DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 21-25, 28-32, 34, and 41-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP H05-17483 (‘483) in view of JP 2002295954 (‘954).
Regarding claim 21, ‘483 teaches a refrigerator comprising: a cabinet with a storage space (110); a door assembly configured to open and close at least a portion of the storage space (door is illustrated in Fig. 9); a machine room (14) is defined below the storage space and has a plurality of spaces and an inlet (36) and an outlet (38) at a front surface thereof (at 34); and a cooling system disposed in the machine room and comprising a compressor (18), condenser (22), and heat dissipation fan (52); the spaces include two spaces partitioned from each other accommodating the compressor (14b; right side of partition plate in Fig. 2) and the condenser (14a; left side of the partition plate in Fig. 2), respectively; the heat dissipation fan is disposed in a rear portion of the machine room relative to the inlet (Fig. 2), and the compressor is disposed in a rear portion of the machine room relative to the outlet (Fig. 2).
‘483 does not teach a defrost water tray, an evaporation tube disposed in the defrost water tray, connecting the condenser to the compressor, and being disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the defrost water tray.
‘294 teaches: a defrost water tray disposed on a bottom of a machine room (area 39) comprising a ‘fence’ that extends upward relative to the bottom of the machine room (see raised containment wall Fig. 7 separating 39 from 49) and defining a defrost water space surrounded by the fence of the defrost water tray; an evaporation tube (40; “immersion pipe”) is disposed in the defrost water space surrounded by the fence of the defrost water tray and connects the condenser to the compressor (“Reference numeral 40 denotes an immersion pipe, which is disposed so as to be immersed in the defrost water stored in the evaporating dish 39. It is installed between the compressor 34 and the condenser 36”); the evaporation tube is disposed at a height that is lower than or equal to a height of the fence of the defrost water tray (see quote above) such that the evaporation tube is disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the defrost water tray (see quote above); the evaporation tube is bent multiple times within the defrost water space along the bottom surface of the defrost water tray (e.g. Fig. 6) and covers an area of the bottom surface of the defrost water tray; the condenser is disposed outside of the defrost water space (condenser 36; Fig. 6) on the defrost water tray; the condenser is disposed between the inlet (51) and the defrost water tray (Fig. 7); the entirety of the evaporation tube is disposed within the defrost water space (the portion of 40 which is located within 39 is defined as the “evaporation tube”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the connection between the compressor and condenser of ‘483, as taught by ‘294, as an evaporation tube in a defrost water tray in order to provide increased condensing power and to assist in removal of condensate water from the tray, simultaneously.
Regarding 41, ‘294 further teaches that along the airflow path from the inlet (51) to the fan (41), the condenser (36) and the evaporation tube (40) are located along the air flow path with the condenser closer tot eh inlet than the evaporation tube (Fig. 6; see airflow lines) and the defrost water tray (39) is located int eh air flow path at a position downstream of the condenser and upstream of the fan (see Fig. 6) such that air heated by the condenser flows over the defrost water tray (see airflow lines fig. 6).
Regarding claim 42, ‘294 further teaches that the condenser is disposed horizontally outside the fence (Fig. 6) and the condenser fixing parts (see Fig. 6; attached to 36) are located horizontally outside the fence protruding from the bottom of the machine room (in 49).
‘483 further teaches that: a lower surface of the cabinet is disposed at an upper part of the machine room (Fig. 1, shown in phantom), per claim 22; a first cover part is disposed above the inlet and outlet (portion formed by top surface of 34) and a second cover part disposed above the compressor and the heat dissipation fan (see Fig. 1) which has a greater height over the bottom of the machine room (e.g. 32) than the first cover part (see Fig. 1), per claim 23; the inlet area is larger than the outlet area (see Fig. 1), per claim 24; the machine room is removably (all elements are inherently capable of removal by some known means) disposed at a lower part of the cabinet (Fig. 1), per claim 25; the condenser faces the inlet (Fig. 2), per claim 28; the heat dissipation fan faces a side surface of the machine room (Fig. 2) and is spaced from the side surface to define an airflow space therebetween (see airflow arrows; Fig. 2), per claim 29; a separation wall (26) divides the inside of the machine room into the plurality of spaces including an introduction space (14a) connected to the inlet and a discharge space (14b) connected to the outlet; wherein the separation wall comprises first (portion of 26 extending up-down in Fig. 2 and connected to the front face) and second (portion of 26 extending left-right in Fig. 2) walls connected to each other, per claim 30; the first wall is disposed between the inlet and outlet (see Fig. 2), the second wall is connected to the heat dissipation fan (see Fig. 2), and the heat dissipation fan is disposed between the second wall and arear surface (40) of the machine room (Fig. 2), per claim 31; a bottom plate (34, Fig. 8) side plate (illustrated in phantom in fig. 1) and rear plate (40) define the machine room; the spaces comprise an introduction space facing the bottom, side, and rear plates (space 14a); and a discharge space (14b) separate from eh introduction space; wherein one of the bottom, side, or rear plates define an additional outlet (e.g. 42) configured to communicate the discharge space with an outside of the machine room, per claim 34; and the device having cover plates comprising portions which extend rearward from the front surface and have a first height equal to the front surface, separation wall, and condenser (horizontal cover from the front to the sloped part in Fig. 1); a second cover part extends rearward from a rear end of the first cover part (horizontal cover from the sloped part to the rear in Fig. 1) and have a second height greater than the first height of the first cover part; and a vertical connection part located between the two and connecting them to each other (the sloped part in Fig. 1 which connects the other two cover members via vertical extension), per claim 32.
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294 and Bauman (US 5,953,929).
Regarding claim 35, ‘483 as modified does not specify inclining the water tray.
Bauman teaches that it is old and well-known to incline (36) a water tray toward a fan element which assists in its evaporation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to incline the tray of ‘483, as modified, in order to guide flow toward the fan, as taught by Bauman, to maintain water near the source of evaporative air motion.
Claims 36-37 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294, and JP 2010-190473 (‘473).
Regarding claim 36, ‘483 teaches that the additional outlet (42) is defined near the compressor (see Fig. 2). ‘483 does not specify a control module. ‘473 teaches the inclusion of a control module (70) in the machine room. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of ‘483 with the control module installed in the machine room, as taught by ‘473, in order to provide cooling via airflow to the module.
Regarding claim 37, ‘483 teaches a separation wall (26; extending predominantly longitudinally, see Fig. 2), and an additional inlet (102) is configured to communicate with the introduction space and outside of the machine room (see Fig. 2).
‘483 does not teach reinforcement parts.
‘473 further teaches reinforcement parts (see the ribbing on the undersurface of the bottom plate; e.g. Fig. 8) disposed at the bottom plate and extending in directions which intersect the separation wall (they extend in both transverse and longitudinal directions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of ‘483 with reinforcement parts, as taught by ‘473, in order to increase the strength of the device. It would further have been obvious to provide them between the two additional openings as ‘483 teaches those at extremities of the device in the longitudinal direction.
Regarding claim 39, ‘483 does not specify the bottom-side plate structure as specified.
‘473 teaches that it is old and well-known to provide a machine room with bottom (40) and side (41L, 41R) plates with a pair of side parts (49) coupled to the bottom plate and a support module (52) at each side part wherein each side part defines an opening at a lower surface (48) receiving the support module.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of ‘483 with the supporting structures of ‘473 in order to allow for mobile support of the device.
Claim 40 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294, ‘473, and Ozyuksel (US 2017/0314725).
Regarding claim 40, ‘483 does not teach the power transmission elements.
Ozyuksel teaches that it is old and well-known to form support modules (1) with power transmission parts (10) that extend from a front end of each module along an inside of an opening (concavity of 2) and a leveling part (16) coupled to a rear end of the power transmission part (via 9) and configured to adjust a horizontality (i.e. the level) of the refrigerator.
It would have been obvious to form the supports of ‘483, as modified, as taught by Ozyuksel in order to allow for leveling the device.
Claims 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294, and KR 10-0578403 (‘403).
Regarding claims 26-27, ‘483 does not specify the plate heights.
‘403 teaches that it is old and well-known to provide the machine room with outer plates defining side surfaces of the machine room (see Fig. 4; plates which don’t have air openings), wherein a height of the outer plates is the same from the front to rear of the machine room (see Fig. 4; note that the component 24 which does have a different height is indicated with the squiggled cut-off line at top); and the height of the second cover part is greater than the height of the outer plate (see Fig. 3; the second cover part which surrounds 21 is higher than that forming the sides), per claim 26; as indicated in Fig. 1, the outer plates of the machine room may be flush with the outer surface of the cabinet, per claim 27.
It would have been obvious to construct the outer sides of ‘483 as taught by ‘403 as those decisions have been explicitly left to one of ordinary skill by ‘483.
Claim 38 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294, and Shin (US 9,618,258).
Regarding claim 38, ‘483 does not teach the side condensing tubes.
Shin teaches that it is old and well-known to provide the cabinet, having inner and outer casings (31, 10) with side condensing tubes connected to the condenser and disposed along a side surface of the cabinet between the two casings (see, e.g. tube 28 Fig. 14).
It would have been obvious to provide ‘483 with side condenser tubes in order to provide fluid connection between the condenser and evaporator to allow operation of the device.
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘483 in view of ‘294, and Fernandez (US 9,810,474).
Regarding claim 33, ‘483 does not teach the cut part.
Fernandez teaches that it is old and well-known to provide a cover plate with a cut part at a rear end thereof (see Fig. 6; between 336 and 266) opened to an upper end of the compressor (it is open to all of the components inside the machine room, including the compressor) and a cover (300) disposed at the cover plate and to cover the cut part (Fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to form the device of ‘483 with the cut part and cover, as taught by Fernandez, to provide easy access and connections between components inside and outside of the machine room.
Response to Arguments
The Remarks filed are entirely directed to the previous ground of rejection which has been replaced above in light of the claim amendments.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Devon Lane whose telephone number is (571)270-1858. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 9-4.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763