DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
While the claims appear similar to those filed under application number 16109008, the independent claims of the current application all refer to robotic arm assemblies, while the prior application only refers to arm assemblies which are not specified to be robotic.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 16-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 16, the claim recites the limitation “the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt”. However, said limitation is not properly supported by the applicant’s filed specification nor its originally filed claims. The applicant’s specifications filed 02/22/0223 fails to specify that the lower grilling plate or lower platen is not in contact with the conveyor belt. Paragraph 37 of the applicant’s specification teaches that the “upper platen assembly 26 and the lower platen assembly 24 may move between a cooking position (e.g., moved in close proximity to the conveyor belt 70) to a non-cooking position”. Two objects which are touching each other would under broadest reasonable interpretation be considered as being in “close proximity” to one another. Nowhere in the applicant’s filed specification, drawings, or originally filed claims is it clearly taught that the applicant had possession of the limitation “the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt” at the filing date of the application. Independent claims 23 and 30 are rejected upon similar grounds.
Regarding claim 16, the claim recites the limitation “in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer”. However, said limitation is not properly supported by the applicant’s filed specification nor its originally filed claims. The applicant’s specifications filed 02/22/0223 fails to specify that in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt. Paragraph 15 of the applicant’s filed specifications teaches that when “in the cooking position, a heating surface of the lower grilling plate 32 transfers heat to the lower sides of the selected number of raw products 10a placed thereon”. However, specifying that the grilling plate transfers heat in the cooking position does provide sufficient support that the grilling plate does not transfer heat in the non-cooking position. Nowhere in the applicant’s filed specification, drawings, or originally filed claims is it clearly taught that the applicant had possession of the limitation “in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer” at the filing date of the application. Claims 23 and 30 are rejected upon similar grounds.
Claims 17-22, 24-29, and 31-37 are rejected upon being dependent upon at least one of the above claims.
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) 16-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garden (US 20170290345 A1) in view of Alden (US 5458051 A), Nelson (US 20150305555 A1), OLEYNIK (US 20160059412 A1), and HAZEYAMA (US 20120236140 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Garden (US 20170290345 A1) teaches a cooking system comprising:
at least one grill (Paragraph 75, conveyor grill)
a first arm robotic assembly and a second robotic arm assembly (Figure 2A Paragraphs 115 and 122, first and second transfer conveyor robots 166a and 166b); and
an electronic hardware controller in signal communication with the at least one grill (Paragraph 114, temperature of the ovens and speed of the conveyors are controlled by one or more process-based devices executing processor-executable code), the first robotic arm assembly and the second robotic arm assembly (Paragraph 242, processor-based device provides instructions or commands directly to one or more loading robots), the controller configured to control the first robotic arm assembly to transfer a prepared product to the at least one grill (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and to control the second robotic arm assembly to transfer a cooked product from the at least one grill (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system),
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Paragraph 112, conveyor grills that form a loop through a conveyor oven 158) wherein the prepared product is transferred onto the conveyor belt and transferred from the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors; Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system)
Garden fails to explicitly teach:
at least one grill, the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate, and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate, the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
the first and second robotic arm assemblies configured to move along at least one track
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt in heated contact with the at least one grill and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates, wherein the prepared product is transferred onto the conveyor belt and transferred from the conveyor belt, wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position, wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt, wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer.
Alden (US 5458051 A) teaches a belt cooking apparatus, wherein:
at least one grill (Figure 2, belt grill), the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 22-23, platen 14 is mounted within an upper frame 48), and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 23-25, platen 16 is mounted within a lower frame 50), the upper platen assembly being at an angle (Column 6 Lines 28-31, frames 48 and 50 are disposed at an angle)
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, conveyor of this invention includes an upper belt 10 and a lower belt 12) in heated contact with the at least one grill (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, upper heated platen 14 and a lower heated platen 16 wherein the upper belt 10 and lower belt 12 are located between said heated platens), wherein the prepared product is transferred onto the conveyor belt and transferred from the conveyor belt (Column 3 Lines 62-64, food products are introduced into the cooker into the nip between the belts at one end and cooked food products extracted from the opposite end), wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1 or in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2; Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced), wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 5 Line 56 – Column 6 Line 2, distance between the platens 14 and 16 and belts 10 and 12 can be regulated by linear actuator 52 to any desired distance wherein said regulation does not affect the tension on the belts; controlling the distance between while in the cooking position of Figure 2 includes being in close proximity but not in contact) to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt (Column 4 Lines 12-19, provide a belt cooking grill wherein food products are heated by conduction through the belts), wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer (Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced; there would be no heat transfer to the conveyor belt when the lower belt is removed from the assembly).
See 112a rejection above for “the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt”.
See 112b rejection above for “the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer”.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Alden and have the conveyor oven be a conveyor belt cooking apparatus. This would have been done to rapidly and uniformly cook large quantities of food (Alden Column 1 Lines 7-10) while providing easily grease removal from the conveyor belt (Alden Column 3 Lines 27-30)
Garden modified with Alden fails to teach:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
the first and second robotic arm assemblies configured to move along at least one track
Nelson (US 20150305555 A1) teaches a grilling appliance, including a platen position control, wherein:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly);
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Nelson and have the upper platen assembly be pivotally coupled to the lower platen. This would have been done as Nelson teaches that having the upper platen assembly be pivotable with the lower platen assembly is known to be substitutable with moving the upper platen assembly vertically in a linear motion (Nelson Paragraph 17) which is beneficial for adjusting the gap between the platen according to the thickness of the food to be cooked (Nelson Paragraph 5).
Garden modified with Nelson fails to explicitly teach “the first and second robotic arm assemblies configured to move along at least one track”. However, OLEYNIK (US 20160059412 A1) teaches a robotic manipulation method includes a pair of robot arms which move along a rail system 1170 for food preparation (OLEYNIK Paragraph 483). HAZEYAMA (US 20120236140 A1) teaches an image processing system wherein a robot 300 moves along a rail or track 400 along a predetermined operating range (HAZEYAMA Figure 2 Paragraph 51) for picking up food products on a conveyor (HAZEYAMA Paragraph 47). It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with OLEYNIK and HAZEYAMA and have the first and second robotic arm assemblies move along the same track such as to handle food along a conveyor. This would have been done as using two robotic arms moving along the same track is known in the art to be beneficial for replicating the movements provided by a user for facilitating the cooking process (OLEYNIK Paragraph 10) and using robotic arms moving along a rail or track is known in the art to be beneficial in the art of handling food on a conveyor for controlling tracking of the robotic arm (Nelson Paragraphs 5 and 95).
Regarding claim 17, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 16, wherein
the first robotic arm assembly includes a first utensil (Paragraph 115, first transfer conveyor 162a is coupled to a first appendage 164a of a first transfer conveyor robot 166a) and the second robotic arm assembly includes a second utensil (Paragraph 122, second transfer conveyor 162b may be coupled to a second appendage 164b), the first utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the prepared product from a preparation station to the grill (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom), and the second utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the cooked product from the grill to a staging system (Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom).
Regarding claim 18, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 17, wherein
the staging system is heated (Paragraph 130, loading robots load the food into heated ovens 197 from the conveyor 204b which the second conveyor offloads the food to).
Regarding claim 19, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 17.
Alden further teaches:
the lower grilling plate extends along a first direction to define a grill length and a second direction to define a grill width (Figure 2, platen 16 extends along the length of the conveyor belt 12 which has a length and all objects also inherently have a width perpendicular to the length direction).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 17.
Regarding claim 20, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 19, wherein:
the first and second utensils are configured to move in a vertical direction with respect to the lower grilling plate and a lengthwise direction along the at least one track, the lengthwise direction being parallel with respect to a front of the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; a system with 6 degrees of freedom allows it to reach any position in 3D space and any orientation within 3D space).
Regarding claim 21, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 20.
Alden further teaches:
the controller (Figures 1-2 Column 6 Lines 3-16, conventional controller controls the distance between the closely spaced heated platens) outputs a command signal that results in placement of the upper platen into the cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2) and into the non-cooking position that places the upper platen a second distance from the lower platen (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1) that is greater than the first distance (Figure 2, distance between the platen in the non-cooking position is greater than the distance in the cooking position).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 16.
Nelson further teaches:
pivoting of the upper platen into the cooking position that places the upper platen a first distance from the lower platen (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly 26 is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly such as to adjust the distance between the platens),
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 16.
Regarding claim 22, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 16, wherein:
the controller controls the first robotic arm assembly to transfer the prepared product to the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and controls the second robotic arm assembly to transfer the cooked product from the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system).
Claim(s) 23-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garden (US 20170290345 A1) in view of Alden (US 5458051 A) and Nelson (US 20150305555 A1).
Regarding claim 23, Garden (US 20170290345 A1) teaches a cooking system comprising:
at least one grill (Paragraph 75, conveyor grill);
a first robotic arm assembly and a second robotic arm assembly (Figure 2A Paragraphs 115 and 122, first and second transfer conveyor robots 166a and 166b); and
an electronic hardware controller in signal communication with the at least one grill (Paragraph 114, temperature of the ovens and speed of the conveyors are controlled by one or more process-based devices executing processor-executable code), the first robotic arm assembly and the second robotic arm assembly (Paragraph 242, processor-based device provides instructions or commands directly to one or more loading robots), the controller configured to control the first robotic arm assembly to transfer a prepared product to the at least one grill (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and to control the second robotic arm assembly to transfer a cooked product from the at least one grill (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system),
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Paragraph 112, conveyor grills that form a loop through a conveyor oven 158) wherein the prepared product is transferred by the first robotic arm assembly onto the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors) and transferred by the second robotic arm assembly from the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system)
Garden fails to teach:
at least one grill, the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate, and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate, the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt in heated contact with the at least one grill and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates, wherein the prepared product is transferred onto the conveyor belt and transferred from the conveyor belt, wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position, wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt, wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer.
Alden (US 5458051 A) teaches a belt cooking apparatus, wherein:
at least one grill (Figure 2, belt grill), the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 22-23, platen 14 is mounted within an upper frame 48), and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 23-25, platen 16 is mounted within a lower frame 50), the upper platen assembly being at an angle (Column 6 Lines 28-31, frames 48 and 50 are disposed at an angle)
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, conveyor of this invention includes an upper belt 10 and a lower belt 12) in heated contact with the at least one grill (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, upper heated platen 14 and a lower heated platen 16 wherein the upper belt 10 and lower belt 12 are located between said heated platens), wherein the prepared product is transferred onto the conveyor belt and transferred from the conveyor belt (Column 3 Lines 62-64, food products are introduced into the cooker into the nip between the belts at one end and cooked food products extracted from the opposite end), wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1 or in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2; Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced), wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 5 Line 56 – Column 6 Line 2, distance between the platens 14 and 16 and belts 10 and 12 can be regulated by linear actuator 52 to any desired distance wherein said regulation does not affect the tension on the belts; controlling the distance between while in the cooking position of Figure 2 includes being in close proximity but not in contact) to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt (Column 4 Lines 12-19, provide a belt cooking grill wherein food products are heated by conduction through the belts), wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer (Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced; there would be no heat transfer to the conveyor belt when the lower belt is removed from the assembly).
See 112a rejection above for “the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt”.
See 112b rejection above for “the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer”.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Alden and have the conveyor oven be a conveyor belt cooking apparatus. This would have been done to rapidly and uniformly cook large quantities of food (Alden Column 1 Lines 7-10) while providing easily grease removal from the conveyor belt (Alden Column 3 Lines 27-30)
Garden modified with Alden fails to teach:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
Nelson (US 20150305555 A1) teaches a grilling appliance, including a platen position control, wherein:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly);
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Nelson and have the upper platen assembly be pivotally coupled to the lower platen. This would have been done as Nelson teaches that having the upper platen assembly be pivotable with the lower platen assembly is known to be substitutable with moving the upper platen assembly vertically in a linear motion (Nelson Paragraph 17) which is beneficial for adjusting the gap between the platen according to the thickness of the food to be cooked (Nelson Paragraph 5).
Regarding claim 24, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 23, wherein
the first robotic arm assembly includes a first utensil (Paragraph 115, first transfer conveyor 162a is coupled to a first appendage 164a of a first transfer conveyor robot 166a) and the second arm assembly includes a second utensil (Paragraph 122, second transfer conveyor 162b may be coupled to a second appendage 164b), the first utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the prepared product from a preparation station to the grill (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom), and the second utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the cooked product from the grill to a staging system (Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom).
Regarding claim 25, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 24, wherein
the staging system is heated (Paragraph 130, loading robots load the food into heated ovens 197 from the conveyor 204b which the second conveyor offloads the food to).
Regarding claim 26, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 24, wherein
the lower grilling plate extends along a first direction to define a grill length and a second direction to define a grill width (Figure 2, platen 16 extends along the length of the conveyor belt 12 which has a length and all objects also inherently have a width perpendicular to the length direction).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 23.
Regarding claim 27, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 26, wherein
the first and second utensils are configured to move in a vertical direction with respect to the lower grilling plate and a lengthwise direction, the lengthwise direction being parallel with respect to a front of the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; a system with 6 degrees of freedom allows it to reach any position in 3D space and any orientation within 3D space).
Regarding claim 28, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 27.
Alden further teaches:
the controller (Figures 1-2 Column 6 Lines 3-16, conventional controller controls the distance between the closely spaced heated platens) outputs a command signal that results in positioning of the upper platen into the cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2) and into the non-cooking position that places the upper platen a second distance from the lower platen (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1) that is greater than the first distance (Figure 2, distance between the platen in the non-cooking position is greater than the distance in the cooking position).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 24.
Nelson further teaches:
pivoting of the upper platen into the cooking position that places the upper platen a first distance from the lower platen (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly 26 is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly such as to adjust the distance between the platens),
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 23.
Regarding claim 29, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 23, wherein
the controller controls the first robotic arm assembly to transfer the prepared product to the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and controls to control the second robotic arm assembly to transfer the cooked product from the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system).
Regarding claim 30, Garden (US 20170290345 A1) teaches a cooking system comprising:
at least one grill (Paragraph 75, conveyor grill);
a first arm robotic assembly and a second robotic arm assembly (Figure 2A Paragraphs 115 and 122, first and second transfer conveyor robots 166a and 166b); and
an electronic hardware controller in signal communication with the at least one grill (Paragraph 114, temperature of the ovens and speed of the conveyors are controlled by one or more process-based devices executing processor-executable code), the first robotic arm assembly and the second robotic arm assembly (Paragraph 242, processor-based device provides instructions or commands directly to one or more loading robots), the controller configured to control the first robotic arm assembly to transfer a prepared product to the at least one grill (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and to control the second robotic arm assembly to transfer a cooked product from the at least one grill (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system),
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Paragraph 112, conveyor grills that form a loop through a conveyor oven 158)
Garden fails to teach:
at least one grill, the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate, and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate, the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt in heated contact with the at least one grill and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates, wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position, wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt, wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer.
Alden (US 5458051 A) teaches a belt cooking apparatus, wherein:
at least one grill (Figure 2, belt grill), the at least one grill includes an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 22-23, platen 14 is mounted within an upper frame 48), and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate (Column 5 Lines 23-25, platen 16 is mounted within a lower frame 50), the upper platen assembly being at an angle (Column 6 Lines 28-31, frames 48 and 50 are disposed at an angle)
further comprising a conveyor system that includes a conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, conveyor of this invention includes an upper belt 10 and a lower belt 12) in heated contact with the at least one grill (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) and disposed between the upper and lower grilling plates (Figure 2 Column 4 Lines 43-55, upper heated platen 14 and a lower heated platen 16 wherein the upper belt 10 and lower belt 12 are located between said heated platens), wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1 or in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2; Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced), wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt (Figure 2 Column 5 Line 56 – Column 6 Line 2, distance between the platens 14 and 16 and belts 10 and 12 can be regulated by linear actuator 52 to any desired distance wherein said regulation does not affect the tension on the belts; controlling the distance between while in the cooking position of Figure 2 includes being in close proximity but not in contact) to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat (Column 3 Lines 58-64, each belt is heated by a separate platen) to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt (Column 4 Lines 12-19, provide a belt cooking grill wherein food products are heated by conduction through the belts), wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer (Column 5 Lines 46-55, actuator 52 compress the air springs 40 and 42 such as remove tension on belts 10 and 12 such as to allow them to be easily removed without tools and replaced; there would be no heat transfer to the conveyor belt when the lower belt is removed from the assembly).
See 112a rejection above for “the lower grilling plate is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt”.
See 112b rejection above for “the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer”.
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Alden and have the conveyor oven be a conveyor belt cooking apparatus. This would have been done to rapidly and uniformly cook large quantities of food (Alden Column 1 Lines 7-10) while providing easily grease removal from the conveyor belt (Alden Column 3 Lines 27-30)
Garden modified with Alden fails to teach:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
Nelson (US 20150305555 A1) teaches a grilling appliance, including a platen position control, wherein:
the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly);
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with Nelson and have the upper platen assembly be pivotally coupled to the lower platen. This would have been done as Nelson teaches that having the upper platen assembly be pivotable with the lower platen assembly is known to be substitutable with moving the upper platen assembly vertically in a linear motion (Nelson Paragraph 17) which is beneficial for adjusting the gap between the platen according to the thickness of the food to be cooked (Nelson Paragraph 5).
Regarding claim 31, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 30, wherein
the first robotic arm assembly includes a first utensil (Paragraph 115, first transfer conveyor 162a is coupled to a first appendage 164a of a first transfer conveyor robot 166a) and the second robotic arm assembly includes a second utensil (Paragraph 122, second transfer conveyor 162b may be coupled to a second appendage 164b), the first utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the prepared product from a preparation station to the grill (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom), and the second utensil configured to move in a plurality of directions to transfer the cooked product from the grill to a staging system (Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom).
Regarding claim 32, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 31, wherein
the staging system is heated (Paragraph 130, loading robots load the food into heated ovens 197 from the conveyor 204b which the second conveyor offloads the food to).
Regarding claim 33, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 31, wherein
Alden further teaches:
the lower grilling plate extends along a first direction to define a grill length and a second direction to define a grill width (Figure 2, platen 16 extends along the length of the conveyor belt 12 which has a length and all objects also inherently have a width perpendicular to the length direction).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 17.
Claim(s) 34-37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garden (US 20170290345 A1) in view of Alden (US 5458051 A) and Nelson (US 20150305555 A1) as applied to claim 30 above, and further in view of OLEYNIK (US 20160059412 A1) and HAZEYAMA (US 20120236140 A1).
Regarding claim 34, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 33.
Garden as modified fails to teach:
the first and second robotic arm assemblies configured to move along at least one track.
Garden as modified fails to explicitly teach “the first and second robotic arm assemblies configured to move along at least one track”. However, OLEYNIK (US 20160059412 A1) teaches a robotic manipulation method includes a pair of robot arms which move along a rail system 1170 for food preparation (OLEYNIK Paragraph 483). HAZEYAMA (US 20120236140 A1) teaches an image processing system wherein a robot 300 moves along a rail or track 400 along a predetermined operating range (HAZEYAMA Figure 2 Paragraph 51) for picking up food products on a conveyor (HAZEYAMA Paragraph 47). It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Garden with OLEYNIK and HAZEYAMA and have the first and second robotic arm assemblies move along the same track. This would have been done as using two robotic arms moving along the same track is known in the art to be beneficial for replicating the movements provided by a user for facilitating the cooking process (OLEYNIK Paragraph 10) and using robotic arms moving along a rail or track is known in the art to be beneficial in the art of picking up food from a conveyor for controlling tracking of the robotic arm (Nelson Paragraphs 5 and 95).
Regarding claim 35, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 34, wherein
the first and second utensils are configured to move in a vertical direction with respect to the lower grilling plate and a lengthwise direction along the at least one track, the lengthwise direction being parallel with respect to a front of the lower grilling plate (Paragraph 115, first appendage 164a can be operated to move the first transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; Paragraphs 122-123, second appendage 164b can be operated to move the second transfer conveyor with 6 degrees of freedom; a system with 6 degrees of freedom allows it to reach any position in 3D space and any orientation within 3D space).
Regarding claim 36, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 35.
Alden further teaches:
the controller (Figures 1-2 Column 6 Lines 3-16, conventional controller controls the distance between the closely spaced heated platens) outputs a command signal that results in pivoting of the upper platen into the cooking position (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a lowered cooking position shown in Figure 2) and into the non-cooking position that places the upper platen a second distance from the lower platen (Figures 1-2 Column 4 Lines 62-66, upper belt is in a raised position as shown in Figure 1) that is greater than the first distance (Figure 2, distance between the platen in the non-cooking position is greater than the distance in the cooking position).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 30.
Nelson further teaches:
pivoting of the upper platen into the cooking position that places the upper platen a first distance from the lower platen (Paragraph 17, upper platen assembly 26 is configured to pivot relative to the lower platen assembly such as to adjust the distance between the platens),
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 30.
Regarding claim 37, Garden as modified teaches the cooking system of claim 36.
the controller controls the first robotic arm assembly to transfer the prepared product to the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 115-117, first transfer conveyor is controlled such as to move food proximate the start of and onto one of the cooking conveyors), and controls the second robotic arm assembly to transfer the cooked product from the conveyor belt (Paragraphs 122-123, second transfer conveyor robot 166b retrieves the cooked food from the conveyor oven onto a different conveyor system).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANKLIN JEFFERSON WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7782. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM (E.S.T).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/F.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761