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 .
Response to Amendment
The proposed amendments filed 09/30/2025 have been entered. Claims 1, 3-5, 7-14, and 16-22 are currently pending.
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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 12-14, 16-20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0100644 (Kopera hereinafter) in view of US 2021/0274993 (Haier hereinafter) in view of EP 0953315 (Steiner hereinafter) and further in view of US 2020/0077867 (Thiya hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Kopera teaches a dishwasher and method of user the dishwasher that discloses a dishwasher having a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber (Figures 1 and 2 with tub 102 and washing chamber 104), with an access opening (Opening covered by door 106), and a closure movable between opened and closed positions to, selectively open/close the access opening (Inherent of door 106 per ¶ 19), the method comprising: forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 25, 30, and 32).
Kopera is silent with respect to moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber.
However, Haier teaches a method of operating a drying cycle for a dishwasher that discloses moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 45 and 52-59 with Figure 7 disclosing the open-vent position in step 620 during the drying step and when the heating element is in use).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying operation of Kopera with the vented drying operation of Haier to allow for excess moisture to leave and hasten the drying process.
Kopera, per Haier, is silent with respect to moving the closure to a partially open position when a temperature in the treating chamber falls below a predetermined threshold.
However, Steiner teaches a dishwasher and dishwasher drying cycle that discloses moving the door to an open position when the internal temperature and humidity of a washing chamber drops below a predetermined threshold (Figures 2 and 3, with steps 1 and 2 per ¶ 13 of the provided translation). The resultant combination would be such that the closure opening step of Steiner would partially open the closure per the base reference of Kopera/Haier and while forcing heated air through the treating chamber per Kopera.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control of the closure of Kopera/Haier with the temperature threshold of Steiner to allow for wash chamber to being cooling at a desired temperature.
Kopera, per Haier and Steiner, is silent with respect to and while forcing heated air through the treating chamber recirculating at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber when the closure is in the partially open position.
However, Thiya teaches a drying method for a dishwasher that discloses using an open circuit drying method that discloses recirculating the already heated air through the dishwasher (Figure 5 air pathway from 12/172/14/170/16/18/12 with ¶ 37-38 and 42). The combination would be such that the inlet of ambient air as seen in Figure 5 of Thiya would enter from the partially open door used in the drying step of Haier as applied to Kopera therefore teaching the combination of recirculating at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber when the closure is in the partially open position. These applications are all related to the drying step of a dishwasher.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying procedure of Kopera/Haier with the recirculation as taught by Thiya to ensure dry air is constantly available to assist in drying the dishes/objects within the dishwasher.
Regarding claim 3, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber comprises heating ambient air (Inlet for air “A” in Figure 3 per ¶ 30 of Kopera and as taught by the inclusion of ambient air via Thiya ¶ 42).
Regarding claim 4, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 3 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber comprises flowing the heated ambient air through the treating chamber (¶ 30 of Kopera and as taught by the inclusion of ambient air via Thiya ¶ 42).
Regarding claim 5, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 4 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber comprises emitting the heated ambient air from the treating chamber (Outlet 260 of Kopera as well as the inherent opening provided by the open-vent position of the door in Haier/Steiner).
Regarding claim 12, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber comprises operating a heating element provided within and thermally coupled with the treating chamber to heat the air within the treating chamber (Heating element 170 of Haier per ¶ 34 and Thiya ¶ 37 with heat pipe 202).
Regarding claim 13, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 12 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the operating the heating element comprises intermittently operating the heating element (¶ 32 of Kopera).
Regarding claim 14, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 13 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the intermittently operating the heating element comprises operating the heating element for a predetermined number of on/off cycles (¶ 32 of Kopera).
Regarding claim 22, Kopera teaches a dishwasher and method of user the dishwasher that discloses a dishwasher having a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber (Figures 1 and 2 with tub 102 and washing chamber 104), with an access opening (Opening covered by door 106), and a closure movable between opened and closed positions to, selectively open/close the access opening (Inherent of door 106 per ¶ 19), the method comprising: forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 25, 30, and 32).
Kopera is silent with respect to moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber.
However, Haier teaches a method of operating a drying cycle for a dishwasher that discloses moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 45 and 52-59 with Figure 7 disclosing the open-vent position in step 620 during the drying step and when the heating element is in use).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying operation of Kopera with the vented drying operation of Haier to allow for excess moisture to leave and hasten the drying process.
Kopera, per Haier, is silent with respect to moving the closure to a partially open position when a temperature in the treating chamber falls below a predetermined threshold.
However, Steiner teaches a dishwasher and dishwasher drying cycle that discloses moving the door to an open position when the internal temperature and humidity of a washing chamber drops below a predetermined threshold (Figures 2 and 3, with steps 1 and 2 per ¶ 13 of the provided translation). The resultant combination would be such that the closure opening step of Steiner would partially open the closure per the base reference of Kopera/Haier and while forcing heated air through the treating chamber per Kopera.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control of the closure of Kopera/Haier with the temperature threshold of Steiner to allow for wash chamber to being cooling at a desired temperature.
Kopera, per Haier and Steiner, is silent with respect to and while forcing heated air through the treating chamber recirculating at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber when the closure is in the partially open position.
Kopera, per Haier and Steiner, is silent with respect to operating a blower that is fluidly coupled with the treating chamber and configured to draw at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber and to the blower when the closure is in the partially open position. Kopera does disclose operating a blower that is fluidly coupled with the treating chamber (Blower 262 of Kopera per ¶ 28-29) configured to draw at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber and to the blower (Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the blower 262 creates an air flow draw for the heated and moist air traveling from the inlet 256 therefore at least a portion of the heated air is drawn towards the direction of the blower).
However, Thiya teaches a drying method for a dishwasher that discloses using an open circuit drying method that discloses recirculating the already heated air through the dishwasher with a blower (Figure 5 air pathway from 12/172/14/170/16/18/12 with ¶ 37-38 and 42 with blower 216). The combination would be such that the inlet of ambient air as seen in Figure 5 of Thiya would enter from the partially open door used in the drying step of Haier as applied to Kopera therefore teaching the combination of operating a blower that is fluidly coupled with the treating chamber and configured to draw at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber and to the blower when the closure is in the partially open position. These applications are all related to the drying step of a dishwasher.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying procedure of Kopera/Haier with the recirculation as taught by Thiya to ensure dry air is constantly available to assist in drying the dishes/objects within the dishwasher.
Regarding claim 16, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 22 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the operating the blower comprises intermittently operating the blower while the closure is in the closed position (Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the blower of Kopera would not be activated when the dishwasher is off and the door is in the closed position nor would it be operational when the dishwasher is in a washing cycle).
Regarding claim 17, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 22 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the operating the blower comprises operating the blower until the closure reaches the partially open position (Inherent of the end of the drying cycle and the moist air can be vented out of the partially opened closer while also using the open-loop inlet aspect of the partially open door).
Regarding claim 18, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 22 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the operating the blower to draw the at least a portion of the heated air through the treating chamber comprises drawing the at least a portion of the heated air from the treating chamber into an air conduit provided within the closure (Figures 4 and 5 of Kopera with the moist air from the treating chamber entering 250 then 270 which are placed in the closure per Figure 2 and also taught with the location of the fan 216 of Thiya in Figure 5).
Regarding claim 19, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 18 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the air conduit comprises an inlet provided in an inner surface of the closure, the inlet fluidly coupling the treating chamber with the air conduit (Air inlet 256 of Kopera in Figures 2, 4, and 5 with ¶ 28 and 39).
Regarding claim 20, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 19 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, Steiner, and Thiya would further disclose that the air conduit comprises an outlet provided at a lower portion of the closure (Outlet at 260 of Kopera Figures 2, 4, and 5), the outlet fluidly coupling the air conduit with ambient air exterior of the dishwasher to emit the at least a portion of the heated air from the treating chamber (Evident from Figures 4 and 5 of Kopera).
Claims 21 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0100644 (Kopera) in view of US 2021/0274993 (Haier) and further in view of US 2010/0236575 (Heissler hereinafter).
Regarding claim 21, Kopera teaches a dishwasher having a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber (Figures 1 and 2 with tub 102 and washing chamber 104), with an access opening (Opening sealed by door 106), and a closure movable between opened and closed positions to selectively open/close the access opening (Inherent of the door 106 per ¶ 19), the method comprising: forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 25, 30, and 32).
Kopera is silent with respect to moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber.
However, Haier teaches a method of operating a drying cycle for a dishwasher that discloses moving the closure to a partially open position between the closed and opened positions while forcing heated air through the treating chamber (¶ 45 and 52-59 with Figure 7 disclosing the open-vent position in step 620 during the drying step and when the heating element is in use).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying operation of Kopera with the vented drying operation of Haier to allow for excess moisture to leave and hasten the drying process.
Kopera, per Haier, is silent with respect that the closure moves from the closed position to the partially open position when a temperature in the treating chamber falls below a predetermined threshold. Kopera does disclose temperature control in ¶ 32.
However, Heissler teaches a dishwasher and drying method that discloses setting a until a temperature in the treating chamber falls below a predetermined threshold drying cycle (¶ 35 and 41). The resultant combination would modify the drying step in 710-720 per ¶ 52 of Haier to incorporate the pre-determined temperature of Heissler such that the closure moves from the closed position to the partially open position when a temperature in the treating chamber falls below a predetermined threshold .
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control of the closure of Kopera/Haier with the temperature threshold of Heissler to allow for wash chamber to being cooling at a desired temperature.
Regarding claim 7, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 21 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, and Heissler would further disclose that the predetermined threshold is 50°C (Heissler Figure 1 shows the drying operation 12 being at 50°C).
Regarding claim 8, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 21 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, and Heissler would further disclose that the moving the closure to the partially open position from the closed position occurs when the temperature in the treating chamber falls below the predetermined threshold (Evident of the combination described in the rejection of claim 6 between the controls taught by Haier and Heissler).
Regarding claim 9, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 8 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, and Heissler would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber comprises forcing the heated air through the treating chamber until the closure reaches the partially open position (Resultant combination where Kopera’s heating element will be operated based on the control scheme shown in Figure 7 of Haier and step 750).
Regarding claim 10, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 9 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, and Heissler would further disclose that the forcing heated air through the treating chamber ceases when the closure reaches the partially open position until completion of a cycle of operation (Resultant combination where Kopera’s forced air will be operated based on the control scheme shown in Figure 7 of Haier and step 750 and the opening of the closure).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0100644 (Kopera) in view of US 2021/0274993 (Haier) in view of US 2010/0236575 (Heissler) and further in view of US 2015/0150432 (Ertl hereinafter).
Regarding claim 11, Kopera’s modified teachings are described above in claim 9 where the combination of Kopera, Haier, and Heissler would further disclose that the closure remains in the partially open position once the closure is moved to the partially open position (Inherent of Figure 7 of Haier).
Kopera’s modified teachings are silent with respect to the door staying in the partially opened position until completion of a cycle of operation.
However, Ertl teachings a dishwasher that discloses ending the drying cycle with the door in a partially open state (¶ 2). The resultant combination would utilize the method taught in Figure 7 of Haier whilst utilizing the ability to repeat one or more steps per ¶ 59 of Haier to end the drying operation in a partially open state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the ending of the drying cycle of Kopera/Haier/Heissler with the partially open ending of Ertl to facilitate air drying and allow for a user to quickly identify that the drying is complete.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-5, 12-14, 16-20, and 22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The amendments have required the addition of EP 0953315 (Steiner).
Applicant's arguments filed 09/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant arguments regarding claims 21 and 7-11 have been reviewed and are not found to be persuasive. Applicant’s specification clarification of a temperature and a temperature threshold are broad enough to allow for any set forth temperature and matching temperature threshold to be applicable from prior art. In the same vein as the response to claims 1 and 22, the prior art of Heissler would disclose determining a temperature (temperature gradient) and measuring that vs a set forth threshold (¶ 34, 35, 41, and 42 of Heissler). The broadest reasonable interpretation would allow for the Examiner to utilize any set point related to a sensed temperature having to do with the dishwasher. This utilization of the broadest reasonable interpretation would read on the claim language in the Examiner’s point of view. Heissler in ¶ 34 further discloses that the drying operation begins as the temperature drops from the To which both a predetermined temperature and part of the temperature gradient. The resultant combination would allow for the dropping from To in Heissler and marking the start of the drying operation to coincide with the door being partially opened per Kopera and Haier. The further dependent claims clarify a set temperature value of 50° C. This limitation is covered in Heissler in Figure 1 where the drying operation begins at 50°C which when taken in combination which Kopera and Haier would allow for the door to be opened in the drying operation at the completion of the washing cycle and initiation of the drying cycle. For at least these reasons, Applicant’s arguments are not found to be persuasive with respect to independent claim 21.
Applicant further argues that the limitation of “recirculating at least a portion of the heated air through the heating chamber when the closure in the partially open position” is not taught by the presented by the combination however the Examiner disagrees. The relied upon combination, particularly in claim 1, shows that the Haier reference uses a heating element during the drying stage. The combination then shows that the Thiya reference recirculation unit in Figure 5 therefore the teachings would allow for heated air (from Haier) to be recirculated via the fan of Thiya in addition to the fresh ambient air that does not entirely include the increased humidity. Applicant is advised to further clarify the relevant structure for the recirculation system to overcome the rejection of record.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762