Appeal No. 2001-1336
Application No. 08/736,042
Thus, although we agree with the Examiner that adjusting the
transfer voltage for a specific type of recording media is
recognized by Kimura, we do not find any specific teaching in the
reference that relates to the claimed sensor that automatically
senses the passage of a sheet of recording media fed from the
manual tray or to production of a first signal which determines
the control signal provided to the transfer voltage generator.
We agree with Appellant’s assertion (brief, page 7 and
reply brief, page 4) that the combination of Kimura with Kono and
Lee fails to teach or suggest changing the transfer voltage
depending on the path of a sheet of recording media, as recited
in claim 1. As discussed above, Kimura only senses the type of
paper and not the path the paper takes whereas Kono senses
whether a paper is stuck in the apparatus. In our view, even the
Examiner’s inference that the transfer voltage is adjusted
depending on the type of the recording media used (answer, page
7) is inconclusive because Kimura adjusts the transfer voltage
either based on the mode selected by a user or the sensed type of
the recording media. Thus, assuming, arguendo, that it would
have been obvious to combine Kono and Lee with Kimura, as held by
the Examiner, the combination would still fall short of teaching
or suggesting the claimed sensor that senses the path a sheet of
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