Appeal No. 2001-1610
Application No. 09/028,449
element above Asada's transfer roller 8 as the cover and the tip
of that element as a guide member. The examiner, however,
recognizes (Answer, page 4) that Asada fails to teach a plurality
of guide members and, thus, turns to Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya,
according to the examiner (Answer, page 4), teaches plural guide
members at element 38. The examiner concludes (Answer, page 4)
that it would have been obvious to use plural guide members in
Asada's device because it "would have allowed the sheet separated
from the surface of the sensitive body to be conveyed smoothly
and reliably along a path," one of the objectives of Tsuchiya's
invention.
As pointed out by appellant (Brief, page 14), Tsuchiya
teaches (column 8, lines 48-50) that the purpose of ribs 38 is to
allow the paper to convey smoothly "without coming into contact
with the grounding plate member 30 through the openings 40."
Asada has no such grounding plate member nor openings through
which the paper would come in contact with the grounding plate
member on or around the cover to the transfer roller. Therefore,
we find no motivation in the references to combine the ribs of
Tsuchiya with the transfer device cover in Asada. Consequently,
we cannot affirm the rejection of claim 26 nor of its dependents,
claims 2 through 15, 27, and 28.
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