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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-18 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1, 15, and 16 recite “Method for operating…” this should be –A method for…--.
Claims 2-14 and 17-18 recite “Method according to…” this should be –The method according to…--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 12-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guatta (US 20190274196 A1) in view of Moon (US 20130206752 A1)
Claim 1. Guatta discloses method for operating a microwave device (10, Fig. 1), the microwave device comprising a cavity (cavity 20, Fig. 1) and multiple microwave channels for providing microwaves within said cavity (multiple RF feeds 26A-D, fig. 1), the method comprising the steps of:
- operating one or more of the microwave channels at one or more first power levels and with varying phases in a data acquisition mode (step 702 where the RF feeds complete a frequency sweep with varying phase shifts to determine a resonance map, where the output power is set at a power level, par. 196);
- gathering information regarding channel reverse power at the one or more microwave channels during said data acquisition mode (each RF feed can measure the forward and backward power level or phase, par. 17, where in step 702 the efficiencies are being measured, par. 198);
- establishing a mathematical model for each said microwave channel based on said gathered information (step 706, model frequency response of the resonant cavity with a numeric model, Fig. 31), said mathematical model providing information regarding channel reverse power for the respective microwave channel (numeric model may relate the efficiency of the cooking cavity with a food load to the operating frequency of the RF feeds, par. 199; where efficiency provides information on the backward power, par. 120)
- determining operating parameters based on the established mathematical models (the controller may continue to calculate a plurality of interpolation parameters which is used to model the efficiency response over all operating frequencies which can be used to determine operating frequencies, par. 202); and
- operating the microwave channels of the microwave device at one or more second power levels based on the determined operating parameters (implementing the heating strategy by causing the plurality of high power amplifiers and RF feeds to introduce electromagnetic radiation at specific frequencies and phases into the cavity, wherein the specific frequencies and phases are selected in accordance with the heating strategy, claim 1), the
Guatta does not explicitly disclose that the second power level is higher than the first power levels.
Moon discloses a step of calculating the heating efficiencies wherein the power is less than the power used during operation (claim 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guatta to incorporate the teachings of Moon and to have the first power level during the data acquisition mode lower than the second power level when the microwave is in operation mode. Doing so would have the benefit of exploring the efficiency map at safe power levels, prevent excessive heat generation from large reflected power (par. 198, Guatta).
Claim 2. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining operating parameters comprises choosing the operating parameters such that the channel reverse power for each said microwave channel is below a channel reverse power threshold (the sequence of optimized modes can be selected such that the sum of the inverse efficiencies of the modes belonging to a first symmetry and the sum of the inverse efficiencies of the modes belonging to a second symmetry are selected to satisfy the ratio target energy, par. 169).
Claim 3. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining operating parameters comprises choosing the operating parameters such that total reverse power, which is the sum of the channel reverse power (RP) of all said microwave channels, is below a total reverse power threshold (the sequence of optimized modes can be selected such that the sum of the inverse efficiencies of the modes belonging to a first symmetry and the sum of the inverse efficiencies of the modes belonging to a second symmetry are selected to satisfy the ratio target energy, par. 169).
Claim 4. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein said multiple microwave channels are divided into multiple groups (4-port microwave oven wherein one port is the reference, first group, and the other three as the second group, par. 158).
Claim 5. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein each said group comprises one master microwave channel and at least one slave microwave channel (one microwave port’s phase is taken as reference when scanning is made by the four elements, par. 158).
Claim 6. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein the microwave channels of the same group are operated with a fixed phase relationship (For instance, given a 4-port microwave oven 10 and a phase-axis to be scanned made of four elements[−pi/4−pi/8+pi/8+pi/4] all the possible combinations of the phase-shifts between the ports is (provided that one is taken as reference, so the phase does not change), par. 158).
Claim 7. Guatta in view of Moon does not disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein a ratio between the one or more first power levels and the one or more second powers level is a constant value which is valid for all microwave channels.
However, Moon discloses operating at low powers during the efficiency mapping and operating at high powers during operation (par. 82).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine what should be the low power during efficiency mapping compared to the operating high power. Doing so is well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art and can be determined through routine experimentation. (MPEP 2144.05.II.A).
Claim 8. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein a load to be heated is included within the cavity during said data acquisition mode (resonance map is formed with the food load in the cavity, par. 196).
Claim 9. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the mathematical model is established based on a set of curves or a 3D-plot indicating dependency of the channel reverse power and/or the total reverse power on phases of microwaves provided by two or more said master microwave channels (recorded map of efficiency is analyzed to find the phase-shift that optimizes efficiency based on the efficiency vs phase curve, par. 192, Fig. 20).
Claim 12. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein for establishing the mathematical model multiple measurements for gathering information regarding the channel reverse power are performed wherein the phases of two or more said master microwave channels are varied (Fig. 20, par. 151).
Claim 13. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein multiple measurements are performed for each microwave channel of the microwave device (multiple measurements taken, Fig. 20).
Claim 14. Guatta in view of Moon discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the microwave channels are operated such that a total reverse power, which is the sum of the channel reverse power (RP) of all said microwave channels, is minimized (map of efficiency is analyzed and the operating parameter with the highest efficiency is selected, par. 155; wherein the efficiency is calculated using the total reflected power, par. 150) and/or the channel reverse power of one or more said microwave channels is reduced.
Claim 15. Guatta discloses microwave device comprising a cavity and multiple microwave channels for providing microwaves within said cavity (multiple RF feeds 26A-D, fig. 1), wherein the microwave device comprises a control entity (controller 14), the control entity being configured to perform the following steps:
- operating one or more of the microwave channels at one or more first power levels and with varying phases in a data acquisition mode (step 702 where the RF feeds complete a frequency sweep with varying phase shifts to determine a resonance map, where the output power is set at a power level, par. 196);
- gathering information regarding channel reverse power at the one or more microwave channels during said data acquisition mode (each RF feed can measure the forward and backward power level or phase, par. 17, where in step 702 the efficiencies are being measured, par. 198);
- establishing a mathematical model for each said microwave channel based on said gathered information (step 706, model frequency response of the resonant cavity with a numeric model, Fig. 31), said mathematical model providing information regarding channel reverse power for the respective microwave channel (numeric model may relate the efficiency of the cooking cavity with a food load to the operating frequency of the RF feeds, par. 199; where efficiency provides information on the backward power, par. 120)
- determining operating parameters based on the established mathematical models (the controller may continue to calculate a plurality of interpolation parameters which is used to model the efficiency response overall operating frequencies which can be used to determine operating frequencies, par. 202); and
- operating the microwave channels of the microwave device at one or more second power levels based on the determined operating parameters (implementing the heating strategy by causing the plurality of high power amplifiers and RF feeds to introduce electromagnetic radiation at specific frequencies and phases into the cavity, wherein the specific frequencies and phases are selected in accordance with the heating strategy, claim 1), the
Guatta does not explicitly disclose that the second power level is higher than the first power levels.
Moon discloses a step of calculating the heating efficiencies wherein the power is less than the power used during operation (claim 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guatta to incorporate the teachings of Moon and to have the first power level during the data acquisition mode lower than the second power level when the microwave is in operation mode. Doing so would have the benefit of exploring the efficiency map at safe power levels, prevent excessive heat generation from large reflected power (par. 198, Guatta).
Claim 16. Guatta discloses microwave device comprising a cavity and multiple microwave channels for providing microwaves within said cavity (multiple RF feeds 26A-D, fig. 1), the method comprising:
in a first mode, and with a food load (numeric model may relate the efficiency of the cooking cavity with a food load to the operating frequency of the RF feeds, par. 199) disposed within the cavity:
operating one or more of the microwave channels to generate microwaves at a first power level across a plurality of phases (step 702 where the RF feeds complete a frequency sweep with varying phase shifts to determine a resonance map, where the output power is set at a power level, par. 196);
collecting reverse power values for each of the one or more microwave channels at said first power level and across said plurality of phases (each RF feed can measure the forward and backward power level or phase, par. 17, where in step 702 the efficiencies are being measured, par. 198), wherein the respective reverse power values are dependent at least in part on said food load ();
establishing one or more mathematical models (step 706, model frequency response of the resonant cavity with a numeric model, Fig. 31), respectively, for the one or more microwave channels based on the respective reverse power values for each said microwave channel (numeric model may relate the efficiency of the cooking cavity with a food load to the operating frequency of the RF feeds, par. 199; where efficiency provides information on the total backward power, par. 120); and
from the established mathematical models, determining operating parameters for the one or more microwave channels, such that the determined operating parameters (the controller may continue to calculate a plurality of interpolation parameters which is used to model the efficiency response overall operating frequencies which can be used to determine operating frequencies, par. 202) correspond to:
in a second mode, cooking said food load within the oven cavity by operating said one or more microwave channels according to the determined operating parameters (implementing the heating strategy by causing the plurality of high power amplifiers and RF feeds to introduce electromagnetic radiation at specific frequencies and phases into the cavity, wherein the specific frequencies and phases are selected in accordance with the heating strategy, claim 1) and at a
Guatta does not explicitly disclose choosing operating parameters that will correspond to a minimum reverse power value or minimum total reverse power value.
However, Guatta discloses forming an efficiency map and determining local maxima in the efficiency map, which would correspond to a minimum total reverse power (par. 122). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to select from the efficiency map, the operating parameters that result in the highest efficiency. Doing so would have the benefit of improving energy consumption (par. 226, Guatta)
Guatta does not explicitly disclose that the second power level is higher than the first power levels.
Moon discloses a step of calculating the heating efficiencies wherein the power is less than the power used during operation (claim 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guatta to incorporate the teachings of Moon and to have the first power level during the data acquisition mode lower than the second power level when the microwave is in operation mode. Doing so would have the benefit of exploring the efficiency map at safe power levels, prevent excessive heat generation from large reflected power (par. 198, Guatta).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 and 17-18 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.
Conclusion
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/SIMPSON A CHEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/ELIZABETH M KERR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761