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)(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 1-3, 8-11, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakayama et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2010/0129093.
Regarding independent claim 1, an image forming apparatus comprising:
a photosensitive body (1) on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by light applied to a uniformly charged surface;
a developing unit (4) configured to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive body;
a storage unit (the storage of the life determining unit 12) configured to store a life setting value for determining that the photosensitive body has reached a lifespan (¶ 32); and
a processor configured to correct the life setting value stored in the storage unit according to an actual residual potential in the photosensitive body (¶ 34, using the residual potential for a photoreceptor temperature of 25 degrees C).
Regarding claim 2, which depends from claim 1,
wherein the processor is configured to correct the life setting value stored in the storage unit according to the actual residual potential and a standard residual potential in the photosensitive body (¶ 34).
Regarding claim 3, which depends from claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to correct the life setting value according to a degree of deterioration calculated from the actual residual potential and the standard residual potential in the photosensitive body (¶ 34, the residual potential deteriorates over time as the photosensitive body wears, but must be corrected for variations due to temperature which skew measurements if left uncorrected).
Regarding claim 8, which depends from claim 1, wherein,
in a case where the processor has corrected the life setting value, the processor is configured to provide notification of a remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan calculated based on the corrected life setting value (¶ 38).
Regarding claim 9, which depends from claim 1,
wherein the storage unit is configured to store a notification setting value including a setting of a remaining number of days to provide notification of the lifespan of the photosensitive body in advance (¶ 38), and
in a case where the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan reaches the remaining number of days of the notification setting value, the processor is configured to provide notification of the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan (¶ 38, noting that it can always notify upon request, and therefore also at the claimed time).
Regarding independent claim 10, a non-transitory storage medium (¶ 32, the life determining unit 12) storing a program causing a processor that controls an image forming apparatus to implement:
acquiring a current residual potential in a photosensitive body on which an electrostatic latent image is formed as an actual residual potential (¶ 32);
acquiring a residual potential calculated from a photosensitive body coefficient of the photosensitive body as a standard residual potential (¶ 34, using the residual potential for a photoreceptor temperature of 25 degrees C); and
correcting a life setting value for the photosensitive body stored in a storage unit according to the actual residual potential and the standard residual potential (¶ 34).
Regarding claim 11, which depends from claim 10, wherein the program causes the processor to execute correcting the life setting value according to a degree of deterioration calculated from the actual residual potential and the standard residual potential in the photosensitive body (¶ 34, the residual potential deteriorates over time as the photosensitive body wears, but must be corrected for variations due to temperature which skew measurements if left uncorrected).
Regarding claim 16, which depends from claim 10, a nonvolatile storage medium storing the program according to claim 10, wherein,
in a case where the processor has corrected the life setting value, the processor is caused to execute providing notification of a remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches a lifespan calculated based on the corrected life setting value (¶ 38).
Regarding claim 17, which depends from claim 10, wherein
the program causes the processor to execute storing, in the storage unit, a notification setting value including a setting of a remaining number of days to provide notification of a lifespan of the photosensitive body in advance (¶ 38), and
in a case where the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan reaches the remaining number of days of the notification setting value, providing notification of the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan (¶ 38, noting that it can always notify upon request, and therefore also at the claimed time).
Regarding independent claim 18, a method of setting a life of a photosensitive body in an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
acquiring a current residual potential in the photosensitive body as an actual residual potential (¶ 32);
acquiring a residual potential calculated from a photosensitive body coefficient of the photosensitive body as a standard residual potential (¶ 34, using the residual potential for a photoreceptor temperature of 25 degrees C); and
correcting a life setting value for the photosensitive body stored in a storage unit according to the actual residual potential and the standard residual potential (¶ 34), and providing notification of information regarding a lifespan based on the corrected life setting value (¶ 38).
Regarding claim 19, which depends from claim 18, the method further comprising:
in a case of having corrected the life setting value, providing notification of a remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan calculated based on the corrected life setting value (¶ 38).
Regarding claim 20, which depends from claim 18,
wherein the program stores, in the storage unit, a notification setting value including a setting of a remaining number of days to provide notification of the lifespan of the photosensitive body in advance (¶ 38), and
in a case where the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan reaches the remaining number of days of the notification setting value, providing notification of the remaining number of days until the photosensitive body reaches the lifespan (¶ 38, noting that it can always notify upon request, and therefore also at the claimed time).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 12-15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art either alone or in combination teaches the following limitations in combination with the other limitations:
Regarding claim 4, which depends from claim 3,
wherein the processor is configured to calculate the degree of deterioration based on a first difference between the current actual residual potential and the actual residual potential at a past time point and a second difference between the current standard residual potential and the standard residual potential at the past time point.
Regarding claim 5, which depends from claim 4,
wherein the processor is configured to calculate a ratio between the first difference and the second difference as the degree of deterioration, and correct the life setting value according to the ratio.
Regarding claim 6, which depends from claim 3,
wherein the processor is configured to calculate the degree of deterioration based on a first difference between the current actual residual potential and an initial value of a residual potential and a second difference between the current standard residual potential and the initial value of the residual potential.
Regarding claim 7, which depends from claim 6,
wherein the processor is configured to calculate a ratio between the first difference and the second difference as the degree of deterioration, and correct the life setting value according to the ratio.
Regarding claim 12, which depends from claim 11, wherein the program causes the processor to execute
calculating the degree of deterioration based on a first difference between the current actual residual potential and the actual residual potential at a past time point and a second difference between the current standard residual potential and the standard residual potential at the past time point.
Regarding claim 13, which depends from claim 12, wherein
the program causes the processor to execute calculating a ratio between the first difference and the second difference as the degree of deterioration, and
correcting the life setting value according to the ratio.
Regarding claim 14, which depends from claim 11, wherein the program causes the processor to execute calculating the degree of deterioration based on a first difference between the current actual residual potential
and an initial value of a residual potential and a second difference between the current standard residual potential and the initial value of the residual potential.
Regarding claim 15, which depends from claim 14, wherein the program causes the processor to execute calculating a ratio between the first difference and the second difference as the degree of deterioration, and
correcting the life setting value according to the ratio.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following teaches measuring the actual residual potential to determine the remaining life: Imazeki et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2013/0251383; Nagamochi et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2006/0104649; Umeda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,578; and, Umeda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,380. Imazeki et al. further teach that the residual potential can change even after short periods of rest following continuous printing.
Conclusion
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/SEVAN A AYDIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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