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.
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 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 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kashiwakura US 2019/0219961 (Kashiwakura).
Regarding claim 1, Kashiwakura teaches an image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming section (Y, M, C, K) including an image bearing member (41) that bears a toner image and a lubricant application unit (100) that applies lubricant to the image bearing member; and
a hardware processor (10) that controls the image forming section,
wherein the lubricant application unit includes:
a solidified lubricant stick (102);
a lubricant brush (101) that scrapes off the lubricant from the lubricant stick and supplies the lubricant to the image bearing member (¶0048-¶0050); and
a lubricant pressing part (103) that presses the lubricant stick against the lubricant brush (¶0048),
wherein the hardware processor:
controls the image bearing member and the lubricant brush according to a linear velocity ratio which is a ratio of a surface velocity of the lubricant brush with respect to a surface velocity of the image bearing member in an initial stage of endurance (¶0076), the linear velocity ratio being calculated based on an initial rubbing force and an ease of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force being a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed against the lubricant brush with an initial pressing force in the initial stage of the endurance (¶0104-¶0105); and
corrects the linear velocity ratio by a correction value of the linear velocity ratio calculated based on an endurance correction coefficient according to an endurance change of the lubricant brush determined by the case of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force (mode 1), a terminal rubbing force (mode 3) which is a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed to the lubricant brush by a pressing force weaker than the initial pressing force in a terminal stage of the endurance, and the number of printed sheets by the image forming section (¶0104-¶0106),
wherein the pressing force between the lubricant brush and the lubricant stick in the terminal stage of the endurance is in a proportional relationship with the terminal rubbing force (¶0105-¶0106).
Regarding claim 3, Kashiwakura teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the hardware processor calculates the correction value (i.e., linear velocity ratio bucketed into modes 1, 2 or 3) for each predetermined number of printed sheets and corrects the linear velocity ratio with the correction value (¶0076).
Regarding claim 4, Kashiwakura teaches a control method executed by an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming section (Y, M, C, K) including an image bearing member (41) that bears a toner image and a lubricant application unit (100) that applies lubricant to the image bearing member; and
wherein the lubricant application unit includes: a solidified lubricant stick (102); a lubricant brush (101) that scrapes off the lubricant from the lubricant stick and supplies the lubricant to the image bearing member (¶0048-¶0050); and a lubricant pressing part (103) that presses the lubricant stick against the lubricant brush (¶0048),
wherein the control method comprises controlling the image forming section,
wherein in the controlling,
the image bearing member and the lubricant brush according to a linear velocity ratio which is a ratio of a surface velocity of the lubricant brush with respect to a surface velocity of the image bearing member in an initial stage of endurance (¶0076), the linear velocity ratio being calculated based on an initial rubbing force and an ease of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force being a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed against the lubricant brush with an initial pressing force in the initial stage of the endurance (¶0104-¶0105); and
the linear velocity ratio is corrected by a correction value of the linear velocity ratio calculated based on an endurance correction coefficient according to an endurance change of the lubricant brush determined by the case of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force (mode 1), a terminal rubbing force (mode 3) which is a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed to the lubricant brush by a pressing force weaker than the initial pressing force in a terminal stage of the endurance, and the number of printed sheets by the image forming section (¶0104-¶0106),
wherein the pressing force between the lubricant brush and the lubricant stick in the terminal stage of the endurance is in a proportional relationship with the terminal rubbing force (¶0105-¶0106).
Regarding claim 5, Kashiwakura teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (10) storing a program that causes a computer of an image forming apparatus to function as a controller, wherein the image forming apparatus comprises:
an image forming section (Y, M, C, K) including an image bearing member (41) that bears a toner image and a lubricant application unit (100) that applies lubricant to the image bearing member; and
wherein the lubricant application unit includes: a solidified lubricant stick (102); a lubricant brush (101) that scrapes off the lubricant from the lubricant stick and supplies the lubricant to the image bearing member (¶0048-¶0050); and a lubricant pressing part (103) that presses the lubricant stick against the lubricant brush (¶0048),
wherein the controller:
controls the image bearing member and the lubricant brush according to a linear velocity ratio which is a ratio of a surface velocity of the lubricant brush with respect to a surface velocity of the image bearing member in an initial stage of endurance (¶0076), the linear velocity ratio being calculated based on an initial rubbing force and an ease of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force being a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed against the lubricant brush with an initial pressing force in the initial stage of the endurance (¶0104-¶0105); and
corrects the linear velocity ratio by a correction value of the linear velocity ratio calculated based on an endurance correction coefficient according to an endurance change of the lubricant brush determined by the case of scraping of the lubricant, the initial rubbing force (mode 1), a terminal rubbing force (mode 3) which is a rubbing force of the lubricant brush in a state where the lubricant stick is pressed to the lubricant brush by a pressing force weaker than the initial pressing force in a terminal stage of the endurance, and the number of printed sheets by the image forming section (¶0104-¶0106),
wherein the pressing force between the lubricant brush and the lubricant stick in the terminal stage of the endurance is in a proportional relationship with the terminal rubbing force (¶0105-¶0106).
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 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 of this title, 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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kashiwakura US 2019/0219961 (Kashiwakura).
Regarding claim 2, Kashiwakura teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Kashiwakura differs from the instant claimed invention by not explicitly disclosing: calculating a correction value Δθ. However Kashiwakura does suggest such a correction value in ¶0100, “the lubricant amount can be adjusted without affecting rubbing force to the photoreceptor 41 of the application brush 101 as compared to a case of controlling the rotation velocity of the application brush 101 or the like.” Furthermore Kashiwakura teaches “the removability and the recoverability can be largely adjusted based on the numbers of rotations in an area where the linear velocity ratio θ is equal to or greater than 1.” Kashiwakura thus suggest calculating a correction value Δθ of the linear velocity ratio by the following formula (2):
θ1 = α/(F1x K) ...(1)
Δθ = α/{(F1-F2)/(P/P0) x γ} ...(2)
wherein α is a target value in a lubricant consumption amount with respect to the number of printed sheets, F1 is the initial rubbing force, F2 is the terminal rubbing force, K is the ease of scraping of the lubricant, P is the number of printed sheets, P0 is the number of printed sheets in the terminal stage of the endurance, and y is the endurance correction coefficient with respect to the linear velocity ratio. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to calculate a correction value and endurance correction coefficient as suggested by Kashiwakura since a person of ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp. In this case it would lead to the success of lubricating the image forming apparatus and is thus the product not of innovation but of ordinary skill and common sense.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA L ELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9793. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Jr. 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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/JESSICA L ELEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Prosecution Insights