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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “a main control module” at line 5. The main control module is not invoked with 35 USC 112 f because it does not modify by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function of 3-prong analysis. Thus, it is unclear what structure constitutes a main control module.
Claim 1 recites “a power supply module” at line 6. The power supply module is not invoked with 35 USC 112 f because it does not modify by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function of 3-prong analysis. Thus, it is unclear what structure constitutes a power supply module.
Claim 1 recites “a wireless communication module” at line 6. The wireless communication module is not invoked with 35 USC 112 f because it does not modify by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function of 3-prong analysis. Thus, it is unclear what structure constitutes a wireless communication module.
Claim 3 recites “a power supply module I and a power supply module II” at line 2. A power supply module I and a power supply module II are not invoked with 35 USC 112 f because it does not modify by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function of 3-prong analysis. Thus, it is unclear what structure constitutes a power supply module I and a power supply module II.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gafford (US 2018/0125296 A1) in view of Chin et al. (US 2016/0037966) and Hermansson (US 6,012,380).
Regarding claim 1, Gafford discloses “a cooking apparatus with temperature control” (abstract, fig.1 and [0023], i.e., control valves 126a, 126b, and 126c included in the individual fuel inlets 124a, 124b, and 124c for opening and controlling the rate of fuel flow and for shutting off the flow of fuel to the burner elements 112a, 112b, and 112c; and hand knobs or dials 128a, 128b, and 128c which allow the user to manually operate the control valves 126a, 126b, and 126c when desired. The hand knobs 128a, 128b, and 128c are preferably located on the front control panel 114 of the inventive cooker 100), comprising “a cooking main body” (fig.1, 100 pointed at the cooking main body), the cooking main body comprising “a heat supply chamber” ([0021], i.e., tube burner element 112a, 112b, or 112c which extends from front to back through a lower or mid portion of the interior 105 of the cooker housing 104. Examiner noted that the cooker housing 104 is the heat supply chamber), wherein “the cooking main body is provided with an object placing table” (please see annotated fig.1 below), “the object placing table comprises an accommodation chamber and a mounting hole communicated with the accommodation chamber” (annotated fig.1 shows the object placing table comprises an accommodation chamber in order to accommodate a knob-like device and a mounting hole to allow knob-like device to be inserted therein), “a temperature controller” (annotated fig.1 shows the knob-like device) is mounted in “the mounting hole” (annotated fig.1).
Gafford is silent regarding the temperature controller comprises a main control module, a temperature acquisition module, a power supply module, a liquid crystal display screen, a wireless communication module, a control button, a temperature sensing probe I and a temperature sensing probe II, and wherein the temperature sensing probe I is mounted on an inner wall of the heat supply chamber, the control button and the liquid crystal display screen are both positioned on one side surface of the temperature controller exposed outside, the temperature acquisition module comprises a connector I abutting the temperature sensing probe I and a connector II abutting the temperature sensing probe II, and the temperature acquisition module, the power supply module, the control button, the liquid crystal display screen and the wireless communication module are each connected to and controlled by the main control module.
Chin et al. teaches “the temperature controller” (fig.1H) comprises “a main control module” (fig.1H, 150), “a temperature acquisition module” (refers to a connector line for connecting the temperature probe 102. See fig.1H, shows a line between 102 and 150), “a power supply module” ([0133], i.e., a burner module 156 configured to control one or more burners of the grill based on the recipe), “a liquid crystal display screen” (fig.1 H, LED 130), “a wireless communication module” ([0132], i.e., The communications module 116 can comprise a wireless network adapter, a WiFi adapter, Bluetooth adapter, or a cellular radio adapter, for example.), “a control button” ([0127], i.e., the grill 100 can comprise a valve 122 (such as valve 106 illustrated in FIG. 1E), Examiner interpret the valve 122 as control button), “a temperature sensing probe I” (102) and “a temperature sensing probe II” (104) , and wherein “the temperature sensing probe I” (fig.1C, 102) is mounted on “an inner wall of the heat supply chamber” (fig.1C shows the probe I on the an inner wall of heat supply chamber), “the control button” (a valve 122 (such as valve 106 illustrated in FIG. 1E.) and “the liquid crystal display screen” (LED 130) , “the temperature acquisition module comprises a connector I” ((refers to a connector line for connecting the temperature probe 102.) abutting “the temperature sensing probe I” (102. Fig.1H shows the electrical line connected to 102) and “a connector II abutting the temperature sensing probe II” (fig.1H, refers to another electrical line abutting the temperature sensing probe II 104), and “the temperature acquisition module” (fig.1H, refers to electrical lines connected to 102 and 104), “the power supply module” ([0133], i.e., a burner module 156 configured to control one or more burners of the grill based on the recipe), “the control button” ([0127], i.e., the grill 100 can comprise a valve 122 (such as valve 106 illustrated in FIG. 1E), “the liquid crystal display screen” (LED 130) and “the wireless communication module” (116) are each connected to and controlled by “the main control module” (150). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Gafford with Chin et al., by adding Chin et al.’s controller modules to Gafford’s controller unit, to control multiple features based on the recipe (para.0133) as taught by Chin et al.
Hermansson teaches “the control button” (44) and “the liquid crystal display screen” (42) “are both positioned on one side surface of the temperature controller exposed outside” (40). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to further modify Gafford with Hermansson, by modifying the location of modified Gafford the display screen and control button according to Hermansson’s display screen and control button, to allow user to view the screen while operate the control button in one interface for easy operation (fig.1) as taught by Hermansson.
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Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gafford (US 2018/0125296) in view of Chin et al. (US 2016/0037966) and Hermansson (US 6,012,380) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Tiszai et al. (US 2008/0121115).
Regarding claim 2, modified Gafford discloses all the features of claim limitations as set forth above except for the temperature controller further comprises a temperature sensing probe III, and the temperature acquisition module further comprises a connector III abutting the temperature sensing probe III.
Tiszai et al. teaches “the temperature controller further comprises a temperature sensing probe III, and the temperature acquisition module further comprises a connector III abutting the temperature sensing probe III” ([0024] Control mechanism C may be coupled to pump 130 and temperatures sensors 162, 164, 174 (coupling not shown). Control mechanism C may comprises a microprocessor having a physical memory that acts a comparator to compare temperature data detected at the first and second sensing level. Examiner noted that 174 can be the third temperature sensor having connector III (coupling now shown)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to further modify Gafford with Hermansson, by adding Tiszai et al.’s temperature sensing probe III to Gafford’s cooking system, to provide more temperature measurement at different location (fig.2) as taught by Tiszai et al.
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gafford (US 2018/0125296) in view of Chin et al. (US 2016/0037966), Hermansson (US 6,012,380) and Tiszai et al. (US 2008/0121115) as applied in claim 2 above, and further in view of Barkhouse et al. (US 2009/0183729).
Regarding claim 3, modified Gafford discloses all the features of claim limitations as set forth above except for the power supply module comprises a power supply module I and a power supply module II, the power supply module I and the power supply module II are each electrically connected to the main control module, a battery is electrically connected to the power supply module I, and a mobile power supply is electrically connected to the power supply module II through a power supply connector.
Barkhouse et al. teaches “the power supply module comprises a power supply module I and a power supply module II” ([0123] Temperature control apparatus 32 may receive power from a power supply 48. Power supply 48 preferably provides 12 volts AC. Temperature control apparatus 32 may also be configured to run on some other suitable voltage, including DC current, provided that suitable circuitry is included with temperature control apparatus 32 to accept such power. Using DC power may permit a battery or other portable form of power to be used. Typically, a 120 volt AC power supply is used and is then converted by a transformer to 12 volt AC power. This suggest that the temperature control apparatus includes power supply module connector (a power supply module I) for connecting a battery and another connector (a power supply module II) for receiving 12 volt AC power), “the power supply module I and the power supply module II are each electrically connected to the main control module” (as stated above, the connectors are supply module I and supply module II), “a battery is electrically connected to the power supply module I, and a mobile power supply is electrically connected to the power supply module II through a power supply connector” (Barkhouse et al., [0123] Using DC power may permit a battery or other portable form of power to be used. Typically, a 120 volt AC power supply is used and is then converted by a transformer to 12 volt AC power). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Gafford with Barkhouse et al., by adding Barkhouse et al.’s power supplies to power Gafford’s temperature control apparatus, to allow user to control temperature via user interface (para. 0122-0123) as taught by Barkhouse et al.
Regarding claim 4, modified Gafford discloses “a mobile hand-held terminal (Gafford, fig.3, 101), wherein “the wireless communication module comprises a Bluetooth module” (Gafford, [0025] Examples of preferred hand-held devices 101 include, but are not limited to, smart phones or tablets which are app enabled for communicating with the control unit 125 located in or on the outdoor cooking and/or smoking unit 102 through Bluetooth, Bluetooth Login Energy, Wi Fi or some similar wireless RE protocol), and “the mobile hand-held terminal is interconnected with the Bluetooth module to acquire temperature sensing information” (Gafford, the mobile device 101 must have a Bluetooth communication module in order to interconnected with Bluetooth of the controller 125).
Regarding claim 5, modified Gafford discloses “a buzzer, wherein the buzzer is connected to and controlled by the main control module” (Chin et al., the buzzer 118 controlled by the main control module 150).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gafford (US 2018/0125296) in view of Chin et al. (US 2016/0037966) and Hermansson (US 6,012,380) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Perl (US 3,215,816).
Regarding claim 6, modified Gafford discloses all the features of claim limitations as set forth above except for a protective sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the heat supply chamber, and the temperature sensing probe I is positioned inside the protective sleeve.
Perl teaches “a protective sleeve” (38) is fixed to “the inner wall of the heat supply chamber” (fig.7, shows the sleeve at the inner wall of the heat supply chamber), and “the temperature sensing probe I” (36) is positioned inside “the protective sleeve” (38). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Gafford with Perl, by adding Perl’s protective sleeve or holder to support Gafford’s temperature sensor, to provide sturdy support for sensor at the specific location in the chamber.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/JIMMY CHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761