Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
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.
2. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese Publication No. 2017-145114 (hereinafter “JP’114”) (cited in the 5/27/26 IDS). The machine translation was included with the 5/27/26 IDS.
Regarding claim 1, Figs. 1-9 show a sheet feeding device (Fig. 1), comprising:
a pick-up roller (18) that draws out a plurality of sheets one by one from a sheet table (15) on which the plurality of sheets are loaded;
a sensor (30) that detects presence or absence of the sheet; and
a sheet feeding controller (100) that controls drive to raise the pick-up roller (18) on a basis of a detection result of the sensor (30). See, e.g., numbered paragraphs [0039] – [0041] of the machine translation.
Regarding claim 2, Figs. 1-9 show that the detection result includes a detection based on an impact applied to the sheet feeding device (Fig. 1), and the sheet feeding controller (100) controls the drive to raise the pick-up roller (18) when the detection result is detected for a predetermined time (e.g., 200 milliseconds) or more. See, e.g., numbered paragraphs [0030] – [0037] of the machine translation.
Regarding claim 3, numbered paragraph [0037] of the machine translation teaches that the predetermined time (e.g., 200 milliseconds) is shorter than a time (200 milliseconds + predetermined time LA) taken until the sensor (300) determines that the sheet is present.
Regarding claim 4, Figs. 1-9 show that the sheet feeding controller (100) controls the drive to raise the pick-up roller (18) when a power supply of the sheet feeding device (Fig. 1) is turned on. See, e.g., driving unit that is powered to lift pick-up roller 18 in numbered paragraph [0041] of the machine translation.
Regarding claim 5, Figs. 1-9 show an image reader (numbered paragraph [0012] of the machine translation) that reads an image of the sheet, wherein the sheet feeding controller (100) controls the drive to raise the pick-up roller (18) after the image reader reads the image.
Conclusion
3. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0032893 (Koga et al.) teaches a pickup roller (129), a sensor (304) that detects presence of a sheet and a sheet feeding controller (numbered paragraph [0058]) that controls drive to raise the pick-up roller (129) on a basis of a detection result of the sensor (304).
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS A MORRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/THOMAS A MORRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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