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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2025 August 25 has been entered.
Claims 1-19 are pending.
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 1-7 and 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talon (US 20140345606 A1 cited on an IDS).
Claim 1: Talon teaches a control method (fig. 4 and [72]) for an aerosol generation apparatus, wherein the aerosol generation apparatus (fig. 1 and [55-56], #100) comprises a heater (20) for heating an aerosol generation substrate (2) to generate an aerosol, and the method comprises:
determining total energy generated by heating the heater (fig. 4 and [72], energy supplied since the device was switched on) within a preset time (fixed time interval per round * fixed number of rounds per decision = fixed time per decision), and
performing dry-burning detection according to a normalized energy generated by heating the heater (if normalized energy is lower than the threshold, then the device detects that no substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been dry-burning) within the preset time (fixed time per decision), the dry-burning being a state when a cigarette (fig. 1 and [55], #2 can be a cigarette) is not inserted into the aerosol generation apparatus (100) and the heater (20) is generating heat (the heater heats during the fixed time),
wherein the preset time (fixed time per decision) comprises a duration of a heating phase ([69], phase during which heater reaches a target temperature), and is greater than or equal to the duration of the heating phase (phase during which heater reaches a target temperature), and the heating phase (phase during which heater reaches a target temperature) is a phase in which temperature of the heater is controlled to rise from an initial temperature to a preset target temperature (target temperature).
Talon does not explicitly teach that the normalized energy is a total energy.
Talon teaches dry-burning detection according to equivalent alternatives of normalized energy and total energy [9-10].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to perform dry-burning detection according to the total energy, which Talon already measures in order to determine normalized energy, because doing so would be a simple substitution of measured energies within the scope of Talon and would predictably characterize the amount of generated energy to detect dry-burning.
Claim 2: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the preset time (fig. 4 and [72], fixed time per decision) is less than or equal to a preheating time ([69], time during which the heater reaches a target temperature + phase during which the target temperature is maintained) of the heater.
“Preheating time” is interpreted to include the meaning of “time during which a heater reaches a target temperature + phase during which the target temperature is maintained”, consistent with applicant fig. 3 and [applicant 44] disclosing that a preheating time is a time during which a heater reaches a target temperature (t0 to t1) + a time during which the target temperature is maintained (t1 to t2).
Claim 3: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the preset time (fig. 4 and [72], fixed time per decision) is capable of being divided into one or more heating time periods (rounds) according to heating power of the heater (each round corresponds to energy generated by the heater).
Claim 4: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the determining total energy generated by heating the heater within a preset time (fig. 4 and [72]) comprises: determining energy generated by heating the heater (energy per round) in each heating time period (round) according to the heating power of the heater ([44-45], energy can be measured by average power per round or rounds) corresponding to each heating time period ([72], round) within the preset time (fixed time per decision); and obtaining the total energy generated by heating the heater (energy supplied since the device was switched on) within the preset time (fixed time per decision) according to the energy generated by heating of the heater within each heating time period (energy supplied per round).
Claim 5: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the performing dry-burning detection (fig. 4 and [72]) comprises: comparing the energy generated by heating the heater (energy supplied since the device was switched on) within the preset time (fixed time per decision) with a preset energy threshold (threshold), and if the energy generated by heating of the heater within the preset time (fixed time per decision) is less than the preset energy threshold (threshold), determining that dry-burning occurs (if normalized energy is lower than the threshold, then the device detects that no substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been dry-burning); and otherwise (if normalized energy is higher than the threshold, then the device detects that a substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been substrate-burning), determining that no dry-burning occurs.
Claim 6: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined that dry-burning occurs (fig. 4 and [72], if normalized energy is less than the threshold, then the device detects that no substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been dry-burning), the heater is controlled to stop heating (the controller prevents supply of power to the heater).
Claim 7: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the preheating time ([69], time during which the heater reaches a target temperature + phase during which the target temperature is maintained) of the heater is a sum of duration of a heating phase (time during which the heater reaches a target temperature) and duration of a heat preservation phase (phase during which the target temperature is maintained), wherein the temperature preservation phase (phase during which the target temperature is maintained) is a phase in which the temperature of the heater is controlled to be maintained at the preset target temperature (target temperature).
Claim 12: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the preheating time (fig. 3 and [69], time during which the heater reaches a target temperature + phase during which the target temperature is maintained) of the heater is exemplified at around 16s (endpoint of #60).
Claim 13: modified Talon teaches an aerosol generation apparatus (fig. 1 and [55-56], #100), wherein the aerosol generation apparatus comprises a heater (20) and a controller (30), the heater (20) is configured to heat an aerosol generation substrate (2) to generate an aerosol, and the controller (30) is configured to execute the control method for an aerosol generation apparatus (100) according to claim 1.
Claims 14, 16, and 18: modified Talon teaches the method according to claims 2, 3, and 4, wherein the performing dry-burning detection (fig. 4 and [72]) comprises: comparing the energy generated by heating the heater (energy supplied since the device was switched on) within the preset time (fixed time per decision) with a preset energy threshold (threshold), and if the energy generated by heating of the heater within the preset time (fixed time per decision) is less than the preset energy threshold (threshold), determining that dry-burning occurs (if normalized energy is lower than the threshold, then the device detects that no substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been dry-burning); and otherwise (if normalized energy is higher than the threshold, then the device detects that a substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been substrate-burning), determining that no dry-burning occurs.
Claims 15, 17, and 19: modified Talon teaches the method according to claims 14, 16, and 18, wherein when it is determined that dry-burning occurs (fig. 4 and [72], if normalized energy is less than the threshold, then the device detects that no substrate is present, i.e., that the heater has been dry-burning), the heater is controlled to stop heating (the controller prevents supply of power to the heater).
Claims 8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talon (US 20140345606 A1 cited on an IDS) as applied to claim 7 in view of Blandino (US 20220183377 A1).
Claim 8: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 7, further comprising: in the heating phase ([69], time during which the heater reaches a target temperature), controlling the heater to perform heating with a first heating power ([70], high power); and in the heat preservation phase (phase during which the target temperature is maintained), controlling the heater to perform heating with a second heating power (decreased power), and adjusting the second heating power (decreased power) according to the preset target temperature (target temperature), wherein the second heating power (decreased power) is less than the first heating power (high power).
Modified Talon does not explicitly teach that the adjusting is linear.
Blandino teaches a control method for an aerosol generation apparatus (title) comprising linearly adjusting a power ([235], adjusting by predetermined steps) according to a preset target power (target power), such that a target temperature can be maintained in an efficient manner [246].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use, as Talon’s generic adjusting of a first power, Blandino’s specific linear adjusting of a power, because doing so would maintain a target temperature in an efficient manner.
Claims 10-11: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 8, wherein the linearly adjusting the second heating power according to the preset target temperature [69-70] comprises: determining a real-time resistance of the heater ([64], the device measures heater resistance), and determining a real-time temperature of the heater according to the real-time resistance of the heater ([67], the device converts heater resistance to heater temperature); when the real-time temperature of the heater is less than the preset target temperature, increasing the second heating power [67]; and when the real-time temperature of the heater is greater than the preset target temperature, decreasing the second heating power [67].
Modified Talon does not explicitly teach that the second heating power is increased by a first preset step value or decreased by a second preset step value, wherein the first preset step value and the second preset step value are the same.
Blandino teaches a control method for an aerosol generation apparatus (title) comprising increasing or decreasing a power of a heater by a preset value [235], such that the heater can be maintained at a target temperature in an efficient manner [246].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use, as Talon’s generic adjusting of a second power, Blandino’s specific stepwise adjusting of a power, because doing so would maintain a target temperature in an efficient manner.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talon (US 20140345606 A1 cited on an IDS) in view of Blandino (US 20220183377 A1) as applied to claim 8 in further view of Nakano (US 20190133198 A1).
Claim 9: modified Talon teaches the method according to claim 8, wherein the controlling the heater to perform heating with the first heating power [69-70] comprises: determining a real-time resistance of the heater ([64], the controller measures resistance); determining a real-time temperature supplied to the heater according to the real-time resistance of the heater and the first heating power ([67], the control converts resistance into temperature); and adjusting an energy supplied to the heater (energy is adjusted).
Modified Talon does not explicitly teach determining a real-time voltage according to the real-time resistance and the first heating power, and adjusting a voltage supplied to the heater to the real-time voltage.
Nakano teaches a control method for an aerosol generation apparatus (title) comprising determining a voltage according to a resistance and a power ([118-119], ET = D(V2/R)T, so V = (ETR/DT)0.5 = (PR/D)0.5, wherein D is a correction term), and adjusting a voltage supplied to a heater to the determined voltage [120], such that heating generates equalized amounts of aerosol [119] and flavor [129] for a user.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as Talon’s generic adjusting of a first power, Nakano’s specific calculating and adjusting of a first voltage, because doing so would enable heating to generate equalized amounts of aerosol and flavor for a user.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments of 2025 August 25 have been carefully considered. Upon further search and consideration necessitated by applicant’s amendments, a new ground of rejection is made for claim 1 over Talon.
Applicant’s arguments against Farine (p. 8-12) are rendered moot by the new ground of rejection which does not rely on Farine.
Conclusion
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/TOBEY C LE/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
/Michael H. Wilson/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1747