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 amendment filed 08/01/2025 has been entered. Claims 1 and 4-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome each and every objection and 112(b) rejection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 05/02/2025, except where otherwise stated.
Claim Objections
Claims 5 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 is now listed as being dependent upon claim 1, but was previously dependent upon claim 3. This change has not been marked on the Applicant’s amended claims filed 07/29/2025.
In claim 5, line 2, the term “collecting device device
Regarding claim 19, “the fluid circuit or container is configured to independent provide the conductive fluid” should read “the fluid circuit or container is configured to independently provide the conductive fluid”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/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.
Regarding claim 9, it is unclear if “an electrically insulated storage container” is the same or different from “the storage container” in claim 1. For the purposes of further examination, the Examiner has understood that “an electrically insulated storage container” may be, but is not required to be the same as “the storage container” in the claim 1.
Regarding claim 17, the meaning of “the second electrode defines an open cross-section configured to contain the workpiece and the conductive liquid” is unclear. It is unclear how the second electrode contains the workpiece when claim 1 requires that the second electrode is positioned only at one of the electrode. Does the cross-section refer to a cross-section of the workpiece, the electrode, or something else? Therefore, claim 17 is rejected as indefinite.
Claim 18 is rejected as indefinite as a result of depending upon indefinite claim 17.
Regarding claim 18, it is unclear how the open cross-section containing “at least two workpieces and the conductive liquid” is done in a manner that “the conductive liquid fills the distance to the first electrode” since claim 1 requires that the first and second electrodes are at opposite ends of the workpiece. How does the cross-section defined by the second electrode affect the presence of the liquid in the distance to the first electrode? Therefore, claim 18 is rejected as indefinite.
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, 4-5, 8, 10, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Heim (DE 102018119015 A1), Van Schaik (US 20170042360 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment of foods).
Regarding claim 1, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages, wherein container C contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G, where a sausage is arranged along its longitudinal axis with electrode C’ at one end and electrode G at the opposite end as shown in Figure 5.
Salinski is silent on the first electrode being arranged at a distance from a first end of the at least one workpiece. Salinski is further silent on the conductive liquid being arranged to bridge the distance. In addition, Salinski is silent on the device comprising a storage container and a feed line, the feed line being arranged to feed the conductive liquid continuously or intermittently from the storage container into the distance. Also, Salinski is silent on the conductive liquid having a conductivity which deviates from the conductivity of the workpiece by at maximum 75%.
Has teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0020) a PEF cooking appliance which has a container for food to be cooked with a pair of opposing PEF electrodes, wherein a partition is used to distance the associated outer PEF electrode from the food to be cooked. Has further teaches (Paragraph0045, 0071) food to be cooked G is immersed in water W (conductive liquid), and current is introduced into the water W via PEF electrodes and conducted through the food to be cooked G, wherein the partition may be a strainer that allows a particularly high exchange of water between the useful subvolumes of the container for food to be cooked (i.e., the conductive liquid bridges the distance between the electrode and the food). Also, Has teaches (Paragraph 0031) a development is possible in which only one strainer is present in the container for food to be cooked.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to arrange an electrode at a distance from the workpiece and to arrange a conductive liquid to bridge the distance as taught by Has since both are directed to devices for treating food products by passing a current between electrodes in a container with a conductive liquid, since arranging an electrode at a distance from the workpiece and arranging a conductive liquid to bridge the distance is known in the art as shown by Has, since the creation of a distance between the electrode and the food by use of a partition can advantageously improve the local energy density in the water, e.g. by reducing voltage distortions (Has, Paragraph 0015), since strainers can be used in particular to delimit the useful volume that can be occupied by the food to be cooked in the container for food to be cooked, and, thereby, increase a density of the food to be cooked, increase a height of the spatial region that is occupied by the food to be cooked and/or limit the spatial position of the food to be cooked to specific positions (Has, Paragraph 0025), since the use of only one strainer (and, therefore, one distance) advantageously allows a particularly economical embodiment (Has, Paragraph 0031), and since using a distance between the food and the electrode bridged by a conductive liquid can allow current to be transferred to the food while preventing corrosion of the electrodes or contamination of the food.
Furthermore, while Has does not explicitly teach the distance being arranged at the first electrode specifically, such an arrangement would have been obvious to try since (using/doing) a distance between a food item and a single electrode to be economical is known in the art as shown by Has, since arranging a distance between one end of the food and one electrode has a finite number of identified, predictable potential solutions (a distance from the first electrode or a distance from the second electrode), and since one of ordinary skill in the art could have pursued these known potential solutions with a reasonable expectation of success (See MPEP 2143 E).
Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (storage container) can be supplied to a cooking container 18 via the supply line 26 (feed line), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to provide a storage container and feed line for feeding conductive liquid from the storage container as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since providing a storage container and feed line for feeding conductive liquid from the storage container is known in the art as shown by Heim, since a storage container holding the conductive liquid would ensure that conductive liquid would be available for use and not have to be transferred from a distant location, since a feed line would allow the conductive liquid to be delivered at the desired location without the need for manual transfer, providing convenience and avoiding potential spills, and since the liquid can be pumped via a pump controlled by a control unit (Heim, Paragraph 0032) automating the process and providing user convenience.
Additionally, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the feed line is arranged to feed the conductive liquid into the distance, in the instance where the food product is immersed in the conductive liquid in the container, such as in the cases disclosed by Salinski and Heim, adding conductive liquid to the container holding the food product will result in the conductive liquid occupying the distance between the food product and the electrode. Furthermore, adding the conductive liquid to the distance would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the current can be transferred from the electrode to the food product so that the food product will be cooked.
Van Schaik teaches (Paragraph 0002, 0008, 0105) an apparatus for cooking at least one egg comprising a holder with at least one cavity and means to insert a liquid into the holder for filling the cavity with the liquid to at least partly surround the eggshell of the egg located in the cavity, wherein liquid can be added in small pulses (intermittently) by activating a first pump during a predetermined time, wherein the liquid may be water containing NaCl (conductive liquid).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to add a conductive liquid intermittently as taught by Van Schaik since both are directed to devices for cooking food products immersed in conductive liquid, since intermittently adding a conductive liquid to a container holding a food product for cooking is known in the art as shown by Van Schaik, since additional liquid can ensure that food product remains surrounded by liquid even if some liquid evaporates during heating (Van Schaik, Paragraph 0105), since new liquid could adjust the conductivity of the liquid in the container to ensure the desired conduction to the food item, and since adding water intermittently will ensure a steady supply of conducting liquid so that the current is consistently transferred from the electrode to the food product.
Becke teaches (Paragraph 0008) a PEF cooking appliance, having a PEF generator and at least one carrier for receiving at least one storage container for food, wherein the carrier has at least two electrodes. Becke further teaches (Paragraph 0003) with non-liquid or lumpy foods, the intermediate spaces between them are filled with water. So much salt is added to the water in this process that the electrical conductivity of the water at least approximately corresponds to the electrical conductivity of the food.
SKLM teaches (Page 6) in the case of ohmic heating, different electrical conductivities of individual product fractions will lead to inhomogeneities with hot spots and cold spots, wherein, when complex particulate food is subjected to ohmic heating, a cold spot may appear in the liquid phase, while the particles heat up significantly faster, but, if the liquid phase is the fraction with the highest electrical conductivity, this results in faster heating with subsequent heat dissipation towards the particulate fraction. SKLM further teaches (Page 7) the effectiveness of ohmic heating as a thermal process for inactivating microorganisms depends on the temperature reached at each point of the food and the corresponding holding time, and, as a result, cold spots (caused by the conductivity of the product fractions) pose a risk for the microbiological safety of the product. Also, SKLM teaches (Pages 18, 20) inhomogeneities in conductivity in particular are another cause of non-uniform temperature distribution, and inhomogeneities in temperature distribution were identified as a critical point with respect to the safety and quality of food.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to use or modify a conductive liquid to have the same conductivity as the workpiece in view of Becke and SKLM since each of Salinski, Becke, and SKLM relates to ohmic heating of food products, since both Salinski and Becke disclose heating food items by passing a current between electrodes, where a conductive liquid is used, since using a conductive liquid with an electrical conductivity that at least approximately corresponds to the electrical conductivity of the food (workpiece) is known in the art as shown by Becke, since inconsistencies in conductivity between the liquid and solid can result in inhomogeneities with hot spots and cold spots that pose a risk for the microbiological safety of the product (SKLM, Pages 6-7), since inhomogeneities in conductivity in particular are another cause of non-uniform temperature distribution, and inhomogeneities in temperature distribution were identified as a critical point with respect to the safety and quality of food (SKLM, pages 18, 20), and since a liquid with a different conductivity than the food can alter the heating rate of the food to be slower than desired.
Furthermore, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the conductive liquid has a conductivity which deviates from the conductivity of the workpiece by at maximum 75% the claimed range of conductivity for the conductive liquid would have been used during the course of normal experimentation and optimization procedures in the method of Salinski, as modified above, based upon factors such as the desired heating rate (where the conductivity of the liquid will affect the rate of heating), the type and ingredients of the food item/workpiece (where different foods and ingredients have different conductivities that will be closer to or farther from the liquid conductivity), the desired type of liquid, the necessary amount of microbe elimination, the size and shape of workpiece, etc. Furthermore, the Applicant does not appear to have identified any unique or unexpected benefit from the claimed conductivity deviation of at maximum 75% that would render it non-obvious.
Regarding claim 4, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages, wherein container C (storage container) contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G, where a sausage is arranged along its longitudinal axis with electrode C’ at one end and electrode G at the opposite end as shown in Figure 5.
Regarding claim 5, as shown above, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages, wherein container C contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G, where a sausage is arranged along its longitudinal axis with electrode C’ at one end and electrode G at the opposite end as shown in Figure 5 (where container C may be understood to be a collecting device which receives water, the conductive liquid).
Salinski is silent on the collecting device covering the distance. Salinski is further silent on the collection device being connected to the storage container by a return conduit.
As shown above, Has teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0020) a PEF cooking appliance which has a container (collecting device) for food to be cooked with a pair of opposing PEF electrodes, wherein a partition is used to distance the associated outer PEF electrode from the food to be cooked. Has further teaches (Paragraph0045, 0071) food to be cooked G is immersed in water W (conductive liquid), and current is introduced into the water W via PEF electrodes and conducted through the food to be cooked G, wherein the partition may be a strainer that allows a particularly high exchange of water between the useful subvolumes of the container for food to be cooked (i.e., the collecting device covers the distance and receives conductive liquid). Also, Has teaches (Paragraph 0031) a development is possible in which only one strainer is present in the container for food to be cooked.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to configure the collecting device to cover the distance as taught by Has since both are directed to devices for treating food products by passing a current between electrodes in a collecting device with a conductive liquid, since configure the collecting the device to encompass/cover a distance between the electrode and the workpiece is known in the art as shown by Has, since the creation of a distance between the electrode and the food by use of a partition can advantageously improve the local energy density in the water, e.g. by reducing voltage distortions (Has, Paragraph 0015), since using a distance between the food and the electrode bridged by a conductive liquid can allow current to be transferred to the food while preventing corrosion of the electrodes or contamination of the food, since using a collecting device to cover the distance ensures that the conductive liquid does not spill or flow away from the workpiece, ensuring successful electrical conduction from the electrode and preventing loss of conductive liquid.
As shown above, Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (storage container) can be supplied to a cooking container 18 (collecting device) via the supply line 26 (feed line), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid). Heim further teaches (Paragraph 0029) liquid 22 from the cooking container 18 (collecting device) can be supplied to the tank 24 (storage container) via the discharge line 28 (return conduit).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to connect the collecting device to the storage container by a return conduit as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since connecting the collecting device to the storage container by a return conduit is known in the art as shown by Heim, since the conductivity of the liquid in the cooking container (collecting device) can be changed quickly and effectively by transferring conductive liquid to the storage container via the return line (Heim, Paragraph 0049), since the amount of liquid in the cooking container can be adjusted via the return conduit, in particular to prevent the cooking container 18 from overflowing (Heim, Paragraph 0049), and since the liquid can be pumped via a pump controlled by a control unit (Heim, Paragraph 0032) automating the process and providing user convenience.
Regarding claim 8, Salinski is silent on the device comprising a porous material filled with the conductive liquid in the distance.
Has teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0020) a PEF cooking appliance which has a container for food to be cooked with a pair of opposing PEF electrodes, wherein a partition is used to distance the associated outer PEF electrode from the food to be cooked. Has further teaches (Paragraph0045, 0071) food to be cooked G is immersed in water W (conductive liquid), and current is introduced into the water W via PEF electrodes and conducted through the food to be cooked G, wherein the partition may be a strainer that allows a particularly high exchange of water between the useful subvolumes of the container for food to be cooked (i.e., the conductive liquid bridges the distance between the electrode and the food). Also, Has teaches (Paragraph 0025) a strainer can be understood to mean in particular a partition which has a plurality of holes whose proportion of the area represents more than 50% of the area of the partition, in particular more than 70% (i.e. the strainer/partition is porous).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to provide a porous material filled with the conductive liquid in the distance as taught by Has since both are directed to devices for treating food products by passing a current between electrodes in a container with a conductive liquid, since providing a porous material filled with the conductive liquid in the distance is known in the art as shown by Has, since the creation of a distance between the electrode and the food by use of a partition can advantageously improve the local energy density in the water, e.g. by reducing voltage distortions (Has, Paragraph 0015), since strainers (porous material) can be used in particular to delimit the useful volume that can be occupied by the food to be cooked in the container for food to be cooked, and, thereby, increase a density of the food to be cooked, increase a height of the spatial region that is occupied by the food to be cooked and/or limit the spatial position of the food to be cooked to specific positions (Has, Paragraph 0025), and placing a porous material filled with conductive liquid between the food and the electrode can allow current to be transferred to the food while preventing corrosion of the electrodes or contamination of the food by the electrode.
Regarding claim 10, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages, wherein container C contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G, where a sausage is arranged along its longitudinal axis with electrode C’ at one end and electrode G at the opposite end as shown in Figure 5.
As shown above, Salinski, has been modified in view of Has to include a distance between the electrode and workpiece resulting for the inclusion of a porous partition in between the electrode and workpiece as described by Has, for the reasons stated above with regard to claim 1.
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the container C of Salinski which encloses both the sausage (workpiece) and the first electrode, would therefore, also enclose the distance, and, consequently, the container C of Salinski may be understood to be a sleeve enclosing the distance.
Regarding claim 19, Salinski is silent on a fluid circuit or container of the conductive fluid independent of the second electrode, wherein the fluid circuit or container is configured to independent provide the conductive fluid to the first electrode.
As shown above, Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029; Fig. 1 #18, 24, 26, 28) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (container) can be discharged to a cooking container 18 via the discharge line 28 and supplied to the cooking container 18 from the tank 24 by a supply line 26 (return conduit), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid). Also, Heim teaches cooking container 18 has one or more electrodes arranged in pairs opposite one another, where Figure 1, shows that tank 24 is located separately from container 18, and is, therefore, independent of the second electrode in container 18.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to provide a fluid circuit and container of the conductive fluid independent of the second electrode wherein the fluid circuit or container is configured to independently provide the conductive fluid to the container containing the electrodes as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since providing a fluid circuit and container of the conductive fluid independent of the second electrode wherein the fluid circuit or container is configured to independently provide the conductive fluid to the container containing the electrodes is known in the art as shown by Heim, since a storage container holding the conductive liquid would ensure that conductive liquid would be available for use and not have to be transferred from a distant location, since a fluid circuit would allow the conductive liquid to be reused without the need for supplying additional liquid, providing convenience and avoiding potential spills, since the liquid can be pumped via a pump controlled by a control unit (Heim, Paragraph 0032) automating the process and providing user convenience, and since a storage container with a return line can hold conductive liquid removed from the electrode container (independent), allowing the electrodes to be cleaned or food removed without wasting or contaminating the conductive liquid.
Additionally, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the fluid circuit and container are arranged to provide the conductive fluid to the first electrode specifically, in the instance where the food product and electrodes are immersed in the conductive liquid in the container, such as in the cases disclosed by Salinski and Heim, adding conductive liquid to the container holding the food product will result in the conductive liquid contacting the first electrode. Furthermore, adding the conductive liquid to the first electrode would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the current can be transferred from the first electrode to the food product across the distance so that the food product will be cooked as desired, with no delays or errors in cooking from lack of conductive liquid between the first electrode and the food.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Heim (DE 102018119015 A1), Van Schaik (US 20170042360 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment of foods), and further in view of Abney (US 20110168032 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages (electrodes are arranged along a surface of the workpiece), wherein container C contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G.
Salinski is silent on the second electrode being above a storage container. Salinski is further silent on the device comprising a return conduit for liquid from the storage container to the first electrode.
Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029; Fig. 1 #18, 24, 26, 28) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (storage container) can be discharged to a cooking container 18 via the discharge line 28 and supplied to the cooking container 18 from the tank 24 by a supply line 26 (return conduit), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to provide a storage container and return line for supplying conductive liquid from the storage container to the electrode containing container as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since providing a storage container and return line for supplying conductive liquid from the storage container to the electrode containing container is known in the art as shown by Heim, since a storage container holding the conductive liquid would ensure that conductive liquid would be available for use and not have to be transferred from a distant location, since a return line would allow the conductive liquid to be reused without the need for supplying additional liquid, providing convenience and avoiding potential spills, since the liquid can be pumped via a pump controlled by a control unit (Heim, Paragraph 0032) automating the process and providing user convenience, and since a storage container with a return line can hold conductive liquid removed from the electrode container, allowing the electrodes to be cleaned or food removed without wasting or contaminating the conductive liquid.
Additionally, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the return conduit is arranged to return the conductive liquid to the first electrode, in the instance where the food product and electrodes are immersed in the conductive liquid in the container, such as in the cases disclosed by Salinski and Heim, adding conductive liquid to the container holding the food product will result in the conductive liquid contacting the first electrode. Furthermore, adding the conductive liquid to the first electrode would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the current can be transferred from the first electrode to the food product across the distance so that the food product will be cooked as desired, with no delays or errors in cooking from lack of conductive liquid between the first electrode and the food.
Abney teaches (Paragraph 0010) a system for delivering and filtering a cooking medium of a cooking apparatus comprising at least one cooking vessel, a drain manifold configured to be in fluid communication with the at least one cooking vessel, a drain container (storage container) configured to store used cooking medium, and configured to selectively be in fluid communication with the drain manifold via a first flow path. Abney further teaches (Paragraph 0023, Fig. 1 # 16, 24, 27, 28, 30) an exemplary embodiment, wherein a frypot 16 (cooking container) is positioned above a drain pan 30 (storage container) as shown in Figure 1, wherein a drain line 24 allows cooking medium to drain from frypot 16 to drain pan 30, and wherein a filter pump 27 may be positioned on filter pipe 28 (return conduit), for drawing cooking medium into frypot 16 from pan 30. Also, Abney teaches (Paragraph 0024) examples of the cooking medium include oil and liquid shortening (liquids).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to position the storage container below the cooking container (and therefore below the second electrode) in view of Abney since both are directed to devices for cooking food items in a liquid, since placing a storage container with a return line below a cooking container is known in the art as shown by Abney, since placing the storage container below the cooking container (and, therefore, below the second electrode) can allow the cooking container to be drained by gravity without the need for a pump, reducing costs, and since placing the storage container below the cooking container can reduce the horizontal space occupied by the device for efficient spatial arrangement.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Heim (DE 102018119015 A1), Van Schaik (US 20170042360 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment of foods), and further in view of Gao (US 20160353926 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages, wherein container C contains first electrode C’ and second electrode G, where a sausage is arranged vertically along its longitudinal axis with electrode C’ at one end and electrode G at the opposite end as shown in Figure 5.
Salinski is silent on a holding device configured to place a workpiece between the electrodes with vertical alignment of the longitudinal axis of the workpiece.
Gao teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0008-0009) a food holder for an apparatus for preparing food, wherein horizontal and vertical support elements are movable in relation to each other and form a compartment that allows food items to be arranged in an upright or standing position, wherein longitudinally shaped food pieces can be arranged in a vertical, standing manner.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to include a holding device configured to place a workpiece between the electrodes with vertical alignment of the longitudinal axis of the workpiece in view of Gao since both are directed to devices for cooking food products arranged with vertical alignment of the longitudinal axis, since a holder to arrange food being cooked with vertical alignment of the longitudinal axis is known in the art as shown by Gao, since a holder can prevent the food from falling or shifting during cooking and losing contact with the electrodes, since the holder allows adjusting to the particular size and shape of the food item(s) to be prepared (Gao, Paragraph 0009), and since a vertically arranged food takes up minimal horizontal space, allowing the device to be sized for efficient use of space.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Heim (DE 102018119015 A1), Van Schaik (US 20170042360 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment of foods), and further in view of Geren (GB 2122870 B) and New Zealand Inventions Development Authority (GB 1484239 A).
Regarding claim 9, Salinski, as modified above, is silent on the device comprising an electrically insulated storage container connected to the first electrode by an electrically non-conductive conduit arranged to convey the conductive liquid into the distance.
Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (storage container) can be supplied to a cooking container 18 via the supply line 26 (conduit), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to provide a storage container connected to the cooking container housing the electrodes via a feed line (conduit) for feeding conductive liquid from the storage container as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since providing a storage container and conduit for feeding conductive liquid from the storage container to the cooking container housing the electrodes is known in the art as shown by Heim, since a storage container holding the conductive liquid would ensure that conductive liquid would be available for use and not have to be transferred from a distant location, since a conduit would allow the conductive liquid to be delivered at the desired location without the need for manual transfer, providing convenience and avoiding potential spills, and since the liquid can be pumped via a pump controlled by a control unit (Heim, Paragraph 0032) automating the process and providing user convenience.
Additionally, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the conduit is connected to the first electrode arranged to feed the conductive liquid into the distance, in the instance where the food product is immersed in the conductive liquid in the container, such as in the cases disclosed by Salinski and Heim, adding conductive liquid to the container holding the food product will result in the conductive liquid occupying the distance between the food product and the first electrode. Furthermore, connecting the conduit to the first electrode adding the conductive liquid to the distance would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the current can be transferred from the electrode to the food product so that the food product will be cooked as desired, with no delays or errors in cooking from lack of conductive liquid between the first electrode and the food.
Geren teaches (Page 2, lines 14-21; Page 12, line 19) an apparatus for killing organisms resident within a host, comprising an electrical1y non-conductive container for receiving the host and an electrically conductive liquid to surround the host, electrodes symmetrically disposed within said container to contact said liquid, and a pulsed electric current source, wherein substances that may be treated by the device include shellfish, fish, fruits, vegetables, fowl, and meats. (It is noted that Geren teaches a container for treating food items rather than a storage container for holding liquid to feed to the treatment container. However, storage containers for feeding liquid are known in the art from Heim, as shown above, and Geren demonstrates that electrically insulate containers capable of holding conductive liquid are known in the art).
New Zealand Inventions Development Authority teaches (Page 1, lines 37-50; Page 2, lines 19-40) an electrical stunning apparatus including two parallel spaced-apart electrodes, each electrode tip surface being provided with a supply of pressurized conductive liquid, wherein the electrodes are each supplied with liquid from one of the liquid lines 4 coupled to a remote reservoir 6, wherein the lines 4 can be comprised by non-conductive hoses.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to make the storage container electrically insulated the conduit non-conductive in view of Geren and New Zealand Inventions Development Authority, since each of Salinski, Geren, and New Zealand Inventions Development Authority is directed to a device for transferring current between electrodes, since electrically insulated containers for holding a conductive fluid are known in the art as shown by Geren, since electrically non-conductive conduits for conveying conductive liquid to electrodes are known in the art as shown by New Zealand Inventions Development Authority, since an electrically insulated storage container and an electrically non-conductive conduit would prevent current from being transferred away from the cooking container, and, therefore, prevent a waste of excess energy, and since an electrically insulated storage container and an electrically non-conductive conduit would prevent current from being transferred to a user, increasing the safety of operating the device.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment of foods), and further in view of Heim (DE 102018119015 A1) and Wilson (US 20100313921 A1).
Regarding claim 11, as shown above, Salinski teaches (Page 1, lines 9-12, 46-50, 60-63; Fig.5 #C, C’, G) apparatuses, for cooking (heating) sausages (workpieces/foodstuff), such as Frankfurters, in water (conductive liquid) by means of electrodes placed against the end of the sausages.
Salinski is silent on the device comprising a conductivity sensor mounted in a conduit arranged to deliver liquid to the first electrode, and a metering device controlled in dependence on the signal of the conductivity sensor for the addition of salt, brine or water to the liquid, the metering device being controlled to adjust the conductive liquid to a conductivity which deviates by at maximum 50% from a predetermined conductivity corresponding to the conductivity of the foodstuff.
As shown above, Heim teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0015, 0029) a cooking appliance for cooking a food item by ohmic heating in a liquid, wherein liquid 22 from the tank 24 (storage container) can be supplied to a cooking container 18 via the supply line 26 (conduit), wherein the liquid may be water (conductive liquid). Heim further teaches (Paragraph 0042, 0044) the cooking appliance 10 has conductivity sensors 36, which are each arranged at different locations in the liquid 22 in the cooking container 18 and in the liquid 22 in the tank 24, wherein a control unit 14 is connected to all sensors, dosing device 30, and the pumping device of the supply line. Additionally, Heim teaches (Paragraph 0045, 0046) the control unit 14 controls the conductivity of the liquid 22, wherein conductivity of the liquid 22 in the tank 24 can be adjusted by means of the dosing device 30 (metering device) which adds table salt to the liquid 22 in tank 24 and a by adding fresh water to the liquid 22 in tank 24.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to provide a conductivity sensor and a metering device controlled in dependence on the signal of the conductivity sensor for the addition of salt to adjust the conductivity of the liquid as taught by Heim since both are directed to devices for ohmic treatment of food items using conductive liquid, since providing a conductivity sensor and a metering device controlled in dependence on the signal of the conductivity sensor for the addition of salt to adjust the conductivity of the liquid is known in the art as shown by Heim, since adding salt via the dosing device 30 so that the electrical conductivity of the water in the cooking container 18 corresponds to the electrical conductivity of the food avoids uneven cooking (Heim, Paragraph 0071), since a using a metering device operated by a control unit and connected sensor is convenient for the user by removing the need to manually determine the conductivity or manually add salt, and since a conduit would allow the conductive liquid to be delivered at the desired location without the need for manual transfer, providing convenience and avoiding potential spills.
Additionally, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the conduit is arranged to supply the conductive liquid to the first electrode, in the instance where the food product and electrodes are immersed in the conductive liquid in the container, such as in the cases disclosed by Salinski and Heim, adding conductive liquid to the container holding the food product will result in the conductive liquid contacting the first electrode. Furthermore, adding the conductive liquid to the first electrode would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to ensure that the current can be transferred from the first electrode to the food product across the distance so that the food product will be cooked as desired, with no delays or errors in cooking from lack of conductive liquid between the first electrode and the food.
Also, while Salinski, as modified above is silent on the conductivity sensor being mounted in the conduit, conductivity sensors mounted in conduits are known in the art. For example, Wilson teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0036) systems for processing comestible products, examples of which are dairy products such as milk, cream, and ice cream mix and other liquid food products, wherein a conductivity sensor 82 has a probe in the recirculating pipeline 88 (conduit) to a tank 14.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski, as modified above, to mount the conductivity sensor in a conduit as taught by Wilson since both are directed to food processing devices, since mounting a conductivity sensor in a conduit of a food processing device is known in the art as shown by Wilson, since a conductivity sensor in the conduit would ensure that the liquid has the desired conductivity prior to delivery to the food, and a conductivity sensor in the conduit would allow for detection and prevention of the liquid conductivity being altered from the desired value by contaminants in the conduit.
Becke teaches (Paragraph 0008) a PEF cooking appliance, having a PEF generator and at least one carrier for receiving at least one storage container for food, wherein the carrier has at least two electrodes. Becke further teaches (Paragraph 0003) with non-liquid or lumpy foods, the intermediate spaces between them are filled with water. So much salt is added to the water in this process that the electrical conductivity of the water at least approximately corresponds to the electrical conductivity of the food.
SKLM teaches (Page 6) in the case of ohmic heating, different electrical conductivities of individual product fractions will lead to inhomogeneities with hot spots and cold spots, wherein, when complex particulate food is subjected to ohmic heating, a cold spot may appear in the liquid phase, while the particles heat up significantly faster, but, if the liquid phase is the fraction with the highest electrical conductivity, this results in faster heating with subsequent heat dissipation towards the particulate fraction. SKLM further teaches (Page 7) the effectiveness of ohmic heating as a thermal process for inactivating microorganisms depends on the temperature reached at each point of the food and the corresponding holding time, and, as a result, cold spots (caused by the conductivity of the product fractions) pose a risk for the microbiological safety of the product. Also, SKLM teaches (Pages 18, 20) inhomogeneities in conductivity in particular are another cause of non-uniform temperature distribution, and inhomogeneities in temperature distribution were identified as a critical point with respect to the safety and quality of food.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Salinski to use or modify a conductive liquid to have the same conductivity as the workpiece in view of Becke and SKLM since each of Salinski, Becke, and SKLM relates to ohmic heating of food products, since both Salinski and Becke disclose heating food items by passing a current between electrodes, where a conductive liquid is used, since using a conductive liquid with an electrical conductivity that at least approximately corresponds to the electrical conductivity of the food (workpiece) is known in the art as shown by Becke, since inconsistencies in conductivity between the liquid and solid can result in inhomogeneities with hot spots and cold spots that pose a risk for the microbiological safety of the product (SKLM, Pages 6-7), since inhomogeneities in conductivity in particular are another cause of non-uniform temperature distribution, and inhomogeneities in temperature distribution were identified as a critical point with respect to the safety and quality of food (SKLM, pages 18, 20), and since a liquid with a different conductivity than the food can alter the heating rate of the food to be slower than desired.
Furthermore, while Salinski, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the conductive liquid has a conductivity which deviates from the conductivity of the foodstuff by at maximum 50% the claimed range of conductivity for the conductive liquid would have been used during the course of normal experimentation and optimization procedures in the method of Salinski, as modified above, based upon factors such as the desired heating rate (where the conductivity of the liquid will affect the rate of heating), the type and ingredients of the food item/workpiece (where different foods and ingredients have different conductivities that will be closer to or farther from the liquid conductivity), the desired type of liquid, the necessary amount of microbe elimination, the size and shape of workpiece, etc. Furthermore, the Applicant does not appear to have identified any unique or unexpected benefit from the claimed conductivity deviation of at maximum 50% that would render it non-obvious.
Claim(s) 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salinski (GB 945313 A) in view of Has (US 20230022790 A1), Heim (DE 102018119015 A1), Van Schaik (US 20170042360 A1), Becke (US 20220053614 A1) and SKLM (Opinion on the use of ohmic heating for the treatment o