DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/17/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Jang (US 20200010998 A1) in view of Jun (US 20140366283 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jang discloses a dryer (it has a dewatering mode; see para. 31), comprising:
a case (cabinet) that defines at least a portion of an appearance of the dryer (para. 39);
a drum (washing tub/drum) disposed within the case and configured to receive a drying object therein (para. 41);
a rear case (Fig. 1: rear portion of the tub 10) that is provided as a plate and disposed between a rear surface of the drum (para. 41) and the drive unit (Fig. 1, 40)
a drive unit that is configured to drive the drum and that comprises a motor having a stator (Fig. 5, 30) and a rotor (40) (paras. 40, 41),
wherein the drive unit comprises a power transfer unit (Fig. 5, 20) that is configured to transfer rotational force of the rotor to the drum (para. 40),
wherein the power transfer unit comprises:
a drum shaft (11) connected to a rear side of the drum (para. 41),
a rotor shaft (Fig. 5, 433) connected to the rotor (para. 68), and
a decelerator (Fig. 5, 20) disposed between the drum shaft and the rotor shaft, and
wherein the rear case is disposed between the drum and the decelerator
Jang fails to disclose:
a front supporter disposed in front of the drum, the front supporter being configured to contact and rotatably support the drum, and
wherein the front supporter is separated from the rear case along a front-back direction, and wherein an outer surface of the drum is exposed inside a cabinet between the front supporter and the rear case.
Jun teaches a washing machine comprising:
a front supporter disposed in front of the drum, the front supporter being configured to contact and rotatably support the drum (Fig. 1 shows a drum 50 and the front of the drum is supported by a front supporter of the tub 40), and
wherein the front supporter is separated from the rear case along a front-back direction, and wherein an outer surface of the drum is exposed inside a cabinet between the front supporter and the rear case (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Jang wherein the tub includes a front supporter disposed in front of the drum, the front supporter being configured to contact and rotatably support the drum, and wherein the front supporter is separated from the rear case along a front-back direction, and wherein an outer surface of the drum is exposed inside a cabinet between the front supporter and the rear case. The motivation to combine is so that the front and rear of the rotating drum can be stably supported inside the dryer.
Regarding claim 3, Jang discloses wherein the motor is an outer rotor type motor having the rotor configured to rotate outside of the stator (para. 40; Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 4, Jang discloses wherein the stator has a hollow part (Fig. 9; 33, 35) at a radially inner position of the stator (para. 42), and wherein an outer portion of the rear case is coupled (indirectly or directly connected) to the stator.
Regarding claim 10, Jang discloses wherein the rear case defines a shaft perforated hole (center opening 104) that is perforated by the drum shaft.
Claim(s) 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang (US 20200010998 A1) in view of Jun (US 20140366283 A1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Vaidyanathan (US 20050011233 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Jang discloses wherein the decelerator comprises: a housing (Fig. 7, 21), and a transforming device (gears) that is disposed within the housing, but is silent about the transforming device being configured to transform high-RPM low-torque of the rotor into low-RPM high-torque of the drum.
However, Vaidyanthan teaches wherein the power transfer unit includes a decelerator transforming high-RPM low torque of the rotor into low-RPM high torque of the drum (para. 23).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Jang wherein the decelerator transforms high-RPM low torque of the rotor into low-RPM high torque of the drum. The motivation to combine is so that drum can be operated at a low-RPM high torque mode without the motor burning out. If the gearset could not convert the high-speed of the motor into a low speed- high torque, then the motor would quickly overheat and be destroyed. Moreover, the drum would be more responsive with more torque, resulting in better agitation/cleaning of the clothes.
Note: Jang discloses a clutch system that works in conjunction with the planetary gearset 20 for transforming the high speed into a low speed; Jang is modified by Vaidyanthan so that the planetary gearset also converts the torque from a low torque to a high torque).
Regarding claim 12, modified Jang discloses wherein the housing of the decelerator is coupled to an outer portion of the rear case (the entire motor and decelerator assembly is coupled to the outside of the rear case, as explained in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 13, Jang discloses wherein the housing of the decelerator defines:
a drum shaft perforated hole (Fig. 8, 232a) that (i) extends in a pre-determined length in a first direction (ii) is perforated by the drum shaft, and (iii) is configured to receive a bearing (Fig. 6, 232c), the bearing being installed at the drum shaft perforated hole to support the drum shaft rotatably, and a rotor shaft perforated hole (Fig. 8: center region defined by inner sidewall of element 21 having the inner gear 213) that (i) extends in a pre-determined length in a second direction opposite to the first direction, (ii) is perforated by the rotor shaft, and (iii) configured to receive a bearing (Fig. 8, 233) installed at the rotor shaft perforated hole to support the rotor shaft rotatably.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because they do not apply in view of the new reference, Jun. Note: the rear case is disclosed by Jang, as stated in the rejection of claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON LAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7644. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00.
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/JASON LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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