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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 8 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
i. Claims 8 and 17 each end with a comma instead of a period (MPEP 608.01(m)).
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 6 and 15 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 6 recites the limitation "the common burner" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the common burner" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yun (US 2018/0242406).
Regarding Claim 1,
A cooktop appliance, comprising: a cooktop plate (102, ex. Fig. 2, [0056]) defining an upper cooking surface; a capacitance grid (ex. [0073-0081, 0165--0172]) mounted to the cooktop plate; a plurality of burners (with M1-M4 , ex. [0057-0058], see also Figs. 2, 4, ex. [0075-0077]), each burner of the plurality of burners comprising an electric heating element (L, ex. [0058, 0072, 0076], Figs. 2, 4) mounted below the cooktop plate; and a controller (110) operatively coupled to the capacitance grid and the plurality of burners (ex. [0113, 0116, 0136-0143, 0196-0200] Figs. 4, 6, 11-13, 24-25), the controller being configured to direct a cooking operation comprising receiving a plurality of capacitance signals from the capacitance grid (ex. [0235, 0259]) ,detecting a capacitance delta based on the plurality of capacitance signals (ex. [0240-0247]), identifying a burner level of an engaged burner of the plurality of burners based on the detected capacitance delta (ex. [0158-160]), and directing a responsive action on the cooktop appliance based on the identified burner level (ex. [0158-160, 0108, 0114, 0180-0181, 0240-0245]).
Regarding Claim 2,
The cooktop appliance of claim 1, wherein the plurality of capacitance signals are received from a plurality of points (ex. Fig. 4) corresponding to the engaged burner.
Regarding Claim 6,
The cooktop appliance of claim 2, wherein each point of the plurality of points is disposed along a predetermined outline surrounding the common burner (ex. Fig. 2, [0057]).
Regarding Claim 8,
The cooktop appliance of claim 1, wherein identifying the burner level comprises determining an active burner based on the capacitance delta (ex. [0171-0182]),
Regarding Claim 10,
A method of operating a cooktop appliance comprising a cooktop plate (102, ex. Fig. 2, [0056]) defining an upper cooking surface, a capacitance grid (ex. [0073-0081, 0165--0172]) mounted to the cooktop plate, a plurality of burners (with M1-M4 , ex. [0057-0058], see also Figs. 2, 4, ex. [0075-0077]), each burner of the plurality of burners comprising an electric heating element (L, ex. [0058, 0072, 0076], Figs. 2, 4) mounted below the cooktop plate, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of capacitance signals from the capacitance grid (ex. [0235, 0259]); detecting a capacitance delta based on the plurality of capacitance signals (ex. [0240-0247]); identifying a burner level of an engaged burner of the plurality of burners based on the detected capacitance delta (ex. [0158-160]); and directing a responsive action on the cooktop appliance based on the identified burner level (ex. [0158-160, 0108, 0114, 0180-0181, 0240-0245]).
Regarding Claim 11,
The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of capacitance signals are received from a plurality of points (ex. Fig. 4) corresponding to the engaged burner.
Regarding Claim 15,
The method of claim 11, wherein each point of the plurality of points is disposed along a predetermined outline surrounding the common burner (ex. Fig. 2, [0057]).
Regarding Claim 17,
The method of claim 10, wherein identifying the burner level comprises determining an active burner based on the capacitance delta (ex. [0171-0182]),
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, 9, 12-14, 16, and 18 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. Those items on the 892 each teach elements of the instant invention related to cooktops.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL QUANDT whose telephone number is (571)272-1247. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NATHANIEL WIEHE can be reached at (571)272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MICHAEL QUANDT
Examiner
Art Unit 3745
/MICHAEL QUANDT/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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