DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 7, 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ANTONPOULOS et al. (US 2020/0084838) in view of LI (WO 2016/202028).
Antonpoulos teaches an aerosol generating device comprising a main body (202) comprising a controller (212) and a battery (para. 0042); and a removable heater module (10) removably combined to the main body (see figures 1 and 4), configured to heat an aerosol generating article, and comprising a heater (14, 18) and a first memory (26), wherein the first memory stores heater module information about intrinsic properties of the removable heater module, the heater module information being obtained during a manufacturing process of the removable heater module (para. 0069), and wherein the controller is configured to obtain the heater module information from the first memory when the removable heater module is combined to the main body, determine a control condition corresponding to the removable heater module by using the obtained heater module information, and control the aerosol generating device based on the determined control condition (para. 0076). Antonpoulos teaches that the heater module further comprises a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the heater (para. 0045) and that the temperature sensor may be a thermistor (para. 0045).
Li teaches an aerosol generating device comprising a main body (8) comprising a controller (abstract) and a battery (translation page 9 “The charging circuit and the battery voltage”); and a heater module (figure 5) combined to the main body, configured to heat an aerosol generating article, and comprising a heater (6) and a memory (trans. page 10 “This circuit uses a micro-processing chip MCU with logic memory function”). Li teaches the heater module further comprises a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the heater (trans. page 6 “The use of small…”) and that the temperature sensor may be a thermistor (trans. page 6 “For example, using a PT100 platinum thermistor device”). Li teaches that thermistors need to be placed as close as possible to the heating body to more accurately and quickly sense the temperature of the heating body (trans. page 6 “The use of small…”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the thermistor of Antonpoulos would need to be placed on the removable heater module due to Li’s teaching that thermistors need to be placed as close as possible to the heating body.
Regarding claim 2, Antonpoulos teaches the control condition is a condition on which the heater included in the removable heater module performs a heating operation according to a preset temperature profile (para. 0022, 0076).
Regarding claim 3, Antonpoulos teaches the heater module information comprises a first heater parameter related to intrinsic properties of the heater, the control condition includes a voltage applied to the heater (para. 0022), and the controller is further configured to determine the voltage or the current applied to the heater based on a predetermined correlation between the first heater parameter and the voltage applied to the heater (para. 0007, 0022, 0035).
Regarding claim 6, Antonpoulos teaches the heater module information comprises a temperature sensor parameter related to intrinsic properties of the temperature sensor, and the controller is further configured to determine a calibration temperature to be used in control of the aerosol generating device by using the temperature sensor parameter and a measurement value representing the temperature of the heater measured by the temperature sensor (para. 0045).
Regarding claim 7, Antonpoulos is silent to calculating a compensation value (page 3).
Li teaches the controller is further configured to calculate a compensation value based on a temperature sensor parameter, calibrate the measurement value based on the compensation value, and determine the calibration temperature based on the calibrated measurement value (translation page 7 “Further, the step 1…”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller of Antonpoulos to include the compensation value of Li because Li teaches that this accounts for the temperature difference between the detection point temperature and the heating body itself (trans. page 7 “Further, the step 1…”).
Regarding claim 9, Antonpoulos teaches the removable heater module further comprises at least one first connection terminal (20) configured to, when combined to the main body, form an electrical connection between the heater and the battery and an electrical connection between the controller and the first memory (para. 0075), and the main body further comprises at least one second connection terminal (206, 208) corresponding to the first connection terminal, and is configured to apply a voltage or a current to the heater via the electrical connection between the heater and the battery and obtain the heater module information from the first memory via the electrical connection between the controller and the first memory (para. 0075-0076).
Regarding claim 10, figure 1 shows the first connection terminal (20) protrudes from an outer surface of the removable heater module, and figure 4 shows the second connection terminal (206, 208) protrudes from an outer surface of the main body so as to engage with the first connection terminal.
Regarding claim 11, Antonpoulos teaches the controller is further configured to, when the removable heater module is replaced by a new removable heater module, determine a new control condition by using new heater module information obtained from the new removable heater module, and control the aerosol generating device based on the new control condition such that the aerosol generating device continues to perform a same heating operation (para. 0041).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ANTONPOULOS et al. (US 2020/0084838) in view of LI (WO 2016/202028) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LEE et al. (US 2021/0219617).
Antonpoulos teaches an aerosol generating device comprising a main body (202) comprising a controller (212) and a battery (para. 0042); and a removable heater module (10) removably combined to the main body (see figures 1 and 4). Antonpoulos teaches that the heating element may be a resistive heating wire (para. 0034).
Lee teaches an aerosol generating device that can have a heating element that is either a resistive heater (para. 0045) or inductive heater (para. 0046). It would have been obvious to substitute the inductive heater of Lee for the resistive heater of Antonpoulos because Lee teaches that they are known equivalents for heating aerosol generating substrates (para. 0045-0046).
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches that the inductive heater comprises a coil configured to generate a magnetic field according to a voltage or a current provided by the battery (para. 0016), and a susceptor configured to generate heat according to the magnetic field (para. 0016). Lee teaches a control condition includes a frequency of a voltage or a current applied to the coil, and the controller is further configured to determine the frequency of the voltage or the current applied to the coil, based on the properties of the heating coil (para. 0097) which include an inductance value of the heater (para. 0092) and a resistance value of the heater (para. 0081).
Regarding claim 5, Antonpoulos teaches the main body further comprises a second memory storing a second heater parameter related to a circuit unit of the main body that is electrically connected to the heater when the main body is combined to the removable heater module (para. 0041), and the controller is further configured to determine the voltage or the current applied to the heater by using the second heater parameter and the first heater parameter (para. 0018).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ANTONPOULOS et al. (US 2020/0084838) in view of LI (WO 2016/202028) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BOWEN et al. (US 2018/0043114).
Antonpoulos teaches an aerosol generating device comprising a main body (202) comprising a controller (212) and a battery (para. 0042); and a removable heater module (10) removably combined to the main body (see figures 1 and 4).
Bowen teaches an aerosol generating device comprising a controller. Bowen teaches a temperature sensor parameter is determined based on a rate of change of a temperature of the heater measured by the temperature sensor while the heater is heated during the manufacturing process of the removable heater module (para. 011, 0103). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller Antonpoulos to control based on a rate of change of a temperature of the heater as taught by Bowen because Bowen teaches that this is a known control equivalent of controlling based on a target value (para. 0105) and Antonpoulos teaches controlling based on a target value (para. 0018).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 4. 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Antonpoulos does not teach or suggest that the temperature sensor is located on the removable heater module; however, Antonpoulos teaches that the temperature sensor may be a thermistor (para. 0045) and Li teaches that thermistors need to be placed as close as possible to the heating body to more accurately and quickly sense the temperature of the heating body (trans. page 6 “The use of small…”), therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the thermistor of Antonpoulos would need to be located on the removable heater module.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/CYNTHIA SZEWCZYK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1741
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