Appeal No. 96-3392
Application 08/121,512
out of contact with the photosensitive drum (Br11) and that
Kurokawa does not "disclose or suggest the developing unit of
a one-component developer wherein no mechanism to move the
developing means is required" (Br12). These arguments imply
that a characteristic feature of two-component developers is
that they move into and out of position and, therefore, the
developer in Kurokawa is not positioned at a fixed location
during developing and non-developing operations. These
arguments are unpersuasive.
There is no absolutely no indication that the developing
unit 18 in the prior art in Kurokawa (figure 1) or the
developing unit 38 in the invention of Kurokawa (e.g.,
figures 5 or 8) moves into and out of position. The
developing sleeve 38b of the developing unit 38 is not in
contact the surface of the drum, but this is the way this
developer works as described in Yokoyama; the sleeve is not a
roller and does not move into and out of contact. Kurokawa
discloses that a developing roller is an alternative to a
developing sleeve (col. 1, lines 20-22). The reason for the
prior art moving the developer into and out of contact with
the drum, as described by appellants, is to avoid depositing
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