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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/9/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment / Status of the Claims
Applicant is thanked for their 7/9/26 response to the Office Action dated 3/9/26. The amendment has been entered and, accordingly:
Claims 1, 7-8, 10, 16-17 and 19 are amended.
Claims 5-6, 14-15, and 20 are cancelled.
Claims 1-4, 7-13, and 16-19 are pending.
Response to Remarks
Applicant’s remarks with respect to the prior art rejections have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-4, 7-13 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation in lines 7-9 “a blocking slider configured to slide horizontally between a first, locked position in which the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button and a second, unlocked position in which the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button” and lines 13-15, “wherein pressing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the first, locked position to the second, unlocked position, and releasing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position” have a lack of sufficient written description. The lateral movement of the blocking slider is generally described in the as-filed specification, such as in Par. 0008 and Par. 0017, but it is unclear how the blocking slider blocks the second button and how pressing the first button causes the blocking slider to move. Looking at the as-filed figures, in particular Figs. 4-6, it is still unclear how the blocking slider blocks the second button and how it is moved. For example, there is no depiction of how the blocking slider is connected to the second button or what moves the blocking slider after the first button is pressed.
In light of the above, it is the examiner’s decision that the written description lacks sufficient support for the movement of the blocking slider. In other words, at the time of filing, it appears that the applicant’s invention conceived of the individual structures but did not conceive how those structures integrate with each other to form a two-step door opening mechanism, and therefore the applicant did not have possession of the claimed invention as recited in claim 1.
Claims 2-4 and 7-9 are rejected by virtue of their dependency from base claim 1.
The same or substantially the same rejection also applies to claim 10 for reciting “a blocking slider configured to slide horizontally between a first, locked position in which the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button and a second, unlocked position in which the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button” and “wherein pressing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the first, locked position to the second, unlocked position, and releasing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position”.
Claims 11-13 and 16-18 are rejected by virtue of their dependency from base claim 10.
The same or substantially the same rejection also applies to claim 19 for reciting “actuating the first button to unlock the second button, by pressing the first button to horizontally slide a blocking slider from a first, locked position into a second, unlocked position, wherein in the first, locked position the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button and in the second, unlocked position the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button”.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 10. 12-13, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20190264925A1) in view of Piekarski (US 20070281748 A1).
NOTE: Reference is made to Lin unless otherwise noted.
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a two-step door opening mechanism (Par. 0008, “a locking mechanism which is provided on a control panel of the cooking machine and used to control the door-opening button of the cooking machine, and the door-opening button is provided with a door-opening member for opening the door of the cooking machine. The locking mechanism makes the door-opening button selectively in a locked state or an unlocked state, the door will not be opened even if the door-opening button is pressed in the locked state, and the door will be opened if the door-opening button is pressed in the unlocked state.”) for an oven (Fig. 11, which shows a microwave oven and Abstract, “A locking mechanism and a cooking machine are provided for home appliances”), comprising:
first (Fig. 11, tab 9. A button is a small object that is pressed to operate a device, therefore tab 9 is a ‘button’ because it is a small object that is pressed during the process of opening the door) and second (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) buttons, arranged side-by-side on a front panel of the oven (Fig. 4, which shows the door-opening button 2 and tab are arranged side-by-side along the length dimension of the microwave oven. Reference annotated Fig. A for the location of the front panel), the oven defining an oven cavity (Par. 0005, “In home use, due to insufficient self-protection awareness and strong curiosity, a child may open a door of the cooking machine after the food heating is over, and therefore may be directly in contact with the food or the vessel”. Examiner notes an oven cavity is a cavity or unfilled space within an oven, therefore there must necessarily be a cavity or unfilled space within the microwave oven body to hold the food, i.e., an ‘oven cavity’) openable and closable by an oven door (annotated Fig. A and Abstract, “door of the cooking machine”), the first and second buttons being separately actuatable one after the other for providing two distinct actions to be performed to open the oven door (Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position, the position-limiting member 3 is in a short-term unlocking position or a short-term unlocking region…and at this time the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a in the position-limiting member 3 to trigger the door-opening mechanism by pressing the door-opening button 2 while pressing the tab 9”); and
a blocking slider configured to slide horizontally (Figs. 4-5, position-limiting member 3, which slides to block or allow movement of door-opening member 5; therefore position-limiting member 3 is a ‘blocking slider’. See Par. 0066) between a first, locked position in which the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button (Fig. 4 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at the locking position, and the through hole 3 a deviates from the door-opening member 5. After the door-opening button 2 is pressed, the door-opening member 5 is blocked by a portion of the position-limiting member 3 which is not the through hole 3 a, and cannot trigger the door-opening mechanism to complete the locking of the door.”) and a second, unlocked position in which the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button (Fig. 5 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is not enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at a long-term unlocking position. At this time, it is ensured that the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a to trigger the door-opening mechanism after the door-opening button 2 is pressed”),
wherein the first button, once actuated, is configured to unlock the second button (Figs. 4-5 and Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position…at this time the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a in the position-limiting member 3 to trigger the door-opening mechanism by pressing the door-opening button 2 while pressing the tab 9”), and the second button, once actuated, is configured to open the oven door when the second button is unlocked (Par. 0044, “the door can be opened by pressing the door-opening button 2 in the unlocked state”),
wherein pressing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the first, locked position to the second, unlocked position (Figs. 4-5 and Par. 0066, as quoted above), and releasing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position (Par. 0077, “When the position-limiting member 3 needs to be switch to the locked state, the tab 9 is further pressed so that the guide 4 a further moves towards the paddle 4 b. At this moment, the protrusion 4 b 1 is disengaged with the protruding portion 4 a 1 and the eject pin 4 is reset by the elastic member, so that the position-limiting member 3 returns to the locking positional region” One of ordinary skill in the art would understand the tab 9 must necessarily be released after the above actions art taken in order for the position-limiting member 3 to return to the locking positional region as disclosed).
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Fig. A: Annotated copy of Fig. 11 from Lin showing location of prior art elements labeled with applicant’s terminology.
However, Lin does not disclose the first button is marked with a first indication specifying that a first of the two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button, and the second button is marked with a second indication specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button.
Piekarski discloses a keypad lock (Abstract) similar to the present invention as a well as a solution for identifying the order in which buttons should be pressed (Fig. 3 and Par. 0009), similar to the problem of indicating which button in the two-step door opening mechanism should be pressed first in the present invention.
Piekarski further discloses it is known for a first button (Fig. 3, key in Step 2) to be marked with a first indication (Fig. 3, key is backlit in Step 3) specifying that a first of two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button (Fig. 3, lit key is depressed in Step 4), and a second button (Fig. 3, next key in Step 5) to be marked with a second indication (Fig. 3, next key is backlit in Step 5) specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button (Fig. 3, next key is depressed in Step 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the two-step opening door mechanism of Lin to indicate the order in which the first and second buttons should be pressed as taught by Piekarski and thereby make the operation of the two-step door opening mechanism more intuitive to users and/or accessible to users with a wider range of abilities (As suggested by Par. 0007 of Piekarski: “solution to the problem of the user having to remember how to enable a keypad…by providing a visual indication on the keypad for the user to follow when they would like to enable the keypad functionality. The visual indication can lead the user to depress one key or a plurality of keys in a particular sequence”).
Regarding claim 4, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 1, wherein each of the first (Figs. 2 and 11, tab 9) and second (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) buttons are biased outward into an unpressed position (first button: Par. 0077, as quoted in claim 1. Note the position-limiting member 3 is connected to tab 9; therefore if the position-limiting member 3 returns to the locking positional region, this necessarily means the tab 9 will too. See Fig. 2. Further note the ‘locking positional region’ is when tab 9 is unpressed. See Par. 0030, “FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the locking mechanism of the present invention in a locked state” and compare Figs. 4 and 5 to see Fig. 4 shows tab 9 in an unpressed position.
Second button: Par. 0042, “The spring 8 mainly acts in a reset process of the door-opening button 2, and after being pressed by an external force, the door-opening button 2 triggers the door-opening mechanism to open the door. At this time, the spring 8 is pressed and when the external force is removed, a restoring force of the spring 8 acts on the door-opening button 2 to reset the door-opening button 2”).
Regarding claim 7, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 1, wherein the second button (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) includes:
an elongate shaft extending inwards into the oven (Figs. 4-5, and 11, the door-opening member 5); and
a key cap at a first end of the elongate shaft facing the exterior of the oven (Figs. 1, 4-5, and 11, front face of door-opening member 5), wherein
when the second button is pressed inwards and the blocking slider is in the second, unlocked position, a second end of the elongate shaft comes into contact with and pushes a door-opening mechanism to cause the oven door of the oven to open (Par. 0066, as quoted in claim 1), and
when the second button is pressed inwards and the blocking slider is in the first, locked position, the blocking slider is located at least partially behind the key cap, such that the second button is stopped against the surface of the blocking slider and be unable to proceed inward to come into contact with the door-opening mechanism (Fig. 4 and Par. 0048, “When the position-limiting member 3 is stopped at a locking position, the position-limiting member 3 is between the door-opening member 5 and the door-opening mechanism, so that the movement of the door-opening member 5 is restricted by the position-limiting member 3 and cannot trigger the door-opening mechanism, as a result the door is locked”).
Regarding claim 10, Lin discloses an oven (Fig. 11, which shows a microwave oven and Abstract, “A locking mechanism and a cooking machine are provided for home appliances”) comprising a two-step door opening mechanism (Par. 0008, “a locking mechanism which is provided on a control panel of the cooking machine and used to control the door-opening button of the cooking machine, and the door-opening button is provided with a door-opening member for opening the door of the cooking machine. The locking mechanism makes the door-opening button selectively in a locked state or an unlocked state, the door will not be opened even if the door-opening button is pressed in the locked state, and the door will be opened if the door-opening button is pressed in the unlocked state.”), comprising:
a housing (Par. 0039, walls forming the body) that defines an oven cavity (Par. 0005, “In home use, due to insufficient self-protection awareness and strong curiosity, a child may open a door of the cooking machine after the food heating is over, and therefore may be directly in contact with the food or the vessel”. Examiner notes an oven cavity is a cavity or unfilled space within an oven, therefore there must necessarily be a cavity or unfilled space within the microwave oven body to hold the food, i.e., an ‘oven cavity’);
an oven door (annotated Fig. A and Abstract, “door of the cooking machine”) to the oven cavity, configured to (capable of) provide access to the oven cavity when open (Par 0039, “a door-opening mechanism (not shown) that is provided on a rear side of the control panel 1 to open the door” and Par. 0043, “a user may open the door at will and get in contact with the food or the vessel in the cooking machine”) and seal the oven cavity for cooking when closed (Fig. 11 and Par. 0005, “a child may open a door of the cooking machine after the food heating is over, and therefore may be directly in contact with the food or the vessel”);
a control panel provided on a front face of the oven (Fig. 11, control panel 1, which is located on a front face of the microwave oven);
first (Fig. 11, tab 9. A button is a small object that is pressed to operate a device, therefore tab 9 is a ‘button’ because it is a small object that is pressed during the process of opening the door) and second (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) buttons, arranged side-by-side on the control panel (Fig. 11 and Par. 0040, “the door-opening member 5 passes through a hole provided in the control panel 1 and extends rearward of the control panel 1”), the first and second buttons being separately actuatable one after the other for providing two distinct actions to be performed to open the oven door (Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position, the position-limiting member 3 is in a short-term unlocking position or a short-term unlocking region…and at this time the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a in the position-limiting member 3 to trigger the door-opening mechanism by pressing the door-opening button 2 while pressing the tab 9”); and
a blocking slider configured to slide horizontally (Figs. 4-5, position-limiting member 3, which slides to block or allow movement of door-opening member 5; therefore position-limiting member 3 is a ‘blocking slider’. See Par. 0066) between a first, locked position in which the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button (Fig. 4 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at the locking position, and the through hole 3 a deviates from the door-opening member 5. After the door-opening button 2 is pressed, the door-opening member 5 is blocked by a portion of the position-limiting member 3 which is not the through hole 3 a, and cannot trigger the door-opening mechanism to complete the locking of the door.”) and a second, unlocked position in which the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button (Fig. 5 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is not enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at a long-term unlocking position. At this time, it is ensured that the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a to trigger the door-opening mechanism after the door-opening button 2 is pressed”),
wherein the first button, once actuated, is configured to unlock the second button (Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is not enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at a long-term unlocking position. At this time, it is ensured that the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a to trigger the door-opening mechanism after the door-opening button 2 is pressed.”), and the second button, once actuated, is configured to open the oven door when the second button is unlocked (Par. 0044, “the door can be opened by pressing the door-opening button 2 in the unlocked state”),
wherein pressing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the first, locked position to the second, unlocked position (Figs. 4-5 and Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position…at this time the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a in the position-limiting member 3 to trigger the door-opening mechanism by pressing the door-opening button 2 while pressing the tab 9”), and releasing of the first button moves the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position (Par. 0077, “When the position-limiting member 3 needs to be switch to the locked state, the tab 9 is further pressed so that the guide 4 a further moves towards the paddle 4 b. At this moment, the protrusion 4 b 1 is disengaged with the protruding portion 4 a 1 and the eject pin 4 is reset by the elastic member, so that the position-limiting member 3 returns to the locking positional region” One of ordinary skill in the art would understand the tab 9 must necessarily be released after the above actions art taken in order for the position-limiting member 3 to return to the locking positional region as disclosed).
However, Lin does not disclose the first button is marked with a first indication specifying that a first of the two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button, and the second button is marked with a second indication specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button.
Piekarski discloses a keypad lock (Abstract) similar to the present invention as a well as a solution for identifying the order in which buttons should be pressed (Fig. 3 and Par. 0009), similar to the problem of indicating which button in the two-step door opening mechanism should be pressed first in the present invention.
Piekarski further discloses it is known for a first button (Fig. 3, key in Step 2) to be marked with a first indication (Fig. 3, key is backlit in Step 3) specifying that a first of two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button (Fig. 3, lit key is depressed in Step 4), and a second button (Fig. 3, next key in Step 5) to be marked with a second indication (Fig. 3, next key is backlit in Step 5) specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button (Fig. 3, next key is depressed in Step 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the two-step opening door mechanism of Lin to indicate the order in which the first and second buttons should be pressed as taught by Piekarski and thereby make the operation of the two-step door opening mechanism more intuitive to users and/or accessible to users with a wider range of abilities (As suggested by Par. 0007 of Piekarski: “solution to the problem of the user having to remember how to enable a keypad…by providing a visual indication on the keypad for the user to follow when they would like to enable the keypad functionality. The visual indication can lead the user to depress one key or a plurality of keys in a particular sequence”).
Regarding claim 13, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 4 above. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 16, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 7 above. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 19, Lin discloses a method for utilizing a two-step door opening mechanism (Par. 0008, “a locking mechanism which is provided on a control panel of the cooking machine and used to control the door-opening button of the cooking machine, and the door-opening button is provided with a door-opening member for opening the door of the cooking machine. The locking mechanism makes the door-opening button selectively in a locked state or an unlocked state, the door will not be opened even if the door-opening button is pressed in the locked state, and the door will be opened if the door-opening button is pressed in the unlocked state.”) including first (Fig. 11, tab 9. A button is a small object that is pressed to operate a device, therefore tab 9 is a ‘button’ because it is a small object that is pressed during the process of opening the door) and second (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) buttons, arranged side-by-side on a front panel of the oven (Fig. 4, which shows the door-opening button 2 and tab are arranged side-by-side along the length dimension of the microwave oven. Reference annotated Fig. A for the location of the front panel), the first and second buttons being separately actuatable one after the other for providing two distinct actions to be performed to open the oven door (Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position, the position-limiting member 3 is in a short-term unlocking position or a short-term unlocking region…and at this time the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a in the position-limiting member 3 to trigger the door-opening mechanism by pressing the door-opening button 2 while pressing the tab 9”), the method comprising:
actuating the first button to unlock the second button (Figs. 4-5 and Par. 0066, as quoted above), by pressing the first button to horizontally slide a blocking slider (Figs. 4-5, position-limiting member 3, which slides to block or allow movement of door-opening member 5; therefore position-limiting member 3 is a ‘blocking slider’. See Par. 0066) from a first, locked position (Fig. 4 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at the locking position, and the through hole 3 a deviates from the door-opening member 5. After the door-opening button 2 is pressed, the door-opening member 5 is blocked by a portion of the position-limiting member 3 which is not the through hole 3 a, and cannot trigger the door-opening mechanism to complete the locking of the door.”) into a second, unlocked position (Fig. 5 and Par. 0050, “When the locking mechanism is not enabled, the position-limiting member 3 is at a long-term unlocking position. At this time, it is ensured that the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a to trigger the door-opening mechanism after the door-opening button 2 is pressed”), wherein in the first, locked position the blocking slider prevents inward movement of the second button (Fig. 4 and Par. 0050, as quoted above for the ‘first, locked position’) and in the second, unlocked position the blocking slider allows the inward movement of the second button (Fig. 5 and Par. 0050, as quoted above for the ‘second, unlocked position’); and
once unlocked, actuating the second button by pressing the second button when the blocking slider is in the second, unlocked position, to thereby cause a door-opening mechanism to open the oven door (Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed, the position-limiting member 3 accordingly moves” and Par. 0067, “the position-limiting member 3 is at a long-term unlocking position and the door-opening member 5 is at a region facing the through hole 3 a, so that the door-opening member 5 can pass through the through hole 3 a and trigger the door-opening mechanism after the door-opening button 2 is pressed”).
However, Lin does not disclose the first button being marked with a first indication specifying that a first of the two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button, and the second button being marked with a second indication specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button.
Piekarski discloses a keypad lock (Abstract) similar to the present invention as a well as a solution for identifying the order in which buttons should be pressed (Fig. 3 and Par. 0009), similar to the problem of indicating which button in the two-step door opening mechanism should be pressed first in the present invention.
Piekarski further discloses it is known for a first button (Fig. 3, key in Step 2) to be marked with a first indication (Fig. 3, key is backlit in Step 3) specifying that a first of two distinct actions is to be performed first to the first button (Fig. 3, lit key is depressed in Step 4), and a second button (Fig. 3, next key in Step 5) to be marked with a second indication (Fig. 3, next key is backlit in Step 5) specifying that a second of the two distinct actions is to be performed second to the second button (Fig. 3, next key is depressed in Step 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the two-step opening door mechanism of Lin to indicate the order in which the first and second buttons should be pressed as taught by Piekarski and thereby make the operation of the two-step door opening mechanism more intuitive to users and/or accessible to users with a wider range of abilities (As suggested by Par. 0007 of Piekarski: “solution to the problem of the user having to remember how to enable a keypad…by providing a visual indication on the keypad for the user to follow when they would like to enable the keypad functionality. The visual indication can lead the user to depress one key or a plurality of keys in a particular sequence”).
Claims 2-3 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20190264925A1) in view of Piekarski (US 20070281748 A1) and further in view of 이강쇠 (KR 200292189 Y1, hereafter ‘189).
Regarding claim 2, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 1.
However, Lin, as modified above, does not explicitly disclose the first indication is a single dot, protrusion, indentation, or the number 1, and the second indication is two dots, protrusions, indentations, or the number 2.
‘189 discloses a button-type door lock (Par. 0020) similar to the present invention and Untranslated further discloses it is known for a first indication to be the number 1 (Fig. 1, the first button in the first row is denoted by “1” and Par. 0020, “door lock is unlocked when a button corresponding to a predetermined password is pressed using a unique number assigned to each button”), and a second indication to be the number 2 (Fig. 1, the second button in the first row is denoted by “2” and Par. 0020, as quoted above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the first indication and second indication of Lin, as modified above, to be the number 1 and number 2 as taught by ‘189. Lin, as modified above, discloses the claimed invention except Lin, as modified above, does not explicitly disclose using the number 1 for the first indication and using the number 2 for the second indication. ‘189 shows that using numbers to specify the sequence buttons need to be pressed in order to unlock a door is known in the art. Therefore, because the indications were art-recognized equivalents at the time the invention was made, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute the first and second indications of Lin to be the number 1 and number 2, respectively, as taught by ‘189. Thus, the simple substitution of one known element for another producing a predicable result, namely specifying the sequence buttons need to be pressed in order to unlock a door, renders the claim obvious before the effective filing date of the invention. See MPEP 2143 B.
Regarding claim 3, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 2, wherein the first of the two distinct actions is pressing the first button (Par. 0066, “When the tab 9 is pressed to a certain position, the position-limiting member 3 is in a short-term unlocking position or a short-term unlocking region”), and the second of the two distinct actions is pressing the second button while the first button remains pressed (Par. 0066, as quoted in claim 1).
Regarding claim 11, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 2 above. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 12, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 3 above. Therefore, claim 12 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 3 above.
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20190264925A1) in view of Piekarski (US 20070281748 A1 and in further view of Kolendowicz (US 4088354 A).
Regarding claim 8, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 1, wherein pressing the first button (Fig. 11, tab 9) moves the blocking slider (Figs. 4-5, position-limiting member 3) from the first, locked position (Fig. 4 and Par. 0048, as quoted in claim 7) to the second, unlocked position (Fig. 5 and Par. 0066, as quoted in claim 7), and releasing the first button moves the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position (Par. 0077, as quoted in claim 4).
However, Lin, as modified above, does not disclose pressing the first button actuates a solenoid to move the blocking slider from the first, locked position to the second, unlocked position, and releasing the first button releases the solenoid to move the blocking slider from the second, unlocked position back to the first, locked position.
Kolendowicz discloses a door locking arrangement for a cooking range (Abstract) similar to the present invention and Kolendowicz further discloses it is known for pressing a button (Col. 3, lines 21-37, push button switch) to actuate a solenoid (Col. 3, lines 21-37, solenoid) in order to unlock a door (Col. 3, lines 21-37, “In order to unlock the oven door a push button switch located on the control panel 12 of the range is operated closing a circuit which provides power to the solenoid 26. Upon energization of the solenoid 26 the solenoid operating shaft and arm 28 and locking bar 29 are pulled rearwardly toward the solenoid coil. As the locking bar 29 passes out of the detent portion 38 the cam assembly 20 is free to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings under the force of the return spring 24 which had been loaded during the locking operation as previously described. The rotation of the cam assembly 20 in such direction rotates the cam follower 21 upwardly out of the latch aperture 19 of door latch 16”) and for releasing the button to release the solenoid to lock the door (Col. 3, lines 37-44, “The operating switch for solenoid 26 is preferably of the momentary type so that when it is released power to solenoid 26 is terminated allowing the solenoid operating arm 28 and locking bar 29 to again move forwardly under the force of the solenoid spring 27 whereby the locking bar 29 once again comes to rest against the rear cam surface 39 of cam assembly 20”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the two-step door opening mechanism of Lin, as modified above, to include a solenoid as disclosed by Kolendowicz in order to automate operation of the two-step door opening mechanism and thereby make the two-step door opening mechanism easier to use for adults with a wider range of abilities and/or make operation of the two-step door opening mechanism more efficient. Furthermore, providing an automatic means to replace a manual activity which accomplishes the same result is not sufficient to distinguish over prior art. See MPEP 2144.04(III).
Regarding claim 17, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 8 above. Therefore, claim 17 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 8 above.
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20190264925A1) in view of Piekarski (US 20070281748 A1) and further view of Atkinson (US 6730882 B2).
Regarding claim 9, Lin, as modified above, discloses the two-step door opening mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a door-opening mechanism (Par. 0048, door-opening mechanism) to open the oven door responsive to a user pressing the first button (Fig. 11, tab 9) and then pressing the second button (Fig. 11, door-opening button 2 and door-opening member 5) while the first button remains pressed (Par. 0066, as quoted in claim 1).
However, Lin, as modified above, does not disclose a processor programmed actuate a door-opening mechanism to open the oven door responsive to a user pressing the first button and then pressing the second button while the first button remains pressed.
Atkinson discloses a latching mechanism for a range (Abstract) similar to the present invention and Atkinson further discloses it is known for a processor (Col. 4, lines 26-50, CPU 85) to be programmed to actuate a door-opening mechanism (Col. 4, lines 26-50, “CPU 85 is linked to the overall control panel 16 for programming and regulating the functions of cooking appliance 2. In accordance with this embodiment, select ones of the plurality of control elements are designated such that, in addition to their primary function, i.e., establishing cooking modes, times and/or temperatures associated with the cooking appliance, the control elements have a secondary function of activating latching mechanism 72. That is, the secondary function serves to enable a user to engage a series of buttons, the operation of which activates latching mechanism 72. In other words, two or more dual function control buttons can be operated simultaneously or in a preprogrammed sequence, to lock/unlock the oven door. This control feature is preferably preprogrammed into cooking appliance 2, but provisions could be made for reprogramming by the consumer.” Examiner notes latching mechanism 72 reads on ‘door-opening mechanism’. Per the Claim Interpretation section above, a ‘door opening mechanism’ is an elongated shaft and equivalents thereof. Given latching mechanism 72 has the same or substantially the function as the disclosed elongated shaft, latching mechanism 72 is an equivalent thereof.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the two-step door opening mechanism of Lin, as modified above, to include a processor as disclosed by Atkinson in order to automate operation of the two-step door opening mechanism and thereby make the two-step door opening mechanism easier to use for adults with a wider range of abilities and/or make operation of the two-step door opening mechanism more efficient. Furthermore, providing an automatic means to replace a manual activity which accomplishes the same result is not sufficient to distinguish over prior art. See MPEP 2144.04(III).
Regarding claim 18, these limitations are recited in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 9 above. Therefore, claim 18 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as applied to claim 9 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ka (KR 850000819 Y1) discloses it is known for buttons to have indications that are dots.
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/E.A.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/MICHAEL G HOANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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