein when the defect of the surface is detected, the information provided in the first information providing process includes information regarding the defect of the surface (Yoshiyuki, the image is used to adjust placement and color tone, among others, of the printed image, which are defects).
17. A printing device comprising:
a platen (6);
a print head (21);
a reader (18) positioned upstream of the print head in a first moving direction;
a platen moving member (platen motor 8); and
a controller (100) comprising one or more processors (110), the controller being configured to perform: a first reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in the first moving direction (3d to 3b); and
reading, by controlling the reader, a surface of a printing target on the platen to obtain first scan data (S12);
a printing process after starting the first reading process, the printing process including:
printing, by controlling the print head, an image on the surface of the printing target on the platen (S20);
a first determining process including:
determining, based on the first scan data, whether the surface has a defect (positioning error is a defect).
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) 1-7 and 9-11, 14-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2005045644 (Yoshiyuki) in view of JP 2009226857 (Hirobumi) and JP 2011084029 A (Okada).
Yoshiyuki discloses a t-shirt inkjet printing device that detects alignment of the sheet prior to printing with an upstream image sensor, and movement of a platen to position the platen relative to the sensor for scanning.
Hirobumi teaches the use of a CIS with height adjustment to detect printing defects after printing.
Okada teaches that CIS sensors can be used to detect alignment/positioning prior to printing.
The resulting combination detailed herein replaces the CCD in Yoshiyuki with the height adjustable CIS sensor of Hirobumi, with Okada providing support that the CIS sensor is useful for and capable of detecting alignment prior to printing.
Yoshiyuki discloses, with regards to claim:
1. A printing device (fig. 1) comprising:
a platen (6);
a print head (21);
a reader (18) positioned upstream of the print head in a first moving direction (reader is upstream of the printhead in a first moving direction extending from the top to the bottom of fig. 1);
a platen moving member (platen motor 8); and
a controller (fig. 3, element 100) comprising one or more processors (CPU 110), the controller being configured to perform:
a first reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in the first moving direction (the platen is moved from the starting point 3d to end point 3b for reading by CCD sensor 18, a line extending from 3d to 3b extends in the first direction, which is from the top to the bottom of fig. 1, where the reader 18 is upstream of the printhead relative to the first moving direction, fig. 6, S12); and
reading, by controlling the reader, a surface of a printing target on the platen to obtain first scan data (S12, image data of the upper surface of the platen read by the CCD image sensor 18 is stored in image storage area 132);
a printing process after starting the first reading process, the printing process including:
printing, by controlling the print head, an image on the surface of the printing target on the platen (“ink droplets are ejected onto the upper surface of the platen 6 based on print data stored in the print image storage area 134”, S20).
Yoshiyuki does not disclose:
a second reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in a second moving direction opposite the first moving direction; and
reading, by controlling the reader, the image on the surface of the printing target on the platen to obtain second scan data.
However, Hirobumi discloses reading the image with a CIS after printing on the surface of the printing target on the platen to obtain second scan data for defect detection (“detects non-ejection of ink droplet ejection and unevenness due to variation in droplet ejection amount”).
Further, Okada teaches a CIS (element 30, Abstract) for detection prior to printing, and is cited as evidence that replacing the CCD in Yoshiyuki with the CIS of Hirobumi still enables Yoshiyuki to image prior to printing to check for positioning.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to have modified Yoshiyuki, as suggested by Hirobumi and Okada, to replace the CCD with a CIS, and move, by controlling the platen moving member 8, the platen in an opposite direction, and to perform reading of the image on the surface of the printing target on the platen.
The reason for performing the modification would have been to provide a CIS which provides more sensitivity and requires less light irradiation, while returning the printed image to the scanning region, for detection of defects to enable notification or correction for the defects.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success in making the modification because Okada teaches that a CIS is suitable for detecting the position/alignment of a printing medium prior to printing, thereby demonstrating that the CIS of Hirobumi would have been capable of performing the pre print reading performed by the CCD sensor 18 of Yoshiyuki.
Yoshiyuki does not disclose, with regards to claim:
2. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a reader moving member, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader in such a manner that a distance between the reader and the platen during the first reading process is less than a distance between the reader and the platen during the second reading process.
However, Hirobumi discloses a CIS sensor as a reader with:
a reader moving member (linear actuator 34), wherein the controller is configured to further perform: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader in such a manner that a distance between the reader and the platen is changed (system control changes the distance of the detection unit through the linear actuator 34 according to the thickness of the recording medium).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to have replaced the CCD in Yoshiyuki with the CIS, with the height adjustment, in Hirobumi for the purpose of providing a sensor that is more sensitive with less light loss so that the amount of light irradiated to the surface can be reduced, requiring less light sources and less light source power, while allowing the sensor to be positioned at the appropriate distance to provide a desired resolution and image quality.
Hirobumi further discloses that the distance between the detector and the medium can be changed to provide a desired resolution, and based on the thickness of the media.
Providing a printed layer on the surface of the textile increases thickness of the textile, with some of the ink also being absorbed into and swelling the textile, which also increases the thickness of the textile. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have also modified Yoshiyuki to provide a shorter distance between the reader and platen prior to printing, than the distance used for measuring after printing, so as to account for the increased thickness of the textile after printing, while ensuring a properly focused image at a desired resolution, as suggested by Hirobumi.
The combination discloses, with regards to claim:
3. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a reader moving member (34), wherein the controller is configured to further perform: adjusting, by controlling the reader moving member to move the reader during the first reading process, a distance between the reader and the platen.
4. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: determining, based on the first scan data, whether the surface has a defect (Yoshiyuki detects positioning and misalignment which is a form of a defect).
5. The printing device according to claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to further perform:
determining, based on the second scan data, whether the image printed on the surface has a defect (“detects non-ejection of ink droplet ejection and unevenness due to variation in droplet ejection amount”).
6. The printing device according to claim 5, further comprising: a reader moving member (linear actuator 34), wherein the controller is configured to further perform: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader in such a manner that a distance between the reader and the platen during the first reading process is less than a distance between the reader and the platen during the second reading process (see above rejection for claim 2, claim 6 is rejected for similar reasons).
7. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a reader moving member, wherein the reader is a contact image sensor (CIS), wherein the controller is configured to further perform: an approaching process before starting the reading the surface of the printing target on the platen, the approaching process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the contact image sensor toward the platen to reach an in-focus position at which the surface falls within a depth of field of the contact image sensor, wherein in the first reading process the contact image sensor at the in-focus position reads the surface of the printing target on the platen (the reader is moved by the linear actuator to an in-focus position depending on media thickness).
9. The printing device according to claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: a receding process after completing the first reading process, the receding process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the contact image sensor away from the platen (the sensor is moved away from the platen at some time after reading).
10. The printing device according to claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the contact image sensor in such a manner that a distance between the contact image sensor and the platen during the second reading process exceeds a distance between the contact image sensor and the platen during the first reading process (see rejection of claim 2, claim 10 is rejected for similar reasons).
11. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the reader is a contact image sensor (CIS).
14. The printing device according to claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to further perform:
a second reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in a second moving direction opposite the first moving direction; and
reading, by controlling the reader, the image on the surface of the printing target on the platen to obtain second scan data; and
detecting a defect of the image printed on the surface based on the second scan data; and
a second information providing process including:
providing information based on the second scan data, wherein when the defect of the image is detected, the information provided in the second information providing process includes information regarding the defect of the image (the combination discloses the second reading process by way of the detection of defects after printing, as suggested by Hirobumi and Okada, claim 14 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 1 above).
15. The printing device according to claim 14, further comprising:
a reader moving member, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: an approaching process before starting the reading the surface of the printing target on the platen, the approaching process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader toward the platen to reach an approaching position, wherein in the first reading process the reader at the approaching position reads the surface of the printing target on the platen (the combination discloses moving the reader depending on thickness of the media to an approaching position, where reading is performed).
16. The printing device according to claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: a receding process after completing the first reading process, the receding process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader away from the platen, wherein the second reading process is performed after the receding process is started (the reader is moved away from the platen at some time after the reading process).
18. The printing device according to claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to further perform:
a second reading process including:
moving, by controlling the platen moving member, the platen in a second moving direction opposite the first moving direction; and
reading, by controlling the reader, the image on the surface of the printing target on the platen to obtain second scan data;
a second determining process including: determining, based on the second scan data, whether the image printed on the surface has a defect; and
a notification process including: issuing a notification related to the defect of the image (Hirobumi in view of Okada remedies the deficiencies in Yoshiyuki by disclosing the defect detection after printing, see the rejection of claim 1 above).
19. The printing device according to claim 18, further comprising: a reader moving member, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: an approaching process before starting the reading the surface of the printing target on the platen, the approaching process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader toward the platen to reach an approaching position, wherein in the first reading process the reader at the approaching position reads the surface of the printing target on the platen (in the combination, the reader is moved to an approaching position where reading occurs).
20. The printing device according to claim 19, wherein the controller is configured to further perform: a receding process after completing the first reading process, the receding process including: moving, by controlling the reader moving member, the reader away from the platen, wherein the second reading process is performed after the receding process is started (the reader is moved away from the platen at some time after the reading process).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest that the approaching process is performed based on detection data outputted from the contact sensor, the detection data indicating whether the contact image sensor is in contact with the surface.
Conclusion
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JULIAN D. HUFFMAN
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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