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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2019-0020140, filed on 02/20/2019.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 3, last two lines; and claim 12, Para. 2, “indicia are configured to visually indentify”, the word “indentify” is misspelled and should be “identify”.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Dickson discloses a steam cooker assembly for cooking food products with steam (Page 2, left section, Para. 2, “an efficient and serviceable steamer for rendering bread rolls more palatable”), said assembly comprising:
a cooking pot having a cooking chamber (Page 2, right section, Para. 3, “22 is .a container of cylindrical shape and smaller diameter than the shell 13. The container is positioned centrally within the body 10 and has its top on a level with the top thereof. The container has a floor 23 spaced from the shell bottom 14”) being positioned above a fluid reservoir thereby facilitating steam (Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water…upon being heated generates steam which rises and fills the space above the water”) from a boiling fluid in said fluid reservoir to pass upwardly through said cooking chamber when said cooking pot is placed on a heat source (Page 2, left section, last Para., “the reference numeral l0 generally indicates the body of the device which is of cylindrical shape and has a flat 40 bottom 11 for resting on a heater.”);
a lid being positionable on said cooking pot for closing said cooking pot wherein said lid is configured to retain the steam within said cooking pot (Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body.”);
a fill pipe being attached to said cooking pot such that said fill pipe is in fluid communication with said fluid reservoir thereby facilitating fluid to be added to said fluid reservoir without removing said lid from said cooking pot (Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water which is admitted through the inlet 19”, where the inlet 19 is the fill pipe that bypasses the lid to fill the boiler with water); and
a basket being positionable within said cooking pot, said basket being foraminous thereby facilitating the steam from the boiling fluid to pass through said basket (Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “27 is a receptacle shown in the form of a reticulate basket such as wire mesh. This basket is of slightly smaller size than the container a lid is fitted therein supported on legs 28.”).
Dickson does not disclose:
a plurality of clamps, each of said clamps being movably attached to said cooking pot, each of said clamps releasably engaging said lid when said lid is positioned on said cooking pot and said clamps are positioned in a closed condition for retaining said lid on said cooking pot;
a pair of handles, each of said handles being attached to and angling away from said cooking pot;
a plurality of steam tubes, each of said steam tubes being positionable in said basket when said basket is positioned in said cooking pot thereby facilitating the steam from the boiling fluid to rise upwardly through said steam tubes, each of said steam tubes being perforated thereby facilitating the steam to pass through said steam tubes wherein said steam tubes are configured to evenly distribute the steam within said cooking pot; and
a plurality of disks, each of said steam tubes being extendable through said disks thereby facilitating each of said disks to support a food item to cook the food item with the steam, each of said disks being perforated thereby facilitating the steam to pass through said disks.
However, Oyama discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Abstract, “a steam rice cooker and a steam steamer”), where a plurality of clamps are movably attached to the cooking pot to engage with the lid and where the clamps retain the lid in position (Page 2, Para. 3, “After placing the outer lid body 22 with the inner lid body 16 continuously provided on the upper surface of the rice cooker body in such a state, the left and right clamps 6 and 6 of the pot device body 1 are placed on the outer lid body. The left and right protruding plates 24, 24 are hooked to bring the entire vessel into close contact.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the lid and cooking pot body in Dickson to include the clamps as taught by Oyama.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to secure the lid to the body, where close contact can be maintained, as stated by Oyama, Page 2, Para. 3, “the left and right clamps 6 and 6 of the pot device body 1 are placed on the outer lid body. The left and right protruding plates 24, 24 are hooked to bring the entire vessel into close contact.”.
Further, Branson discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Abstract, “apparatus and method of steaming food products”), where a pair of handles are attached to a cooking pot and angled away from the cooking pot (Modified Fig. 1, where the handles are shown), where a plurality of steam tubes allow for steam to travel through the tubes and are perforated to distribute steam throughout the cooking pot (Para. 0030, “As can be seen, vents 114 can be provided at different horizontal levels throughout the conduit 14 for transporting steam, in order to distribute the steam throughout the vessel, which can result is less the time to steam the tamales.”), and where a plurality of disks include the steam tube extending through the disks and where each disk is perforated and supports a food item to be cooked (Para. 0020, “the inset 10 preferably includes at least one perforated rack 24 capable of supporting food (not shown) to be steamed thereon. The rack 24 extends radially from the axis 16 of the conduit 14”; where the disk and tube features are shown in modified Fig. 13, where the tube is a physical barrier that can assist with supporting food items). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the basket and cooking pot in modified Dickson to include the tubes, disks, and handles as taught by Branson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of the steam tubes allowing for distribution of steam, which can speed up time required to cook the food items, as stated by Branson, Para. 0030, “As can be seen, vents 114 can be provided at different horizontal levels throughout the conduit 14 for transporting steam, in order to distribute the steam throughout the vessel, which can result is less the time to steam the tamales.”, where the disks allow for a user customized experience in determining how many sections of food items should be supported, Para. 0020, “inset 10 preferably includes at least one perforated rack 24 capable of supporting food (not shown) to be steamed thereon.”, and where handles are known in the prior art to allow for a user to have an easier time transporting the entire device.
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Modified Figure 1, Branson
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Modified Figure 13, Branson
Regarding claim 2, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein said cooking pot has a basal wall and an outer wall extending upwardly from said basal wall (Dickson, Page 2, left section, last Para., “reference numeral 10 generally indicates the body of the device which is of cylindrical shape and has a flat bottom 11 for resting on a heater”, where the body of the device is the outer wall that extends from basal wall or the flat bottom 11),
said outer wall having a top edge defining an opening into said cooking pot (Dickson, Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body”, where the area inward the beading is the top edge of the outer wall),
said outer wall having a crease extending around a full circumference of said outer wall thereby defining said fluid reservoir below said crease and defining said cooking chamber above said crease, said crease being positioned closer to said basal wall than said top edge (Dickson, Page 2, left section, last Para., “13 is a shell of smaller girth than the body 10 and located therein. This shell has a bottom 14 spaced from the body bottom 11.”, where the shell 13 is connected to the outer wall and construed as the crease, where the this shell defines the cooking chamber above and fluid reservoir below, where the shell is closer to the bottom wall than the top edge),
said cooking pot being comprised of a thermally conductive material thereby facilitating said cooking pot to be heated by the heat source for boiling the fluid in said fluid reservoir (Dickson, Page 2, left section, Para. 4, “a portable steamer that may be heated by any heat source -electric, gas, coal-oil stove et cetera”, where this means that the cooking pot must be thermally conductive in order to allow for steam to be produced through heating),
said outer wall having a bend extending around a full circumference of said outer wall to define a lip extending laterally away from said outer wall, said bend being spaced from said top edge (Dickson, Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body”).
Regarding claim 4, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above, discloses wherein: said outer wall has a fill opening extending into said fluid reservoir (Dickson, Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water which is admitted through the inlet 19”, and Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 is shown to extend out of the outer wall through an opening, where that opening is construed as the fill opening),
said fill opening being positioned between said crease and said basal wall wherein said fill opening is configured to facilitate said fluid reservoir to be filled with the fluid (Dickson, Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 and fill opening that receives the inlet 19 are shown to be between the crease or shell 13 and the basal wall or bottom wall 11); and
said fill pipe has a coupled end being coupled to said outer wall of said cooking pot having said coupled end being aligned with said fill opening (Dickson, Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 is the fill pipe and where the opening in the outer wall that receives the inlet is construed as the fill opening, where the fill pipe and fill opening are coupled and aligned), said fill pipe having a bend being spaced from said outer wall to define an upright section of said fill pipe extending upwardly along said outer wall (Dickson, Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 bends upwards along the outer wall).
Claims 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Dumoux et al. (KR 20040074923 A, hereinafter Dumoux).
Regarding claim 3, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
wherein said cooking pot has a viewing window being integrated into said outer wall, said viewing window being aligned with said fluid reservoir thereby facilitating a fluid level in said fluid reservoir to be visually identified, said viewing window having indicia being applied to said viewing window comprising a fill line extending laterally across said viewing window wherein said indicia are configured to visually indentify when fluid needs to be added to said fluid reservoir.
However, Dumoux discloses, in the similar field of steamers (Page 1, Para. 2, “The present invention particularly relates to a steam steamer, but is not limited thereto.”), where the body of the steamer includes a viewing window integrated into the outer wall and aligned with the fluid reservoir to facilitate a fluid level of the reservoir to be visually identified (Abstract, “The base includes a transparent or semi-transparent window(10) connected with the water reservoir. The window is placed in a recess(9) formed in the base. The window is lighted by the guide lamp.”, and Page 2, Para. 4 from end, “This surface condition can be obtained, in particular, by polishing the surface corresponding to the surface in a mold used for producing the part forming the water reservoir. This configuration makes it easy to detect the level of water.”), where the viewing window includes indicia comprising a fill line extending laterally across the window to visually identify when fluid needs to be added to the fluid reservoir (Page 3, Para. 5 from end, “A maximum amount indicator line 40 is formed on top of the water level indicator surface 38.”, where max fill line is shown in Fig. 1 as extending laterally across the window, where the max fill line lets a user visually see when the water level is below the max fill line and where this could mean that fluid needs to be added). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cooking pot outer wall in modified Dickson to include the window with fill line as taught by Dumoux.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing a user to know what the water level is within the water reservoir without needing to take the system apart, which can reduce the amount of disturbance does to the contents within, as stated by Dumoux, Page 3, Para. 1, “It is particularly desirable to use water level indicating means so that the user can fill the water reservoir with no need to separate the device elements placed on top of the water reservoir.”.
Claims 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Graus (US 20040079755 A1) and Chang (US 5329919 A1).
Regarding claim 5, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
wherein said lid has a raised ring lying on a plane being oriented parallel with a middle of said lid, said raised ring resting on said lip defined in said outer wall of said cooking pot when said lid is positioned on said cooking pot,
said lid having a pair of steam openings each extending through said middle of said lid wherein each of said steam openings is configured to pass steam outwardly through said lid,
each of said steam openings being elongated and being structured to be co-arcuate with a threshold between said middle of said lid and said raised ring.
However, Graus discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Para. 0001, “cookware, and for the controlled release of steam”), where the lid has a raised ring in a plane oriented parallel with the middle of the lid that engages the outer wall (Para. 0042, “an edge 342 of a multi-functional cookware lid 340 drapes over and embraces a cookware lip 346”), where the lid has steam openings extending through the middle of the lid and configured to pass steam outwardly through the lid (Para. 0036, “The perforated segment 116 features a series of holes for releasing heat and moisture.”, and Claim 1, “the opening through the stationary disc element and steam release through the lid can be achieved, without removing the lid”, and Fig. 2, where the steam openings 116 are shown to extend through the middle of the lid), where the steam openings are co-arcuate with a threshold between the middle of the lid and the raised ring (Para. 0039, “Still a further embodiment is where the combined arcuate expanses of the open 112 and perforated 116 segments of the upper disc portion”, and Fig. 2, where the steam openings 116 are located between the middle and raised ring of the lid). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the lid and beaded lip of the outer wall in modified Dickson to include the features as taught by Graus, where the raised ring of the lid from Graus would be placed on the beaded lip of Dickson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the raised ring of the lid to keep the lid laterally secure, as stated by Graus, Para. 0041, “a multifunctional cookware lid 320 rests on a stepped cookware lip 326. A lower portion 324 of the cookware lid 320 extends radially beyond an upper portion 328 of the cookware lid 320, and rests on the step of the cookware lip 326 so that the lid 320 will again be laterally secure.”, and where the steam openings allow for steam to be released without needing to open the lid, Claim 1, “the opening through the stationary disc element and steam release through the lid can be achieved, without removing the lid”.
Further, Chang discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Section 3, lines 25-26, “its holding space for holding a steamer), where there are openings on the lid that are elongated (Modified Fig. 2, where the elongated openings are shown). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the steam openings in modified Dickson to include the elongated feature as taught by Chang.
Regarding the shape of the steam opening, it has been held that mere changes in shape are obvious modifications to make. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966). It is the Examiner’s position that a circular and elongated steam opening both achieve the same end result of releasing steam through the lid without needing to lift the lid, where a specific shape has it’s own advantages and disadvantages that could be leveraged by a user depending on their design needs. As a result, the elongated shape would be a mere matter changing the shape of the opening and be a mere user design choice.
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Modified Figure 2, Chang
Claims 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Graus (US 20040079755 A1) and Chang (US 5329919 A1) and Ross (US 20140234470 A1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 5, as set forth above, discloses wherein each of said clamps includes a lever being pivotally disposed on said outer wall of said cooking pot at a point spaced downwardly from said lip (Teaching from Oyama, Page 2, Para. 3, “After placing the outer lid body 22 with the inner lid body 16 continuously provided on the upper surface of the rice cooker body in such a state, the left and right clamps 6 and 6 of the pot device body 1 are placed on the outer lid body. The left and right protruding plates 24, 24 are hooked to bring the entire vessel into close contact.”, where the clamps are shown in Fig. 3 as being able to move from horizontal to vertical, where this movement is created by a lever engaged to the outer wall of the cooking pot below the top of the outer wall where the lip would be).
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
each of said clamps including a grapple being pivotally attached to said lever which includes a first member extending upwardly from said lever and a second member being perpendicularly oriented with said first member and a third member angling downwardly from said second member such that said second member extends over said raised ring on said lid having said third member extending downwardly to abut said middle of said lid when said grapple is positioned in a gripping position, said grapple being urged downwardly when said lever is pivoted into a clamping position thereby compressing said lid onto said cooking pot, said grapple being released from said lid when said lever is pivoted in a releasing position thereby facilitating said lid to be removed from said cooking pot.
However, Ross discloses, in the similar field of cooking devices (Para. 0002, “an apparatus for a patty maker.”), where a clamp includes a grapple that is pivotally attached to a lever and includes a first member extending upwards, a second member perpendicular to the first member to extend over a raised section, and a third member angled downward to abut a lower section of the lid when in a gripping position (Modified Fig. 2.1, where the clamp is shown to be made of a grapple and lever, where the grapple’s first, second, and third members are shown), where the grapple is urged downwardly when the lever is pivoted into a clamping position which compresses the lid onto the cooking pot (Para. 0029, “Since the second end 32 of the locking latch 29 is engaged with the locking support 13 and the first end 31 of the locking latch 29 is pivotally connected with the locking lever 30, the locking latch 29 pulls the container top 1 in the downward direction along with the locking lever 30. When the locking lever 30 is adjacently positioned with the lateral wall 42, the present invention considered to be in the closed position.”), and where the grapple is released when the lever is pivoted into a releasing position (Para. 0029, “When the present invention is at the opened configuration, the locking lever 30 and the locking latch 29 are positioned away from the locking support 13”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the clamp in modified Dickson to include the features as taught by Ross.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to achieve the necessary compressive force to close the lid to the pot, where this compressive force can be beneficial in allowing for a seal to be made in modified Dickson, as stated by Ross, Para. 0026, “Generally, the locking lever 30 and the locking latch 29 engage with the locking support 13 in order to provide necessary compressive force into the portion of materials so that the patty can be produced within the present invention.”.
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Modified Figure 2.1, Ross
Claims 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Graus (US 20040079755 A1) and Chang (US 5329919 A1) and Barreto et al. (US 20150329250 A1, hereinafter Barreto).
Regarding claim 7, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 5, as set forth above.
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
further comprising a pair of closures, each of said closures being slidably integrated into said lid, each of said closures being aligned with a respective one of said steam openings in said lid, each of said closures being positionable to cover an adjustable length of said respective steam opening wherein each of said closures is configured to adjust the amount of steam that is released from said respective steam opening, each of said closures having a tab extending upwardly out of said respective steam opening thereby facilitating said tab to be gripped for manipulating said closures.
However, Graus discloses where a closure is slidably integrated into the lid and aligned with the steam openings on the lid (Para. 0036, “The closed segment 114 is a covering that is preferably greater than 180 degrees, in arcuate expanse, and is greater than the open segment 122 of the lower disc portion 106, allowing the multi-functional cookware lid 100 to be used as a conventional closed cookware lid.”), where closures are positionable to cover an adjustable length of the steam openings to adjust the amount of steam released from the steam openings (Para. 0036, “The perforated segment 116 features a series of holes for releasing heat and moisture.”, and Para. 0034, “A rotation member 108 allows a user of the cookware lid 100 to safely rotate the upper disc portion 102 relative to the lower disc portion 106.”, where rotation of the closure can be controlled over the entire 360 degree range, where a user could then control how many of the steam openings are exposed). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the lid in modified Dickson to include the closure as taught by Graus.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of the closure allowing for the steam cooker lid to be used as a conventional closed cooker lid and to also be used as a lid that can release steam, as stated by Graus, Para. 0036, “The closed segment 114 is a covering that is preferably greater than 180 degrees, in arcuate expanse, and is greater than the open segment 122 of the lower disc portion 106, allowing the multi-functional cookware lid 100 to be used as a conventional closed cookware lid.”.
Regarding there being a pair of closures, it has been held that mere duplication of parts is an obvious modification to make. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). It is the Examiner’s position that having two closures would still achieve the same end result of being able to open and close the steam openings. As a result, the amount of closures on the lid would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Further, Barreto discloses, in the similar field of lids with openings (Abstract, “When the cover member is in the open position it exposes the opening”), where a closure can be slidable through the use of a tab (Para. 0029, “In order to facilitate the sliding action of the cover member with respect to the base member, the cover member includes a plurality of arcuate ribs 84 projecting slightly upward from its top surface”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the closure in modified Dickson to include the ribs or tabs as taught by Barreto.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the ribs/tabs to assist with the sliding movement of the closure, where depending on a user’s design choices the tabs can then replace the rotation member from Graus, as stated by Barreto, Para. 0029, “In order to facilitate the sliding action of the cover member with respect to the base member, the cover member includes a plurality of arcuate ribs 84 projecting slightly upward from its top surface”.
Claims 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Kounlavong et al. (US 20140227401 A1, hereinafter Kounlavong).
Regarding claim 8, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
further comprising a temperature gauge being attached to said outer wall of said cooking pot, said temperature gauge having a temperature probe extending through said outer wall such that said temperature probe is in thermal communication with an interior of said cooking pot, said temperature gauge including an indicator being in communication with said temperature probe such that said indicator visually communicates the temperature sensed by said temperature probe, said temperature gauge having temperature indicia being applied to a front face of said temperature gauge comprising a graduated scale for indicating the temperature sensed by said temperature probe in degrees.
However, Kounlavong discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Para. 0006, “The vent may release steam or vapor when the pressure inside the cooking vessel”), where a temperature gauge is attached to the outer wall (Para. 0008, “The capillary thermometer may be connected to a graphic offset display positioned in the control panel on the outside of the slow cooker housing.”), where a temperature probe extends through the outer wall into the interior (Para. 0007, “The capillary thermometer measures the actual temperature of the outer wall of the cooking vessel and uses an established correlation to estimate and display the approximate temperature of the food items inside the cooking vessel.”), where the temperature gauge is connected to the temperature probe and includes an indicator that indicates the temperature sensed (Para. 0031, “The expanding and contracting fluid within the capillary thermometer causes the fluid in the tube 110 to flow back and forth inside the tube and as it does so the fluid urges against a spring-biased dial indicator 55 associated with food temperature display 54 so as to cause the dial indicator 55 to rotate to a color degradation or other scale parameter corresponding to at least an approximate temperature of the food product within the cooking vessel 16. This enables a user to at least visually determine what the approximate temperature of the food product is at all times”), where there are temperature indicia comprises a graduated scale applied to the temperature gauge for indicating the temperature sensed by the probe in degrees (Para. 0031, “food temperature display 54 so as to cause the dial indicator 55 to rotate to a color degradation or other scale parameter corresponding to at least an approximate temperature of the food product within the cooking vessel 16”, where the other scale parameter can be temperature scales known in the prior art like Celsius and Fahrenheit, where these scales are graduated and measured in degrees). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the outer wall of modified Dickson to include the temperature gauge and probe within as taught by Kounlavong.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing a user to be able to determine the temperature within the steamer without needing to open the lid or use additional tools, where the temperature gauge improves the ease of use of the system through allowing a user to visually see what the current temperature is at all times, as stated by Kounlavong, Para. 0004, “There is also a need for a slow cooker that incorporates a heat sensor and/or thermometer combined with a visual/graphic indicator which will allow a user to monitor the temperature of the food product inside the cooking vessel after cooking and while the food product is being served.”.
Claims 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) in further view of Griffin (US 20200359823 A1).
Regarding claim 9, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above, discloses wherein: said basket has a bottom wall and an exterior wall extending upwardly from said bottom wall, each of said bottom wall and said exterior wall being perforated with a plurality of holes thereby facilitating said basket to be foraminous (Dickson, Fig. 2, where the basket is shown to have a bottom wall and an exterior wall, where both walls are perforated; Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “27 is a receptacle shown in the: form of a reticulate basket such as wire mesh.”), said bottom wall resting on a top wall of said crease when said basket is positioned within said cooking pot such that said basket is positioned in said cooking chamber in said cooking pot (Dickson, Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “This basket is of slightly smaller size than the container and is fitted therein supported on legs 28.”, and Fig. 2, where the basket bottom wall is located on top of the crease so that it is positioned within the cooking chamber).
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
and said assembly includes a wire being curved between a first end and a second end of said wire, each of said first end and said second end pivotally engaging said exterior wall of said basket thereby facilitating said wire to be gripped for lifting or lowering said basket into or out of said cooking pot.
However, Griffin discloses, in the similar field of steam cookers (Abstract, “A steam cooking apparatus”), where the basket includes a curved wire that pivotally engages the exterior wall of the basket to allow the basket to be lifted or lowered (Para. 0055, “An attached or unattached handle 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 12, 13, and is used in conjunction with the lifting hooks 9 to lift the insert basket 4 out of the pot 1.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the basket in modified Dickson to include the wire handle as taught by Griffin.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to lift the basket, where a handle can be detached and allow a user to customize when they want the wire handle to be present, as stated by Griffin, Para. 0055, “An attached or unattached handle 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 12, 13, and is used in conjunction with the lifting hooks 9 to lift the insert basket 4 out of the pot 1.”.
Regarding claim 10, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, as set forth above, discloses wherein each of said steam tubes has a lower end, an upper end and an exterior wall extending between said lower end and said upper end, each of said steam tubes having a plurality of vents each extending through said exterior wall of said steam tubes (Teaching from Branson, Para. 0030, “As can be seen, vents 114 can be provided at different horizontal levels throughout the conduit 14 for transporting steam, in order to distribute the steam throughout the vessel, which can result is less the time to steam the tamales.”, ad modified Fig. 13, where the steam tube is shown to have a lower end, upper end, and exterior wall between the lower and upper end that includes the vents 114),
said vents in each of said steam tubes being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said lower end and said upper end of said steam tubes (Teaching from Branson, Para. 0030, “As can be seen, vents 114 can be provided at different horizontal levels throughout the conduit 14 for transporting steam, in order to distribute the steam throughout the vessel, which can result is less the time to steam the tamales.”),
said lower end of each of said steam tubes resting on said bottom wall of said basket when said steam tubes are positioned in said basket (Teaching from Branson, modified Fig. 13, where the steam tubes lower end is positioned resting on the bottom wall of the container; where in the combined system of modified Dickson, the container would be the basket for cooking and it would contain the steam tubes from Branson; regarding the feature of multiple steam tubes, it has been held that mere duplication of parts is an obvious modification to make. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). It is the Examiner’s position that duplicating the steam tube structure so that multiple steam tubes are resting on the bottom wall would still achieve the same end result of delivering steam throughout the container. As a result, the use of multiple steam tubes would be a mere matter of user design choice in choosing how many tubes are desired).
Regarding claim 11, modified Dickson teaches the apparatus according to claim 10, as set forth above, discloses wherein: each of said disks has an upper surface and a lower surface, each of said disks having a plurality of steam tube holes each extending through said upper surface and said lower surface thereby facilitating each of said steam tubes to be extended through a respective one of said steam tube holes (Teaching from Branson, Para. 0020, “the inset 10 preferably includes at least one perforated rack 24 capable of supporting food (not shown) to be steamed thereon. The rack 24 extends radially from the axis 16 of the conduit 14”; where the disk and tube features are shown in modified Fig. 13, where the tube is a physical barrier that can assist with supporting food items, and where the rack includes an upper and lower surface with a steam hole that contains the conduit 14 or steam tube; regarding the feature of multiple steam tubes with multiple steam holes in the disks, it has been held that mere duplication of parts is an obvious modification to make. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). It is the Examiner’s position that duplicating the steam tube and steam hole structure so that multiple steam tubes are resting on the bottom wall would still achieve the same end result of delivering steam throughout the container. As a result, the use of multiple steam tubes would be a mere matter of user design choice in choosing how many tubes are desired).
Modified Dickson does not disclose:
said steam tube holes in each of said disks being spaced apart from each other and being distributed around a center of a respective one of said disks; and
each of disks has a plurality of steam holes each extending through said upper surface and said lower surface, said steam holes in each of said disks being arranged in a plurality of sets of steam holes, each of said sets is steam holes in a respective one of said disks being positioned adjacent to a perimeter edge of said respective disk, said plurality of sets of steam holes in said respective disk being spaced apart from each other and being distributed around said perimeter edge of said respective disk.
However, Branson discloses where there are multiple steam tube holes in the disks that are spaced apart from each other and where the steam tube holes extend through the upper and lower surface of the disks (Modified Fig. 11, where the multiple spaced apart steam tube holes are shown that contain a steam tube within), where each disk has steam holes distributed around the perimeter of the disk (Para. 0020, “the inset 10 preferably includes at least one perforated rack 24”, where the perforations 24 are shown to be in a pattern distributed around the perimeter in modified Fig. 11). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the steam tube and hole in modified Dickson to have multiple steam tubes and holes as taught by Branson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of using other steam tubes for additional purposes, such as providing a water fill level indicator, where a user could use multiple steam tubes to gain access to additional features if needed, as stated by Branson, Para. 0028, “The bobber is provided in a shaft 56, such that a float bulb 52 can rise or fall with the water level, and a user can determine visually determine whether the water level in the bottom of the reservoir is at an appropriate level, i.e., enough water to steam, but not too much water to rise to the level of the perforated rack 24 while cooking”, and where the perforations allow for steam to pass through the disk and to the food, Para. 0004, “a perforate rack capable of supporting the food thereon during steaming.”.
Regarding the pattern of steam holes with tubes within the disk being distributed around a center and the pattern of steam holes being arranged in a set, it has been held that mere duplication of parts is an obvious modification to make. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). It is the Examiner’s position that the steam tube holes support a steam tube and the steam holes support letting steam travel through the disk, where duplicating these features would still allow for steam tubes to be supported and steam to travel through the disk. As a result, the specific arrangement of these holes would be a mere matter of user design choice.
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Modified Figure 11, Branson
It should be noted that claim 12 is essentially the combination of claims 1-11 and has been rejected using the same prior art references and rationale from claims 1-11.
Claims 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over J.B. Dickson et al. (US 1719322 A, hereinafter Dickson) in view of Oyama (JP 201125518 A1) and Branson (US 20110083563 A1) and Dumoux et al. (KR 20040074923 A, hereinafter Dumoux) and Graus (US 20040079755 A1) and Chang (US 5329919 A1) and Ross (US 20140234470 A1) and Barreto et al. (US 20150329250 A1, hereinafter Barreto) and Kounlavong et al. (US 20140227401 A1, hereinafter Kounlavong) and Griffin (US 20200359823 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Dickson discloses a steam cooker assembly for cooking food products with steam (Page 2, left section, Para. 2, “an efficient and serviceable steamer for rendering bread rolls more palatable”), said assembly comprising:
a cooking pot having a cooking chamber (Page 2, right section, Para. 3, “22 is .a container of cylindrical shape and smaller diameter than the shell 13. The container is positioned centrally within the body 10 and has its top on a level with the top thereof. The container has a floor 23 spaced from the shell bottom 14”) being positioned above a fluid reservoir thereby facilitating steam (Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water…upon being heated generates steam which rises and fills the space above the water”) from a boiling fluid in said fluid reservoir to pass upwardly through said cooking chamber when said cooking pot is placed on a heat source (Page 2, left section, last Para., “the reference numeral l0 generally indicates the body of the device which is of cylindrical shape and has a flat 40 bottom 11 for resting on a heater.”),
said cooking pot having a basal wall and an outer wall extending upwardly from said basal wall (Page 2, left section, last Para., “reference numeral 10 generally indicates the body of the device which is of cylindrical shape and has a flat bottom 11 for resting on a heater”, where the body of the device is the outer wall that extends from basal wall or the flat bottom 11),
said outer wall having a top edge defining an opening into said cooking pot (Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body”, where the area inward the beading is the top edge of the outer wall),
said outer wall having a crease extending around a full circumference of said outer wall thereby defining said fluid reservoir below said crease and defining said cooking chamber above said crease, said crease being positioned closer to said basal wall than said top edge (Page 2, left section, last Para., “13 is a shell of smaller girth than the body 10 and located therein. This shell has a bottom 14 spaced from the body bottom 11.”, where the shell 13 is connected to the outer wall and construed as the crease, where the this shell defines the cooking chamber above and fluid reservoir below, where the shell is closer to the bottom wall than the top edge),
said cooking pot being comprised of a thermally conductive material thereby facilitating said cooking pot to be heated by the heat source for boiling the fluid in said fluid reservoir (Page 2, left section, Para. 4, “a portable steamer that may be heated by any heat source -electric, gas, coal-oil stove et cetera”, where this means that the cooking pot must be thermally conductive in order to allow for steam to be produced through heating),
said outer wall having a bend extending around a full circumference of said outer wall to define a lip extending laterally away from said outer wall, said bend being spaced from said top edge (Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body”),
said outer wall having a fill opening extending into said fluid reservoir (Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water which is admitted through the inlet 19”, and Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 is shown to extend out of the outer wall through an opening, where that opening is construed as the fill opening),
said fill opening being positioned between said crease and said basal wall wherein said fill opening is configured to facilitate said fluid reservoir to be filled with the fluid (Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 and fill opening that receives the inlet 19 are shown to be between the crease or shell 13 and the basal wall or bottom wall 11);
a lid being positionable on said cooking pot for closing said cooking pot wherein said lid is configured to retain the steam within said cooking pot (Page 2, right section, last Para., “36 is a lid of conical shape which has a downwardly turned edge 37 fitting over the beading 12 of the cylindrical body.”),
a fill pipe being attached to said cooking pot such that said fill pipe is in fluid communication with said fluid reservoir thereby facilitating fluid to be added to said fluid reservoir without removing said lid from said cooking pot (Page 3, left section , Para. 2, “the boiler 18 is partly filled with water which is admitted through the inlet 19”, where the inlet 19 is the fill pipe that bypasses the lid to fill the boiler with water),
said fill pipe having a coupled end being coupled to said outer wall of said cooking pot having said coupled end being aligned with said fill opening (Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 is the fill pipe and where the opening in the outer wall that receives the inlet is construed as the fill opening, where the fill pipe and fill opening are coupled and aligned), said fill pipe having a bend being spaced from said outer wall to define an upright section of said fill pipe extending upwardly along said outer wall (Fig. 2, where the inlet 19 bends upwards along the outer wall);
a basket being positionable within said cooking pot, said basket being foraminous thereby facilitating the steam from the boiling fluid to pass through said basket (Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “27 is a receptacle shown in the form of a reticulate basket such as wire mesh. This basket is of slightly smaller size than the container a lid is fitted therein supported on legs 28.”), and
said basket having a bottom wall and an exterior wall extending upwardly from said bottom wall, each of said bottom wall and said exterior wall being perforated with a plurality of holes thereby facilitating said basket to be foraminous (Fig. 2, where the basket is shown to have a bottom wall and an exterior wall, where both walls are perforated; Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “27 is a receptacle shown in the: form of a reticulate basket such as wire mesh.”), said bottom wall resting on a top wall of said crease when said basket is positioned within said cooking pot such that said basket is positioned in said cooking chamber in said cooking pot (Page 2, right section, Para. 4, “This basket is of slightly smaller size than the container and is fitted therein supported on legs 28.”, and Fig. 2