Appeal No. 2006-3218
Application No. 10/233,845
electrode on the exterior of the toner cartridge (Answer 4 and Miyashiro at col. 7). We
agree with the Examiner’s line of reasoning and find that the Examiner has set forth a
prima facie of obviousness of the invention as recited in independent claim 16.
Appellants maintain that the AAPA teaches that both of the toner capacitor
electrodes need to be within the toner cartridge and that the combination would have
made the toner capacitor unsatisfactory for its intended purpose (Br. 4-6). We disagree
with Appellants and find that Miyashiro teaches an express motivation and that the
AAPA relied upon by the Examiner merely teaches that there are problems associated
with having a capacitor electrode on the outside of the toner cartridge. We do not find
this to be an express teaching away as Appellants assert.
Furthermore, we find that Figure 3 of Appellants’ specification further teaches the
use of two capacitor electrodes outside the toner cartridge and some of the disadvantages
or concerns with the capacitor electrodes on the outside of the cartridge.
Appellants further argue that Miyashiro uses a reference capacitance value in the
determining step rather than “a capacitance of said toner capacitor depends on said
amount of toner material such that a frequency of said oscillating signal depends on said
capacitance” as recited in independent claim 16. Appellants maintain that replacing the
electrode placement of the AAPA with the electrode placement of Miyashiro would have
rendered the capacitive sensor inoperable to detect toner level of the toner cartridge
because the capacitive sensor of the AAPA is not operable when the electrode is placed
outside the container (Br. 6). We find no factual support for Appellants’ position as to
the inoperability of the sensor of the AAPA. While we agree that the discussion of the
specific electrical circuitry in the AAPA has difficulties with smaller capacitance values
when the electrode is on the outside, we find no specific circuitry, arrangement,
parameters of the sensor beyond the use of an oscillator and the placement of the
electrodes of a toner capacitor. Therefore, we cannot agree with Appellants that the
AAPA teaches away from the general breadth of the claimed invention to an oscillator
and toner capacitor with one electrode inside and one electrode outside the toner
cartridge.
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