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 .
Specification
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
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 9, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sato et al. (US 2007/0036597).
Sato et al. (…597) disclose an image forming device comprising: a device main body including a conveying path of a sheet (figure 1); a fixing unit (4) configured to fix an image formed on the sheet onto the sheet, the fixing unit including: a heating rotor (41); and a pressure rotor (42) in which a nip is formed between the heating rotor and the pressure rotor ([0029]); a first discharge roller (67) located at a downstream side of the fixing unit in a conveying direction of the sheet along the conveying path, and configured to convey the sheet (figures 1 and 2); a second discharge roller (68) located at a downstream side of the first discharge roller in the conveying direction, and configured to discharge the sheet conveyed by the first discharge roller to an outside of the device main body (figures 1 and 2); a cutter (73) located at a cutter position and configured to cut the sheet in a cutting direction intersecting the conveying direction, the cutter position being a position between the first discharge roller and the second discharge roller in the conveying direction ([0044]; and figures 1 and 2); and a first sensor (74) configured to detect whether the sheet is present at a first detection position between the first discharge roller and the second discharge roller in the conveying direction ([0044]; [0046]; and figure 2) [see Applicant’s claim 1]. The first sensor (74) is configured to detect whether the sheet is present at a detection position between the cutter and the second discharge roller ([0046]; and [0048]) [see Applicant’s claim 9]. A length of the conveying path from the fixing unit to the cutter is longer than half a sheet length of the cuttable sheet in the conveying direction (figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 13]. An image forming unit located at an upstream side of the fixing unit in the conveying direction and configured to form an image on the sheet ([0022] – [0024]), the image forming unit including: a photosensitive drum (11); a developing roller configured to supply toner to the photosensitive drum ([0023]; and figure 1); and a transfer roller configured to transfer a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum to the sheet ([0024]-[0028]; and figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 15].
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 2-4, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2007/0036597) in view of Miura et al. (US 2021/0245525).
Sato et al. (…597) disclose the features mentioned previously. Sato et al. (…597) further disclose a conveying process of driving, based on an output of the first sensor, the first discharge roller (67) and the second discharge roller (68) with a driving amount required to convey the sheet from a position where a leading end of the sheet reaches the first detection position to a position where a cutting position of the sheet reaches the cutter position, and then stopping conveying the sheet ([0048]), and a cutting process of cutting the sheet in the cutting direction by using the cutter, after the conveying process ([0048]) [see Applicant’s claim 2]. The first discharge roller and the second discharge roller are driven with a driving amount acquired by a driving amount acquiring process, and then conveying of the sheet is stopped ([0048]) [see Applicant’s claims 3 and 4]. A third discharge roller configured to discharge the sheet to the outside of the device main body, the third discharge roller being located on a discharge path branched from the conveying path between the fixing unit and the first discharge roller, and the third discharge roller being located at a position shorter than a length of the conveying path from the fixing unit to the second discharge roller ([0031]; and figure 1), wherein printing data is received including cutting information indicating whether the sheet is cut ([0031]); and in a case where the cutting information included in the received printing data indicates that the sheet is not cut, cause the third discharge roller to convey the sheet and discharge the sheet without being cut from the device main body to the outside ([0031]; and figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 11]. A flapper (35) configured to be switched between a first position for guiding the sheet toward the first discharge roller and a second position for guiding the sheet toward the third discharge roller ([0031]), wherein in a case where the cutting information indicates that the sheet is cut, the flapper is switched to the first position, after a leading end of the sheet leaves the fixing unit and before the leading end of the sheet reaches the flapper ([0031]); and in a case where the cutting information indicates that the sheet is not cut, the flapper is switched to the second position, after the leading end of the sheet leaves the fixing unit and before the leading end of the sheet reaches the flapper ([0031]) [see Applicant’s claim 12]. However, Sato et al. (…597) do not disclose the claimed controller and acquiring a sheet size or sheet length. Miura et al. (…525) disclose a controller (10) ([0023]; and figure 3) [see Applicant’s claims 2-4, 11 and 12]. The controller is configured to execute a driving amount acquiring process of receiving printing data including a sheet size of the sheet, and of acquiring the driving amount based on the sheet size included in the received printing data ([0091]-[0092]) [see Applicant’s claim 3]. A second sensor configured to detect whether the sheet is present at a second detection position that is an upstream side of the first sensor in the conveying direction ([0046]-[0049]; and [0091]), wherein the controller (10) is configured to execute: a sheet length acquiring process of detecting, based on an output of the second sensor, that a trailing end of the sheet reaches the second detection position after the leading end of the sheet reaches the second detection position and of acquiring a sheet length of the sheet in the conveying direction based on the detected leading end and trailing end of the sheet ([0046]-[0049]; and [0091]), and a driving amount acquiring process of acquiring the driving amount based on the sheet length acquired by the sheet length acquiring portion ([0091]-[0092]) [see Applicant’s claim 4]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed controller, since as disclosed by Miura et al. (…525), it is well known in the art to have a controller to control operations. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to acquire the sheet size or sheet length, since as disclosed by Miura et al. (…525), such acquiring of a sheet size or a sheet length is well known in the art so as to appropriately position a sheet for cutting.
Claims 2, 5, 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2007/0036597) in view of Minato (US 2014/0294414).
Sato et al. (…597) disclose the features mentioned previously. Sato et al. (…597) further disclose a discharge motor ([0043]) [see Applicant’s claims 5 and 7]. After the cutting process, executing a discharge process of driving the first discharge roller and the second discharge roller to discharge the cut sheet to the outside of the device main body ([0058]) [see Applicant’s claim 7]. The image forming device, wherein the cutter (73) includes a blade configured to cut the sheet ([0048]), and a cutting motor (105) configured to move the blade in the cutting direction ([0044]), and during the cutting process, in a case where the cutting motor drives and the discharge motor does not drive, and in a case where the first sensor changes from a state where the sheet is detected to a state where the sheet is not detected, the controller stops the driving of the cutting motor ([0048]; and [0057]-[0058]) [see Applicant’s claim 8]. However, Sato et al. (…597) do not disclose the claimed controller and the claimed stopping of the discharge motor. Minato (…414) discloses a controller (301) ([0054]) [see Applicant’s claims 2, 5, 7 and 8]. An image forming device, wherein, during a discharge process, in a case where a first sensor detects a sheet after a predetermined time since starting driving of a discharge motor elapses, the controller stops the driving of the discharge motor ([0054]) [see Applicant’s claim 7]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed controller, since as disclosed by Minato (…414), it is well known in the art to have a controller to control operations. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed stopping of the discharge motor, since as disclosed by Minato (…414), such stoppage is well known in the art for handling a sheet jam.
Claims 6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2007/0036597) in view of Minato (US 2014/0294414) as applied to claims 2 and 5 above, and further in view of Nakazato et al. (US 2018/0120750).
Sato et al. (…597) in view of Minato (…414) disclose the features mentioned previously. Minato (…414) further discloses that during the conveying process, in a case where the first sensor does not detect the sheet after the predetermined time since starting the driving of the discharge motor elapses, the controller stops all driving ([0055]) [see Applicant’s claim 6]. Sato et al. (…597) further disclose a discharge motor (104) configured to drive the first discharge roller ([0043]); a roller located between the first discharge roller and the fixing unit (figure 1), wherein a length of the conveying path from the roller to the cutter is longer than half a sheet length of the cuttable sheet in the conveying direction (figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 14]. However, Sato et al. (…597) in view of Minato (…414) do not disclose the claimed main motor. Nakazato et al. (…750) discloses an image forming device including a main motor configured to rotatably drive any one of the heating rotor or the pressure rotor ([0036] and [0045]) [see Applicant’s claim 6]. The main motor is configured to drive a roller and the fixing unit ([0045]-[0046]; and [0061]-[0063]) [see Applicant’s claim 14]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed main motor, since as disclosed by Nakazato et al. (…750), such a motor is well known in the art.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2007/0036597) in view of Nakamura (US 2018/0117929).
Sato et al. (…597) disclose the features mentioned previously, and disclose that the first sensor outputs a signal when a sheet is detected ([0044]; [0046]; and [0048]), where it is obvious that the first sensor could output another signal when the sheet is not detected [see Applicant’s claim 10]. However, Sato et al. (…597) do not disclose the claimed controller and the claimed cover. Nakamura (…929) discloses a controller (16) ([0100]-[0104]; and figures 5 and 6); and a cover (14) configured to be opened and closed freely to cover a conveying path in a discharge region ([0096]; and figure 4) [see Applicant’s claim 10]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed controller, since as disclosed by Nakamura (…929), it is well known in the art to have a controller to control operations. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed cover, since as disclosed by Nakamura (…929), it is well known in the art to have a cover so as to provide access to a sheet conveying and discharge area.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 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.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 August 2, 2026
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