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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/31/2023 and 08/25/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of invention II (claims 11-20) in the reply filed on 03/06/2025 is acknowledged.
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 13 and 18-19 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "said hollow cylindrical sleeves" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "said refrigerants" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “ice cubes" in lines 1-2 is same or different than in line 1. For examination purposes, it is considered as same and considered as -- the ice cubes --.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103
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 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 of this title, 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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
BLAKELY (GB 696668, see attached doc) in view of MUFFLY (US 2866322)
In regards to claim 11, BLAKELY discloses a method of making ice cubes (small blocks of ice) comprising the steps of: providing an ice making machine (Figs. 1 and 4) having a subframe/container (plates I6, 17) comprising a horizontal array of hollow cylindrical shaped ice cube forming segments (cups 11) surrounded by hollow closed sleeves (jackets 14; Fig. 4); providing said ice cube forming segments (11) having open bottoms with a plurality of pivotable latches (hinged doors) covering said open bottoms (refer to page 2, col.1, lines 7-14), one latch for each of said segments (refer to page 2, col.1, lines 14-19); providing alternately cold or heated refrigerant fluid flow through an input conduit pipe (inlet pipe 30) into an inlet of said hollow closed sleeves (jackets 14) from a condenser to alternatively flash freeze water into ice within said ice cube forming segments (11); and pivoting said latches (hinged doors) downwardly to uncover said open bottoms of said ice cube forming segments (11).
BLAKELY does not explicitly teach temporarily heat inner surfaces of said ice cube forming segments to temporarily melt a portion of frozen ice cubes along outer cylindrical surfaces of and within said ice cube forming segments; hot refrigerant is passed through said hollow closed sleeves of said ice cube forming segments, thereby reducing friction so that frozen cylindrical shaped ice cubes drop with minimal force upon downward release of said pivotable latches into a bin/receptacle.
MUFFLY teaches an ice-making apparatus (Figs. 1-4) wherein temporarily heat inner surfaces (via valve 26 by admitting hot high pressure refrigerant vapor to the evaporators) of said ice cube forming segments (round evaporators 14), to temporarily melt a portion of frozen ice cubes (ice 22) along outer cylindrical surfaces of and within said ice cube forming segments (22), (col.3. lines 65-68); hot refrigerant (via valve 26) is passed through said hollow closed sleeves (surrounding) of said ice cube forming segments (14), thereby reducing friction (via defrosting) so that frozen cylindrical shaped ice cubes (22) drop with minimal force upon downward release of said pivotable latches into a bin/receptacle (ice bin 34), (col.4. lines 40-44 and col.6. lines 60-64).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the method of BLAKELY such that temporarily heat inner surfaces of said ice cube forming segments to temporarily melt a portion of frozen ice cubes along outer cylindrical surfaces of and within said ice cube forming segments; hot refrigerant is passed through said hollow closed sleeves of said ice cube forming segments, thereby reducing friction so that frozen cylindrical shaped ice cubes drop with minimal force upon downward release of said pivotable latches into a bin/receptacle as taught by MUFFLY in order to Increase the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger (refer to col.3. lines 65-67 of MUFFLY).
Claims 12-13 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BLAKELY (GB 696668, see attached doc) in view of MUFFLY (US 2866322), further in view of PARK et al. (WO 2012/077972, see attached doc).
In regards to claim 12, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 11, but fails to explicitly teach in which said latches open and close by pivoting from a horizontal closed position downwardly to said open position. PARK teaches an ice maker (100; Figs. 1-5) wherein said latches (corresponding to an opening and closing member 500; Fig. 5) open and close by pivoting (via a rotational shaft 520) from a horizontal closed position (as can be seen in solid line of member 500 in Fig. 5) downwardly to said open position (as can be seen in dashed line of member 500 in Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the method of BLAKELY such that said latches open and close by pivoting from a horizontal closed position downwardly to said open position as taught by PARK in order to close the opened lower part of the ice making frame in the water supply step and in the ice making step, and open the opened lower part of the ice making frame in the ice releasing step (refer to par. 56 of PARK).
In regards to claim 13, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 12. Further, PARK teaches in which said latches (500) are mounted on horizontally positioned parallel structural braces (corresponding to main body B; Fig. 2) to which said hollow cylindrical sleeves (corresponding to ice making frame 200) are attached (as can be seen in Fig. 2).
In regards to claim 17, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13. Further, BLAKELY teaches in which said hollow closed sleeves (14) are also cylindrical in shape, hence each ice cube forming segment (11) comprising a cylinder within a cylinder (cylinder 12), (as can be seen in Fig. 1).
In regards to claim 18, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13. Further, BLAKELY teaches in which refrigeration connections (Fig. 4) include said condenser (24) located outside of said array of ice cube forming segments (11), (as can be seen in Fig. 4), and piping to supply said refrigerants, whether freezing or heated, to said array of ice cube forming segments (11).
In regards to claim 19, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13. Further, BLAKELY teaches further comprising: releasing of ice cubes from the ice cube forming segments (11) without any forceful rotation and dumping (refer to page 2, col.1, lines 7-19).
In regards to claim 20, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13. Further, BLAKELY teaches further comprising: forming the ice cube forming segments (11) with smooth surfaces and without angular corners (as can be seen in Figs. 1-4).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BLAKELY (GB 696668) in view of MUFFLY (US 2866322) and JUNG et al. (WO 2012/077972), further in view of Hagen (US 3797267).
In regards to claim 14, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13, but fails to explicitly teach in which said pivotable latches are actuated by a chain and pulley system which turns a pair of sprockets connected on each side of a bar which extends across a width of said subframe /container. Hagen teaches an ice maker (Figs, 1-4) wherein said pivotable latches (corresponding to pivotable door 24) are actuated by a chain and pulley system (ice rake control system with chain 34 and pulleys 36) which turns a pair of sprockets (a pair of laterally spaced pulleys or sprockets 34) connected on each side of a bar (frame 32) which extends across a width of said subframe/container (corresponding to bin 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the method of BLAKELY such that said pivotable latches are actuated by a chain and pulley system which turns a pair of sprockets connected on each side of a bar which extends across a width of said subframe/container as taught by Hagen in order to provide uniform distribution of the ice throughout a storage bin (refer to col.2. lines 18-21 of Hagen).
In regards to claim 15, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 14. Further, Hagen teaches in which said chain and pulley system (34/36) is powered by an electric motor (46) which is controlled by a capacitor and a pair of relays (as can be seen in Fig. 5), power (power supply 60) being supplied from an AC or from a low voltage DC power source (as can be seen in Fig. 5).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BLAKELY (GB 696668) in view of MUFFLY (US 2866322) and JUNG et al. (WO 2012/077972), further in view of YOUNG (KR 101449900, see attached translation).
In regards to claim 16, BLAKELY as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 13, but fails to explicitly teach in which said array of ice cube forming segments is in a checkerboard configuration, the number of sleeves surrounding said ice cube forming segments varying to form square, rectangular, circular, oval or other geometric configurations of varying sizes.
YOUNG teaches an ice maker in which said array of ice cube forming segments is in a checkerboard configuration, the number of sleeves (refrigerant passage 76) surrounding said ice cube forming segments (ice making unit 70) varying to form square, rectangular, circular, oval or other geometric configurations of varying sizes (as can be seen in Fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the method of BLAKELY such that said array of ice cube forming segments is in a checkerboard configuration, the number of sleeves surrounding said ice cube forming segments varying to form square, rectangular, circular, oval or other geometric configurations of varying sizes as taught by YOUNG in order to provide an ice making device capable of making ice of various shapes, which can enhance the visual effect (refer to par. 6 of YOUNG).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARTHA TADESSE whose telephone number is (571)272-0590. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30am-5:00pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached on 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For
more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763