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 .
Amendment received 9/16/26 was entered into the record.
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) 1-2, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sato et al. US 6,505,019 (“Sato”).
Regarding claim 1, Sato disclosed a sheet conveyance device comprising:
a rotating member (58) that rotates while in contact with a sheet, the rotating member conveying the sheet; and
a cleaning portion that cleans the rotating member, wherein the cleaning portion has:
a cleaning member (including 55, 56) that makes contact with an outer circumferential surface of the rotating member to remove foreign substances from the outer circumferential surface of the rotating member; and
a housing (53) that stores the foreign substances removed from the outer circumferential surface of the rotating member,
the housing has a wall surrounding a space that serves as a storage area for the foreign substances (see Figures 8-11),
the housing has a part of the wall as a guide part (a bottom seen in Figures 8-11), and
the guide part is arranged at a position where the part can make contact with the sheet, the part guiding the sheet conveyed by the rotating member (see Figures 8-11).
Regarding claim 2, Sato disclosed the cleaning portion further includes a scraper (56, 60) that makes contact with an outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member to remove foreign substances from the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member, and the housing stores the foreign substances removed from the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member by the scraper (Figure 9).
Regarding claim 3, Sato disclosed the cleaning member and the scraper are attached to the housing, and the housing is removably mountable in a main body of the sheet conveyance device (Figure 9).
Regarding claim 5, Sato disclosed an image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet conveyance device according to claim 1 as discussed above; and a print portion (12) that prints on the sheet being conveyed by the sheet conveyance device (Figure 8).
Regarding claim 6, Sato disclosed an image reading apparatus comprising: the sheet conveyance device according to claim 1; and an image reading portion (11) that reads an image formed on the sheet being conveyed by the sheet conveyance device.
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) 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato. Sato teaches the limitations of claim 1, but does not teach the cleaning member shown in Figure 9 is a brush roller. Sato teaches an alternate paper dust removing device as shown in Figure 3.
The cleaning portion further includes a scraper (625) that makes contact with an outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member (623) to remove foreign substances from the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member, and the housing (624) stores the foreign substances removed from the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning member by the scraper. The cleaning member and the scraper are attached to the housing, and the housing is removably mountable in a main body of the sheet conveyance device (see at least Figure 3). The cleaning member is a brush roller (623) that rotates while in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the rotating member (Figure 3). Sato shows this configuration with regard to an embodiment of the first paper dust removing device. Yet, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use this teaching for the second paper dust removing device in the embodiment shown in Figure 8. To do so would require simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results. Furthermore, the brush is effective to remove long and hard fibers as taught by Sato. See also MPEP 2143(I).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/16/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argued that although the referenced portion of Sato may come into contact with a sheet, that would not be called ‘guiding the sheet’ to satisfy the claim.
The Examiner disagrees. The claims must be given their broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the disclosure as a whole.
In our instant application, Applicant describes the housing part situated such that it may contact the sheet thus its placement eliminates the need to separately provide a member to otherwise confine the sheet. As seen in Figures 8-11, the housing part of Sato does that precisely. The housing wall may restrict motion of the moving sheet and therefore is properly considered as guiding the sheet conveyed by the rotating member. See also MPEP 2114 noting that while features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, once the examiner concludes that a functional limitation is characteristic to the prior art, the burden shifts to applicant to establish that the prior art does not possess the characteristic relied on.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD J SANDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-3096. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HOWARD J SANDERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
