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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 5, and 15 are amended. Claims 2-4, 6-8, and 16-20 are as previously presented. Therefore, claims 1-8 and 15-20 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on February 25, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 6-10, filed on 02/25/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8 and 15-20 under U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of applicant’s amendment regarding the elongate hook member with a receiving channel and newly found prior art regarding that feature.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/27/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-8 and 15-20 in the reply filed on 10/27/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“power receptacles” in Claim 20
The generic placeholder is “receptacles” and the functional language attributed the “receptacles” includes: “configured to receive the one or more connecting plugs”.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
Reference is made to the Specification filed on 10/24/2022.
Regarding the power receptacles, on Page 12, “In this way, plug member 124 of the connecting plug 120 is received in the power receptacle 130 of the oven 10 as the rack assembly 32 moves to the fully received position within the cooking cavity 12, as best shown in FIG. 16”, where the power receptacle 130 is assumed to be a hole that can receive a plug
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ceron et al. (EP 3851747 A1, hereinafter Ceron) in view of Ni et al. (CN 104786801 A, hereinafter Ni) and Lim (US 7644972 B2) and Davis (US 5518126 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ceron discloses a rack system for a cooking cavity of an appliance (Abstract, “A rack (18) for a cooking appliance (10)”, and Para. 0002, “a cooking appliance includes a body that defines a cavity”), comprising:
a rack assembly having a front portion spaced-apart from a rear portion (Para. 0002, “The rack includes a perimeter rim that has a first end and a second end.”), with a body portion disposed therebetween (Para. 0002, “A plurality of spaced rails are disposed between the first end and the second end of the perimeter rim”);
an assembly operably coupled to the rear portion of the rack assembly (Para. 0019, “the elongated member 28 includes a display surface 30 and an attachment surface 32, with the retention features 116 typically coupled to the attachment surface 32.”).
Ceron does not disclose:
a divider assembly operably coupled to the rear portion of the rack assembly, wherein the divider assembly includes a housing portion having an interior cavity, and
a deployable divider having an engagement member coupled to a first end of a body portion of the deployable divider, wherein the engagement member includes a hook member having a receiving channel,
wherein the deployable divider is operable between a deployed position, wherein the deployable divider is operably coupled to the front portion of the rack assembly by the hook member, wherein the hook member substantially covers the front portion of the rack assembly in the deployed position, and a retracted position, wherein the deployable divider is housed within the interior cavity of the housing portion, and
further wherein the body portion of the deployable divider covers the body portion of the rack assembly when the deployable divider is in the deployed position.
However, Ni discloses, in the similar field of cooking devices (Page 10, Para. 3, “The invention can be expanded to automotive, building, household appliances…tableware, cookware and other mechanical devices”), where a divider assembly includes a housing portion with an interior cavity (Page 12, Para. 2, “covering device 2 is a spring roller shutter cover device”, where within the covering device is a roller, meaning that there is an interior cavity present), where a deployable divider can be operably coupled to a specific location (Page 9, last Para., “device further can include such accessories, which can be set with adhesive by the masked area edge or near the corresponding vehicle position (normal distance is within 10-15CM), inserting, binding, card, button, hook, hanger, clamp, sleeve, magnetic absorbing or easy to remove the stable connection mode can be fixedly connected on it or the fixed attachment on it”), where the body portion of the deployable divider would cover a device underneath (Page 12, Para. 1, “cover member 4 expands outwards to shield”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the rack assembly with an attached display surface 30 in Ceron to include the rollable cover device accessory as taught by Ni; where the accessory would be an added feature to the display surface device and allow for the deployable divider to be extended over the rack, where the hook on the cover could attach to any point on the rack as desired by the user, where such a point could be the front of the rack.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to provide an oven rack with the ability to be shielded from undesired substances, as stated by Ni, Page 1, last Para., “if it is not in an ideal environment may need by masking to hail protection (such as weather), shading heat insulation (such as high temperature burning sun weather), insulation (such as cold weather), isolation(such as snow days, anti-haze days, sand storm weather or parked in the season of the tree).preventing icing frosting (such as cold weather). in daily life covering device such as car clothes, sunshade, household cover”, where such a cover could also be used in the cooking appliance field, Page 10, Para. 3, “The invention can be expanded to automotive, building, household appliances…tableware, cookware and other mechanical devices”.
Further, Lim discloses, in the similar field of covers to shield devices (Abstract, “horizontal bar device designed for containing a cover to shield the rear compartment of an automobile”), where the cover can be retracted so that it is housed within the interior cavity of the housing portion (Abstract, “a retractable, pivotable, slidable, and removable horizontal bar device designed for containing a cover”, where the horizontal bar includes an interior cavity, Section 2, lines 19-22, “spool assembly can rotate and the cover can extend outward from the horizontal bar through the gap, or the spool can rotate in the opposite direction and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar through the gap.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cover and rack from modified Ceron to include the retractable into the housing feature as taught by Lim.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the ease of storage for the cover device, as stated by Lim, Section 6, lines 62-64, “a Tonneau cover system 90 that utilizes a cover 82 that is retractable into the Tonneau cover bar 84 for ease of storage.”.
Additionally, Davis discloses, in the similar field of appliances that include racks (Abstract, “A plasticware retainer is provided for holding lightweight articles in a dishwasher rack”), where a deployable divider has an engagement member coupled to a first end of a body portion of the deployable divider (Section 3, lines 52-54, “As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plasticware retainer 24 comprises a mesh or net member 25, a retractable roller or roller assembly 26, and connectors 27.”, where the connectors 27 are the engagement member that is coupled to a net member 25 which is the body portion of the deployable divider, where modified Fig. 4 shows that the engagement members are at a first end of the body), where the engagement member includes a hook member having a receiving channel (Section 5, lines 11-13, “The connectors 27 of the preferred embodiment include a connecting portion 37 and a hook portion 38 as best seen in FIG. 3.”, where the engagement member is the connector with the receiving channel shown in the hook portion 38, where Fig. 3 shows the channel the best from the side view), where the deployable divider is operable between a deployed position where the hook member substantially covers a side of the rack assembly (Section 5, lines 21-24, “The hook portion 38 of the connector 27 extends downwardly and inwardly from an outer end of the connecting portion 37 and is adapted for hooking a horizontal segment of the upper rack 15.”, and where more than three connectors can be used to substantially cover the side of the dishwasher rack, Section 5, lines 29-34, “three connectors 27 are fastened adjacent to the second end 28 of the net member 25, with one connector 27 generally adjacent each side 29, 30 of the net member 25 and one generally spaced equally therebetween. It will be noted, however that other quantities of connectors could be utilized.”), where the deployable divider can be retracted and housed in an housing portion interior cavity (Section 4, lines 39-43, “The cylinder 31 includes a slotted opening 33 extending in the axial direction so that the net member 25 can be extended and retracted between a retracted position (not shown) on the roller mechanism and an extended position (shown in FIGS. 1--4) above the dishwasher upper rack 15.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the rack assembly in modified Ceron to include the retractable net with engagement hooks as taught by Davis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the net or deployable divider to retain objects within the rack, where the engagement member hooks allow the net to be held in place on the rack, as stated by Davis, Section 3, lines 48-51, “A plasticware retainer 24, overlies the articles 17 to hold or retain the articles 17 in the upper rack 15 against the upwardly projecting washing liquid.”.
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Modified Figure 4, Davis
Regarding claim 2, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the divider assembly includes a bracket coupled to the housing portion, wherein the bracket includes a hook member positioned over the housing portion and having a receiving channel (Ceron, Para. 0017, “member 28 can be coupled to the forward crossbar 74 via retention features 116. By way of example, not limitation, the elongated member 28 is illustrated as having first and second retention features 116a, 116b. However, the elongated member 28 may include a single retention clip 116 or, optionally, a plurality of retention features 116. The retention features 116 may be clips, clasps, snaps, hooks, or other retention members generally known in the art.”, where the retention features 116 are the bracket that couples the housing of the display surface 30, where Fig. 2 shows that the retention features 116 go over the housing and from Para. 0017 could also include hooks that would create a channel).
Regarding claim 3, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above, discloses wherein the rear portion of the rack assembly includes a crossbar (Ceron, Para. 0016, “forward and rearward crossbars 74, 78”), and further wherein a portion of the crossbar is received in the receiving channel of the hook member of the bracket (Ceron, modified Fig. 3, where a portion of the crossbar is shown to be within the receiving channel created by the hook member; modified Fig. 2, where the hook is shown to be part of the retention feature that includes a bracket that goes over the housing).
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Modified Figure 2, Ceron
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Modified Figure 3, Ceron
Regarding claim 5, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the body portion of the deployable divider comprises a flexible heat-resistant material selected from the group consisting of glass fiber fabrics, ceramic fiber fabrics, and carbon fiber fabrics.
However, Davis discloses where the deployable divider can be made from a flexible heat resistant material (Section 4, lines 1-11, “Preferably, the net member 25 is made of a plastic material or netting such as nylon netting… high temperature resistance to withstand temperatures in the dishwasher 10 which can reach approximately 140 degrees Fahrenheit…The net member 25 must have enough flexibility so that it can be rolled and unrolled onto the roller 42 of the roller assembly 25 in a window shade fashion.”, and Section 4, lines 16-19, “The net member 25 acts as a lid or cover for the upper rack 15. The net member 25 may comprise other materials having sufficient qualities relating to corrosion resistance, heat resistance, strength, flexibility, and rigidity.”, where nylon is a synthetic plastic fiber). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the deployable divider in modified Ceron to be made from a flexible heat resistant material as taught by Davis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of the material of the deployable divider being able to withstand repeated high temperatures, as stated by Davis, Section 4, lines 5-9, “The net member 25 preferably has sufficient qualities related to corrosion resistance to withstand repeated use in a washing liquid and to high temperature resistance to withstand temperatures in the dishwasher 10 which can reach approximately 140 degrees Fahrenheit.”.
Regarding claim 15, Ceron discloses an appliance (Abstract, “A rack (18) for a cooking appliance (10)”), comprising: one or more walls defining a cooking cavity (Para. 0002, “a cooking appliance includes a body that defines a cavity”, and Para. 0012, “racks 50, 54 vertically extend along sidewalls 56 of the body 12 within the interior cavity 14.”);
a rack assembly supported on the one or more walls of the cooking cavity (Para. 0012, “racks 50, 54 vertically extend along sidewalls 56 of the body 12 within the interior cavity 14.”), wherein the rack assembly includes a front portion spaced-apart from a rear portion (Para. 0002, “The rack includes a perimeter rim that has a first end and a second end.”), with a body portion disposed therebetween (Para. 0002, “A plurality of spaced rails are disposed between the first end and the second end of the perimeter rim”); and
an assembly operably coupled to the rear portion of the rack assembly (Para. 0019, “the elongated member 28 includes a display surface 30 and an attachment surface 32, with the retention features 116 typically coupled to the attachment surface 32.”).
Ceron does not disclose:
a divider assembly operably coupled to the rear portion of the rack assembly, wherein the divider assembly includes a housing portion having an interior cavity, and
a deployable divider operable between retracted and deployed positions,
wherein a body portion of the deployable divider divides the cooking cavity into upper and lower cooking areas when the deployable divider is in the deployed position,
wherein the divider assembly includes an engagement member coupled to a first end of the body portion of the deployable divider, and wherein the engagement member includes an elongate hook member having a receiving channel.
However, Ni discloses, in the similar field of cooking devices (Page 10, Para. 3, “The invention can be expanded to automotive, building, household appliances…tableware, cookware and other mechanical devices”), where a divider assembly includes a housing portion with an interior cavity (Page 12, Para. 2, “covering device 2 is a spring roller shutter cover device”, where within the covering device is a roller, meaning that there is an interior cavity present), where a deployable divider can be operably coupled to a specific location (Page 9, last Para., “device further can include such accessories, which can be set with adhesive by the masked area edge or near the corresponding vehicle position (normal distance is within 10-15CM), inserting, binding, card, button, hook, hanger, clamp, sleeve, magnetic absorbing or easy to remove the stable connection mode can be fixedly connected on it or the fixed attachment on it”), where the body portion of the deployable divider would cover a device underneath (Page 12, Para. 1, “cover member 4 expands outwards to shield”), where the cover can be used to create a lower cooking area as the cover is can be fireproof and made of metal to allow for food to be heated (Claim 2, “a covering member and/or the covering member made of light-shielding material, shielding material, a heat insulating material, a flame-retardant material, anti-corrosion material, ultraviolet-proof material, barrier material, waterproof material, refractory material, wear resistant material, an insulating material, a radiation-proof material, filtering material, adsorbent material, bulletproof material, stab-proof material, fireproof material or transparent material through integral casting/pressed or into small component is jointed or firstly then made linear by weaving or into linear and weaved into small components and then spliced or made of metal material”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the rack assembly with an attached display surface 30 in Ceron to include the rollable metal cover device accessory that allows for heat transfer as taught by Ni; where the accessory would be an added feature to the display surface device and allow for the deployable divider to be extended over the rack, where the hook on the cover could attach to any point on the rack as desired by the user, where such a point could be the front of the rack.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to provide an oven rack with the ability to be shielded from undesired substances, as stated by Ni, Page 1, last Para., “if it is not in an ideal environment may need by masking to hail protection (such as weather), shading heat insulation (such as high temperature burning sun weather), insulation (such as cold weather), isolation(such as snow days, anti-haze days, sand storm weather or parked in the season of the tree).preventing icing frosting (such as cold weather). in daily life covering device such as car clothes, sunshade, household cover”, where such a cover could also be used in the cooking appliance field, Page 10, Para. 3, “The invention can be expanded to automotive, building, household appliances…tableware, cookware and other mechanical devices”.
Further, Lim discloses, in the similar field of covers to shield devices (Abstract, “horizontal bar device designed for containing a cover to shield the rear compartment of an automobile”), where the cover can be retracted so that it is housed within the interior cavity of the housing portion (Abstract, “a retractable, pivotable, slidable, and removable horizontal bar device designed for containing a cover”, where the horizontal bar includes an interior cavity, Section 2, lines 19-22, “spool assembly can rotate and the cover can extend outward from the horizontal bar through the gap, or the spool can rotate in the opposite direction and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar through the gap.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cover and rack from modified Ceron to include the retractable into the housing feature as taught by Lim.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the ease of storage for the cover device, as stated by Lim, Section 6, lines 62-64, “a Tonneau cover system 90 that utilizes a cover 82 that is retractable into the Tonneau cover bar 84 for ease of storage.”.
Additionally, Davis discloses, in the similar field of appliances that include racks (Abstract, “A plasticware retainer is provided for holding lightweight articles in a dishwasher rack”), where a deployable divider has an engagement member coupled to a first end of a body portion of the deployable divider (Section 3, lines 52-54, “As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plasticware retainer 24 comprises a mesh or net member 25, a retractable roller or roller assembly 26, and connectors 27.”, where the connectors 27 are the engagement member that is coupled to a net member 25 which is the body portion of the deployable divider, where modified Fig. 4 shows that the engagement members are at a first end of the body), where the engagement member includes a hook member having a receiving channel (Section 5, lines 11-13, “The connectors 27 of the preferred embodiment include a connecting portion 37 and a hook portion 38 as best seen in FIG. 3.”, where the engagement member is the connector with the receiving channel shown in the hook portion 38, where Fig. 3 shows the channel the best from the side view), where the deployable divider is operable between a deployed position where the hook member substantially covers a side of the rack assembly (Section 5, lines 21-24, “The hook portion 38 of the connector 27 extends downwardly and inwardly from an outer end of the connecting portion 37 and is adapted for hooking a horizontal segment of the upper rack 15.”, and where more than three connectors can be used to substantially cover the side of the dishwasher rack, Section 5, lines 29-34, “three connectors 27 are fastened adjacent to the second end 28 of the net member 25, with one connector 27 generally adjacent each side 29, 30 of the net member 25 and one generally spaced equally therebetween. It will be noted, however that other quantities of connectors could be utilized.”), where the deployable divider can be retracted and housed in an housing portion interior cavity (Section 4, lines 39-43, “The cylinder 31 includes a slotted opening 33 extending in the axial direction so that the net member 25 can be extended and retracted between a retracted position (not shown) on the roller mechanism and an extended position (shown in FIGS. 1--4) above the dishwasher upper rack 15.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the rack assembly in modified Ceron to include the retractable net with engagement hooks as taught by Davis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the net or deployable divider to retain objects within the rack, where the engagement member hooks allow the net to be held in place on the rack, as stated by Davis, Section 3, lines 48-51, “A plasticware retainer 24, overlies the articles 17 to hold or retain the articles 17 in the upper rack 15 against the upwardly projecting washing liquid.”.
Regarding claim 16, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 15, as set forth above, discloses wherein the deployable divider is received within the housing portion of the divider assembly when the deployable divider is in the retracted position (Teaching from Lim, Abstract, “a retractable, pivotable, slidable, and removable horizontal bar device designed for containing a cover”, where the horizontal bar includes an interior cavity, Section 2, lines 19-22, “spool assembly can rotate and the cover can extend outward from the horizontal bar through the gap, or the spool can rotate in the opposite direction and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar through the gap.”).
Regarding claim 17, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 15, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the deployable divider is a flexible member that is biased towards the retracted position.
However, Lim discloses where the deployable divider includes a flexible cover member that is biased towards the retracted position (Section 2, lines 47-52, “a Tonneau cover system including a spring mechanism. The spring mechanism is designed to exert force on the Tonneau cover bar when it is rotated away from the system casing. The spring mechanism is such that it will pull or push against the Tonneau cover bar and return it to the resting position inside the system casing.”, where the cover is flexible as it must be able to retract and be rolled up). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the deployable divider in modified Ceron to have the biasing spring to drive the cover back into the retracted position as taught by Lim.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to allow the cover to be easily stored, as stated by Lim, Section 2, lines 50-53, “The spring mechanism is such that it will pull or push against the Tonneau cover bar and return it to the resting position inside the system casing. This allows the Tonneau cover bar to be easily stored”.
Claims 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ceron et al. (EP 3851747 A1, hereinafter Ceron) in view of Ni et al. (CN 104786801 A, hereinafter Ni) and Lim (US 7644972 B2) and Davis (US 5518126 A1) in further view of Rehage (KR 20130131298 A).
Regarding claim 4, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 3, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the hook member is inwardly angled and positioned above an upper wall of the housing portion.
However, Rehage discloses, in the similar field of hook attachments to rack assemblies (Abstract, “a holder (10) having at least one hook (11) for engaging a horizontal reinforcement (3) of the side grating”), where the hook member is inwardly angled and positioned above an upper wall of the holder housing (Modified Fig. 2.1, where the inwardly angled and positioned above an upper wall of the housing hook is shown). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the hook in modified Ceron to include the features as taught by Rehage.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing the housing be located below a crossbar if desired, where the extension of the hook allows for the housing to be positioned lower in relation to the crossbar, where this configuration gives a user more design flexibility regarding where the housing should be located, as stated by Rehage, Claim 1, “A holder 10 having one or more hooks 11 for engaging the horizontal reinforcement 3 of the side grating 1, and a spring element allowing the holder 10 to be latched connected on the side grating 1”.
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Modified Figure 2.1, Rehage
Claims 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ceron et al. (EP 3851747 A1, hereinafter Ceron) in view of Ni et al. (CN 104786801 A, hereinafter Ni) and Lim (US 7644972 B2) and Davis (US 5518126 A1) in further view of Wablat (DE 202016105529 U1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 5, as set forth above, discloses wherein the front portion of the rack assembly includes a crossbar (Ceron, Para. 0016, “forward and rearward crossbars 74, 78”).
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
further wherein the crossbar is received in the receiving channel of the hook member of the engagement member to retain the deployable divider in the deployed position.
However, Wablat discloses where the hook of the cover is able to engage with a crossbar that forms a mounting point (Page 4, Para. 6, “Several mounting points 54 . 56 . 58 are in the motor vehicle for cooperative engagement with the connector 46 provided.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the front portion of the rack assembly crossbar in modified Ceron to be a mounting point so that the hooks can engage as taught by Wablat.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use multiple mounting points, where this provides greater flexibility to where the cover can extend to, where this can allow a user to have greater design choice in where to engage the cover, as stated by Wablat, Page 5, Para. 5, “when the retractable cargo cover assembly 20 in the first receiving device 12 on the seat of the second row 14 is mounted, the flexible cover 24 if desired from the housing 28 be pulled out and the connecting hooks 46 can on any of the mounting points 54 . 56 . 58 to be assembled.”.
Regarding claim 7, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 5, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
including: a roller rotatably mounted within the interior cavity of the housing portion of the divider assembly, wherein a second end of the body portion of the deployable divider is coupled to the roller.
However, Lim discloses where there is a roller rotatably mounted within the interior cavity of the housing and where the second end of the body is coupled to the roller (Section 2, lines 11-14, “wherein the cover and the spool assembly are contained within the horizontal bar such that the cover is extendable through the gap in the horizontal bar, and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar”, where the cover is connected to the spool or roller at one end in order to be fully retracted; and where the spool rotates, Section 2, lines 19-22, “the spool assembly can rotate and the cover can extend outward from the horizontal bar through the gap, or the spool can rotate in the opposite direction and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar through the gap”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the interior cavity of the housing in modified Ceron to include the roller and body connection as taught by Lim.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the ease of storage for the cover device, as stated by Lim, Section 6, lines 62-64, “a Tonneau cover system 90 that utilizes a cover 82 that is retractable into the Tonneau cover bar 84 for ease of storage.”.
Regarding claim 8, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 7, as set forth above, discloses wherein the deployable divider is biased by the roller to the retracted position (Teaching from Lim, Section 2, lines 19-22, “the spool assembly can rotate and the cover can extend outward from the horizontal bar through the gap, or the spool can rotate in the opposite direction and the cover can be retracted into the horizontal bar through the gap”).
Claims 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ceron et al. (EP 3851747 A1, hereinafter Ceron) in view of Ni et al. (CN 104786801 A, hereinafter Ni) and Lim (US 7644972 B2) and Davis (US 5518126 A1) in further view of Lewis et al. (WO 2020214682 A1, hereinafter Lewis).
Regarding claim 18, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 15, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the body portion of the deployable divider includes a coating having a high temperature resistant polymer matrix.
However, Lewis discloses, in the similar field of ovens with cookware that include sheets (Page 3, last Para., “cookware, e.g., a pan, basket, tray, sheet, bakeware, and accessories (e.g., lids, covers, and oven or countertop racks, etc.), particularly for use in high speed, rapid cook, and/or conventional ovens.”), where a coating of high temperature resistant polymer matrix can be applied (Page 4, Para. 2, “The cooking surface can be formed of a 'nonstick' polymer, contain a non-stick additive as part of the polymer matrix”, and Page 3, Para. 3, “Polymer coated non-metal cooking sheets and baskets are known for heating foods and toasting sandwiches in ovens. Such temperature resistant sheets”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cover which is a sheet from modified Ceron to include the high temperature resistant polymer matrix as taught by Lewis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to make the cover nonstick, which makes the cover easier to clean, as stated by Lewis, Page 5, Para. 3, “the flexible substrate is impregnated with a heat resistant polymer material…an epoxy, quartz, fluorinated materials, such as fluorinated mica, combinations thereof, and/or other nonstick, easy clean materials.”.
Claims 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ceron et al. (EP 3851747 A1, hereinafter Ceron) in view of Ni et al. (CN 104786801 A, hereinafter Ni) and Lim (US 7644972 B2) and Davis (US 5518126 A1) in further view of Lewis et al. (WO 2020214682 A1, hereinafter Lewis) and Bruin-slot et al. (EP 3147573 A2, hereinafter Bruin).
Regarding claim 19, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 18, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the divider assembly includes one or more connecting plugs outwardly extending from the housing portion thereof.
However, Bruin discloses, in the similar field of cooking appliances with accessories (Abstract, “An oven cavity…A powered accessory tray”), where the accessory includes a connecting plug outwardly extending from the housing (Abstract, “A powered accessory tray (14) has a connecting plug (32), the powered accessory tray (14) being alternatively and selectively engaged with one of the first and second tray sliding structures”, where the housing includes the sidewalls and lid that enclose the heating device, Para. 0036, “accessory trays 14 can include sidewalls 250 and a removable lid 52 that can be used to sequester the accessory heating region 170 from the remainder of the heating region 172 defined within the heating cavity 20 of the cooking appliance 10”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cover and housing in modified Ceron to have a heating element that is connected to a plug extending outwards from the housing as taught by Bruin.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to selectively control a portion of the rack within the oven through the use of the connecting plugs and additional heating element, as stated by Bruin, Para. 0038, “Accordingly, the temperature of the grilling insert 142 during use of the powered accessory tray 14 can be controlled to a substantially high degree of precision to maintain a desired temperature within the accessory heating region 170 positioned above the resistive heating element 132.”.
Regarding claim 20, modified Ceron teaches the apparatus according to claim 19, as set forth above.
Modified Ceron does not disclose:
wherein the cooking cavity includes one or more power receptacles configured to receive the one or more connecting plugs of the divider assembly to connect the coating of the deployable divider with a power source for heating the deployable divider.
However, Bruin discloses where there are power receptacles in the cooking cavity for receiving the connecting plugs (Para. 0031, “connecting plug 32 of the powered accessory tray 14, the identifier portion 210 of the connecting plug 32 can be exemplified through the extension cable 60 in the opposing end of the extension cable 60 that engages the oven cavity connector 12.”), where a heating element is present within the housing that would be heated through the power source of the connecting plugs (Para. 0037, “connecting plug 32 of the powered accessory tray 14 that can be disposed at an end of the resistive heating element 132.”, and Para. 0001, “a system for powering a series of accessory trays through a cavity connector disposed within the cooking cavity of the appliance.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cover and housing in modified Ceron to where the resistive heating element connected to a plug is connected with the cover within the housing as taught by Bruin, where the resistive heating element in Bruin is already in the housing that would include the cover from modified Ceron.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to selectively control a portion of the rack within the oven through the use of the connecting plugs and additional heating element, as stated by Bruin, Para. 0038, “Accordingly, the temperature of the grilling insert 142 during use of the powered accessory tray 14 can be controlled to a substantially high degree of precision to maintain a desired temperature within the accessory heating region 170 positioned above the resistive heating element 132.”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Deschler et al. (DE 102014003440 B3) discloses a similar deployable cover, however the cover being fully retractable is not disclosed.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
03/11/2026
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761