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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A1, B1, and C1 in the reply filed on 4/03/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the Bleloch does not teach or suggest the output voltage of the DC-DC converter is set based on the determined susceptor temperature--i.e., after the susceptor temperature has been determined, it is used to adjust the output voltage supplied to the inverter during a power delivery mode. This is not found persuasive because Bleloch expressly states using the DC-DC converter to control or regulate power provided to the half bridge, which in turn supplies power to the susceptor element ([0348,0350]) and that the controller is configured to adjust the amount of electrical energy supplied to an induction heating circuit to cause the susceptor element to change from a first temperature to a second temperature based on determining the first temperature of the susceptor element ([0213]). Thus, Bleloch suggests using a DC-DC converter to control voltage in response to temperature measurements in order to effect a change in the susceptor temperature.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 22-24, 29-33, 35-37, and 39-42 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 4/03/2026.
Examiner notes that claim 28 was not listed amongst the species or the generic claims in the restriction requirement dated 2/03/2026. Claim 28 depends from claim 25 and is part of non-elected species A2.
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 22-24, 29-33, 35-37, and 39-42 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.
Claim 22 recites "a temperature identification mode" and the method "further comprising a step of determining a temperature of the susceptor" in lines 7-10. It is unclear how the recited "temperature identification mode" and temperature determining step are related. It is unclear if these are two separate and distinct steps in the method or if the temperature determining step is part of the temperature identification mode. For the purpose of examination, it is assumed the temperature determining step is part of the temperature identification mode.
Claim 36 recites the limitation "the target temperature" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 41, the phrase "e.g." renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
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.
Claims 22, 29, 30, 31, 36, 39, 40, and 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butin (US 2021/0145071) in view of Hwang (KR 20200009993, with English machine translation).
Regarding claim 22 and 42, Butin discloses a method for controlling heating of a susceptor of an aerosol-generating device and the device thereof, the susceptor being inductively heated by an oscillating circuit driven by an inverter (Butin discloses an inductive heating device for heating an aerosol generating device, the inductive heating device comprising a susceptor, a DC power supply, a DC/AC converter, and an inductor, [0012]),
wherein said method comprises a power delivery mode of the aerosol-generating device and a temperature identification mode of the aerosol-generating device in which an amount of power supplied to the inverter is lower than an amount of power supplied during the power delivery mode, the method further comprising a step of determining a temperature of the susceptor (Butin discloses the power is delivered in heating pulses and probing pulses--thus power deliver mode and temperature identification mode--wherein the probing pulse is intended to provide an indirect indication of the temperature of the susceptor; Butin discloses controlling the heating of the susceptor wherein after probing pulses the determine temperature, the heating pulse is adjusted to power delivered, [0012,0017-0024,0035,0156-0163]).
Butin does not disclose a boost converter connected between a power supply unit an inverter or setting the output voltage delivered from the boost converter to the inverter during the power delivery mode depending on the determined temperature of the susceptor. In the same field of endeavor of aerosol generating devices, Hwang discloses an aerosol generating device heated by non-contact induction ([0027]). Hwang discloses a coil, an inverter, and a DC-DC converter that increases or decreases voltage of the battery to generate a driving voltage ([0035-0036; DC-DC converter that increases voltage is a boost converter). Hwang discloses that in order to control the temperature of the metal cylinder suitable for smoking an electronic cigarette (the susceptor), it is necessary to control the energy deliver to the coil ([0042]). Hwang discloses one alternative method involves changing the output voltage of the DC-DC converter wherein an increase/decrease in output voltage can increase/decrease energy delivered to the coil ([0042,0049]). Hwang discloses controlling output voltage of the DC-DC converter can be done in addition to other control methods ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have employed a boost converter to control the power delivered to the inverter depending on determined temperature of the susceptor since Hwang discloses using a boost converter (DC-DC converter) to control voltage delivered from a battery to an inverter so as to control the energy supplied to the induction coil, thereby controlling the temperature of the susceptor ([0027,0035-0037,0042]). One would have been motivated to further manage the energy delivered to the induction coil and thus control susceptor temperature.
Regarding claims 29 and 30, Butin discloses providing the power and temperature identification modes at alternating intervals ([0019-0020]).
Regarding claims 31 and 36, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to compare the determined temperature to a target temperature and set the output voltage a value depending on the determined and target temperature since Hwang discloses adjusting the electrical power delivered to the coil depending on whether a determined temperature is higher or lower than a preset value ([0040,0042]; Hwang discloses controlling energy to the coil based on output voltage of the DC-DC converter, [0049]). Examiner notes that the claims describe a feedback control method which is very well known and conventional in the art.
Regarding claims 39 and 40, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the boost converter with MOSFET transistors since Examiner takes Official Notice that such components are very well known and conventional in the electrical art in constructing boost converters.
Claims 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butin (US 2021/0145071) in view of Hwang (KR 20200009993, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bleloch (US 20220225475).
Regarding claims 23 and 24, Butin does not disclose determining a temperature of a susceptor based on a determine resonant frequency of the oscillating circuit; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have used the resonant frequency to determine temperature since Bleloch, similarly directed towards an aerosol generating device, teaches a method comprising determining a resonant frequency of an induction heating circuit and then determining a temperature of the susceptor based on the resonant frequency value ([0019-0021]; Fig. 3C). As to claim 24, Bleloch discloses the inverter comprises two transistors 720, 722 that are never on at the same time ([0341,0346]). One would have been motivated to employ an accurate determination of the temperature of a susceptor without any components being in thermal contact with the susceptor element and to allow for reduced cost of manufacture ([0195]).
Claims 32, 33, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butin (US 2021/0145071) in view of Hwang (KR 20200009993, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Feedback Control NPL.
Regarding claims 32 and 33, Butin and Hwang both disclose controllers with Hwang disclosing a controller that sets the output voltage of the DC-DC converter ([0015,0016,0049]). Butin and Hwang does not disclose the controller as overdamped; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the controller as overdamped since overdamped control is a well-known and conventional type of feedback control where the damping factor is set such that the system approaches a target value without overshooting it (as opposed to underdamped or critically damped systems; see NPL, pg 2). As to the setting a maximum predefined voltage based on a threshold value, Hwang discloses setting an output voltage based on the desired energy delivered to the coil ([0049]) and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to set a maximum voltage based on the physical/safety limits of the device. Furthermore, a method claim having contingent limitations requires only steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the conditions precedent are not met (see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding claim 35, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have employed a PID controller as such controllers are extremely well-known and conventional in the control art (NPL discloses PID controller in page 20).
Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butin (US 2021/0145071) in view of Hwang (KR 20200009993, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Texas Instruments NPL.
Regarding claim 37, Hwang does not expressly disclose the type of DC-DC converter; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have employed an asynchronous boost converter since Texas Instruments NPL teaches asynchronous boost converters can have as good as or better efficiency than synchronous boost converters (see pg 1, paragraph 1).
Claims 41 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butin (US 2021/0145071) in view of Hwang (KR 20200009993, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hatton (US 20200120991).
Regarding claim 41, Hwang discloses the boost converter is configured to step up the voltage to a desired voltage but does not disclose the specific voltage range. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the input voltage as 3V to 4.2V since Hatton discloses the operating voltage of a typical Li-ion battery cell is about 4.2 V to 3 V as it discharges from full to empty ([0100]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT C DYE whose telephone number is (571)270-7059. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, Anna Momper can be reached at (571) 270-5788. 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.
/ROBERT C DYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
Prosecution Insights