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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The 4th paragraph of claim 1 recites “a plurality of predetermined image forming speeds” and then recites “a predetermined execution timing common to the plurality of image forming speeds” (emphasis added in all cases) in the last paragraph of the claim. It is not clear whether or not it is intended for both of the recitations of “image forming speeds” to be describing the same set of image forming speeds.
Further, claim 2 recites “a slowest specific image forming speed among a plurality of image forming speeds” (emphasis added). It is unclear whether this recitation of plurality of image forming speeds is intended to be the same as or different from either of the previous recitations.
As such, claims 1 and 2 are rendered indefinite.
Claim 7 is rendered indefinite for reasons similar to claim 1.
Claims 3-6 are rendered indefinite at least due to their dependence upon claim 1.
For examination purposes, all instances of the image forming speeds will be interpreted as describing the same set of image forming speeds.
Claim 4 recites “a second adjustment process” without recitation of a first adjustment process. It is not clear whether at least two adjustment processes are required.
Claim 5 recites “a third adjustment process” without recitation of a first adjustment process and a second adjustment process. It is not clear whether at least three adjustment processes are required.
Claim 6 recites “a fourth adjustment process” without recitation of a first adjustment process, a second adjustment process, and a third adjustment process. It is not clear whether at least four adjustment processes are required.
For examination purposes, the claimed second through fourth adjustment processes will be interpreted as only one adjustment process is required.
Note: the following rejections are based upon the claims as best understood by Examiner.
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 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Komiya (JP 2011-253067). (Note: cited paragraphs correspond to the machine translation of the JP document provided herewith.)
Regarding claim 1, Komiya discloses an image forming apparatus (Fig. 1 [0011]) comprising:
a sheet conveying portion (paper feed unit) configured to convey a sheet P (Fig. 1 [0016]);
an image forming portion 100 including an image carrier 4 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and a developing portion 3 configured to use toner to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier, and configured to form an image on the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying portion (Fig. 1 [0015-0016]);
an image formation processing portion 108 configured to execute image formation processing for forming an image on each of the sheet sequentially conveyed by the sheet conveying portion using the image forming portion at any of a plurality of predetermined image forming speeds (Figs. 1-2 [0018-0019]); and
an adjustment processing portion 308 (Fig. 2) configured to execute adjustment processing (gradation adjustment in S303 of Fig. 3) for adjusting an image quality of an output image output by the image forming portion each time a predetermined execution timing (gradation adjustment conditions such as a predetermined number of image formations and elapsed time) common to the plurality of image forming speeds ([0031]) arrives during the execution of the image formation processing (steps S301-S304 [0020]).
Regarding claim 2, Komiya discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment processing includes a toner image forming step of forming a predetermined detection toner image on the image carrier 4 (Fig. 1 [0016]), and the execution timing is a timing that arrives at a cycle longer than an execution time of the adjustment processing when the adjustment processing is executed at a slowest specific image forming speed among a plurality of image forming speeds ([0031]).
Regarding claim 5, Komiya discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming portion includes a density correction portion (within processing portion 108) configured to use predetermined table data (within γLUT 305) to correct a density of image data used for forming the output image (0018]), and the adjustment processing includes a third adjustment process of adjusting the table data ([0026-0028]).
The method steps of claim 7 are met by the operation of Komiya as applied to claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komiya (JP 2011-253067) in view of Komiya (US 2010/0290799; “USKomiya”).
Regarding claim 3, Komiya teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the developing portion 3 includes a developing member (developing roller as shown in Fig. 1) configured to supply the toner to the electrostatic latent image in response to application of a developing bias voltage [0016]).
Komiya does not explicitly disclose the adjustment processing includes a first adjustment process of adjusting the developing bias voltage. In the apparatus of Komiya, the adjustment processing includes adjusting a correction coefficient of a γLUT ([0019-0020]).
USKomiya teaches adjusting a developing bias voltage (in step S606) within a process that also corrects a γLUT (in step S610) (Fig. 6B [0054-0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a first adjustment process of adjusting the developing bias voltage in the adjustment processing. One would have been motivated to do so in order to provide an image which has stable gradation and is not affected by variation in output characteristics of the image forming apparatus before and after exchange of a process cartridge (US Komiya [0070]).
Regarding claim 4, Komiya teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming portion includes a light source configured to emit light to be applied to the image carrier ([0015]).
Komiya does not explicitly disclose the adjustment processing includes a second adjustment process of adjusting a light amount of the light emitted from the light source.
USKomiya teaches adjusting a light amount (in step S606) within a process that also corrects a γLUT (in step S610) (Fig. 6B [0054-0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a second adjustment process of adjusting a light amount of the light emitted from the light source in the adjustment processing. One would have been motivated to do so in order to provide an image which has stable gradation and is not affected by variation in output characteristics of the image forming apparatus before and after exchange of a process cartridge (US Komiya [0070]).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komiya (JP 2011-253067) in view of Otsuka et al. (US 2009/0010670; “Otsuka”).
Regarding claim 6, Komiya discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming portion includes a latent image forming portion configured to form the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier ([0015]).
Komiya does not explicitly disclose the adjustment processing includes a fourth adjustment process of adjusting a position on the image carrier where the electrostatic latent image is formed by the latent image forming portion.
Otsuka teaches performing an adjustment process (registration correction processing) of adjusting a position on the image carrier where the electrostatic latent image is formed by the latent image forming portion ([0083, 0093-0095]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include an adjustment process of adjusting a position on the image carrier where the electrostatic latent image is formed by the latent image forming portion. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order to ensure uniform image quality (Otsuka [0097]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLA J THERRIEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2677. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 am - 4 pm EST.
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, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at (571)272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CARLA J THERRIEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Prosecution Insights