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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/12/2023 and 07/05/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
In claims 10 and 11: the phrase “a stirrer that is supported by a support member attached to the drum is at least partially located inside the drum”, is indefinite because it is unclear a stirrer or a support member or both of them is partially located inside the drum. Correction is required.
In light of the present drawing in fig.1, there is only a stirrer is located inside the drum. Therefore, during examination, “a stirrer is located inside the drum” is considered.
The phrase is suggested to be changed to --a stirrer that is supported by a support member attached to the drum, wherein the stirrer is at least partially located inside the drum--.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 4 and 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayashi et al. (US 20100269710 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kobayashi discloses
A food stirring device (stir-fry cooking apparatus, fig.2) comprising:
a drum (heating drum 14, fig.2) that extends in an axial direction (horizontal direction, fig.2), has a hollow shape (heating drum 14, fig.2, is hollow), and includes: an inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b, fig.2) through which a food (food) to be fed to an inside of the drum (heating drum 14) passes; and an outlet part (product discharging portion 14c, fig.2) that is provided at a position different from the inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b) and through which the food (food) to be discharged from the inside of the drum (product discharging portion 14c) passes;
a drum drive device (drum driving motor 15, fig.2) that rotates the drum (heating drum 14) around a rotation axis (rotatable axis A, fig.1);
a stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2) that is at least partially located inside the drum (heating drum 14); and
a support member (frame 12, fig.2) that is attached to the drum (heating drum 14) and supports the stirrer (stirring blade 21),
wherein there is a gap (space/gap between heating drum 14 and stirring blade 21) between an inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14) and the stirrer (stirring blade 21).
However, Kobayashi does not disclose a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a drum of Kobayashi, with a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less, as it well known in the art of manufacturing design choice purpose, in order suitable for the user application.
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Regarding claim 4, Kobayashi discloses
the stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2) and the support member (frame 12, fig.2) are not in contact with the inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14, fig.2).
Regarding claim 6, Kobayashi discloses
the gap (space/gap between heating drum 14 and stirring blade 21) in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14) and the stirrer (stirring blade 21) to the other, but does not disclose a size of the gap in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum and the stirrer to the other is larger than a minimum size of each of solid form food ingredients contained in the food to be fed to the inside of the drum.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a food stirring device of Kobayashi, comprises a size of the gap in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum and the stirrer to the other is larger than a minimum size of each of solid form food ingredients contained in the food to be fed to the inside of the drum, as it well known in the art of manufacturing design choice purpose, in order suitable for the user application.
Regarding claim 7, Kobayashi discloses
the gap (space/gap between heating drum 14 and stirring blade 21) in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14) and the stirrer (stirring blade 21) to the other, but does not disclose a size of the gap in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum and the stirrer to the other is 1 mm or greater and 20 cm or less.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a food stirring device of Kobayashi, comprises a size of the gap in a direction from one of the inner wall surface of the drum and the stirrer to the other is 1 mm or greater and 20 cm or less as it well known in the art of manufacturing design choice purpose, in order suitable for the user application.
Regarding claim 8, Kobayashi discloses
a heat rising device (heating sources, Par.0012) that raises temperature of the food inside the drum (heating drum 14, fig.2) [Par.0012 cited: “…heating sources (not shown), such as a heater and a coil, are disposed on the outer periphery of the heating drum 14 for heating the heating drum 14 to a predetermined temperature…”].
Regarding claim 9, Kobayashi discloses
the food stirring device (stir-fry cooking apparatus, fig.2) is a device for stirring a viscous food ingredient [(stir-fry cooking apparatus, fig.2, can be used for stirring a viscous food ingredient].
Regarding claim 10, Kobayashi discloses
A food stirring method (stir-fry cooking apparatus, fig.2) comprising the steps of:
feeding a food to an inside of a drum (heating drum 14, fig.2) that extends in an axial direction (horizontal direction, fig.2) and has a hollow shape (heating drum 14, fig.2, is hollow), via an inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b, fig.2) of the drum (heating drum 14);
rotating the drum (heating drum 14); and
discharging the food inside the drum (heating drum 14) from the drum (heating drum 14), via an outlet part (product discharging portion 14c, fig.2) of the drum (heating drum 14) that is provided at a position different from the inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b),
wherein a stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2) that is supported by a support member (frame 12, fig.2) attached to the drum (heating drum 14) is at least partially located inside the drum (heating drum 14), wherein as the drum (heating drum 14) is rotated, the food inside the drum (heating drum 14) passes through a gap (space/gap between heating drum 14 and stirring blade 21) between an inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14) and the stirrer (stirring blade 21), and
However, Kobayashi does not disclose a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a drum of Kobayashi, with a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less, as it well known in the art of manufacturing design choice purpose, in order suitable for the user application.
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Regarding claim 11, Kobayashi discloses
in the step of rotating the drum (heating drum 14, fig.2), the food inside the drum (heating drum 14) is caused to move toward the outlet part (product discharging portion 14c, fig.2) of the drum (heating drum 14) in accordance with rotation of the drum (heating drum 14).
Regarding claim 12, Kobayashi discloses
A food manufacturing method (stir-fry cooking apparatus, fig.2) comprising the steps of:
feeding a food to an inside of a drum (heating drum 14, fig.2) that extends in an axial direction (horizontal direction, fig.2) and has a hollow shape (heating drum 14, fig.2, is hollow), via an inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b, fig.2) of the drum (heating drum 14);
rotating the drum (heating drum 14); and
discharging the food inside the drum (heating drum 14) from the drum (heating drum 14), via an outlet part (product discharging portion 14c, fig.2) of the drum (heating drum 14) that is provided at a position different from the inlet part (cooking ingredient charging portion 14b),
wherein a stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2) that is supported by a support member (frame 12, fig.2) attached to the drum (heating drum 14) is at least partially located inside the drum (heating drum 14), wherein as the drum (heating drum 14) is rotated, the food inside the drum (heating drum 14) passes through a gap (space/gap between heating drum 14 and stirring blade 21)between an inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14) and the stirrer (stirring blade 21).
However, Kobayashi does not disclose a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a drum of Kobayashi, with a ratio of a shortest diameter to a longest diameter of a cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer that is located inside the drum is ⅓ or greater and 1 or less, as it well known in the art of manufacturing design choice purpose, in order suitable for the user application.
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Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayashi et al. (US 20100269710 A1) in view of Brandt et al. (US 20090092751 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Kobayashi discloses substantially all the features as set forth above such as the stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2) and the support member (frame 12, fig.2) are not in contact with a part of the inner wall surface of the drum (heating drum 14, fig.2).
However, Kobayashi does not disclose a feeding device.
Brandt discloses an apparatus (apparatus, fig.1A) comprising a feeding device (hopper 50, inlet tube 60, fig.1A) that feeds the food to the inside of a drum (drum 10, fig.1A) to an outlet part (solid axis 70, fig.1A) in a direction along a rotation axis (rotatable axis 12, fig.1A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to modify a food stirring device of Kobayashi, by comprising a feeding device, as taught by Brandt, in order to provide a food to inside of the drum.
Claims 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayashi et al. (US 20100269710 A1) in view of Han (US 20170172197 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Kobayashi discloses substantially all the features as set forth above such as the stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2), but does not disclose the cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer located inside the drum has no recessed part.
Han discloses a food stirring device (rotating unit 200, fig.5) comprising: the cross sectional surface, in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, of a part of the stirrer (extension piece 223, fig.5) located inside a drum (drum 210, fig.5) has no recessed part.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to replace a stirrer of Kobayashi, by using a stirrer having a part located inside the drum has no recessed part, as taught by Han, in order to prevent the food from being discharged to inlet or outlet.
Regarding claim 5, Kobayashi discloses substantially all the features as set forth above such as the stirrer (stirring blade 21, fig.2), but does not disclose the stirrer is not divided in a direction along the rotation axis.
Han discloses a food stirring device (rotating unit 200, fig.5) comprising: stirrer is (extension piece 223, fig.5) not divided in a direction along the rotation axis.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at before the effective filling date of the invention to replace a stirrer of Kobayashi, by using a stirrer, as taught by Han, in order to prevent the food from being discharged to inlet or outlet.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUONG T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1834. The examiner can normally be reached 9.00am-5.00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Crabb can be reached on 571-270-5095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHUONG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
03/22/2026