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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuempel (US 20140314921 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kuempel (US 20140314921 A1) teaches a coffee machine (Figure 3), comprising:
a water supply (water reservoir 120);
a water heater to heat water from the water supply (Paragraph 17, boiler 130 that heats water received from the reservoir 120);
a pump to pump the heated water (Paragraph 55, pump 150 to dispense a volume of heated water in the boiler into the brew chamber);
a brewing chamber to receive coffee grinds (Paragraph 41, dispensing a particular weight of coffee grounds into the brew chamber 140) and brewing coffee using the heated water delivered by the pump (Paragraphs 54-57, water from the boiler is delivered to the brew chamber by the pump such as to brew coffee);
a sensor arrangement to measure operating characteristics of the coffee machine during preparation of a coffee beverage (Paragraph 66, flow sensor and pump monitors a volume of heated water dispensed into the brew chamber and controls the pump accordingly);
a user interface to input user commands (Paragraph 74, user enters a selection for a final brew volume); and
a controller (Paragraph 17, processor 160 that controls the components of the coffee brewing machine),
wherein the user interface is adapted to receive a user test command to determine suitable operating settings (Paragraph 87, manual inputs supplied by the roaster during the selected test brew cycle and incorporated these manual inputs into the recipe), and wherein the controller is adapted, in response to the user test command, to perform a series of one or more test brewing cycles for the coffee beverage which is not intended for consumption to measure the operating characteristics using the sensor arrangement (Paragraph 70, temperature data of the brew mixture and/or brew chamber during the brew cycle is recorded; Paragraph 87, once a coffee roaster roasts a batch of coffee beans, the coffee roaster can define, refine, or tweak a brew recipe specific to the roast batch, such as a brew temperature, a steep time (i.e., brew duration), an agitation schedule, a grind profile or grind size, and/or a coffee ground-to-water ratio, etc.), and thereby derive a set of suitable operating settings (Paragraphs 86-87, brew parameters applied at a master coffee brewing machine during a test brew cycles for the coffee bean are recorded wherein brew temperature and steep time as well as other parameters are stored).
The Office notes that the one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect the “master” coffee brewing machine to share at least the same components as the coffee machine as explained in Paragraph 17, such that the recipe determined from the “master” coffee brewing machine would have expected and predictable results when applied to other the other coffee brewing machines. Paragraph 87 states that the recipe associates a particular coffee brewing machine designated to brew coffee with the particular coffee bean.
Regarding claim 2, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1, wherein
the sensor arrangement is configured to sense a flow resistance or flow rate of the heated water through the coffee grinds in the brewing chamber (Paragraph 66, flow sensor and pump monitors a volume of heated water dispensed into the brew chamber and controls the pump accordingly; The Office notes that Page 9 Lines 24-28 of applicant’s specification teaches that a flow meter measuring flow from a pump sufficiently measures the flow rate through the coffee grinds).
The Office further notes that it is known in the art that controlling the flow of water induced by the pump when detecting considerable resistance in the flow of water through the coffee grounds is well known in the art as evidenced by DE MANGO (IT TO20120447 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1, wherein
the suitable operating settings comprise water pressure or water flow rate to be delivered by the pump (Paragraph 66, flow sensor and pump monitors a volume of heated water dispensed into the brew chamber over a period of time and controls the pump accordingly).
Regarding claim 4, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1, further comprising
a bean grinder (Paragraph 37, coffee grinder near the coffee brewing machine 100), wherein the brewing chamber is configured to receive the coffee grinds from the bean grinder (Paragraph 41, dispensing a particular weight of coffee grounds into the brew chamber which has been ground by the local coffee grinder).
Regarding claim 6, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 4, wherein
the suitable operating settings comprise a grind size (Paragraph 35, the coffee roaster can define, refine, or tweak a brew recipe specific to the roast batch such as a grind profile or grind size) and/or bean grind time.
Regarding claim 7, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1, further comprising
a tamping system to apply pressure to the coffee grinds in the brewing chamber (Paragraph 56, piston 170 forces fluid out of the brew chamber 140).
Regarding claim 8, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 7, wherein
the sensor arrangement is configured to sense a tamping force or tamping stroke applied by the tamping system (Paragraph 136, pressure sensor is arranged between the piston and the lever such as to maintain the proper pressure within the brew chamber).
Regarding claim 9, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 8, wherein
the suitable operating settings comprise the tamping force or the tamping stroke applied by the tamping system (Paragraph 136, processor 290 can control the user interface to displace a guide to aid the user in maintaining a proper pressure specified in the selected brew recipe within the brew chamber by applying torque to the lever).
The Office further notes that adjusting the tamping degree for tamping ground coffee based on a selected recipe is known in the art as evidenced by ABBIATI (US 20190357720 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1.
the controller is further adapted to determine a bean type or bean characteristics from the measured operating characteristics (Paragraph 89, brew parameters are generated for a specific coffee bean; Paragraph 87, a brew recipe is defined specific to the roast patch based on the determined characteristics of the roast batch wherein a favorite test cup is selected and a recipe generated for said test cup; Paragraph 99, a new recipe specifying a set of brew parameters for a new type, batch, or source of coffee bean is defined; bean characteristics reasonably include requiring a specific processing parameters).
Regarding claim 11, Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1, wherein
the controller is further adapted to:
configure the coffee machine to the set of suitable operating settings automatically after the one or more test brewing cycles (Paragraph 87, recipe for the particular coffee bean is transmitted to identified coffee brewing machines after the favorite test cup is selected from the one or more test brewing cycles; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have configured the master coffee machine to have used to recipe); and/or
output to a user the set of suitable operating settings to enable the user to adjust the suitable operating settings of the coffee machine (Paragraph 94, recipe is generated along with manually selected or entered brew parameters for the coffee bean; Paragraph 59, recipe can be manipulated according to user inputs to brew the coffee bean).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuempel (US 20140314921 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Muheim (US 20190301924 A1).
Regarding claim 5 , Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 4.
Kuempel fails to explicitly teach:
the sensor arrangement is configured to sense at least one of:
characteristics of energy supply to the bean grinder; and
bean grind time.
Muheim (US 20190301924 A1) teaches a weighing assembly for ground coffee, wherein:
the sensor arrangement is configured to sense at least one of:
characteristics of energy supply to the bean grinder; and
bean grind time (bean grind time; Paragraphs 16-20 and 57-62, grind time is measured and a new grinding time will be calculated and applied if the measured amount of weight of coffee is not within a tolerance range).
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 Kuempel with Muheim and have grind time be measured. This would have been done to update a new grinding time to suitable for obtaining the desired weight of the coffee dose for the selected drink (Muheim Paragraph 57).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuempel (US 20140314921 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of TORIZU (US 20240008675 A1).
Regarding claim 12 , Kuempel teaches the coffee machine of claim 1.
Kuempel fails to teach:
a waste water bin, and a discharge system to discharge results of the one or more test brewing cycles to the waste water bin.
TORIZU (US 20240008675 A1) teaches a coffee beverage production device, wherein:
a waste water bin (waste tank T), and a discharge system to discharge results of the one or more test brewing cycles to the waste water bin (Paragraph 156, switching unit 10 feeds liquid from the extraction container 9 to the waste tank T; Figure 11 Paragraph 246, discharge process S4 occurs as part of the brewing cycles wherein the extraction container is cleaned and the water inside the extraction container is discharged to the water tank together with a residue of the ground beans).
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 Kuempel with TORIZU and have a waste water bin as well as a discharge system. This would have been done to facilitate cleaning of the extraction chamber (TORIZU Paragraph 246).
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
/WOODY A LEE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
Prosecution Insights