DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/5/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (US8658950) in view of Heinke (US20020191424) and in further view of Park (US20210337636) and Kwak (KR20140119526) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Cho teaches a cooking apparatus and a driving method of a cooking apparatus comprising:
a plurality of induction coils (11a, 11b) that are included in locations corresponding to each of the plurality of heating areas (heating areas corresponding to first food stuff container 2a and second food stuff container 2b)
a driver (13) supplying currents to each of the plurality of induction coils (11a, 11b) and a processor (14)
based on receiving a user instruction (Col. 3 lines 55-65 user manipulates operating elements 121, 122) for turning on a second heating area (Col. 4 lines 1-15 second food stuff container 2b being heated by second induction coil 11b, being a second heating area) among the plurality of heating areas (11a, 11b) being received while a first heating area (first food stuff container 2a being heating by first induction coil 11 a, being a first heating area) among the plurality of heating areas (11a, 11b) is turned on (Col. 3 lines 55-67, Col. 4 lines 1-15 user adjust heat quantity to applied to first and second food stuff containers 2a and 2b),
stop a supply of a first current to a first induction coil (Col. 4 lines 10-55 Fig. 2A at time t1, operation of both first and second induction coils, 11a and 11b, are initiated, where both coils being activated, the first coil 11a is initiated such that at time t1 to t2, power to induction coil is gradually decreased, and as in Col. 4 lines 50-55, in subsequent time t2 to t3, no power is inputted to a first induction coil, not shown in Fig. 2A; where the power being decreased to no power, from time t1 to t3 is taken to be stopping a supply of current) corresponding to the first heating area (W1 corresponding to heating of first food container and first induction coil 11a) among the plurality of induction coils during an entirety of a threshold time period (Col. 4 lines 10-55 Fig. 2A from t2 to t3 no power is inputted to the first induction coil 11a)
while both of the first heating area and the second heating area are turned on (Ta1, f1 and f2 are non-zero, meaning both first and second coils are active),
control the driver (power supply unit 13) to adjust a at least one of strength of the first current or the strength of the second current (frequency f1 and f2, which adjust the currents of the first and second coils) such that a difference between the strength of the first current supplied to the first induction coil and the strength of the second current supplied to a second induction coil is within a threshold range (difference between the first frequency f1 and the second frequency f2 beyond the human hearing range during the first time interval Ta1, where difference between frequencies are indicative a difference of the currents of the first and second coils being supplied, and held at a range corresponding to the human hearing range of frequencies)
and adjust a time (Ta1, Ta2) that the at least one current which strength (adjusting heat quantity applied to foodstuff containers 2a, 2b, taken to be indicative of adjusting a current) has been adjusted is supplied such that an average output power (P1, P2) of a heating area corresponding to an induction coil to which the at least one current which strength has been adjusted is supplied is identical to an output power before the adjustment (Col. 6 lines 25-35 desired average heat quantity P1 and P2 are achieved by adjusting the duration of first time interval Ta1 and second time interval Ta2)
generate a signal (K1 and K2; Col. 12 lines 40-50 pulse frequency modulation controller or digital signal processor).
Cho is silent on a cooking plate including a plurality of heating areas a plurality of induction coils in the lower part of the cooking plate, generate a pulse width modulation signal for adjusting the time that the current of which strength has been increased is supplied based on the increased strength of the current of at least one of the first current supplied to the first induction coil or the second current supplied to the second induction coil, during the threshold time period, gradually increase a strength of a second current supplied to a second induction coil corresponding to the second heating area to be substantially identical to a strength of an electric current corresponding to the user instruction, based on the strength of the second current corresponding to the strength of the electric current, maintain the strength of the second current supplied to the second induction coil and resume the supply of the first current to the first induction coil, after transmitting a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for controlling supply of the first current to the first induction coil to the driver, based on a feedback signal corresponding to the PWM signal not being received from the driver, control a first switch to stop the supply of the first current to the first induction coil, wherein a frequency of the PWM signal indicates a switching frequency of the first switch.
Heinke teaches generate a pulse width modulation signal (SPwm) for adjusting the time that the current of which strength has been increased is supplied (Fig. 2 [0021] at time t2 rapid increase or rise of the current flow through the inductive component 1) based on the increased strength of the current of at least one of the first current supplied to the first induction coil or the second current supplied to the second induction coil ([0022] 1, increased strength of current at component 1 to threshold value Is).
Cho and Heinke are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of induction current adjusting means for inductive components. It would have been obvious to have modified Cho to incorporate the teachings of Heinke to generate a PWM signal that can adjust the time that the strength of current may be supplied so that current may be supplied to a inductive component rapidly and reliably at a desire current level without disadvantageous characteristics being applied to an inductive component.
The combination of Cho and Heinke are silent on a cooking plate including a plurality of heating areas a plurality of induction coils in the lower part of the cooking plate, during the threshold time period, gradually increase a strength of a second current supplied to a second induction coil corresponding to the second heating area to be substantially identical to a strength of an electric current corresponding to the user instruction, based on the strength of the second current corresponding to the strength of the electric current, maintain the strength of the second current supplied to the second induction coil and resume the supply of the first current to the first induction coil, after transmitting a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for controlling supply of the first current to the first induction coil to the driver, based on a feedback signal corresponding to the PWM signal not being received from the driver, control a first switch to stop the supply of the first current to the first induction coil, wherein a frequency of the PWM signal indicates a switching frequency of the first switch.
Park teaches a cooking plate (105) including a plurality of heating areas (142, 144, 146);
a plurality of induction coils (103, 104, 106 a and b) in the lower part of the cooking plate (105),
during the threshold time period (T2 to T3), gradually increase a strength of a second current supplied to a second induction coil corresponding to the second heating area to be substantially identical to a strength of an electric current corresponding to the user instruction (Fig. 4 frequency f2 is increased, understood to increase the current of the second heating area)),
based on the strength of the second current corresponding to the strength of the electric current (Fig. 4 at T3 to T4 frequency f2 corresponding to a second induction coil is at a strength of desired frequency and continues to be maintained), maintain the strength of the second current supplied to the second induction coil and resume the supply of the first current to the first induction coil (Fig. 4 T3 to T4 f1 corresponding to the first induction coil resumes)
after transmitting a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for controlling supply of the first current to the first induction coil to the driver (f1),
based on a feedback signal (S1) corresponding to the PWM signal not being received from the driver ([0076] S1 being off, taken to be the equivalent of a PWM not being received), control a first switch to stop the supply of the first current to the first induction coil ([0076] switching signal S1 controls supply to first induction coil 103, where S1 being stops supply of current)
wherein a frequency of the PWM signal indicates a switching frequency of the first switch ([0069] S1 switching frequency of SW1).
Cho, Heinke, and Park are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of induction heating devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Cho and Heinke to incorporate the teachings of Park have a cooktop in order to have a place to put food cooking containers on (Park [0047]) and to increase the current of a second induction coil while the first induction coil is stopped and to then resume the activation of the first induction coil and to stop the supply of first current to the first induction coil based on a switching frequency of the first switch in order to reduce an interference noise of an induction heating device having two or more working coils (Park [0007]).
The combination of Cho, Heinke, and Park are silent on wherein the feedback signal corresponding to the PWM signal not being received from the driver corresponds to a breakdown condition of the cooking apparatus.
Kwak teaches wherein the feedback signal corresponding to the PWM signal not being received from the driver corresponds ([0044] Fig. 5 a new feedback signal EG, being a square signal, is not inputted) to a breakdown condition of the cooking apparatus ([0046] failure is determined).
Cho, Heinke, Park, and Kwak are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of induction heating devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Cho, Heinke, and Park to incorporate the teachings of Kwak to have a breakdown condition correspond to a PWM signal not being received so that when a power failure or breakdown occurs, the condition may be detected advantageously during regular operations of the cooking device, such that the device is not completely broken by a power failure (Kwak [0022-0024]).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Cho, Heinke, Park, and Kwak teach the cooking apparatus of claim 1 and the driving method of claim 11, and Cho teaches wherein the processor (14) is further configured to: increase the strength of at least one of the first current or the second current (adjusting signal K1 or K2, to adjust the power supplied, taken to be able to increase the strength), generate the PWM (pulse frequency modulation controller or digital signal processor) for adjusting the time that the current of the strength that has been increased is supplied based on the increased strength of the current (time interval Ta1 and Ta2 adjusted given the desired power); and transmit the PWM signal to the driver (13).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Cho, Heinke, Park, and Kwak teach the cooking apparatus of claim 1 and the driving method of claim 11, and Cho teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: based on the user instruction for turning on the second heating area being received, gradually increase the strength of the second current supplied to a second induction coil (Col. 4 lines 30-40 second induction coil 11 b is gradually increased from the second minimum power value Pmin2 to a second maximum power value Pmax2).
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (US8658950), Heinke (US20020191424), Park (US20210337636), and Kwak (KR20140119526) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, in further view of Kataoka (JP2011103225) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Cho, Heinke, Park, and Kwak teach teaches the cooking apparatus of claim 1 and the driving method of claim 11, but Cho, Heinke, and Park are silent on wherein the driver further comprises: a first switch controlling supply of a current to the first induction coil; a second switch controlling a frequency of the current supplied to the first induction coil; a third switch controlling supply of a current to the second induction coil; and a fourth switch controlling the frequency of the current supplied to the second induction coil; and the processor is further configured to: control a supply time of the first current by controlling the switching frequency of the first switch, control the strength of the first current by controlling the switching frequency of the second switch, and controlling the strength of the second current by controlling the switching frequency of the fourth switch.
However, Kataoka teaches the driver further comprises: a first switch controlling supply of a current to the first induction coil ([0031] first semiconductor switch 11 and the second semiconductor switch 12 can be varied so that the input current or the like becomes a predetermined value); a second switch controlling a frequency of the current supplied to the first induction coil ([0034] the semiconductor switches 11, 12, 14, and 15 in the inverters 4 and 5 in the drive frequency range. The input power decreases as the drive frequency increases) a third switch controlling supply of a current to the second induction coil ([0031] third semiconductor switch 14 and the fourth semiconductor switch 15 in the second inverter 5, third semiconductor switch 14 and fourth semiconductor switch 15 can be varied so input current can be a predetermined value); and a fourth switch controlling the frequency of the current supplied to the second induction coil ([0034] the semiconductor switches 11, 12, 14, and 15 in the inverters 4 and 5 in the drive frequency range. The input power decreases as the drive frequency increases); and the processor is further configured to: control a supply time of the first current by controlling the switching frequency of the first switch, control the supply time of the second current by controlling the switching frequency of the third switch ([0031] changing the ratio between the on time and the off time, that is, the conduction time ratio, the input current or the like is controlled to be a predetermined value, switches 11 and 14) control the strength of the first current by controlling the switching frequency of the second switch, and controlling the strength of the second current by controlling the switching frequency of the fourth switch ([0034] the semiconductor switches 11, 12, 14, and 15 in the inverters 4 and 5 in the drive frequency range. The input power decreases as the drive frequency increases).
It would have been obvious to have modified Cho, Heinke, Park, and Kwak to incorporate the teachings of Kataoka to have four switches for driving to control the frequency and current to the induction coils in order to provide an induction heating device that can suppress the generation of interference noise due to a difference in driving frequency between a plurality of heating coils even when the plurality of heating coils are operated simultaneously (Kataoka [0011]).
Claims 7, 10, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (US8658950), Heinke (US20020191424), Park (US20210337636), Kwak (KR20140119526), and Kataoka (JP2011103225) as applied to claims 6 and 16 above, in further view of Nam (US20190289678) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Cho, Heinke, Park, Kwak, and Kataoka teach the cooking apparatus of claim 6 and the driving method of claim 16, but are silent on control the first switch and stopping supply of a current to the first induction coil.
However, Nam teaches control the first switch and stopping supply of a current to the first induction coil ([0037] the detected current is less than the determined maximum current, the method 500 may end at 514).
Cho, Heinke, Park, Kwak, Kataoka, and Nam are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of induction heating devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Cho, Heinke, Park, Kwak, and Kataoka to incorporate the teachings of Nam to transmit a signal for current supply and not supplying current based on a feedback signal in order to maintain power levels within a safe operating zone, e.g., to avoid or minimize hard switching (Nam [0006]).
Claims 10, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (US8658950), Heinke (US20020191424), Park (US20210337636), and Kwak (KR20140119526), as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, in further view of Nam (US20190289678) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Cho, Heinke, Park, Kwak teach the cooking apparatus of claim 1 and the driving method of claim 11, but are silent on wherein the processor is further configured to: sense an output signal of the first induction coil by a time interval determined based on a driving frequency of the first induction coil, and based on the size of the output signal being greater than or equal to a threshold size based on the maximum size among the sensed sizes of the output signal, control the driver such that the size of the output signal of the first induction coil maintains the threshold size.
However, Nam teaches the processor is further configured to: sense an output signal of the first induction coil by a time interval determined based on a driving frequency of the first induction coil ([0027] a feedback signal 325 associated with the current flow through the induction heating coil 370 ) based on the size of the output signal being greater than or equal to a threshold size based on the maximum size among the sensed sizes of the output signal, control the driver such that the size of the output signal of the first induction coil maintains the threshold size ([0037] the detected current is greater than the determined maximum current at step 510, the method 500 may proceed to a step 512 of modifying an operating parameter of the induction cooktop appliance, in particular the power supply circuit thereof).
It would have been obvious to have modified Cho, Heinke, Park, Kwak to incorporate the teachings of Nam to sense an output signal by a time interval based on the first induction coil and control the output signal so that it maintains a threshold size in order to maintain power levels within a safe operating zone, e.g., to avoid or minimize hard switching (Nam [0006]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABIGAIL RHUE whose telephone number is (571)272-4615. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ABIGAIL H RHUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 7/7/2025
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761