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 .
Specification
The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system.
The Applicant’s Specification is objected to for failing to include the section headings “BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION” and “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION”.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 should include either commas or semicolons after the limitations “being supplied with a brine from a brine tank and transferring the brine to the interior of an ice slurry transfer unit” and “cooling the ice slurry transfer unit to a temperature below the freezing point of the brine and converting the brine passing through the interior of the ice slurry transfer unit into the ice slurry”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “low-temperature” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “low-temperature” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is noted that the claim indicates that food is aged at “a low temperature below freezing”. However, it is not clear if a “low temperature” is every temperature below freezing, a range of temperatures that includes temperatures below freezing (e.g., -10 °C to +5 °C), or a range of temperatures that is a subset of temperatures below freezing (e.g., -15 °C to -30 °C).
Claims 2-5 are rejected as indefinite as a result of depending upon indefinite claim 1.
The term “dilute” in claim 5 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “dilute” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The term “low-temperature” in claim 6 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “low-temperature” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is noted that the claim indicates that food is aged at “a low temperature below freezing”. However, it is not clear if a “low temperature” is every temperature below freezing, a range of temperatures that includes temperatures below freezing (e.g., -10 °C to +5 °C), or a range of temperatures that is a subset of temperatures below freezing (e.g., -15 °C to -30 °C).
Regarding claim 6, it is unclear how the food is aged or treated at all since no food treatment steps are explicitly described in the claim. Is the food contacted by the ice slurry, and, if so, does contact between the ice slurry and food occur in the aging tank, the ice slurry generation unit, or somewhere else. Is the food transported with the ice slurry or kept in a fixed location? Consequently, claim 6 is rejected as indefinite.
Claims 7-9 are rejected as indefinite as result of depending upon indefinite claim 6.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Goldstein (US 20190323755 A1), Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A).
Regarding claim 1, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0003, 0005) a method and apparatus for exploitation of the heat exchanging qualities of an ice slurry, i.e. a suspension of ice particles in water, to which salt is added in order to reduce the mixture's freezing point, wherein the method and system are utilized for treatment of vacuum packed food products, which are to be cooled. Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0043) an ice slurry with a temperature of -1.5° C (below freezing) was utilized. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #10, 20, 30, 32, 34) the volume of ice particles and salt in the water in the buffer tank 20 is continuously regulated by adding salt water from the supply 30 via pipe 34, water from pipe 32 and by adding ice particles from the ice machine 10 (where the aforementioned apparatus elements in combination may be understood to comprise the ice slurry generation unit). In addition, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0039-0040; Fig. 1 #50) ice slurry is pumped out to a cooling tub in a tank 50, wherein vacuum bags packaged with raw ingredients (sauces, meat, fish, vegetables, desserts, stews etc.) are submerged. While not explicitly stated, the apparatus of Brekke is understood to be an aging apparatus, i.e. an apparatus for treatment/holding of a food product for a period of time, under the broadest reasonable interpretation of “aging apparatus”. Furthermore, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0032) the ice slurry in the tank 20 is transported out from the upper part of the tank and fed through pipe 22 (ice slurry inlet) to the treatment tub 50. Additionally, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0033) in the bottom part of the tank 50, a volume of water(where water containing salt is understood to be brine), after the ice has melted and cooled the bags, is transported out of the tank via pipe 24 (brine outlet). Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0021; Fig. 1 #23) pipe 24 (brine outlet) is equipped with a pump/shut-off valve 23 (outlet valve). Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0022) at the different height levels of the tank 50, required temperature sensors are mounted to monitor the ice/water mixture in the tank. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0042) temperature sensors mounted in the various height layers in the water send signals to the control system for the process, which activates pumps and the ice slurry tank 20 in the engine room, so that if the water temperature in the tank 50 exceeds e.g. +1° C, a specified volume of melted water (brine) from the tub is fed back via pipe 24 (brine outlet) to the large ice slurry tank, and more ice slurry in the tub 20 is transported via pipe 22 (brine inlet) and to the treatment tank 50.
It is noted that, while Brekke does not explicitly state that the apparatus is configured to supply an ice slurry with a uniform salinity, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0017, 0018) thermometers and salt content gauges are used to ensure that the salt water mixture (brine) has the correct salt content, in order to achieve the required freezing point reduction in the proportion of water to be mixed in the tank 20 with the ice particles or ice flakes from the ice machine 10, wherein pipe 34 can transport the salt water from the salt water tank 30 and to the ice slurry tank 20; main water pipe 32 is continued for the feeding of the required volume of water directly to the tank 20; and all pipes include required (not illustrated) regulation devices, shut-off valves and the like in order to produce the correct dosage. Furthermore, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0038) the ice slurry is kept in constant, homogenous movement by using a frequency-controlled paddle mechanism 40 in the ice slurry tank 20. Thus, Brekke teaches that the apparatus controls the salt content and mixes the ice slurry, and, therefore, the apparatus is understood to be configured to supply an ice slurry with a uniform salinity.
Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the apparatus to produce an ice slurry with a uniform salinity since salt allows the ice slurry to be maintained as a homogenous mass that can be pumped (Brekke, Paragraph 0008) and since the correct salt content is needed in order to achieve the required freezing point reduction (Brekke, Paragraph 0017), so a uniform salinity would ensure that the ice slurry was uniform in temperature and consistently cooled the food products as desired.
Brekke discloses (Paragraph 0020) that pipe 22 (ice slurry inlet) transports the ice slurry into the bottom of the tank 50 rather than the upper portion. Brekke is silent on an inlet valve configured to control the opening and closing of the ice slurry inlet. Brekke is further silent on a quantity meter configured to measures the quantity of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank. Also, Brekke discloses (Paragraph 0042) controlling the inlet and outlet to add ice slurry and discharge brine based on exceeding a temperature value, such as +1°C, rather than going beyond a predetermined temperature range.
Goldstein teaches (Paragraph 0008, 0046) an apparatus for cooling temperature sensitive products comprising an ice-making machine comprising at least one nozzle for discharging ice-slurry, wherein the temperature sensitive products include foodstuff, wherein discharge nozzles 150 (ice slurry inlets) are positioned within a tank 110 at an upper portion of the container as shown in Figure 1, and wherein each discharge nozzle 150 comprises an adjustable valve used to adjust an amount of ice-slurry it receives (where valves are well-known to regulate the amount of material passing through by opening and closing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus Brekke to position the ice slurry inlet on an upper portion of the storage container and to provide an inlet valve configured to control the opening and closing of the ice slurry inlet as taught by Goldstein since both are directed to apparatuses for treating food products with ice slurry, since positioning the ice slurry inlet on an upper portion of the storage container and providing an inlet valve configured to control the opening and closing of the ice slurry inlet is known in the art as shown by Goldstein, since an ice slurry valve in the upper portion of the container can ensure that the ice slurry contacts the top of the food product, since an ice slurry inlet on the upper portion of the container will ensure that there is adequate room on the lower portion of the storage container for the outlet valve and thermometer, since an inlet valve can regulate the amount of ice slurry provided to the food so that enough slurry is provided to cool the food to the desired temperature and so that excess slurry is not wasted, and since an inlet valve can stop the flow of ice slurry when needed, such as when food is added or removed to the storage container.
Furthermore, while Brekke does not explicitly teach placing the ice slurry inlet on an upper portion of the container, doing so would have been obvious to try since (using/doing) an ice slurry inlet to transfer ice slurry into a container to treat food products is known in the art as shown by Brekke and Goldstein, since placing the ice slurry inlet in the container has a finite number of identified, predictable potential solutions (placing the inlet on an upper portion of the container or placing the inlet on a lower portion of the container), and since one of ordinary skill in the art could have pursued these known potential solutions with a reasonable expectation of success (See MPEP 2143 E).
Machida teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0029, 0058) a method and apparatus that can be applied to the cooling, refrigeration, or freezing and that can fill ice slurry into a tank having an internal space at a high ice filling rate and that can automate the filling operation, wherein ice slurry produced by the ice maker 20 is sent to a tank 30 via an ice slurry supply pipe 21 (ice slurry inlet) with an interposed valve 68 (inlet valve). Machida further teaches (Paragraph 0059) tank 30 is provided with a liquid level sensor 71 (where the liquid level in a rigid container like a tank is representative of the quantity of material in the tank, and therefore, the liquid level sensor may be understood to be a quantity meter) for detecting a high liquid level H and a low liquid level sensor 72 for detecting a low liquid level L, wherein, when the liquid level reaches the low liquid level detection sensor 72 (when the liquid level reaches the low liquid level L) an ice slurry supply pump 67 is operated until the liquid level reaches the high liquid level H or valve 68 may be operated to allow the ice slurry to flow into a bypass pipe 69. Also, Machida teaches (Paragraph 0036) the operation of filling the tank 30 is automated.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Brekke to provide a quantity meter configured to measures the quantity of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank and to configure the control unit configured to receive measurement signals from the quantity meter in view of Machida since both are directed to apparatuses for supplying an ice slurry to tanks, since providing a quantity meter configured to measures the quantity of the ice slurry contained in the tank and controlling the operation of the apparatus using measurement signals from the quantity meter is known in the art as shown by Machida, since controlling the apparatus according to a quantity meter can prevent overfilling of the tank, preventing spilling ice slurry or wasting excess ice slurry, since controlling the apparatus according to a quantity meter can ensure that the tank is not underfilled and that enough ice slurry is provided to cool and/or surround the food, and since a quantity meter can ensure that a desired amount of ice slurry is present to provide the food with the desired temperature.
Borup teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0016) cooling carcass parts by means of a refrigerant that flows along one side of sheeting, whose other side is in abutment with a carcass part, wherein it is preferred that the refrigerant, in the form of brine or slush ice, operates in a temperature range between -2 and -20° C.
Weerawardena teaches (Page 2, lines 28-32; Page 3, lines 6-8; Page 4, lines 10-17) a method for processing fish in which the fish is stored at a temperature below 0°C, preferably between about -1.4°C and about -2.0°C, wherein the fish are stored in a storage medium, such as seawater or brine, maintained within the specified temperature ranges, and wherein the method may include the step of monitoring the temperature of the storage medium (e.g. seawater) during each step and adjusting the temperature accordingly to ensure that it is maintained within the specified range.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Brekke to control the brine to be discharged through the brine outlet and control ice slurry to be supplied to the aging tank through the ice slurry inlet if the temperature of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank goes beyond a predetermined temperature range in view of Borup and Weerawardena since each is directed to a method of treating organic material with cooled brine, since Brekke teaches controlling the brine to be discharged through the brine outlet and controlling ice slurry to be supplied to the aging tank through the ice slurry inlet if the temperature of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank goes beyond a predetermined temperature, since Borup and Weerawardena teach treating organic material with brine/ice slurry maintained with a predetermined temperature range, since a temperature range with a lower limit would ensure that the food is not cooled to too low of a temperature or not frozen, which might otherwise damage food texture or require prolonged thawing before use, and since a temperature range allows for small fluctuations in temperature and prevents constant discharge and resupply of ice slurry to maintain an exact temperature value that would waste slurry and raise operational and energy costs.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Goldstein (US 20190323755 A1), Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and further in view of Goldstein (US 5884501 A).
Regarding claim 2, Brekke teaches, as shown above, (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #10, 20, 30, 32, 34) the volume of ice particles and salt in the water in the buffer tank 20 (brine tank) is continuously regulated by adding salt water from the supply 30 via pipe 34, water from pipe 32 and by adding ice particles from the ice machine 10 (where the aforementioned apparatus elements in combination may be understood to comprise the ice slurry generation unit). Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0016; Fig. 1 #12, 16) a pipe 12 connects the ice machine 10 with the slurry tank 20, as the pipe 12 leads into the upper layer of the slurry tank 20, and a pipe 16 for cold water (where the water is understood to be brine resulting from the addition of salt from the supply 30) leads from the bottom of the slurry tank 20 and returns to the ice machine for production of new ice. As shown in Figure 1, the ice machine receives water/brine from the bottom of the buffer tank and converts the water/brine to ice, which is output at the upper layer of the tank 20. Therefore, the icemaker 10 is understood to be a transfer unit. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0025) the ice machine has an inbuilt automatic system which controls the temperature of the ice (where a system that converts water/brine to ice is understood to be a cooling unit configured to cool the internal temperature of the transfer unit to a temperature below the freezing point of the brine).
Brekke teaches cooling water/brine to ice particles rather than an ice slurry.
Goldstein (US 5884501 A) teaches (Col. 5, lines 41-45; Col. 6, lines 48-56; Fig. 1 #10, 66, 68) an ice-making machine 10 connected to an ice-making system, wherein brine solution or ice-brine is fed into the ice-making machine 10 through the brine solution inlet 66, ice-brine slurry is produced in the ice-making machine 10, and ice-brine slurry outlet 68 permits the egress of an ice-slurry brine from the ice-making machine 10.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Brekke, as modified above, to configure the transfer unit to produce ice slurry rather than ice particles (e.g., by adjusting the temperature or cooling rate, or by substituting the ice maker of Brekke for that of Goldstein (US 5884501 A)) as taught by Goldstein (US 5884501 A), since both are directed to apparatuses for producing ice slurry, since producing ice slurry by cooling brine in a transfer unit is known in the art as shown by Goldstein (US 5884501 A), since producing slurry directly in the transfer unit removes the need to mix ice particles with water after returning the ice to the brine tank, shortening production time and simplifying operation, since slurry does not require as much cooling to produce as solid ice, and since the ice-making machine of Goldstein is less expensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and can be mass produced, and the modular design of the ice-making machine allows a plurality of ice-making machines to be interconnected to achieve the desired capacity while maintaining individual refrigerant and/or brine solution inlets and outlets (Goldstein, Col. 3, lines 27-33).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Goldstein (US 20190323755 A1), Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and further in view of Wilson (US 20100313921 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Brekke is silent on the apparatus further comprising a recovery tank connected to the brine outlet of the aging tank and configured to store the brine transferred (discharged) from the aging tank and to supply the stored brine to the ice slurry generation unit.
Wilson teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0010-0012) systems for processing comestible products by flowing a caustic cleaning solution through the equipment to remove food particles that may have become deposited on the walls of the tanks, tubing, or other components of processing equipment, wherein a return conduit with an inline diverter valve connects to an outlet of the food processing equipment and a caustic recovery conduit leads from the first outlet of the above-mentioned diverter valve to an inlet of the caustic recovery tank. Wilson further teaches (Paragraph 0019) caustic solution in the upper part, i.e., the barrel portion, of the caustic recovery tank can be bled off via the caustic solution drain and caustic recovery pump to the caustic supply tank, so the caustic solution can be used for a subsequent C.I.P. cleaning process.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Brekke, as modified above, to further comprise a recovery tank connected to the brine outlet of the aging tank and configured to store the brine transferred (discharged) from the aging tank and to supply the stored brine to the ice slurry generation unit in view of Wilson, since both are directed to food treatment apparatuses in which a fluid material is circulated from a supply tank to a food processing system and back to the supply tank, since providing a recovery tank that receives a fluid from the outlet of the food processing equipment and holds the fluid before transferring the fluid to a supply tank is known in the art as shown by Wilson, since the recovery tank can allow entrained solids to settle and separate from the liquid (Wilson, Paragraph 0019), thus ensuring that no food or other material that might accidentally be removed with the brine is returned to the brine tank, since a recovery tank would provide additional volume to hold the brine prior to transfer to the brine tank to ensure that the brine tank is not overfilled, and since the recovery tank can hold brine while the brine tank is being filled with ice slurry, so that warm brine that would otherwise melt the slurry is not introduced and does not delay ice slurry production.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Goldstein (US 20190323755 A1), Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and Wilson (US 20100313921 A1), and further in view of Matsumoto (JP 6403214 B2) and Pahlsson (WO 2009048420 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0017) water is transported from a source not illustrated and to the tank 30 via a branch pipe 36 which derives from a main water pipe 32, where Figure 1 shows that water is fed both to salt tank 30 and directly to buffer tank 20.
Brekke is silent on the apparatus further comprising a sterilized water generation unit disposed between the recovery tank and the ice slurry generation unit and configured to supply sterilized water to the ice slurry generation unit.
Matsumoto teaches (Paragraph 0008, 0036) a system and production method that can continuously mass-produce a cooling medium such as slurry ice with sterilizing function using hypochlorous acid water, wherein cooling medium generating device 30 is a device that cools the taken in electrolytic hypochlorous water to generate a cooling medium, and for example, a slurry ice manufacturing device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Brekke, as modified above, to further include a sterilized water generation unit configured to supply sterilized water to the ice slurry generation unit as taught by Matsumoto since both are directed to apparatuses for the production of ice slurry with water supply units, since a sterilized water generation unit configured to supply sterilized water to the ice slurry generation unit is known in the art as shown by Matsumoto, since sterilized water would prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms in the ice slurry generation unit that contaminate the food or harm operators of the equipment, and since high salt concentrations do not provide effective bactericidal activity against some pathogens, such as norovirus and Staphylococcus aureus, while hypochlorous acid water has strong sterilizing properties (Matsumoto, Paragraph 0006).
Pahlsson teaches (Page 2, lines 20-28; Page 9, lines 9-11; Page 10, lines 6-13; Fig. 2 #10, 24, 26, 35) a method, an apparatus and a system for cooling containers for food products, wherein water is sprayed onto products in an annular space 10, and a collecting means 24 collects the sprayed water which is returned via a return channel 26 which can also comprise means 35 for adding fresh water to compensate for bleed off.
Thus, it is known in the art to add water to a recovery line/return channel of a cooling fluid. Additionally, while Brekke does not explicitly teach that the sterilized water generation unit is disposed between the recovery tank and the ice slurry generation unit, such placement would have been obvious to try since providing a means for adding fresh water (water generation unit) to a recovery line/return channel (i.e. after the treatment tank and before the dispensing line) to add water to a system for cooling food products is known in the art as shown by Pahlsson, since placement of the water generation unit has a finite number of identified, predictable potential solutions (directly connected/adjacent the ice slurry generation unit, between the aging tank and the recovery tank, or between the ice slurry generation unit and the aging tank, between the recovery tank and the ice slurry generation unit), and since one of ordinary skill in the art could have pursued these known potential solutions with a reasonable expectation of success (See MPEP 2143 E).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Goldstein (US 20190323755 A1), Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), Wilson (US 20100313921 A1), Matsumoto (JP 6403214 B2), and Pahlsson (WO 2009048420 A1), and further in view of Najafi (US 20040137078 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Brekke is silent on the sterilized water generation unit comprising a neutralization reaction unit configured to neutralize sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) ; and a mixing unit configured to mix hypochlorous acid produced by the neutralization reaction unit with water.
As shown above, Matsumoto teaches (Paragraph 0008, 0036) a system and production method that can continuously mass-produce a cooling medium such as slurry ice with sterilizing function using hypochlorous acid water, wherein cooling medium generating device 30 is a device that cools the taken in electrolytic hypochlorous water to generate a cooling medium, and for example, a slurry ice manufacturing device. Matsumoto further teaches (Paragraph 0029) electrolysis means 23 (reaction unit) electrolyzes the taken-in brine to generate electrolyzed water containing hypochlorous acid (HClO), and a dilution unit M1 (mixing unit) mixes the electrolyzed water and dilution water to generate electrolyzed hypochlorous water.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Brekke, as modified above, to configure the sterilized water generation unit to comprise a reaction unit to product hypochlorous acid and a mixing unit to mix hypochlorous acid with water as taught by Matsumoto since both are directed to apparatuses for the production of ice slurry with water supply units, since a sterilized water generation unit comprising a reaction unit to product hypochlorous acid and a mixing unit to mix hypochlorous acid with water is known in the art as shown by Matsumoto, since sterilized water would prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms in the ice slurry generation unit that contaminate the food or harm operators of the equipment, since high salt concentrations do not provide effective bactericidal activity against some pathogens, such as norovirus and Staphylococcus aureus, while hypochlorous acid water has strong sterilizing properties (Matsumoto, Paragraph 0006), and since a reaction unit to produce hypochlorous acid allows for direct production of hypochlorous acid when needed, so hypochlorous acid is available but does not require separate storage, and since separate reaction and mixing units allows for control of the hyphochlorous acid concentration to ensure that the intended sterilizing effect is achieved.
Najafi teaches (Paragraph 0243-0246) a method for the treatment of various medical conditions using a solution of the invention by applying the solution to the site where treatment is required, wherein the solution is prepared by chemical synthesis comprising of the following reactions: NaOCl (sodium hypochlorite) + HCl (hydrochloric acid) → HOCl (hypochlorous acid) + NaCl.
Thus, generation of hypochlorous acid by neutralizing sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with hydrochloric acid (HCl) is known in the art, and the substitution or use the neutralization of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with hydrochloric acid (HCl) as the reaction for production of hypochlorous acid would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since the production of hypochlorous acid for sterilization of water used in the production of ice slurry is known in the art as shown by Matsumoto, since the use of the neutralization reaction of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with hydrochloric acid (HCl) to produce hypochlorous acid is known in the art from Najafi, and since substitution of one known element for another yields predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art (See MPEP 2143 I. B.).
Additionally, the equipment of Matsumoto, including the electrolysis means 23 where hypochlorous acid is produced, is understood to be configured to neutralize sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the limitation since an at least partially enclosed equipment unit capable of holding hypochlorous acid would be capable of receiving both sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) to yield hypochlorous acid.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A).
Regarding claim 6, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0003, 0005) a method and apparatus for exploitation of the heat exchanging qualities of an ice slurry, i.e. a suspension of ice particles in water, to which salt is added in order to reduce the mixture's freezing point, wherein the method and system are utilized for treatment of vacuum packed food products, which are to be cooled. Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0043) an ice slurry with a temperature of -1.5° C (below freezing) was utilized. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #10, 20, 30, 32, 34) the volume of ice particles and salt in the water in the buffer tank 20 is continuously regulated by adding salt water from the supply 30 via pipe 34, water from pipe 32 and by adding ice particles from the ice machine 10 (where the aforementioned apparatus elements in combination may be understood to comprise the ice slurry generation unit). In addition, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0039-0040; Fig. 1 #50) ice slurry is pumped out to a cooling tub in a tank 50, wherein vacuum bags packaged with raw ingredients (sauces, meat, fish, vegetables, desserts, stews etc.) are submerged. While not explicitly stated, the method of Brekke is understood to be an aging method, i.e. a method for treatment/holding of a food product for a period of time in a controlled environment, under the broadest reasonable interpretation of “aging method”. As stated above, Brekke teaches treatment of vacuum packed food products, and Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0006, 0042) the vacuum bags are completely submerged in the ice slurry tub for cooling during a required period of time, wherein the temperature in the ice slurry in the tub where the vacuum bags have been submerged is controlled and monitored (aging). Furthermore, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0032) the ice slurry in the tank 20 is transported out from the upper part of the tank and fed through pipe 22 (ice slurry inlet) to the treatment tub 50. Additionally, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0033) in the bottom part of the tank 50, a volume of water(where water containing salt is understood to be brine), after the ice has melted and cooled the bags, is transported out of the tank via pipe 24 (brine outlet). Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0021; Fig. 1 #23) pipe 24 (brine outlet) is equipped with a pump/shut-off valve 23 (outlet valve). Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0022) at the different height levels of the tank 50, required temperature sensors are mounted to monitor the ice/water mixture in the tank. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0042) temperature sensors mounted in the various height layers in the water send signals to the control system for the process, which activates pumps and the ice slurry tank 20 in the engine room, so that if the water temperature in the tank 50 exceeds e.g. +1° C, a specified volume of melted water (brine) from the tub is fed back via pipe 24 (brine outlet) to the large ice slurry tank (which requires the outlet valve to be open), and more ice slurry in the tub 20 is transported via pipe 22 (brine inlet) and to the treatment tank 50.
It is noted that Brekke does not explicitly state that the ice slurry has a uniform salinity. However, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0017, 0018) thermometers and salt content gauges are used to ensure that the salt water mixture (brine) has the correct salt content, in order to achieve the required freezing point reduction in the proportion of water to be mixed in the tank 20 with the ice particles or ice flakes from the ice machine 10, wherein pipe 34 can transport the salt water from the salt water tank 30 and to the ice slurry tank 20; main water pipe 32 is continued for the feeding of the required volume of water directly to the tank 20; and all pipes include required (not illustrated) regulation devices, shut-off valves and the like in order to produce the correct dosage. Furthermore, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0038) the ice slurry is kept in constant, homogenous movement by using a frequency-controlled paddle mechanism 40 in the ice slurry tank 20. Thus, Brekke teaches that the salt content is controlled and the ice slurry is constantly mixed, which would likely, if not necessarily result in a uniform salinity.
Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to produce an ice slurry with a uniform salinity since salt allows the ice slurry to be maintained as a homogenous mass that can be pumped (Brekke, Paragraph 0008) and since the correct salt content is needed in order to achieve the required freezing point reduction (Brekke, Paragraph 0017), so a uniform salinity would ensure that the ice slurry was uniform in temperature and consistently cooled the food products as desired.
Brekke is silent on allowing the control unit to check a signal outputted from a quantity meter and control an inlet valve to be opened to supply the ice slurry to the aging tank through an ice slurry inlet until the level of the ice slurry reaches a predetermined height. Also, Brekke discloses (Paragraph 0042) controlling the inlet and outlet to add ice slurry and discharge brine based on exceeding a temperature value, such as +1°C, rather than going beyond a predetermined temperature range.
Machida teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0029, 0058) a method and apparatus that can be applied to the cooling, refrigeration, or freezing and that can fill ice slurry into a tank having an internal space at a high ice filling rate and that can automate the filling operation, wherein ice slurry produced by the ice maker 20 is sent to a tank 30 via an ice slurry supply pipe 21 (ice slurry inlet) with an interposed valve 68 (inlet valve). Machida further teaches (Paragraph 0059) tank 30 is provided with a liquid level sensor 71 (where the liquid level in a rigid container like a tank is representative of the quantity of material in the tank, and therefore, the liquid level sensor may be understood to be a quantity meter) for detecting a high liquid level H and a low liquid level sensor 72 for detecting a low liquid level L, wherein, when the liquid level reaches the low liquid level detection sensor 72 (when the liquid level reaches the low liquid level L) an ice slurry supply pump 67 is operated until the liquid level reaches the high liquid level H or valve 68 may be operated to allow the ice slurry to flow into a bypass pipe 69. Also, Machida teaches (Paragraph 0036) the operation of filling the tank 30 is automated.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the method of Brekke to allow the control unit to check a signal outputted from a quantity meter and control an inlet valve to be opened to supply the ice slurry to the aging tank through an ice slurry inlet until the level of the ice slurry reaches a predetermined height in view of Machida since both are directed to apparatuses for supplying an ice slurry to tanks, since checking a signal outputted from a quantity meter and controlling an inlet valve to be opened to supply the ice slurry to the tank through an ice slurry inlet until the level of the ice slurry reaches a predetermined height is known in the art as shown by Machida, since controlling the apparatus according to a quantity meter can prevent overfilling of the tank, preventing spilling ice slurry or wasting excess ice slurry, since controlling the apparatus according to a quantity meter can ensure that the tank is not underfilled and that enough ice slurry is provided to cool and/or surround the food, and since using a quantity meter can ensure that a desired amount of ice slurry is present to provide the food with the desired temperature.
Borup teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0016) cooling carcass parts by means of a refrigerant that flows along one side of sheeting, whose other side is in abutment with a carcass part, wherein it is preferred that the refrigerant, in the form of brine or slush ice, operates in a temperature range between -2 and -20° C.
Weerawardena teaches (Page 2, lines 28-32; Page 3, lines 6-8; Page 4, lines 10-17) a method for processing fish in which the fish is stored at a temperature below 0°C, preferably between about -1.4°C and about -2.0°C, wherein the fish are stored in a storage medium, such as seawater or brine, maintained within the specified temperature ranges, and wherein the method may include the step of monitoring the temperature of the storage medium (e.g. seawater) during each step and adjusting the temperature accordingly to ensure that it is maintained within the specified range.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the method of Brekke to control the brine to be discharged through the brine outlet if the temperature of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank goes beyond a predetermined temperature range in view of Borup and Weerawardena since each is directed to a method of treating organic material with cooled brine, since Brekke teaches controlling the brine to be discharged through the brine outlet if the temperature of the ice slurry contained in the aging tank goes beyond a predetermined temperature, since Borup and Weerawardena teach treating organic material with brine/ice slurry maintained with a predetermined temperature range, since a temperature range with a lower limit would ensure that the food is not cooled to too low of a temperature or not frozen, which might otherwise damage food texture or require prolonged thawing before use, and since a temperature range allows for small fluctuations in temperature and prevents constant discharge and resupply of ice slurry to maintain an exact temperature value that would waste slurry and raise operational and energy costs.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and further in view of Goldstein (US 5884501 A).
Regarding claim 2, Brekke teaches, as shown above, (Paragraph 0037; Fig. 1 #10, 20, 30, 32, 34) the volume of ice particles and salt in the water in the buffer tank 20 (brine tank) is continuously regulated by adding salt water from the supply 30 via pipe 34, water from pipe 32 and by adding ice particles from the ice machine 10 (where the aforementioned apparatus elements in combination may be understood to comprise the ice slurry generation unit). Brekke further teaches (Paragraph 0016; Fig. 1 #12, 16) a pipe 12 connects the ice machine 10 with the slurry tank 20, as the pipe 12 leads into the upper layer of the slurry tank 20, and a pipe 16 for cold water (where the water is understood to be brine resulting from the addition of salt from the supply 30) leads from the bottom of the slurry tank 20 and returns to the ice machine for production of new ice. As shown in Figure 1, the ice machine receives water/brine from the bottom of the buffer tank and converts the water/brine to ice, which is output at the upper layer of the tank 20. Therefore, the icemaker 10 is understood to be a transfer unit. Also, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0025) the ice machine has an inbuilt automatic system which controls the temperature of the ice (where a system that converts water/brine to ice is understood to be a cooling unit configured to cool the internal temperature of the transfer unit to a temperature below the freezing point of the brine).
Brekke teaches cooling water/brine to ice particles rather than an ice slurry.
Goldstein (US 5884501 A) teaches (Col. 5, lines 41-45; Col. 6, lines 48-56; Fig. 1 #10, 66, 68) an ice-making machine 10 connected to an ice-making system, wherein brine solution or ice-brine is fed into the ice-making machine 10 through the brine solution inlet 66, ice-brine slurry is produced in the ice-making machine 10, and ice-brine slurry outlet 68 permits the egress of an ice-slurry brine from the ice-making machine 10.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Brekke, as modified above, to produce ice slurry rather than ice particles (e.g., by adjusting the temperature or cooling rate, or by substituting the ice maker of Brekke for that of Goldstein (US 5884501 A)) as taught by Goldstein (US 5884501 A), since both are directed to methods for producing ice slurry, since producing ice slurry by cooling brine in a transfer unit is known in the art as shown by Goldstein (US 5884501 A), since producing slurry directly in the transfer unit removes the need to mix ice particles with water after returning the ice to the brine tank, shortening production time and simplifying operation, since slurry does not require as much cooling to produce as solid ice, and since the ice-making machine of Goldstein is less expensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and can be mass produced, and the modular design of the ice-making machine allows a plurality of ice-making machines to be interconnected to achieve the desired capacity while maintaining individual refrigerant and/or brine solution inlets and outlets (Goldstein, Col. 3, lines 27-33).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and further in view of Wilson (US 20100313921 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Brekke is silent on the method further comprising transferring the brine contained in the aging tank to a recovery tank; and transferring the brine of the recovery tank to the ice slurry generation unit.
Wilson teaches (Paragraph 0001, 0010-0012) processing comestible products by flowing a caustic cleaning solution through the equipment to remove food particles that may have become deposited on the walls of the tanks, tubing, or other components of processing equipment, wherein a return conduit with an inline diverter valve connects to an outlet of the food processing equipment and a caustic recovery conduit leads from the first outlet of the above-mentioned diverter valve to an inlet of the caustic recovery tank. Wilson further teaches (Paragraph 0019) caustic solution in the upper part, i.e., the barrel portion, of the caustic recovery tank can be bled off via the caustic solution drain and caustic recovery pump to the caustic supply tank, so the caustic solution can be used for a subsequent C.I.P. cleaning process.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the method of Brekke, as modified above, to further comprise transferring the brine contained in the aging tank to a recovery tank; and transferring the brine of the recovery tank to the ice slurry generation unit in view of Wilson, since both are directed to food treatment apparatuses in which a fluid material is circulated from a supply tank to a food processing system and back to the supply tank, since providing a recovery tank that receives a fluid from the outlet of the food processing equipment and holds the fluid before transferring the fluid to a supply tank is known in the art as shown by Wilson, since the recovery tank can allow entrained solids to settle and separate from the liquid (Wilson, Paragraph 0019), thus ensuring that no food or other material that might accidentally be removed with the brine is returned to the brine tank, since transferring brine into a recovery tank would provide additional volume to hold the brine prior to transfer to the brine tank to ensure that the brine tank is not overfilled, and since the recovery tank can hold brine while the brine tank is being filled with ice slurry, so that warm brine that would otherwise melt the slurry is not introduced and does not delay ice slurry production.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brekke (US 20070137223 A1) in view of Machida (JP 2009121766 A), Borup (US 20080141685 A1), and Weerawardena (GB 2464347 A), and further in view of Matsumoto (JP 6403214 B2).
Regarding claim 9, Brekke teaches (Paragraph 0017) water is transported from a source not illustrated and to the tank 30 via a branch pipe 36 which derives from a main water pipe 32, where Figure 1 shows that water is fed both to salt tank 30 and directly to buffer