DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/12/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 03/12/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-11, 15-16, and 19-25 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 Final Office Action mailed 01/21/2026, except where otherwise stated.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 15, are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, “the parameters of the dough pieces” on line 38 should read “the physical parameters of the dough pieces”.
Regarding claim 15, “the parameters associated with the dough pieces” on lines 41-42 should read “the physical parameters associated with the dough pieces”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 3, 4, 6, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 35-40) an oven control system, for controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated (baked) product. Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 4-12, 65-68; Col. 5, lines 1-2; Fig. 6 #101, 103, 124, 125, 126, 127) an embodiment of the invention wherein a sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 to a mixer 126 (where an unshaped mass of dough material in a mixer such as the sponge mix is understood to be a dough lump; and wherein the device understood to be capable of operation multiple times and therefore configured to form dough pieces by reshaping multiple dough lumps when new dough is used in subsequent operations) and thence to a sponge depositor 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), wherein sponge depositor 127 deposits a portion of sponge (dough piece) as a continuous strip or carpet 102 (dough piece reshaped from dough lump) adjacent the entrance to the oven, which are subsequently conveyed on an endless belt 103 continuously through the oven 101, each portion progressively changing in state as it progresses through the oven until a certain final moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll sponge (baked product) is achieved on completion of the process as each portion leaves the oven (where an oven that conveys a product from an opening to a separate exit is understood to be a tunnel oven comprising at least one section). Furthermore, while the sponge depicted in Figure 6 is a continuous product, individual dough pieces/precursors of the baked products may be made into baked products by the device, where Henson teaches (Col. 3, lines 5-9) bread, biscuits, and the like, may be spaced apart on the conveyor band. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-27; Fig. 6 #106) a moisture content sensing device 106 (first sensor) for sensing the moisture content of the sponge (physical parameter of the dough piece) is positioned at the entrance to the oven (prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and baking of the dough pieces). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-15; Col. 6, lines 13-15) a control system is provided for the oven which includes a computer 104 (programmable processor) arranged to receive signals from sensing means, wherein in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 4-17) computer 104 is arranged to control the ingredients and nature of mixing via the metering devices 125 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), and the type and time of mixing employed (operational parameters of the piece forming device). Since computers operate by transmission and storage of electronic data, the use of a computer to control operational parameters of the piece forming device inherently requires obtaining electronic data representing operational parameters of the piece forming device. Henson further teaches (Col. 6, lines 3-5) indicators may be associated with the control circuits to indicate the operating and desired (preset) values including moisture content and colour (electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (obtaining electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-4, 23-25; Col. 6, lines 10-15) computer 104 controls the humidity and temperature within the baking chamber (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven), the amount of turbulence or forced convection in the oven, and the time each portion of sponge spends in the oven, i.e., the oven-conveyor speed (first set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven) to maintain the moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll emerging from the oven (target parameters of the baked products), wherein sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-22) computer 104 controls factors including the aforementioned first set of baking parameters in multiple ways including controlling the ingredients and nature of mixing via the metering devices 125 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), and the type and time of mixing employed (operational parameters of the piece forming device), wherein corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104 (i.e., obtained electronic data representing the operational parameters of the piece forming device, the parameters of the dough pieces, the target parameters of the baked products, and the settings and conditions of the tunnel oven are correlated to generate the first set of baking parameters). While Henson does not explicitly state that a control model is used, a computer control system that receives inputs and provides corresponding outputs necessarily uses a model (e.g., programmed control logic or mathematical formulae) to produce the outputs based on the inputs. Furthermore, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 20-22; Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it, and corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104. Thus, Henson discloses both that the computer compensates for changes based on measurements made prior to baking the dough pieces, and that changes to the operating conditions may be made simultaneously with others, thus indicating that generating the baking parameters based on a correlation of the obtained electronic data may occur prior to the baking of the dough pieces. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 37-40) continuously controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated product, and therefore, in a continuous process, the obtaining of electronic data and generation of baking parameters will necessarily occur before baking at least some of the dough pieces being continuously produced and baked.
Henson only discloses detecting one parameter of the dough piece with the first sensor, rather than multiple parameters. Henson is silent on also configuring the first sensor to detect operational parameters of the piece forming device comprising at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, pressure, die roll speed, die roll gap, or knife height of the piece forming device detected during operation of the piece forming device to form the dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing the operational parameters of the piece forming device detected by at least the first sensor prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, and generating the first set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the operational parameters of the piece forming device detected by at least the first sensor prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven. Henson is further silent on obtaining electronic data representing the ambient environmental conditions and generating the first set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions.
Manchuliantsau teaches (Paragraph 0007, 0051) systems and methods for system for upcycling solid food wastes and by-products into food-grade nutritional products, wherein a system 200 can include a computing device 120 and one or more sensors for controlling the operation of any or all devices used in system 200, and sensors can measure a conveying speed of the extruder (piece forming device), while computing device 120 can adjust operation of any of pre-processing devices 110, the extruder, or post-processing devices 115 to make sure that the food ingredient 135 is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters. Manchuliantsau further teaches (Paragraph 0050, 0052, 0064) a conveyor may convey the food ingredient from the extruder to the post-processing, wherein the post-processing may include baking.
Bufton teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0048-0051, 0054) a method for the manufacture of a food bar, wherein a foodstuff is extruded onto a moving deposit location, such as a conveyor belt to transport the food bar from the extrusion apparatus (piece forming device) for further processing such as baking. Bufton further teaches (Paragraph 0064) the speed of a conveyer belt should be measured as compared to the speed at which the foodstuff is being extruded, and the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to detect operational parameters including speed of the piece forming device (e.g. in addition to or as a substitute for detection of other operational parameters of the piece forming device disclosed above by Henson) with a sensor prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, obtain electronic data prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven of operational parameters including speed, and correlate the obtained data with other electronic data to generate the baking parameters in view of Manchuliantsau and Bufton, since each of Henson, Manchuliantsau, and Bufton is directed to an apparatus and method comprising a piece forming device depositing a food item onto a conveyor that conveys the food item to baking, since detecting the speed of a piece forming device prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into a baking device and controlling operations including baking based on the detected speed with a computing device (which requires obtaining electronic data) is known in the art as shown by Manchuliantsau, since the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together (Bufton, Paragraph 0064), since adjusting the operation of post-processing devices (baking device) with a computing device based on the conveying speed of the extruder will ensure that the food ingredient is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters including sterility and palatability (Manchuliantsau, Paragraph 0051), and since failing to account for operational parameters of the piece forming device when generating the baking parameters may lead to undesirable results in the appearance or quality of the dough pieces due to effects like bending resulting from the depositing speed of the piece forming device relative to the conveying speed through the tunnel oven.
Minvielle teaches detecting multiple physical parameters of dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions, and generating baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions. Specifically, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0002, 0141; Fig. 6 #510, 520, 540) systems and methods managing and using information regarding the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance, wherein a conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 for conditioning before it is delivered to consumer 540. Minvielle further teaches (Paragraph 0107, 0175; Fig. 6 #570) conditioning protocols include baking, and exemplary conditioning operations including baking bread dough into baked bread with a conditioner 570, which may be a convection oven. Also, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0022) information collected by sensors of, or sensors communicating with, a storage and conditioning appliance, can collect all types of physical attribute data of the nutritional substance by sensing a nutritional substance including size, shape, temperature, color, smell, weight data, among others (physical parameters of the nutritional substances/dough pieces). Additionally, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0180) sensors may detect parameters of the nutritional substances including weight, starting temperature, moisture, and color, and a controller may vary a recipe based on the sensed parameters. Furthermore, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0273) adapting a conditioning protocol 610 to factors including nutritional data, sensed attributes of a specific nutritional substance, and geographic location data (ambient environmental conditions) regarding the location of the food that can be used to determine the ambient pressure, elevation, humidity, or other location based factors that may be relevant to conditioning a nutritional substance 520 and changes in the resulting nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values from conditioning, wherein the data may be provided to controller 530. Additionally, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0266, 0275) controller 530 creates, or retrieves from the nutritional substance industry database, adaptive conditioning parameters that are responsive to: the nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic value information retrieved from the nutritional substance industry database using the nutritional substance attribute library including adjustments made as necessary for the sensor attribute data and the consumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, wherein these adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred to herein as adaptive preparation sequence, are then communicated to the consumer for implementation through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, or alternatively, automatically implemented by the controller, or adapted based on feedback from the attribute sensors 591 in the conditioner 57, and mathematical models may be developed based on experimental data for conditioning certain types of foods (i.e., a control model is generated based on correlating electronic data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to detect multiple physical parameters of the dough piece with the first sensor, obtain electronic data representing the ambient environmental conditions, and generate the first set of baking parameters using a control model based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions in view of Minvielle, since both are directed to devices for treating food products including dough products with methods including baking by controlling the treatment process with a controller based on sensed parameters of the food items, since detecting multiple physical parameters of dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions, and generating baking parameters based using a control model on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions is known in the art as shown by Minvielle, since certain climates may be more humid or certain geographic locations may have significantly different elevations that substantially affect cooking (Minvielle, Paragraph 0274), since some foods are harder to condition to perfection without sensing the attributes of the actual nutritional substance about to be conditioned (Minvielle, Paragraph 0275), since the location of the conditioner 570 may be utilized to determine the ambient pressure and other characteristics that are important to cooking times (Minvielle, Paragraph 0275), and since some dough pieces may initially differ in multiple physical parameters including moisture, color, temperature, etc. that will affect the resulting baked product if not accounted for.
It is noted that the first sensor detects both operational parameters of the piece forming device and physical parameters of the dough pieces. As shown above, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use sensors to detect both operation parameters of the piece forming device and physical parameters of the dough pieces, where such sensors would be positioned prior to the tunnel oven. Furthermore, making multiple sensors integral would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since the use of a one piece construction instead of the multiple sensors disclosed by the prior art would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice (See MPEP 2144.04 V. B).
Regarding claim 3, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven).
Regarding claim 4, Henson teaches (Col. 6, lines 3-5) indicators may be associated with the control circuits to indicate the operating and desired (preset) values including moisture content and colour (target parameters of the baked products).
Regarding claim 6, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 61-68) computer 104 is also arranged to control a panel 124 (where computers operate by transmitting signals) controlling the ingredients of the mix for the sponge, wherein the sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 (control of meters is understood to comprise control of operational parameters) to a mixer 126 and thence to a sponge depositer 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device) located adjacent the entrance to the oven.
While Henson is silent on operational parameters of the piece forming device comprising at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, pressure, die roll speed, die roll gap, or knife height of the piece forming device detected during operation of the piece forming device to form the dough pieces, as shown above with regard to claim 1, Manchuliantsau teaches (Paragraph 0007, 0051) systems and methods for system for upcycling solid food wastes and by-products into food-grade nutritional products, wherein a system 200 can include a computing device 120 and one or more sensors for controlling the operation of any or all devices used in system 200 (which would include the operational parameters of the piece forming device), and sensors can measure a conveying speed of the extruder (piece forming device), while computing device 120 can adjust operation of any of pre-processing devices 110, the extruder, or post-processing devices 115 to make sure that the food ingredient 135 is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to control the operational parameters of the piece forming device including speed in view of Manchuliantsau since both Henson and Manchuliantsau teach methods for controlling operation parameters of piece forming devices for the reasons stated above with regard to claim 1 (e.g., since the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together) and since using a controller to control operations of the piece-forming device would provide convenience to users and prevent potential errors by human operators.
Regarding claim 15, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 35-40) controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated (baked) product. Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 4-12, 65-68; Col. 5, lines 1-2; Fig. 6 #101, 103, 124, 125, 126, 127) an embodiment of the invention wherein a sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 to a mixer 126 (where an unshaped mass of dough material in a mixer such as the sponge mix is understood to be a dough lump; and wherein the device understood to be capable of operation multiple times and therefore configured to form dough pieces by reshaping multiple dough lumps when new dough is used in subsequent operations) and thence to a sponge depositor 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), wherein sponge depositor 127 deposits a portion of sponge (dough piece) as a continuous strip or carpet 102 (dough piece reshaped from dough lump) adjacent the entrance to the oven, which are subsequently conveyed on an endless belt 103 continuously through the oven 101, each portion progressively changing in state as it progresses through the oven until a certain final moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll sponge (baked product) is achieved on completion of the process as each portion leaves the oven (where an oven that conveys a product from an opening to a separate exit is understood to be a tunnel oven comprising at least one section). Furthermore, while the sponge depicted in Figure 6 is a continuous product, individual dough pieces/precursors of the baked products may be made into baked products by the device, where Henson teaches (Col. 3, lines 5-9) bread, biscuits, and the like, may be spaced apart on the conveyor band. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-27; Fig. 6 #106) a moisture content sensing device 106 (first sensor) for sensing the moisture content of the sponge (physical parameter of the dough piece) is positioned at the entrance to the oven (prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and baking of the dough pieces). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-15; Col. 6, lines 13-15) a control system is provided for the oven which includes a computer 104 (programmable processor) arranged to receive signals from sensing means, wherein in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 4-17) computer 104 is arranged to control the ingredients and nature of mixing via the metering devices 125 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), and the type and time of mixing employed (operational parameters of the piece forming device). Since computers operate by transmission and storage of electronic data, the use of a computer to control operational parameters of the piece forming device inherently requires obtaining electronic data representing operational parameters of the piece forming device. Henson further teaches (Col. 6, lines 3-5) indicators may be associated with the control circuits to indicate the operating and desired (preset) values including moisture content and colour (electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (obtaining electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-4, 23-25; Col. 6, lines 10-15) computer 104 controls the humidity and temperature within the baking chamber (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven), the amount of turbulence or forced convection in the oven, and the time each portion of sponge spends in the oven, i.e., the oven-conveyor speed (first set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven) to maintain the moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll emerging from the oven (target parameters of the baked products), wherein sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-22) computer 104 controls factors including the aforementioned first set of baking parameters in multiple ways including controlling the ingredients and nature of mixing via the metering devices 125 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), and the type and time of mixing employed (operational parameters of the piece forming device), wherein corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104 (i.e., obtained electronic data representing the operational parameters of the piece forming device, the physical parameters of the dough pieces, the target parameters of the baked products, and the settings and conditions of the tunnel oven are correlated to generate the first set of baking parameters).While Henson does not explicitly state that a control model is used, a computer control system that receives inputs and provides corresponding outputs necessarily uses a model (e.g., programmed control logic or mathematical formulae) to produce the outputs based on the inputs. Furthermore, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 20-22; Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it, and corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104. Thus, Henson discloses both that the computer compensates for changes based on measurements made prior to baking the dough pieces, and that changes to the operating conditions may be made simultaneously with others, thus indicating that generating the baking parameters based on a correlation of the obtained electronic data may occur prior to the baking of the dough pieces. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 37-40) continuously controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated product, and therefore, in a continuous process, the obtaining of electronic data and generation of baking parameters will necessarily occur before baking at least some of the dough pieces being continuously produced and baked.
Henson only discloses detecting one physical parameter of the dough piece with the first sensor, rather than multiple physical parameters. Henson is silent on the first sensor also detecting operational parameters of the piece forming device comprising at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, pressure, die roll speed, die roll gap, or knife height of the piece forming device detected during operation of the piece forming device to form the dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing the operational parameters of the piece forming device detected by at least the first sensor prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, and generating the first set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the operational parameters of the piece forming device detected by at least the first sensor prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven. Henson is further silent on obtaining electronic data representing the ambient environmental conditions and generating the first set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions.
Manchuliantsau teaches (Paragraph 0007, 0051) systems and methods for system for upcycling solid food wastes and by-products into food-grade nutritional products, wherein a system 200 can include a computing device 120 and one or more sensors for controlling the operation of any or all devices used in system 200, and sensors can measure a conveying speed of the extruder (piece forming device), while computing device 120 can adjust operation of any of pre-processing devices 110, the extruder, or post-processing devices 115 to make sure that the food ingredient 135 is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters. Manchuliantsau further teaches (Paragraph 0050, 0052, 0064) a conveyor may convey the food ingredient from the extruder to the post-processing, wherein the post-processing may include baking.
Bufton teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0048-0051, 0054) a method for the manufacture of a food bar, wherein a foodstuff is extruded onto a moving deposit location, such as a conveyor belt to transport the food bar from the extrusion apparatus (piece forming device) for further processing such as baking. Bufton further teaches (Paragraph 0064) the speed of a conveyer belt should be measured as compared to the speed at which the foodstuff is being extruded, and the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to detect operational parameters including speed of the piece forming device (e.g. in addition to or as a substitute for detection of other operational parameters of the piece forming device disclosed above by Henson) with a sensor prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, obtain electronic data prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven of operational parameters including speed, and correlate the obtained data with other electronic data to generate the baking parameters in view of Manchuliantsau and Bufton, since each of Henson, Manchuliantsau, and Bufton is directed to an apparatus and method comprising a piece forming device depositing a food item onto a conveyor that conveys the food item to baking, since detecting the speed of a piece forming device prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into a baking device and controlling operations including baking based on the detected speed with a computing device (which requires obtaining electronic data) is known in the art as shown by Manchuliantsau, since the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together (Bufton, Paragraph 0064), since adjusting the operation of post-processing devices (baking device) with a computing device based on the conveying speed of the extruder will ensure that the food ingredient is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters including sterility and palatability (Manchuliantsau, Paragraph 0051), and since failing to account for operational parameters of the piece forming device when generating the baking parameters may lead to undesirable results in the appearance or quality of the dough pieces due to effects like bending resulting from the depositing speed of the piece forming device relative to the conveying speed through the tunnel oven.
Minvielle teaches detecting multiple physical parameters of dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions, and generating baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions. Specifically, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0002, 0141; Fig. 6 #510, 520, 540) systems and methods managing and using information regarding the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance, wherein a conditioner system 510 receives nutritional substance 520 for conditioning before it is delivered to consumer 540. Minvielle further teaches (Paragraph 0107, 0175; Fig. 6 #570) conditioning protocols include baking, and exemplary conditioning operations including baking bread dough into baked bread with a conditioner 570, which may be a convection oven. Also, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0022) information collected by sensors of, or sensors communicating with, a storage and conditioning appliance, can collect all types of physical attribute data of the nutritional substance by sensing a nutritional substance including size, shape, temperature, color, smell, weight data, among others (physical parameters of the nutritional substances/dough pieces). Additionally, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0180) sensors may detect parameters of the nutritional substances including weight, starting temperature, moisture, and color, and a controller may vary a recipe based on the sensed parameters. Furthermore, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0273) adapting a conditioning protocol 610 to factors including nutritional data, sensed attributes of a specific nutritional substance, and geographic location data (ambient environmental conditions) regarding the location of the food that can be used to determine the ambient pressure, elevation, humidity, or other location based factors that may be relevant to conditioning a nutritional substance 520 and changes in the resulting nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values from conditioning, wherein the data may be provided to controller 530. Additionally, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0266, 0275) controller 530 creates, or retrieves from the nutritional substance industry database, adaptive conditioning parameters that are responsive to: the nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic value information retrieved from the nutritional substance industry database using the nutritional substance attribute library including adjustments made as necessary for the sensor attribute data and the consumer input obtained through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, wherein these adaptive conditioning parameters, also referred to herein as adaptive preparation sequence, are then communicated to the consumer for implementation through the dynamic nutritional substance menu panel, or alternatively, automatically implemented by the controller, or adapted based on feedback from the attribute sensors 591 in the conditioner 57, and mathematical models may be developed based on experimental data for conditioning certain types of foods (i.e., a control model is generated based on correlating electronic data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to detect multiple physical parameters of the dough piece with the first sensor, obtain electronic data representing the ambient environmental conditions, and generate the first set of baking parameters using a control model based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions in view of Minvielle, since both are directed to treating food products including dough products with methods including baking by controlling the treatment process with a controller based on sensed physical parameters of the food items, since detecting multiple physical parameters of dough pieces, obtaining electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions, and generating baking parameters using a control model based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions is known in the art as shown by Minvielle, since certain climates may be more humid or certain geographic locations may have significantly different elevations that substantially affect cooking (Minvielle, Paragraph 0274), since some foods are harder to condition to perfection without sensing the attributes of the actual nutritional substance about to be conditioned (Minvielle, Paragraph 0275), since the location of the conditioner 570 may be utilized to determine the ambient pressure and other characteristics that are important to cooking times (Minvielle, Paragraph 0275), and since some dough pieces may initially differ in multiple physical parameters including moisture, color, temperature, etc. that will affect the resulting baked product if not accounted for.
It is noted that the first sensor detects both operational parameters of the piece forming device and physical parameters of the dough pieces. As shown above, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use sensors to detect both operation parameters of the piece forming device and physical parameters of the dough pieces, where such sensors would be positioned prior to the tunnel oven. Furthermore, making multiple sensors integral would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since the use of a one piece construction instead of the multiple sensors disclosed by the prior art would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice (See MPEP 2144.04 V. B).
Regarding claim 20, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 61-68) computer 104 is also arranged to control a panel 124 (where computers operate by transmitting signals) controlling the ingredients of the mix for the sponge, wherein the sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 (control of meters is understood to comprise control of operational parameters) to a mixer 126 and thence to a sponge depositer 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device) located adjacent the entrance to the oven.
While Henson is silent on operational parameters of the piece forming device comprising at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, pressure, die roll speed, die roll gap, or knife height of the piece forming device detected during operation of the piece forming device to form the dough pieces, as shown above with regard to claim 1, Manchuliantsau teaches (Paragraph 0007, 0051) systems and methods for system for upcycling solid food wastes and by-products into food-grade nutritional products, wherein a system 200 can include a computing device 120 and one or more sensors for controlling the operation of any or all devices used in system 200 (which would include the operational parameters of the piece forming device), and sensors can measure a conveying speed of the extruder (piece forming device), while computing device 120 can adjust operation of any of pre-processing devices 110, the extruder, or post-processing devices 115 to make sure that the food ingredient 135 is of predetermined quality or has predetermined parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson to control the operational parameters of the piece forming device including speed in view of Manchuliantsau since both Henson and Manchuliantsau teach methods for controlling operation parameters of piece forming devices for the reasons stated above with regard to claim 1 (e.g., since the relative motion between the deposit location and the extruded strands is significant, since strands moving more quickly than the surface is moving away from deposit location will bend and compact together) and since using a controller to control operations of the piece-forming device would provide convenience to users and prevent potential errors by human operators.
Claim(s) 2 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1), and further in view of Karwowski (US 20080003340 A1), Faa (US 20060003071 A1), and Addington (US 20050226984 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Henson, as modified above, is silent on the piece forming device including a kibbler, and wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the kibbler to control at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, and pressure of the kibbler.
Karwowski teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0063) production of composite food products, such as snacks and ready-to-eat cereals, wherein dough is passed through a kibbler prior to sheeting so as to eliminate lumps.
Faa teaches (Paragraph 0002, 0018) production of a low carbohydrate sheetable dough, wherein, following mixing, the dough is routed to a Kibbler device that breaks the dough into smaller dough pieces to facilitate sheeting.
Addington teaches (Paragraph 0008, 0030) a method and apparatus for making a snack food product comprising cutting character-shaped forms from a dual-sheeted dough, wherein a computer 20 sends electronic control signals to a cutter assembly 40 to control the rotational speed, position, and cutting pressure of the cylinder cut-outs against the dual-sheeted dough.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to configure the piece forming device to include a kibbler wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the kibbler to control at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, and pressure of the kibbler in view of Karwowski, Faa, and Addington, since each of Henson, Karwowski, Faa, and Addington are directed to dough processing devices, since treating dough with kibblers is known in the art from Karwowski and Faa, since dough shaping devices that have speed and pressure controlled by a controller is known in the art as shown by Addington, since passing dough through a kibbler eliminates lumps (Karwowski, Paragraph 0063), since a kibbler breaks the dough into smaller dough pieces to facilitate sheeting (Faa, Paragraph 0018), since controlling properties such as speed and pressure with the controller removes potential human error and provides convenience in operation, and since controlling speed and pressure can ensure that the dough has desired properties in size, shape, etc.
Regarding claim 16, Henson, as modified above, is silent on the piece forming device including a kibbler, and wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the kibbler to control at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, and pressure of the kibbler.
Karwowski teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0063) production of composite food products, such as snacks and ready-to-eat cereals, wherein dough is passed through a kibbler prior to sheeting so as to eliminate lumps.
Faa teaches (Paragraph 0002, 0018) production of a low carbohydrate sheetable dough, wherein, following mixing, the dough is routed to a Kibbler device that breaks the dough into smaller dough pieces to facilitate sheeting.
Addington teaches (Paragraph 0008, 0030) a method and apparatus for making a snack food product comprising cutting character-shaped forms from a dual-sheeted dough, wherein a computer 20 sends electronic control signals to a cutter assembly 40 to control the rotational speed, position, and cutting pressure of the cylinder cut-outs against the dual-sheeted dough.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to configure the piece forming device to include a kibbler wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the kibbler to control at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, and pressure of the kibbler in view of Karwowski, Faa, and Addington, since each of Henson, Karwowski, Faa, and Addington are directed to dough processing methods, since treating dough with kibblers is known in the art from Karwowski and Faa, since dough shaping devices that have speed and pressure controlled by a controller is known in the art as shown by Addington, since passing dough through a kibbler eliminates lumps (Karwowski, Paragraph 0063), since a kibbler breaks the dough into smaller dough pieces to facilitate sheeting (Faa, Paragraph 0018), since controlling properties such as speed and pressure with the controller removes potential human error and provides convenience in operation, and since controlling speed and pressure can ensure that the dough has desired properties in size, shape, etc.
Claim(s) 5 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1), and further in view of Rosenbrock (US 5253564 A).
Regarding claim 5, Henson, as modified above, is silent on the at least one section of the tunnel oven including at least one zone independently controllable by the controller.
Rosenbrock teaches (Claims 2-3) a control device for an oven having at least one cooking region, wherein said cooking region comprises a plurality of zones, and each of said zones has at least one respective zone heating means controllable independently of the other said zone heating means. Rosenbrock further teaches (Col. 1, lines 16-20) the invention relates to conveyor ovens, and more particularly to devices for regulating the temperature and product transport speed in the conveyor type ovens typically used in food service and food product manufacturing applications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above, to provide the at least one section of the tunnel oven with at least one zone independently controllable by the controller, as taught by Rosenbrock, since both are directed to conveyor ovens for heating food products, since providing at least one section of the oven with at least one zone independently controllable by the controller is known in the art as shown by Rosenbrock, since it may be desirable to cook the upper portion or surface of the product at a temperature different from that of the lower portion or surface (Rosenbrock, Col. 1, lines 28-30), since it may also be desirable to cook the product at different temperatures during portions of the cooking cycle (Rosenbrock, Col. 1, lines 30-32), since independently controllable zones provide greater control over the cooking process and the properties of the resulting baked product, and since operating zones at independently allows the temperature at which the product is heated to be adjusted without having to wait for a temperature increase or decrease in the entire section.
Regarding claim 19, Henson, as modified above, is silent on the at least one section of the tunnel oven including at least one zone independently controllable by the controller.
Rosenbrock teaches (Claims 2-3) a method of operating an oven using a control device for an oven having at least one cooking region, wherein said cooking region comprises a plurality of zones, and each of said zones has at least one respective zone heating means controllable independently of the other said zone heating means. Rosenbrock further teaches (Col. 1, lines 16-20) the invention relates to conveyor ovens, and more particularly to devices for regulating the temperature and product transport speed in the conveyor type ovens typically used in food service and food product manufacturing applications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above, to provide the at least one section of the tunnel oven with at least one zone independently controllable by the controller, as taught by Rosenbrock, since both are directed to methods of operating conveyor ovens for heating food products, since providing at least one section of the oven with at least one zone independently controllable by the controller is known in the art as shown by Rosenbrock, since it may be desirable to cook the upper portion or surface of the product at a temperature different from that of the lower portion or surface (Rosenbrock, Col. 1, lines 28-30), since it may also be desirable to cook the product at different temperatures during portions of the cooking cycle (Rosenbrock, Col. 1, lines 30-32), since independently controllable zones provide greater control over the cooking process and the properties of the resulting baked product, and since operating zones at independently allows the temperature at which the product is heated to be adjusted without having to wait for a temperature increase or decrease in the entire section.
Claim(s) 7-10, and 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1), and further in view of Dingman (US 20190128743 A1).
Regarding claim 7, as shown above, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-15; Col. 6, lines 13-15) a control system is provided for the oven which includes a computer 104 arranged to receive signals from sensing means, wherein in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Henson further teaches (Col. 6, lines 3-5) indicators may be associated with the control circuits to indicate the operating and desired (preset) values including moisture content and colour (electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (obtaining electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-4, 23-25; Col. 6, lines 10-15) computer 104 controls the humidity and temperature within the baking chamber (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven), the amount of turbulence or forced convection in the oven, and the time each portion of sponge spends in the oven, i.e., the oven-conveyor speed (first set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven) to maintain the moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll emerging from the oven (target parameters of the baked products), wherein sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer (electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and detected by the first sensor) so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Thus, Henson discloses that electronic data representing the parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device and detected by the first sensor, electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven, electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven, and electronic data representing the first set of baking parameters generated by the controller is passed to the computer control system, where it is well known that data passed to computers is stored at least temporarily.
Furthermore, as shown above, providing data for multiple physical parameters of the dough piece and data representing ambient environmental conditions to a control system is known in the art from Minvielle, and would be obvious to include with the apparatus of Henson for the reasons stated above with regard to claim 1.
Henson, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the above mention types of electric data are stored in an electronic database in communication with the controller.
Dingman teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #106, 108, 124) an intelligent oven wherein a parameter database 124 can be accessed by one or more input devices 108 via a direct connection and/or the one or more networks 104, wherein the parameter database 124 can comprise information relating to one or more bakes performed by the one or more ovens 106, wherein, associated with each identified bake, the parameter database can store baking parameters (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven and baking parameters), item parameters (parameters of the untreated food items), and/or product parameters (target parameters of the baked products), wherein, the term “baking parameter” can refer to one or more settings implemented by an oven 106 during a bake, including, but not limited to: temperature of the oven, duration of the bake, humidity of the oven during the bake, variations in temperature during the bake, whether a quenching process is conducted subsequent to the bake, material details regarding any subsequent quenching process (e.g., a type of coolant used), pressure, flow rate, one or more proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controls, a combination thereof, and/or the like., wherein the term “product parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item baked in accordance with one or more baking parameters, including, but not limited to: the final temperature of the item at the conclusion of the bake, the hardness of the item subsequent to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) subsequent to the bake, the amount of heat absorbed by the item during the bake, the rigidity of the item subsequent to the bake, the malleability of the item subsequent to the bake, the size of the item subsequent to the bake, the color of the item subsequent to the bake, the elasticity of the item subsequent to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like, and wherein, the term “item parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item to be baked by a subject oven 106, including, but not limited to: a temperature of the item prior to the bake, the hardness of the item prior to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) prior to the bake, the rigidity of the item prior to the bake, the malleability of the item prior to the bake, the size of the item prior to the bake, the color of the item prior to the bake, the elasticity of the item prior to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like. Dingman further teaches (Paragraph 0038; Fig. 1 #130) the one or more ovens 106 can comprise one or more controllers 130 that can receive baking parameters and/or item parameters from the one or more input devices 108 (the electronic database is in communication with the controller via the input device 108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to provide an electronic database in communication with the controller and configured to store electronic data including: the electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and detected by at least the first sensor; the electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven; the electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven; the electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions; and electronic data representing the first set of baking parameters generated by the controller in view of Dingman since both are directed to oven apparatuses for baking food products according to electronic data provided to controllers, since an electronic database in communication with a controller and configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing the parameters of the food; electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products; electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven; and electronic data representing baking parameters is known in the art as shown by Dingman, since the one or more controllers can adjust one or more settings of the oven in accordance with one or more received baking parameters and/or item parameters (Dingman, Paragraph 0038), thus ensuring improved baking and more accurate or desired results, and storing such data in an electronic database would allow for access in subsequent baking processes to ensure consistent quality, since data stored in the database can be used to determine if a food item has the same parameters as a food item previously baked, and, if so, the same baking parameters can be used without modification (Dingman, Paragraph 0045), providing convenience to the user by removing the need to determine and input settings for the oven, since recommendations for baking can be made based on data stored in the database (Dingman, Paragraph 0050), and since sensor measurements can be compared to stored database information to determine the identity of food items (Dingman, Paragraph 0058).
It is noted that Dingman does not explicitly mention storing ambient environmental conditions, however, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to also store such data in an electronic database in communication with the controller, since providing data regarding ambient environmental conditions to a controller is known in the art as shown above by Minvielle, and since such data would also be beneficial to access from a database for similar reasons to the data types disclosed above by Dingman, e.g., for determining the settings of the oven, for making recommendations for the baking process, etc.
Regarding claim 8, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-34) sensing means 105 for sensing the moisture content of the Swiss roll sponge at the discharge end of the oven and photoelectric cell 107 which is positioned adjacent the moisture content sensing means 105 and which is adapted to scan across the width of the conveyor band, wherein the photoelectric cell 107 is arranged to produce an output voltage which is dependent upon the colour of the baked Swiss rolls emerging from the oven and which is fed to the computer 104 (i.e., where color and moisture are physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven detected by sensing means 105 and 107 (second sensor)). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-20) computer 104 is arranged to receive signals from sensing means arranged to sense the final state or condition of the product (obtain electronic data representing the detected parameters associated the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor) and in turn signals if necessary for a change in the various operating conditions of the oven in order to ensure that as the strip or carpet leaves the oven it is the correct desired moisture content and colour (generate a second set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven predicted by the controller to cause the tunnel oven to produce, from the dough pieces inserted into the tunnel oven, the baked products with the target parameters). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 25-29) any slight changes (the detected physical parameters of the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven do not match the target parameters of the baked products) from the desired moisture content and colour (target parameters of the baked products) are rapidly and automatically corrected by an appropriate change in the supply of gas to the burners, speed of conveyor band, position of dampers or like adjustment (second set of baking parameters). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven (physical parameter of the dough pieces prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven) feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it (i.e., obtained electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, the target parameters of the baked products, and the settings and conditions of the tunnel oven are correlated to generate the first set of baking parameters). While Henson does not explicitly state that a control model is used, a computer control system that receives inputs and provides corresponding outputs necessarily uses a model (e.g., programmed control logic or mathematical formulae) to produce the outputs based on the inputs.
Henson only discloses generating the baking parameters based on one physical parameter of the dough piece prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven, rather than multiple parameters. Henson is further silent on generating the second set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson in view of Minvielle to generate the second set of baking parameters based on a control model correlating the above mentioned parameters with multiple physical parameters of the dough piece and ambient environmental conditions for substantially the same reasons stated for generating the first set of baking parameters as shown above with regard to claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-34) sensing means 105 for sensing the moisture content of the Swiss roll sponge at the discharge end of the oven and photoelectric cell 107 which is positioned adjacent the moisture content sensing means 105 and which is adapted to scan across the width of the conveyor band, wherein the photoelectric cell 107 is arranged to produce an output voltage which is dependent upon the colour of the baked Swiss rolls emerging from the oven and which is fed to the computer 104 (i.e., where color and moisture are parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven detected by sensing means 105 and 107 (second sensor)).
It is noted that Henson discloses two separate, adjacent sensors for detecting the parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven, rather than a single, integrated sensor. However, the use of a one piece construction instead of the structure disclosed in [the prior art] would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice (See MPEP 2144.04 V. B).
Regarding claim 10, as shown above with regard to claim 8, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-20) computer 104 is arranged to receive signals from sensing means arranged to sense the final state or condition of the product (obtain electronic data representing the detected physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor) and in turn signals if necessary for a change in the various operating conditions of the oven in order to ensure that as the strip or carpet leaves the oven it is the correct desired moisture content and colour (generate a second set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven predicted by the controller to cause the tunnel oven to produce, from the dough pieces inserted into the tunnel oven, the baked products with the target parameters).,
Henson, does not explicitly state that the electronic data representing the detected physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor; and electronic data representing the second set of baking parameters generated by the controller are stored in an electronic database in communication with the controller.
As stated above with regard to claim 7, Dingman teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #106, 108, 124) an intelligent oven wherein a parameter database 124 can be accessed by one or more input devices 108 via a direct connection and/or the one or more networks 104, wherein the parameter database 124 can comprise information relating to one or more bakes performed by the one or more ovens 106, wherein, associated with each identified bake, the parameter database can store baking parameters, and/or product parameters (parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the oven), wherein, the term “baking parameter” can refer to one or more settings implemented by an oven 106 during a bake, including, but not limited to: temperature of the oven, duration of the bake, humidity of the oven during the bake, variations in temperature during the bake, whether a quenching process is conducted subsequent to the bake, material details regarding any subsequent quenching process (e.g., a type of coolant used), pressure, flow rate, one or more proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controls, a combination thereof, and/or the like, and wherein the term “product parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item baked in accordance with one or more baking parameters, including, but not limited to: the final temperature of the item at the conclusion of the bake, the hardness of the item subsequent to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) subsequent to the bake, the amount of heat absorbed by the item during the bake, the rigidity of the item subsequent to the bake, the malleability of the item subsequent to the bake, the size of the item subsequent to the bake, the color of the item subsequent to the bake, the elasticity of the item subsequent to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like. Dingman further teaches (Paragraph 0038; Fig. 1 #130) the one or more ovens 106 can comprise one or more controllers 130 that can receive baking parameters and/or item parameters from the one or more input devices 108 (the electronic database is in communication with the controller via the input device 108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to provide an electronic database configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing the detected physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor; and electronic data representing the second set of baking parameters generated by the controller in view of Dingman since both are directed to oven apparatuses for baking food products according to electronic data provided to controllers, since an electronic database in communication with a controller and configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing parameters of the baked products and electronic data representing baking parameters is known in the art as shown by Dingman, since the one or more controllers can adjust one or more settings of the oven in accordance with one or more received baking parameters and/or item parameters (Dingman, Paragraph 0038), thus ensuring improved baking and more accurate or desired results, and storing such data in an electronic database would allow for access in subsequent baking processes to ensure consistent quality, since data stored in the database can be used to determine if a food item has the same parameters as a food item previously baked, and, if so, the same baking parameters can be used without modification (Dingman, Paragraph 0045), providing convenience to the user by removing the need to determine and input settings for the oven, since recommendations for baking can be made based on data stored in the database (Dingman, Paragraph 0050), and since sensor measurements can be compared to stored database information to determine the identity of food items (Dingman, Paragraph 0058).
Regarding claim 21, as shown above, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-15; Col. 6, lines 13-15) a control system is provided for the oven which includes a computer 104 arranged to receive signals from sensing means, wherein in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Henson further teaches (Col. 6, lines 3-5) indicators may be associated with the control circuits to indicate the operating and desired (preset) values including moisture content and colour (electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (obtaining electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 69-75; Col. 5, lines 1-4, 23-25; Col. 6, lines 10-15) computer 104 controls the humidity and temperature within the baking chamber (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven), the amount of turbulence or forced convection in the oven, and the time each portion of sponge spends in the oven, i.e., the oven-conveyor speed (first set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven) to maintain the moisture content and colour of the Swiss roll emerging from the oven (target parameters of the baked products), wherein sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer (electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and detected by at least the first sensor) so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it. Thus, Henson discloses that electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device and detected by at least the first sensor, electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven, electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven, and electronic data representing the first set of baking parameters generated by the controller is passed to the computer control system, where it is well known that data passed to computers is stored at least temporarily.
Furthermore, as shown above, providing data for multiple physical parameters of the dough piece and data representing ambient environmental conditions to a control system is known in the art from Minvielle, and would be obvious to include with the apparatus of Henson for the reasons stated above with regard to claim 1.
Henson, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the above mention types of electric data are stored in an electronic database in communication with the controller.
Dingman teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #106, 108, 124) an intelligent oven wherein a parameter database 124 can be accessed by one or more input devices 108 via a direct connection and/or the one or more networks 104, wherein the parameter database 124 can comprise information relating to one or more bakes performed by the one or more ovens 106, wherein, associated with each identified bake, the parameter database can store baking parameters (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven and baking parameters), item parameters (parameters of the untreated food items), and/or product parameters (target parameters of the baked products), wherein, the term “baking parameter” can refer to one or more settings implemented by an oven 106 during a bake, including, but not limited to: temperature of the oven, duration of the bake, humidity of the oven during the bake, variations in temperature during the bake, whether a quenching process is conducted subsequent to the bake, material details regarding any subsequent quenching process (e.g., a type of coolant used), pressure, flow rate, one or more proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controls, a combination thereof, and/or the like., wherein the term “product parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item baked in accordance with one or more baking parameters, including, but not limited to: the final temperature of the item at the conclusion of the bake, the hardness of the item subsequent to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) subsequent to the bake, the amount of heat absorbed by the item during the bake, the rigidity of the item subsequent to the bake, the malleability of the item subsequent to the bake, the size of the item subsequent to the bake, the color of the item subsequent to the bake, the elasticity of the item subsequent to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like, and wherein, the term “item parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item to be baked by a subject oven 106, including, but not limited to: a temperature of the item prior to the bake, the hardness of the item prior to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) prior to the bake, the rigidity of the item prior to the bake, the malleability of the item prior to the bake, the size of the item prior to the bake, the color of the item prior to the bake, the elasticity of the item prior to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like. Dingman further teaches (Paragraph 0038; Fig. 1 #130) the one or more ovens 106 can comprise one or more controllers 130 that can receive baking parameters and/or item parameters from the one or more input devices 108 (the electronic database is in communication with the controller via the input device 108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to provide an electronic database in communication with the controller and configured to store electronic data including: the electronic data representing the physical parameters of the dough pieces formed by the piece forming device prior to insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven and detected by at least the first sensor; the electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products to be manufactured from the dough pieces in the tunnel oven; electronic data representing ambient environmental conditions; the electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven; and electronic data representing the first set of baking parameters generated by the controller in view of Dingman since both are directed to methods for baking food products in oven apparatuses according to electronic data provided to controllers, since an electronic database in communication with a controller and configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing the parameters of the food; electronic data representing target parameters of the baked products; electronic data representing settings and conditions of the tunnel oven; and electronic data representing baking parameters is known in the art as shown by Dingman, since the one or more controllers can adjust one or more settings of the oven in accordance with one or more received baking parameters and/or item parameters (Dingman, Paragraph 0038), thus ensuring improved baking and more accurate or desired results, and storing such data in an electronic database would allow for access in subsequent baking processes to ensure consistent quality, since data stored in the database can be used to determine if a food item has the same parameters as a food item previously baked, and, if so, the same baking parameters can be used without modification (Dingman, Paragraph 0045), providing convenience to the user by removing the need to determine and input settings for the oven, since recommendations for baking can be made based on data stored in the database (Dingman, Paragraph 0050), and since sensor measurements can be compared to stored database information to determine the identity of food items (Dingman, Paragraph 0058).
It is noted that Dingman does not explicitly mention storing ambient environmental conditions, however, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to also store such data in an electronic database in communication with the controller, since providing data regarding ambient environmental conditions to a controller is known in the art as shown above by Minvielle, and since such data would also be beneficial to access from a database for similar reasons to the data types disclosed above by Dingman, e.g., for determining the settings of the oven, for making recommendations for the baking process, etc.
Regarding claim 22, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-34) sensing means 105 for sensing the moisture content of the Swiss roll sponge at the discharge end of the oven and photoelectric cell 107 which is positioned adjacent the moisture content sensing means 105 and which is adapted to scan across the width of the conveyor band, wherein the photoelectric cell 107 is arranged to produce an output voltage which is dependent upon the colour of the baked Swiss rolls emerging from the oven and which is fed to the computer 104 (i.e., where color and moisture are detected physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven detected by sensing means 105 and 107 (second sensor)). Henson further teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-20) computer 104 is arranged to receive signals from sensing means arranged to sense the final state or condition of the product (obtain electronic data representing the detected parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor) and in turn signals if necessary for a change in the various operating conditions of the oven in order to ensure that as the strip or carpet leaves the oven it is the correct desired moisture content and colour (generate a second set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven predicted by the controller to cause the tunnel oven to produce, from the dough pieces inserted into the tunnel oven, the baked products with the target parameters). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 25-29) any slight changes (the detected parameters of the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven do not match the target parameters of the baked products) from the desired moisture content and colour (target parameters of the baked products) are rapidly and automatically corrected by an appropriate change in the supply of gas to the burners, speed of conveyor band, position of dampers or like adjustment (second set of baking parameters). In addition, Henson teaches (Col. 4, line 34-37, 48-49; Fig. 6 #108, 114) humidity inside the oven is measured by a humidity indicator 108 which sends an output signal to the computer 104, and temperature sensitive elements 114 located in the oven are connected to the computer 104 (settings and conditions of the tunnel oven). Additionally, Henson teaches (Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven (physical parameter of the dough pieces prior to the insertion of the dough pieces into the tunnel oven) feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it (i.e., obtained electronic data representing the parameters of the dough pieces, the target parameters of the baked products, and the settings and conditions of the tunnel oven are correlated to generate the first set of baking parameters). While Henson does not explicitly state that a control model is used, a computer control system that receives inputs and provides corresponding outputs necessarily uses a model (e.g., programmed control logic or mathematical formulae) to produce the outputs based on the inputs.
Henson only discloses generating the baking parameters based on one physical parameter of the dough piece, rather than multiple physical parameters. Henson is further silent on generating the second set of baking parameters based on a correlation including the ambient environmental conditions.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson in view of Minvielle to generate the second set of baking parameters based on a control model correlating the above mentioned parameters with multiple physical parameters of the dough piece and ambient environmental conditions for substantially the same reasons stated for generating the first set of baking parameters as shown above with regard to claim 15.
Regarding claim 23, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 22-34) sensing means 105 for sensing the moisture content of the Swiss roll sponge at the discharge end of the oven and photoelectric cell 107 which is positioned adjacent the moisture content sensing means 105 and which is adapted to scan across the width of the conveyor band, wherein the photoelectric cell 107 is arranged to produce an output voltage which is dependent upon the colour of the baked Swiss rolls emerging from the oven and which is fed to the computer 104 (i.e., where color and moisture are parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven detected by sensing means 105 and 107 (second sensor)).
It is noted that Henson discloses two separate, adjacent sensors for detecting the parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven, rather than a single, integrated sensor. However, the use of a one piece construction instead of the structure disclosed in [the prior art] would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice (See MPEP 2144.04 V. B).
Regarding claim 24, as shown above with regard to claim 22, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 13-20) computer 104 is arranged to receive signals from sensing means arranged to sense the final state or condition of the product (obtain electronic data representing the physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor) and in turn signals if necessary for a change in the various operating conditions of the oven in order to ensure that as the strip or carpet leaves the oven it is the correct desired moisture content and colour (generate a second set of baking parameters of the tunnel oven predicted by the controller to cause the tunnel oven to produce, from the dough pieces inserted into the tunnel oven, the baked products with the target parameters).,
Henson, as modified above, does not explicitly state that the electronic data representing the detected physical parameters of the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor; and electronic data representing the second set of baking parameters generated by the controller are stored in an electronic database.
As stated above with regard to claim 21, Dingman teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #106, 108, 124) an intelligent oven wherein a parameter database 124 can be accessed by one or more input devices 108 via a direct connection and/or the one or more networks 104, wherein the parameter database 124 can comprise information relating to one or more bakes performed by the one or more ovens 106, wherein, associated with each identified bake, the parameter database can store baking parameters, and/or product parameters (parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the oven), wherein, the term “baking parameter” can refer to one or more settings implemented by an oven 106 during a bake, including, but not limited to: temperature of the oven, duration of the bake, humidity of the oven during the bake, variations in temperature during the bake, whether a quenching process is conducted subsequent to the bake, material details regarding any subsequent quenching process (e.g., a type of coolant used), pressure, flow rate, one or more proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controls, a combination thereof, and/or the like, and wherein the term “product parameter” can refer to one or more characteristics (e.g., physical and/or chemical properties) of an item baked in accordance with one or more baking parameters, including, but not limited to: the final temperature of the item at the conclusion of the bake, the hardness of the item subsequent to the bake, the composition of the item (e.g., the molecular alignment elements comprising the item) subsequent to the bake, the amount of heat absorbed by the item during the bake, the rigidity of the item subsequent to the bake, the malleability of the item subsequent to the bake, the size of the item subsequent to the bake, the color of the item subsequent to the bake, the elasticity of the item subsequent to the bake, a combination thereof, and/or the like. Dingman further teaches (Paragraph 0038; Fig. 1 #130) the one or more ovens 106 can comprise one or more controllers 130 that can receive baking parameters and/or item parameters from the one or more input devices 108 (the electronic database is in communication with the controller via the input device 108).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson, as modified above to provide an electronic database configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing the physical parameters associated with the baked products coming out of the tunnel oven and detected by the second sensor; and electronic data representing the second set of baking parameters generated by the controller in view of Dingman since both are directed to methods of operating oven apparatuses for baking food products according to electronic data provided to controllers, since an electronic database in communication with a controller and configured to store electronic data including: electronic data representing parameters of the baked products and electronic data representing baking parameters is known in the art as shown by Dingman, since the one or more controllers can adjust one or more settings of the oven in accordance with one or more received baking parameters and/or item parameters (Dingman, Paragraph 0038), thus ensuring improved baking and more accurate or desired results, and storing such data in an electronic database would allow for access in subsequent baking processes to ensure consistent quality, since data stored in the database can be used to determine if a food item has the same parameters as a food item previously baked, and, if so, the same baking parameters can be used without modification (Dingman, Paragraph 0045), providing convenience to the user by removing the need to determine and input settings for the oven, since recommendations for baking can be made based on data stored in the database (Dingman, Paragraph 0050), and since sensor measurements can be compared to stored database information to determine the identity of food items (Dingman, Paragraph 0058).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1), and further in view of Khalaf (US 20050260319 A1).
Regarding claim 11, as shown above, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 4-12, 65-68; Fig. 6 #101, 103, 124, 125, 126, 127) an embodiment of the invention wherein a sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 to a mixer 126 (where an unshaped mass of dough material in a mixer such as the sponge mix is understood to be a dough lump) and thence to a sponge depositor 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), wherein sponge depositor 127 deposits a portion of sponge (dough piece) as a continuous strip or carpet 102 (precursors of the baked products) adjacent the entrance to the oven.
Henson does not explicitly state that the piece forming device deposits the continuous mass via extrusion.
Khalaf teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0004) manufacture of baked dough products, wherein a quantity of dough (dough lump) is formed, the dough is extruded to form a thin ribbon (continuous mass), and the ribbon is passed through a heated chamber (tunnel oven) to cook it.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson as modified above to reshape the dough lumps into the dough pieces by extruding the dough lumps into a continuous mass as taught by Khalaf since both are directed to devices for shaping dough into a continuous mass which is passed through a tunnel oven, since reshaping the dough lumps into the dough pieces by extruding the dough lumps into a continuous mass is known in the art as shown by Khalaf, since the dough may be extruded as a thin ribbon (Khalaf, Paragraph 0004), i.e., extrusion can be used to control the thickness of the dough to produce a baked product with the desired thickness, since, if desired, a very wide strip may be produced (Khalaf, Paragraph 0008), i.e., extrusion can be used to control the width of the dough to produce a baked product with the desired width, and since extrusions as a continuous mass allows for continuous operation, increasing the production rate.
Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1) and Dingman (US 20190128743 A1), and further in view of Khalaf (US 20050260319 A1).
Regarding claim 25, as shown above, Henson teaches (Col. 4, lines 4-12, 65-68; Fig. 6 #101, 103, 124, 125, 126, 127) an embodiment of the invention wherein a sponge mix is prepared by feeding its ingredients through meters 125 controlled by panel 124 to a mixer 126 (where an unshaped mass of dough material in a mixer such as the sponge mix is understood to be a dough lump) and thence to a sponge depositor 127 (where the system comprising the meters, mixer, and depositor is understood to be a piece forming device), wherein sponge depositor 127 deposits a portion of sponge (dough piece) as a continuous strip or carpet 102 (precursors of the baked products) adjacent the entrance to the oven.
Henson does not explicitly state that the piece forming device deposits the continuous mass via extrusion.
Khalaf teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0004) manufacture of baked dough products, wherein a quantity of dough (dough lump) is formed, the dough is extruded to form a thin ribbon (continuous mass), and the ribbon is passed through a heated chamber (tunnel oven) to cook it.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Henson as modified above to reshape the dough lumps into the dough pieces by extruding the dough lumps into a continuous mass as taught by Khalaf since both are directed to methods of using devices for shaping dough into a continuous mass which is passed through a tunnel oven, since reshaping the dough lumps into the dough pieces by extruding the dough lumps into a continuous mass is known in the art as shown by Khalaf, since the dough may be extruded as a thin ribbon (Khalaf, Paragraph 0004), i.e., extrusion can be used to control the thickness of the dough to produce a baked product with the desired thickness, since, if desired, a very wide strip may be produced (Khalaf, Paragraph 0008), i.e., extrusion can be used to control the width of the dough to produce a baked product with the desired width, and since extrusions as a continuous mass allows for continuous operation, increasing the production rate.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see PAGES 10-15, filed 03/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 15 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, these arguments have been made in view of amendments to claims 1 and 15, and, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made over Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1), as shown above.
Regarding the Applicant’s argument that Henson's control scheme is fundamentally directed to feedback-based adjustment of oven operating conditions in response to sensed product characteristics, rather than predictive determination of oven parameters prior to baking, and Henson contains no disclosure or suggestion of generating oven control parameters based on upstream machine-level operational data, the Examiner notes, as shown above with regard to claims 1 and 15, that Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 20-22; Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it, and corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104. Thus, Henson discloses both that the computer compensates for changes based on measurements made prior to baking the dough pieces, and that changes to the operating conditions may be made simultaneously with others, thus indicating that generating the baking parameters based on a correlation of the obtained electronic data may occur prior to the baking of the dough pieces. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 37-40) continuously controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated product, and therefore, in a continuous process, the obtaining of electronic data and generation of baking parameters will necessarily occur before baking at least some of the dough pieces being continuously produced and baked.
In response to the Applicant’s argument that Henson does not provide any disclosure or suggestion of capturing, before the dough pieces are inserted into the oven and the dough pieces are baked, electronic data representing the operational parameters of the piece forming device itself such as "at least one of current, voltage, power, torque, speed, pressure, die roll speed, die roll gap, or knife height of the piece forming device detected during operation of the piece forming device to form the dough pieces" as recited in claim 1 for use in a calculation that determines what kind of control settings are to be applied to the oven during the baking process, the Examiner acknowledges that the previous rejection failed to address such limitations. However, these are arguments are made in view of amendments to claims 1 and 15, and are now addressed by Henson (US 3486694 A) in view of Manchuliantsau (US 20190183155 A1), Bufton (US 20130202773 A1), and Minvielle (US 20160350715 A1) as shown above.
Regarding the Applicant’s argument that Minvielle is not directed to baking process control, dough piece formation, or tunnel oven control, and is instead directed to consumer-oriented appliance metadata, and not reasonably pertinent to the problem addressed by the present application, which is predicting suitable oven parameters to achieve a target baked product from dough pieces using pre-baking-process dough piece forming data, and that the conditioning operations described in Minvielle relate to post-product-creation handling of nutritional substances and do not relate to a system that controls the oven parameters pre-baking, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. As shown above with regard to claims 1 and 15, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0107, 0175; Fig. 6 #570) conditioning protocols include baking, and exemplary conditioning operations including baking bread dough into baked bread with a conditioner 570, which may be a convection oven. Additionally, Minvielle teaches (Paragraph 0180) sensors may detect parameters of the nutritional substances including weight, starting temperature, moisture, and color, and a controller may vary a recipe based on the sensed parameters. Thus, in recipes for conditioning operations comprising baking, Minvielle controls the oven parameters pre-baking. Additionally, it has been held that a prior art reference must either be in the field of the inventor’s endeavor or, if not, then be reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the inventor was concerned, in order to be relied upon as a basis for rejection of the claimed invention. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 24 USPQ2d 1443 (Fed. Cir. 1992). In this case, both the claimed invention and Minvielle concern methods and apparatuses for cooking food products comprising collection and evaluation of detected parameters. Though the scale or configuration of the invention of Minvielle may not be strictly identical to that claimed by the Applicant, the Examiner maintains that Minvielle is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the inventor was concerned of controlling the operations of a cooking device based on detected parameters.
In response to the Applicant’s argument that the modification of Henson in view of Minvielle proposed in the Office Action attempts to replace Henson's reactive (i.e., post-baking) feedback oven settings control model, which is the fundamental principle of Henson's system, with Applicant's claimed predictive (i.e., pre-baking) upstream oven settings control model, which is a replacement that is not only disclosed or suggested in Henson or Minvielle but also requires substantial reconstruction and fundamentally alters Henson's stated principle of operation, the Examiner respectfully disagrees that a post-baking or feedback oven settings control mode is the fundamental principle of Henson's system, since, as shown above, Henson teaches (Col. 5, lines 20-22; Col. 6, lines 10-15) sensing means arranged to measure the moisture content of the strip or carpet of batter before it enters the oven feeds this information to the computer so that in the event of a change in the moisture content of the batter entering the oven the computer can signal for a suitable adjustment to compensate for it, and corrections to the operating conditions may take place simultaneously with others under the control of the computer 104. Thus, Henson discloses both that the computer compensates for changes based on measurements made prior to baking the dough pieces, and that changes to the operating conditions may be made simultaneously with others, thus indicating that generating the baking parameters based on a correlation of the obtained electronic data may occur prior to the baking of the dough pieces. Also, Henson teaches (Col. 1, lines 37-40) continuously controlling the treatment of a product passing through an oven, such as a baker's oven, in order to obtain desired characteristics of the treated product, and therefore, in a continuous process, the obtaining of electronic data and generation of baking parameters will necessarily occur before baking at least some of the dough pieces being continuously produced and baked.
Therefore, for the reasons stated above, claims 1, 15, and all depended claims remain rejected under 35 USC 103.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN P TAYLOR whose telephone number is (571)272-2652. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5pm.
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/AUSTIN PARKER TAYLOR/Examiner, Art Unit 1792
/VIREN A THAKUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1792
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