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 Objections
Claims 49 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 49, line 1, “in a case that” has been deleted and on line 5, “which is an inner surface” has been deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 41,53-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ban (U.S. 5,848,516).
Regarding claim 41, Ban teach a toner container (Fig.1,5-6) including an accommodating portion 1 for accommodating toner and an end portion 1d; the end portion 1d includes discharge openings 2f for allowing the toner to be discharged from the accommodating portion, a passage (lower end of toner container) for direct the toner toward the discharge openings, and a rotatable shutter 2c for shielding the discharge openings (shutter blocks the openings 2f) or opening the discharge openings (openings in shutter 2e are aligned with openings 2f). A cap 2b is mounted to the end portion 1d of the toner container and is rotatable relative to the accommodating portion such that the shutter is rotated in unison with the cap rotation by means of a lever 2a. It is noted that during the manufacture of the toner container, the cap is mounted to the toner container by being screwed thereon and thus is dismounted before this step. See col.7, line 28 – col.8, line 45.
Regarding claims 53-54 the toner container is a toner bottle made from polypropylene resin (col.11, lines 21-23) which has some degree of flexibility. It is noted that the toner bottle can be construed as having a “bag shape”.
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.
Claims 42-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dilanni et al. (U.S. 2003/0103782) in view of Ban (U.S. 5,848,516).
Dilanni et al. teach a toner container (Fig.s 1-2) having a toner accommodating portion 2; a nozzle 7 communicating with the toner accommodating portion and aligned in a first longitudinal direction and having discharge openings 12,13; a rotatable shutter 3 which rotates so that the discharge openings 12,13 will be opened when the shutter openings 10,11 are aligned with them and will close the discharge openings when they are not aligned (see Fig.s 3-4); a cap 1 is mounted to the shutter and can engage and disengage (that is be attached or not attached) with the shutter and nozzle (par.18); the openings 12,13 of the nozzle are located on a side surface of the nozzle extending in the first direction; the shutter is rotatable provided inside the nozzle. The cap 1 has a bottom surface which would support the toner container in a vertical direction (self-standing).
Dilanni et al taught supra discloses most of what is claimed except the cap being dismounted from the end portion/shutter by being rotated relative to the end portion/shutter.
Ban teach a toner container (Fig.1,5-6) including an accommodating portion 1 for accommodating toner and an end portion 1d; the end portion 1d includes discharge openings 2f for allowing the toner to be discharged from the accommodating portion, a passage (lower end of toner container) for direct the toner toward the discharge openings, and a rotatable shutter 2c for shielding the discharge openings (shutter blocks the openings 2f) or opening the discharge openings (openings in shutter 2e are aligned with openings 2f). A cap 2b is mounted to the end portion 1d of the toner container and is rotatable relative to the accommodating portion such that the shutter is rotated in unison with the cap rotation by means of a lever 2a. It is noted that during the manufacture of the toner container, the cap is mounted to the toner container by being screwed thereon and thus is dismounted before this step. See col.7, line 28 – col.8, line 45.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to substitute the rotational engagement of the cap taught in Ban with the cap taught in Dilanni et al. because the cap can be more securely attached by using screw thread engagement rather than just a friction fit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 46-52 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.
Regarding claims 46-52, the shutter being rotatable in a first rotational direction from the shielding position toward the open position and in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction, the discharging portion including a restriction portion for restricting rotation of the shutter, positioned in the shielding position, in the second rotational direction, and the cap is dismounted from the shutter by being rotated in the second rotational direction relative to the shutter is not taught, suggested or rendered obvious by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT B BEATTY whose telephone number is (571) 272-2130. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 7 to 3.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Stephanie Bloss, can be reached on (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-2130.
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/ROBERT B BEATTY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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