DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16th, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Sheet
The information disclosure statements (IDS’s) submitted on 02/19/2024, 02/12/2025, 07/21/2025, and 12/01/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, lines 2-3 recite “…controlling the cooking applicant to conduct microwave heating to the food under the condition that the temperature of food is larger than or equal to a present temperature…” The claim recites “the food” and “the temperature” without prior recitation to “a food” or “a temperature,” or of similar language.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §102
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 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 7-13, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mills (US 10,057,946).
Regarding claim 1, Mills discloses a control method of a cooking appliance (See abstract), comprising:
controlling the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food under the condition that the temperature of food is larger than or equal to a preset temperature (Described in abstract and in col 19, line 58 - col 20, line 13. This is further shown in figure 2 and described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein T_f (final food product temperature) >= T_i (initial food product temperature));
obtaining at least one first parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 to col 14, line 50 - the parameter is the total energy absorbed by the food E_f = E_fwarm_frozen + E_f_melt);
stopping conducting microwave heating to the food under the condition of obtaining a first preset parameter value in the at least one first parameter value (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained first parameter is reached);
controlling the cooking appliance to perform hot air heating to the food (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50);
obtaining at least one second parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein the parameter is E_f_heat); and
stopping conducting hot air heating to the food under the condition that the at least one second parameter value reaches a second preset parameter value corresponding to the food (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained second parameter is reached).
Regarding claim 2, Mills further discloses wherein, the first parameter value comprises the surface hardness of the food, and the second parameter value comprises the water loss rate of the food and the color information of the food (Described in col 8, lines 2-13 in terms of "browning" which would constitute the outer surface hardness. Col 9, line 63 - col 10, line 19 and col 11, lines 1 - 67 also describes the determination of water loss rate of the food).
Regarding claim 7, Mills further teaches the step of before controlling the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food, further comprising:
obtaining the temperature of the food (Temperature measurement described in col 9, line 63 - col 10, line 19);
heating the food with hot air under the condition that the temperature of the food is lower than the preset temperature, until the temperature of the food is larger than or equal to the preset temperature (Described in col 13, line 15 - col 14, line 32);
wherein the preset temperature is 0 °C (Described in col 13, line 15 - col 14, line 32).
Regarding claim 8, Mills further teaches wherein under the condition that the temperature of the food is larger than or equal to a preset temperature, the step of controlling the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food further comprises: obtaining the types of the food (Described in col 5, line 61 - col 6, line 5); and
determining the second preset parameter value according to the types of the food (Described in col 11, lines 42 - 67).
Regarding claim 9, Mills teaches a control device (Figure 2, #40) of a cooking appliance (Figure 1, #10), comprising:
a control unit (Figure 2, #40), used to control the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food under the condition that the temperature of the food is larger than or equal to a preset temperature (Described in abstract and in col 19, line 58 - col 20, line 13. This is further shown in figure 2 and described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein T_f (final food product temperature) >= T_i (initial food product temperature)); and
an obtaining unit (Described in col 7, lines 22 - 46; specifically, the temperature sensor), used to obtain a first parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 to col 14, line 50 - the parameter is the total energy absorbed by the food E_f = E_fwarm_frozen + E_f_melt);
wherein, the control unit is further used to stop the microwave heating to the food under the condition that a first preset parameter value of at least one first parameter value is obtained (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained first parameter is reached), and
control the cooking appliance to conduct hot air heating to the food (Described in col 5, lines 14-29);
the obtaining unit is further used to obtain at least one second parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein the parameter is E_f_heat);
the control unit is further used to stop hot air heating to the food under the condition that the at least one second parameter value reaches a preset parameter value corresponding to the food (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained second parameter is reached).
Regarding claim 10, Mills further teaches a processor (Figure 3, #110) and a memory (Figure 3, #120), wherein, programs or instructions which can run on the processor are stored in the memory (Described in col 1, line 38 - col 2, line 57), when the programs or instructions are executed, the steps of the control method of a cooking appliance in claim 1 are implemented (Described in col 1, line 38 - col 2, line 57).
Regarding claim 11, Mills further teaches the control device of a cooking appliance of claim 9 (Shown in figures 1 and 3).
Regarding claim 12, Mills teaches a computer-readable storage medium, and programs or instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium (Described in col 1, line 38 - col 2, line 57), when the programs or instructions are executed by a processor (Figure 3, #110), cause the processor to:
control the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food under the condition that the temperature of food is larger than or equal to a preset temperature (Described in abstract and in col 19, line 58 - col 20, line 13. This is further shown in figure 2 and described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein T_f (final food product temperature) >= T_i (initial food product temperature));
obtain at least one first parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 to col 14, line 50 - the parameter is the total energy absorbed by the food E_f = E_fwarm_frozen + E_f_melt);
stop conducting microwave heating to the food under the condition of obtaining a first preset parameter value in the at least one first parameter value (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained first parameter is reached);
control the cooking appliance to perform hot air heating to the food (Described in col 5, lines 14-29);
obtain at least one second parameter value of the food (Described in col 13, line 14 - col 14, line 50 wherein the parameter is E_f_heat); and
stop conducting hot air heating to the food under the condition that the at least one second parameter value reaches a second preset parameter value corresponding to the food (Described in col 19, line 63 - col 20, line 50 wherein the microwave heating is stopped once the value of the obtained second parameter is reached).
Regarding claim 18, Mills further teaches the step of before controlling the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food, further comprising: obtaining the temperature of the food (Temperature measurement described in col 9, line 63 - col 10, line 19);
heating the food with hot air under the condition that the temperature of the food is lower than the preset temperature, until the temperature of the food is larger than or equal to the preset temperature (Described in col 13, line 15 - col 14, line 32);
wherein the preset temperature is 0 °C (Described in col 13, line 15 - col 14, line 32).
Regarding claim 19, Mills further teaches wherein under the condition that the temperature of the food is larger than or equal to a preset temperature, the step of controlling the cooking appliance to conduct microwave heating to the food further comprises: obtaining the types of the food (Described in col 5, line 61 - col 6, line 5); and
determining the second preset parameter value according to the types of the food (Described in col 11, lines 42 - 67).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 14-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB A SMITH whose telephone number is (571) 272-3974 and email address is Jacob.Smith@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30AM - 5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB A SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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