Patent Application 18220766 - INKJET HEAD UNIT AND INKJET PRINTING EQUIPMENT - Rejection

Patent Application 18220766 - INKJET HEAD UNIT AND INKJET PRINTING EQUIPMENT

Title: INKJET HEAD UNIT AND INKJET PRINTING EQUIPMENT INCLUDING THE SAME

Application Information

• Invention Title: INKJET HEAD UNIT AND INKJET PRINTING EQUIPMENT INCLUDING THE SAME
• Application Number: 18220766
• Submission Date: 2025-05-16T00:00:00.000Z
• Effective Filing Date: 2023-07-11T00:00:00.000Z
• Filing Date: 2023-07-11T00:00:00.000Z
• National Class: 347
• National Sub-Class: 020000
• Examiner Employee Number: 81435
• Art Unit: 2853
• Tech Center: 2800

Rejection Summary

• 102 Rejections: 1
• 103 Rejections: 1

Cited Patents

The following patents were cited in the rejection:

• US 0186613🔗

Office Action Text

    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 .

Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11 July 2023 and 15 May 2024 have considered by the examiner.

Claim Objections
Claims 8 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: In line 1 of each, “Inkjet printing equipment” should be replaced by – An inkjet printing equipment –.  Also, in lines 9 and 12, respectively, “a substrate” should be replaced by – the substrate – (to avoid clarity issues since ‘a substrate’ had already been introduced in the claim.) Appropriate correction is required.

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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.

Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Iwade et al. (JP 2009169415 – hereinafter Iwade.)
Regarding claim 1, 
	Iwade discloses an inkjet head unit of inkjet printing equipment, the inkjet head unit comprising: 
a head base [5 in figs. 2 and 3]; and 
a plurality of head packs [50R/50G/50B in figs. 3 and 4] coaxially arranged in a color order on the head base [as seen in fig. 3], 
wherein each of the plurality of head packs includes a plurality of ejection heads [modules 52 in fig. 4, which include heads 51] configured to eject ink of the same color to a substrate [K in fig. 2; paragraphs 0049-0052.]

Regarding claim 2, 
	Iwade further discloses wherein the plurality of head packs comprise: 
a first head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a first color [e.g. red; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3]; 
a second head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a second color [e.g. green; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3]; and 
a third head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a third color [e.g. blue; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3.]

Regarding claim 3, 
	Iwade further discloses wherein a head pack set in which the first head pack, the second head pack, and the third head pack are sequentially arranged is repeatedly installed on the head base [as seen in fig. 2.]

Regarding claim 8, 
	Iwade discloses an inkjet printing equipment comprising: 
a stage [3 in fig. 2] configured to support a substrate [K in fig. 2; paragraph 0047]; 
an inkjet head unit [5 in figs. 2 and 3] configured to eject ink onto the substrate [paragraph 0050]; and 
a gantry [4 in fig. 2] provided as a structure on which the inkjet head unit is installed [as seen in fig. 2; paragraph 0048], 
wherein the inkjet head unit comprises: 
a head base [as seen in fig. 3];
a plurality of head packs [50R/50G/50B in figs. 3 and 4] coaxially arranged in a color order on the head base [as seen in fig. 3], wherein each of the plurality of head packs includes a plurality of ejection heads [modules 52 in fig. 4, which include heads 51] configured to eject ink of the same color to a substrate [paragraphs 0049-0052]; and 
a head frame [42 in fig. 2] on which the plurality of head packs are installed, and are coupled to the gantry [as seen in fig. 2; paragraphs 0048-0049.]
Regarding claims 9 and 10, 
	The limitations in these claims are identical to those in claims 2 and 3 and therefore the rejection does not need to be repeated.

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 4-7 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwade in view of Kawase (US 2003/0186613.)
Regarding claim 4, 
	Iwade discloses the claimed limitations as set forth above and further teaches wherein the plurality of head packs are arranged along a second axial direction [‘X in figs. 2-4] orthogonal to a first axial direction [as seen in figs. 2-4; paragraph 0049.] 
	However, Iwade fails to expressly disclose wherein the substrate is configured to be moved along a first axial direction.

	Kawase discloses a liquid material ejecting apparatus, comprising an inkjet head unit [26 in fig. 16; paragraph 0160] including plurality of head packs/modules [22 in figs. 8-13] that eject a plurality of liquid materials [8 in fig. 1(b); e.g., three kinds of color filter materials corresponding to RGB pixels; paragraph 0107] onto a substrate [paragraph 0150], wherein the substrate is configured to be moved along a first axial direction [‘Y’ in fig. 16] while the head unit moves along a second axial direction [‘X’ in fig. 2] orthogonal to a first axial direction [as seen in fig. 16; paragraphs 0213 and 0223.]

Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Iwade invention to include means for moving the substrate along a first axial direction as taught by Kawase for the purpose of allowing a more precise and versatile printing process.   

Regarding claim 5, 
	In the obvious combination, Iwade further discloses wherein the head base is configured to be moved along the second axial direction [as seen in fig. 2.]

Regarding claim 6, 
	In the obvious combination, Kawase discloses wherein the plurality of head packs are arranged on the head base to have a length equal to a length of the substrate in the second axial direction [implicit from the teachings shown in figs. 8, 10, 13 and 16; a line head could be used in the invention since the substrate moves in the ‘Y’ direction.]

Regarding claim 7, 
	In the obvious combination, Iwade further discloses wherein each of the ejection heads of each of the head packs comprises a plurality of nozzles arranged to overlap each other along the first axial direction, and 
wherein each of the plurality of head packs and another head pack are arranged so as to not overlap each other along the first axial direction [as seen in figs. 2-4.]
Regarding claims 11-14, 
	The limitations in these claims are identical to those in claims 4-7 and therefore the rejection does not need to be repeated.

Regarding claim 15, 
	In the obvious combination, Iwade discloses inkjet printing equipment comprising: 
a stage [3 in fig. 2] configured to support a substrate [K in fig. 2; paragraph 0047]; 
an inkjet head unit [5 in figs. 2 and 3] configured to eject ink onto the substrate [paragraph 0050]; and 
a gantry [4 in fig. 2] provided as a structure on which the inkjet head unit is installed [as seen in fig. 2; paragraph 0048]; 
an ink inspection camera [8 in fig. 2] configured to inspect a state of the ink ejected on the substrate [paragraphs 0059 and 0079]; 
wherein the inkjet head unit comprises: 
a head base [as seen in fig. 3]; 
a plurality of head packs [50R/50G/50B in figs. 3 and 4] arranged in a color order along a second axial direction [‘X’ in fig. 2] orthogonal to a first axis direction [as seen in figs. 2 and 3], wherein each of the plurality of head packs includes a plurality of ejection heads [modules 52 in fig. 4, which include heads 51] configured to eject ink of the same color to a substrate [paragraphs 0049-0052]; and 
a head frame [42 in fig. 2] on which the plurality of head packs are installed, and are coupled to the gantry [as seen in fig. 2; paragraphs 0048-0049, 
	whereas Kawase discloses the stage [49 in fig. 16] that support a substrate [50 in fig. 2] being configured to be moved along a first axial direction [‘Y’ in fig. 16.]

Regarding claim 16, 
	In the obvious combination, Iwade further discloses wherein the head packs comprise: 
a first head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a first color [e.g. red; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3]; 
a second head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a second color [e.g. green; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3]; and 
a third head pack comprising a plurality of ejection heads configured to eject ink corresponding to a third color [e.g. blue; paragraph 0052; as seen in fig. 3.]

Regarding claims 17 and 18, 
	The limitations in these claims are identical to those in claims 6 and 7 and therefore the rejection does not need to be repeated.

Regarding claim 19, 
	In the obvious combination, Iwade further discloses wherein the inkjet head unit further comprises:
an ink reservoir [34 in fig. 1(a)] configured to store the ink supplied to the head pack [paragraphs 0190-0191]; and 
a pressure controller configured to control an ejection pressure of the ink [paragraphs 0192-0194 and 0220.]
Regarding claim 20, 
	In the obvious combination, Kawase further discloses the inkjet printing equipment further comprising: 
a flatness inspection camera installed on the head frame and configured to inspect an alignment state of the ejection heads [paragraph 0027.]

Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571)272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853