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 .
This office action is a response to an amendment filed 12/17/2025.
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7-15 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 12/17/2025, have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Rejections based on a newly cited reference(s) follow.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim 1-3 and 5-15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Publication No. 2017/0115652 to Grossman, IV et al., (hereinafter Grossman), in view of Chinese Patent Publication No. CN105981999A to Li et al., (hereinafter Li. English translation of CN105981999A is included and cited in this office action).
Regarding claim 1, Grossman teaches an information processing method that is executed by a computer (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman), the information processing method comprising:
starting an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman), the sequence cooperating with an N+1th block of the application after completion of an Mth process, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user process (i.e. an M processes) is coordinated/synchronized with cycle processes (i.e. N processes) of an appliance program, where cooperating is being broadly interpreted to include any manner of coordination/synchronizing. For example, a sequence of activity processes of a user schedule are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycle processes of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman);
generating a state maintaining block having a parameter for maintaining a state of a processing object of the apparatus at completion of an Nth block (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is considered for delay/slowing (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle process, see p25, 19-20, p27-28, 30, 29, Grossman);
and executing the state maintaining block when completion of the Nth block is detected (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is actually delayed/slowed (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches further comprising ending the state maintaining block and executing the N+1th block when completion of the Mth process is detected during execution of the state maintaining block (At a specified detected user activity (e.g. arriving home, finishing shower, etc.) , delay or slowing of a cycle is ended to continue execution of a cycle, see p27-31, 25, 19-20, Grossman)).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches wherein the state maintaining block includes multiple parameters with different priorities, and the multiple parameters are different in accordance with a type of the Nth block (A cycle can include parameters features such as water flow, temperature, cycle times, power/energy, etc., where a specified parameter can have more priority depending on the type of and form of cycle being maintained. For example, in extending a cycle, the cycle may be operated in consideration to energy with the implication of prioritizing (or giving less priority) to feature parameters for this operation, or in another cycle, flow may have a lower priority than time of cycle in extending a dish washing cycle, see p28, p26-27, p30, Grossman).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches wherein the sequence further includes a process of operating an apparatus (A operation of an apparatus, such as an appliance operation, or as a location apparatus, see p23, 22, 27, Grossman).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches wherein the generating the state maintaining block includes determining generation of the state maintaining block when delays of processes up to an M-1th process are detected (A delay or slow of cycle cam be maintained when further delay is detected of a user, see p29, p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches wherein the generating the state maintaining block includes acquiring, from a sensor of the apparatus, sensing data indicating a state of the processing object of the apparatus at completion of the Nth block, and determining a value of the parameter of the state maintaining block based on the sensing data (Sensor data used in determining state of an appliance process and user process in determining delay/slow of cycle between cycles, see p3, p20, 30-31, 25, 34, 23, Grossman).
Regarding claim 8, Grossman teaches an information processing device (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman) comprising: a processor (Processor, see p17, p13, Grossman); and a memory including a program that, when executed by the processor (Memory, instructions, and execution by processor, see p17, p13, Grossman), causes the processor to: start an application including multiple blocks each including a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman), the sequence cooperating with an N+1th block of the application after completion of an Mth process, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user process (i.e. an M processes) is coordinated/synchronized with cycle processes (i.e. N processes) of an appliance program, where cooperating is being broadly interpreted to include any manner of coordination/synchronizing. For example, a sequence of activity processes of a user schedule are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycle processes of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); generate a state maintaining block having a parameter for maintaining a state of a processing object of the apparatus at completion of an Nth block (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is considered for delay/slowing (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle, see p25, 19-20, p27-28, 30, 29, Grossman); and execute the state maintaining block when completion of the Nth block is detected (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is actually delayed/slowed (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 9, Grossman teaches an information processing method that is executed by a computer (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman), the method information processing comprising: starting an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman), the sequence cooperating with an N+1th block of the application after completion of an Mth process, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user process (i.e. an M processes) is coordinated/synchronized with cycle processes (i.e. N processes) of an appliance program, where cooperating is being broadly interpreted to include any manner of coordination/synchronizing. For example, a sequence of activity processes of a user schedule are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycle processes of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman) and extending an Nth block until the Mth process is completed (A cycle of an appliance is delayed/slowed (i.e. extended) after a completion of a process activity, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 10, Grossman teaches an information processing device (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman) comprising: a processor (Processor, see p17, p13, Grossman); and a memory including a program that, when executed by the processor (Memory, instructions, and execution by processor, see p17, p13, Grossman), causes the processor to: start an application including multiple blocks each including a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman), the sequence cooperating with an N+1 th block of the application after completion of an Mth process, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user process (i.e. an M processes) is coordinated/synchronized with cycle processes (i.e. N processes) of an appliance program, where cooperating is being broadly interpreted to include any manner of coordination/synchronizing. For example, a sequence of activity processes of a user schedule are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycle processes of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); and an extension unit configured to extend an Nth block until the Mth process is completed (A cycle of an appliance is delayed/slowed (i.e. extended) after a completion of a process activity, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 11, Grossman teaches an information processing method that is executed by a computer (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman), the information processing method comprising: starting an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman); repeatedly calculating a first scheduled completion time of an N+1th block of the application and a second scheduled completion time of an Mth process of the sequence, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user sequence is continually determined in relation to a schedule to determine the action completion, such completing an away task leading to coming home, and an appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, in an appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes. For example, a sequence of activities of a user schedule process are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycles of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); generating a state maintaining block including a parameter for maintaining a state of a processing object of the apparatus at completion of an Nth block (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is considered for delay/slowing (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle, see p25, 19-20, p27-28, 30, 29, Grossman); determining whether the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (An appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, so as to whether they coincide or not to user arriving home, for example, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); and executing the state maintaining block until determination is made that the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is actually delayed/slowed (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle to coincide with a desired user schedule action, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman further teaches wherein the first scheduled completion time is calculated by adding a first total time to a current time, the first total time being acquired by totaling a first remaining time with respect to a first reference time predetermined for a block currently being executed and a second reference time predetermined for each of blocks from a block to be executed subsequently, to the N+1th block (An appliance (first) completion time is determined in consideration of the progress of cycles (i.e. current time) of determined lengths (i.e. remaining time) plus total times for subsequent cycles to lengthen in view of a reference time needed for the completion until a cycle that a user arrives. For example a current cycle remaining length not being sufficient to finish later at a user location arrival means consideration of the cycle plus subsequent cycles with their reference time to completion and the total time to be executed of subsequent cycles needed to schedule the final cycle to coincide until user arrives, see P27-29, 25, 23, 19-20, Grossman), and the second scheduled completion time is calculated by adding a second total time to the current time, the second total time being acquired by totaling a second remaining time with respect to a third reference time predetermined for a process currently being executed and a fourth reference time predetermined for each of processes from a process to be executed subsequently, to the Mth process (A user (second) activity process completion time is determined in consideration of a current plus total time for subsequent action(s) needed for user to arrive home. For example a current time of user being at a location plus a reference remaining time that a user may normally take to arrive home and any additional routes processes, see P27-29, 25, 23, 19-20, Grossman).
Regarding claim 13, Grossman teaches an information processing device (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman) comprising: a processor (Processor, see p17, p13, Grossman); and a memory including a program that, when executed by the processor (Memory, instructions, and execution by processor, see p17, p13, Grossman), causes the processor to: start an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman); repeatedly calculate a first scheduled completion time of an N+1th block of the application and a second scheduled completion time of an Mth process of the sequence, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user sequence is continually determined in relation to a schedule to determine the action completion, such completing an away task leading to coming home, and an appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, in an appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes. For example, a sequence of activities of a user schedule process are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycles of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); generate a state maintaining block including a parameter for maintaining a state of a processing object of the apparatus at completion of an Nth block (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is considered for delay/slowing (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle, see p25, 19-20, p27-28, 30, 29, Grossman); determine whether the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (An appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, so as to whether they coincide or not to user arriving home, for example, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); and execute the state maintaining block until determination is made by the processor that the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (A state cycle change parameter of an appliance is actually delayed/slowed (i.e. maintained) after a completion of a cycle to coincide with a desired user schedule action, see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 14, Grossman teaches an information processing method that is executed by a computer (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman), the method information processing comprising: starting an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman); repeatedly calculating a first scheduled completion time of an N+1th block of the application and a second scheduled completion time of an Mth process of the sequence, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user sequence is continually determined in relation to a schedule to determine the action completion, such completing an away task leading to coming home, and an appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, in an appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes. For example, a sequence of activities of a user schedule process are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycles of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); determining whether the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time; and extending an Nth block until determination is made that the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (An appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, so as to whether they coincide or not to user arriving home, for example, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmitting, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Regarding claim 15, Grossman teaches an information processing device (Computing system, see Fig. 4, fig. 2, Fig. 1, p35, p13, Grossman) comprising: a processor (Processor, see p17, p13, Grossman); and a memory including a program that, when executed by the processor (Memory, instructions, and execution by processor, see p17, p13, Grossman), causes the processor to: start an application including multiple blocks each having a parameter for controlling an apparatus including at least one of an actuator or a heater (Appliance with programmed application to progress through cycles/steps (i.e. blocks) processes is started (run), where cycles include parameters (e.g. temperature, spin speed, etc.,) that control the appliance feature/component, and where the appliance has an actuated component (e.g. washer/dishwasher water actuation, dryer heating actuation, etc.), see p19, p27, 26, 30, Grossman), and a sequence including one or more processes involving at least a motion of a person (An appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes, for example at least a motion of a person relative to a location (leaving a house, going for a walk, etc., see P27, p25, 23, 19, Grossman); repeatedly calculate a first scheduled completion time of an N+1th block of the application and a second scheduled completion time of an Mth process of the sequence, N being an integer of 1 or more, M being an integer of 1 or more (A user sequence is continually determined in relation to a schedule to determine the action completion, such completing an away task leading to coming home, and an appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, in an appliance control comprised of a sequence of processes, such as at least a process of controlling at least one step/cycle of an appliance and a process related to a user, such as a tracking process, or event processes of a user that may include scheduled sequence processes. For example, a sequence of activities of a user schedule process are interpreted as “M” processes (e.g. leaving the house, walking, running an errand, arriving home, etc.), and are considered for coordination with cycles of an appliance, with cycles interpreted as “N” cycles. For example, a walking (M-1), arriving (M), and washer/dish washer rinse (N), drying/spin (N+1) and coordinating a specified cycle to a sequence of a user activity/schedule, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); determine whether the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (An appliance scheduled cycle in a sequence of cycles is continuously determined to in relation to completion in view of user schedule, so as to whether they coincide or not to user arriving home, for example, see p29, P27-28, 30, 25, 26, 19-20, Grossman); and extend an Nth block until the processor determines that the first scheduled completion time coincides with the second scheduled completion time (A cycle of an appliance is delayed/slowed (i.e. extended) such as to schedule a completion of a cycle to coincide to a scheduled process activity , see p25, 28, 30-31, 29, 19-20, p27-28, Grossman).
Grossman does not explicitly teach transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence;
However, Li from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches transmit, to a terminal, instruction information instructing a motion of a person to execute a one or more processes included in a sequence (A prompt is transmitted to a user terminal instructing user to perform/execute an auxiliary process in a sequence of processes, such as a sequence of cooking processes, and where the auxiliary process is a motion in at least user feedback or button actuation, see p119-p122; 116-118, Li);.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by Grossman and incorporating transmitting instruction to a user, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better inform a user to provide assistance if required or as a desired choice provided to a user to continue an appliance sequence (see p119 p122; 116-118, Li).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grossman, in view of Li, and in further view of US Patent Publication No. 2010/0060079 to MacLellan et al., (hereinafter MacLellan).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Grossman and Li teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Grossman does not explicitly teach acquiring power consumption of an apparatus, wherein executing a state maintaining block includes determining parameters to be executed by the apparatus based on the acquired power consumption and corresponding priorities.
However, McLellan from the same or similar field of appliance control, teaches acquiring power consumption of an apparatus, wherein executing a state maintaining block includes determining parameters to be executed by the apparatus based on the acquired power consumption and corresponding priorities (A an appliance cycle scheduling is considered in view of acquired consumption and priority, see p28, 26, McLellan).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the process and control as described by the combination that includes Grossman and incorporating consideration of power consumption and priorities, as taught by McLellan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better control a scheduled cycle in consideration of its impact on consumption and desired importance of the control (see p20, p28, 26, McLellan).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Banavara, US. Patent Publication No. 2016/0381742 teaches a cooking appliance control with received cooking recipe.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMILIO J SAAVEDRA whose telephone number is (571)270-5617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-5:30pm (EST).
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/EMILIO J SAAVEDRA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117
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