Appeal 2007-0603
Application 10/616,668
The Examiner rejected claims 33, 38 to 41, 43 to 46, 49, 51, and 52
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) based upon the teachings of Takei. The Examiner
rejected claims 37, 47, 48, and 50 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) based upon the
teachings of Takei.
Appellant contends that “Takei teaches heating the drum after the
image is transferred to the print medium to recover solvent absorbed by a
layer on the drum” (Reply Br. 4), and that “Takei does not ever teach or
suggest an electrical charge that ‘facilitates transfer of said images to the
print medium’” (Br. 6).
We reverse.
ISSUES
Does Takei heat the transfer medium to facilitate removal of carrier
fluid prior to transferring the ink to a print medium?
Does Takei apply an electrical charge to the ink and carrier fluid to
facilitate transfer of the ink to the print medium?
FINDINGS OF FACT
Appellant describes a heating element 200 that heats the transfer belt
104 to facilitate the removal of the carrier fluid from the ink in image 105 on
the transfer belt. After removal of the carrier fluid, the image 105 is
transferred from the transfer belt 104 to the print medium 103 (Figure 6). In
an alternative embodiment, Appellant describes the use of an electrical
charge on the ink and the carrier fluid to facilitate the transfer of the image
to the print medium.
In the third embodiment described by Takei, a water-absorbing layer
21a is located on the outer surface of transfer drum 21 (Figures 3 and 4; col.
3
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