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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
In response to Applicant’s arguments regarding the teaching of the nebulizer in Braeken, the Examiner disagrees. While the Examiner does acknowledge that the nebulizer is used in conjunction with the heater to create water vapor, the claim does not indicate that the nebulizer need to work along and only states that the operation nebulizer creates the humid environment, which does occur in Braeken as the nebulizer is operated to “stimulate” the creation of water vapor. Further, dependent claim 4 of Applicant’s claims recites that a heater is also in contact with the water, much like the arrangement of Braeken. Therefore, with the broadest reasonable interpretation of Applicant’s limitations, the rejection is maintained.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emerich (US 20110278278 A1) in view of Dobie (US 7087872 B1), Ohata (US 4426923 A) and Braeken (WO 03094684 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Emerich teaches of:
A cabinet for holding a plurality of food products, the cabinet comprises:
a housing that is formed with a plurality of outer walls, the plurality of outer walls include left and right walls, an upper wall, a lower wall, and a rear wall, the housing establishes a holding volume (¶ [0015], With reference to FIG. 6, the housing 20 is defined from opposite upper and lower walls 41, 43, opposite right and left walls 42, 44, and a rear wall 45, opposite an open end 46 to allow access to the internal volume 69) and an air handling volume (Fig. 5, air handling volume is the space between the inner walls and the outer walls represented by F+B+C+D+E);
a front opening that allows communication into the holding volume (Fig. 5, 69),
the holding volume includes a plurality of discrete holding areas, wherein each of the discrete holding areas are configured to receive a food product therein (Fig. 1,there are a plurality of discrete holding areas that hold food products in pans 1);
the housing forms an upper flow path that draws suction from the holding volume, directs air through the air handling volume, and returns air to the holding volume (Fig. 5, upper flow path F suctions air from 69, directs air through the air handling volume sections B and C and returns it to 69);
the housing includes an inner bottom wall that is spaced from the lower wall to allow air to flow therethrough, the inner bottom wall includes a plurality of apertures to direct air to return to the holding volume from the air handling volume (Fig. 5, inner bottom wall 63 is spaced from the lower wall and air flows therethrough to 69 via 63a)
Emerich fails to explicitly teach:
wherein each of the plurality of apertures are in communication with a louver that directs air flowing into the holding volume in a specific direction,
further comprising a storage volume provided upon the housing and in gaseous communication with the air handling volume, wherein the storage volume is configured to receive and store water therewithin, wherein the storage volume is further configured to create a humid environment with water vapor traveling into the air handling volume
wherein the storage volume supports a nebulizer that interacts with the with water stored therein, wherein operation of the nebulizer creates the humid environment within the air within the storage volume above the water.
Dobie teaches of:
wherein each of the plurality of apertures are in communication with a louver that directs air flowing into the holding volume in a specific direction (Fig. 8, 31 has apertures in communication with louvers 50 that are arranged in a plurality of specific directions)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify 63 so that openings 63a are in communication with louvers such as the ones shown in Fig. 8 of Dobie
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
Emerich differs from the cabinet as claimed above by the substitution of apertures with louvers for apertures and no louvers;
Apertures with louvers were known in the arti prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention as shown by Dobie above;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have substituted the apertures of Dobie for the apertures of Emerich and the results would predictably allow temperature controlled air to flow into the holding volume 69
Ohata teaches of:
further comprising a storage volume provided upon the housing and in gaseous communication with the air handling volume, wherein the storage volume is configured to receive and store water therewithin, wherein the storage volume is further configured to create a humid environment with water vapor traveling into the air handling volume (Fig. 2, 14, 15 and 19 make up a storage volume that receives and stores water and generates a humid environment with water vapor traveling to the air handling volume 6 via 18)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add the storage volume of Ohata along with all of its necessary components and sensors to the system of Emerich such that the Ohata components are housed in the housing 20 of Emerich and the vapor outlet 18 of Ohata extends into 63 of Emerich
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the humidity in the combined teachings to be controlled, which improves the period of time that the food products in the system can be stored before spoiling (Col. 1, lines 30-42, An object of the present invention is to obtain a practically advantageous storage device for processed foods, which is free from the above-mentioned drawbacks encountered in a conventional storage device of this kind, and which permits controlling automatically the temperature and humidity of the air in the storage device to required levels in accordance with the kind and properties of the processed foods inserted therein, so as to keep the foods constantly in a balanced state at a temperature and humidity, at which the foods were processed, or so as to maintain the foods in a just-processed state for a long period of time without being spoiled and changed in quality.)
Braeken teaches of:
wherein the storage volume supports a nebulizer that interacts with the with water stored therein, wherein operation of the nebulizer creates the humid environment within the air within the storage volume above the water (Fig. 2, storage volume 20 has a heater 16 and an ultrasonic vibration source 24 (functions the same as a nebulizer))
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add an ultrasonic vibration source 24 to the storage volume of Ohata so that it can vibrate the water stored within
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it could assist the heater already disposed within the storage volume in vaporizing the water, improving the speed at which the water evaporates (Braeken, Pg. 6, lines 1-4, In order to stimulate this evaporation of water from the liquid reservoir 20, an ultrasonic vibration source 24 is provided in the latter which makes it possible to generate ultrasonic vibrations in the water. These ultrasonic vibrations will reduce the surface tension of the water, such that the formation of water vapour is stimulated)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the storage volume receives a level probe, wherein the level probe can identify a low water level condition thereby causing more water to be directed into the storage volume and the level probe can identify a high water level condition that stops water from being directed into the storage volume (Ohata, Fig. 2, probe is OL1+OL2 which can identify low and high level water conditions and provide water accordingly)
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a heater disposed within the storage volume to interact with the water disposed within the storage volume (Ohata, Fig. 2, 17 is a heater stored within the storage volume)
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the air handing volume includes at least one fan, wherein the at least one fan takes suction from air that flows into the air handling volume from the holding volume, wherein during fan operation air flows across an opening in communication with the storage volume, wherein air flow across the opening causes relatively air from the storage volume to mix with the air flowing across the opening and be urged to reenter the air handling volume (Emerich, Fig. 5, fan 25 creates suction that flows air from 69 into the air handling volume and the air flows across the openings forming an air curtain 68 which would mix air from 69 and outside the housing)
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the plurality of apertures are organized to be positioned along three parallel lines that each extend from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, wherein a first of the lines is positioned proximate to the front opening of the holding volume, a second is positioned proximate to the rear wall, and a third that is positioned between the first and second lines (Dobie, Fig. 8, apertures of 50 have a plurality of parallel lines, see the annotated version of Fig. 8 below highlighting this feature, extending from the left side and right side, as combined they would extend from the left wall to the right wall)
the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the third line are positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward the other of the right or left outer walls from the outer wall that the louvers along the second line direct air (see annotated Fig. 8 below, the third line apertures of 50 are opened to the right and left).
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the first line are each positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume with a vector component that is parallel to the first line and also with a vector component that is pointed toward the rear wall, wherein the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the second line are positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward one of the right or left outer walls
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the apertures of the first and second lines of Dobie so that they open in the directions as claimed above
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that when the only difference between the prior art and the claimed invention is the position of a particular part and the position of the part is not critical to the functionality of the invention, then the rearrangement of parts of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.VI.C). In the instant case, the prior art fails to explicitly teach the openings of the apertures are in the particular direction as claimed, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art could have rearranged the position of the louvers of the first and second parallel lines so that they open in the directions as claimed above and the results of the modification would predictably allow for the temperature controlled air to flow out of the apertures and under food products, as intended by Dobie. Neither Dobie or the instant application place criticality on the particular direction of the air flowing out of the apertures and the instant application only states that the orientation of the louvers, and as such the direction of the air flowing out of the louvers, should be different to facilitate air flow around the holding volume to interact with all the food products in their discrete area, which is taught by Dobie (see instant application ¶ [0055], In some embodiments, the louvers 503, 504, 505 are provided with different orientations, to direct the air entering the holding volume 28 to enter in different directions, which facilitates air flow around the holding volume 28 to interact with the food products that are disposed upon the different portions (shelves) within the holding volume, as discussed with respect to the above embodiment.)
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the plurality of apertures are organized to be positioned along a plurality of parallel lines that each extend from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, wherein a first line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the front opening of the holding volume and a second line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the rear wall (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below, the first line as combined would be proximate the front opening and the second line as combined would be proximate the rear wall)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the first line are each positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward one of the right or left walls and the louvers associated with each of the apertures along the second line are positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward the other of the right or left outer walls.
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the apertures of the first and second lines of Dobie so that they open in the directions as claimed above
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that when the only difference between the prior art and the claimed invention is the position of a particular part and the position of the part is not critical to the functionality of the invention, then the rearrangement of parts of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.VI.C). In the instant case, the prior art fails to explicitly teach the openings of the apertures are in the particular direction as claimed, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art could have rearranged the position of the louvers of the first and second parallel lines so that they open in the directions as claimed above and the results of the modification would predictably allow for the temperature controlled air to flow out of the apertures and under food products, as intended by Dobie. Neither Dobie or the instant application place criticality on the particular direction of the air flowing out of the apertures and the instant application only states that the orientation of the louvers, and as such the direction of the air flowing out of the louvers, should be different to facilitate air flow around the holding volume to interact with all the food products in their discrete area, which is taught by Dobie (see instant application ¶ [0055], In some embodiments, the louvers 503, 504, 505 are provided with different orientations, to direct the air entering the holding volume 28 to enter in different directions, which facilitates air flow around the holding volume 28 to interact with the food products that are disposed upon the different portions (shelves) within the holding volume, as discussed with respect to the above embodiment.)
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the plurality of apertures are organized to be positioned along a plurality of parallel lines that each extend from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, wherein a first line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the front opening of the holding volume and a second line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the rear wall (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below, the first line as combined would be proximate the front opening and the second line as combined would be proximate the rear wall),
The combined teaching fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the first line are each positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume with a vector component that is parallel to the first line and also with a vector component that is pointed toward the rear wall, wherein the louvers associated each of the plurality of apertures along the second line are positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward one of the right or left outer walls.
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the apertures of the first and second lines of Dobie so that they open in the directions as claimed above
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that when the only difference between the prior art and the claimed invention is the position of a particular part and the position of the part is not critical to the functionality of the invention, then the rearrangement of parts of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.VI.C). In the instant case, the prior art fails to explicitly teach the openings of the apertures are in the particular direction as claimed, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art could have rearranged the position of the louvers of the first and second parallel lines so that they open in the directions as claimed above and the results of the modification would predictably allow for the temperature controlled air to flow out of the apertures and under food products, as intended by Dobie. Neither Dobie or the instant application place criticality on the particular direction of the air flowing out of the apertures and the instant application only states that the orientation of the louvers, and as such the direction of the air flowing out of the louvers, should be different to facilitate air flow around the holding volume to interact with all the food products in their discrete area, which is taught by Dobie (see instant application ¶ [0055], In some embodiments, the louvers 503, 504, 505 are provided with different orientations, to direct the air entering the holding volume 28 to enter in different directions, which facilitates air flow around the holding volume 28 to interact with the food products that are disposed upon the different portions (shelves) within the holding volume, as discussed with respect to the above embodiment.)
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the plurality of apertures are organized to be positioned along a plurality of parallel lines that each extend from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, wherein a first line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the front opening of the holding volume and a second line of the plurality of parallel lines is positioned proximate to the rear wall (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the louvers associated with each of the plurality of apertures along the first line are each positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume with a vector component that is parallel to the first line and also with a vector component that is pointed toward the rear wall, wherein the louvers associated each of the plurality
of apertures along the second line are positioned to direct air that leaves the louver into the holding volume in a direction toward one of the right or left outer walls.
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the apertures of the first and second lines of Dobie so that they open in the directions as claimed above
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that when the only difference between the prior art and the claimed invention is the position of a particular part and the position of the part is not critical to the functionality of the invention, then the rearrangement of parts of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.VI.C). In the instant case, the prior art fails to explicitly teach the openings of the apertures are in the particular direction as claimed, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art could have rearranged the position of the louvers of the first and second parallel lines so that they open in the directions as claimed above and the results of the modification would predictably allow for the temperature controlled air to flow out of the apertures and under food products, as intended by Dobie. Neither Dobie or the instant application place criticality on the particular direction of the air flowing out of the apertures and the instant application only states that the orientation of the louvers, and as such the direction of the air flowing out of the louvers, should be different to facilitate air flow around the holding volume to interact with all the food products in their discrete area, which is taught by Dobie (see instant application ¶ [0055], In some embodiments, the louvers 503, 504, 505 are provided with different orientations, to direct the air entering the holding volume 28 to enter in different directions, which facilitates air flow around the holding volume 28 to interact with the food products that are disposed upon the different portions (shelves) within the holding volume, as discussed with respect to the above embodiment.)
Claim(s) 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emerich (US 20110278278 A1) in view of Dobie (US 7087872 B1), Ohata (US 4426923 A) and Braeken (WO 03094684 A1) as presented in claims 1 and 2, and in further view of Nuttall (US 7829823 B2).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner bottom wall comprises a plurality of first apertures that are each aligned along a line that extends from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, with each of the plurality of first apertures being adjacent to the front opening (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below)
wherein the housing further includes an inner upper wall that is spaced from the upper wall of the housing to allow air flow therethrough to establish the upper flow path (Emerich, Fig. 5, 60)
Emerich fails to explicitly teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures.
Nuttall teaches of:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures (Figs. 1-2, 56 defines a plurality of apertures that can be seen in Fig. 2 adjacent to reference numerals 20 and 20b and receive air from an air curtain 70 via air flow produced by fan 52).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add apertures 56 to the opening of 78 of Fig. 5 of Emerich
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
Emerich differs from the cabinet as claimed above by the substitution of an inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures for an inlet for an air curtain with one aperture;
An inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures is known in the art as shown by Nuttall above;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have made the above modification and the results would predictably be that the fan could receive air from the air curtain
Emerich places no criticality on the number of apertures in 78 and therefore a modification to 78 would not alter the system of Emerich’s intended use
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner bottom wall comprises a plurality of first apertures that are each aligned along a line that extends from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, with each of the plurality of first apertures being adjacent to the front opening (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below)
wherein the housing further includes an inner upper wall that is spaced from the upper wall of the housing to allow air flow therethrough to establish the upper flow path (Emerich, Fig. 5, 60)
Emerich fails to explicitly teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures.
Nuttall teaches of:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures (Figs. 1-2, 56 defines a plurality of apertures that can be seen in Fig. 2 adjacent to reference numerals 20 and 20b and receive air from an air curtain 70 via air flow produced by fan 52).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add apertures 56 to the opening of 78 of Fig. 5 of Emerich
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
Emerich differs from the cabinet as claimed above by the substitution of an inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures for an inlet for an air curtain with one aperture;
An inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures is known in the art as shown by Nuttall above;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have made the above modification and the results would predictably be that the fan could receive air from the air curtain
Emerich places no criticality on the number of apertures in 78 and therefore a modification to 78 would not alter the system of Emerich’s intended use
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 8, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner bottom wall comprises a plurality of first apertures that are each aligned along a line that extends from proximate to the outer left wall to proximate to the outer right wall, with each of the plurality of first apertures being adjacent to the front opening (see annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie below)
wherein the housing further includes an inner upper wall that is spaced from the upper wall of the housing to allow air flow therethrough to establish the upper flow path (Emerich, Fig. 5, 60)
Emerich fails to explicitly teach:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures.
Nuttall teaches of:
wherein a front end portion of the inner upper wall comprises a plurality of second apertures that are spaced adjacently in a pattern between a position adjacent to the outer left wall and a position adjacent to the outer right wall, wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path;
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan, wherein when operating the fan urges air to flow into the upper flow path, wherein air from each of the plurality of louvers and air from the plurality of first apertures flows into the plurality of second apertures (Figs. 1-2, 56 defines a plurality of apertures that can be seen in Fig. 2 adjacent to reference numerals 20 and 20b and receive air from an air curtain 70 via air flow produced by fan 52).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add apertures 56 to the opening of 78 of Fig. 5 of Emerich
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
Emerich differs from the cabinet as claimed above by the substitution of an inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures for an inlet for an air curtain with one aperture;
An inlet for an air curtain with a plurality of apertures is known in the art as shown by Nuttall above;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have made the above modification and the results would predictably be that the fan could receive air from the air curtain
Emerich places no criticality on the number of apertures in 78 and therefore a modification to 78 would not alter the system of Emerich’s intended use
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emerich (US 20110278278 A1) in view of Dobie (US 7087872 B1), Ohata (US 4426923 A) and Braeken (WO 03094684 A1) as presented in claim 1, and in further view of Antal (US 20070131698 A1).
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a plurality of pans that can be slidably received within the holding volume, each of the plurality of pans includes a planar holding surface and one or more side walls (Emerich, Fig. 1, plurality of pans 1 have sidewalls and a planar holding surface at its base)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the holding surface includes a plurality of protuberances that extend upwardly from the planar holding surface to establish a set off distance between planar food products that rest upon the plurality of protuberances and the holding surface.
Antal teaches of:
wherein the holding surface includes a plurality of protuberances that extend upwardly from the planar holding surface to establish a set off distance between planar food products that rest upon the plurality of protuberances and the holding surface (Fig. 1, plurality of protuberances 26)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add protuberances onto the planar holding surface of the pans of Emerich
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for air to get under the food in the pans and for the juices of the food to drain (Antal, ¶ [0021], One or more ridges 26 may be provided longitudinally along the base 22. The ridges 26 are generally raised above the remainder of the inner surface 30 and support the food (not shown) above the remainder of the inner surface 30 of the base 22, thereby forming a passageway under the food for circulation of heated air or allow for the drainage of juices from the food. Those skilled in the art will recognize that although longitudinal ridges 26 are shown, lateral ridges or some pattern or ridges, bumps or other features may be disposed on the base without departing from the scope of the present invention.)
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet as claimed in claim 13, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the plurality of protuberances are arranged in a plurality of concentric circles.
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the protuberances of the combined teachings to be a plurality of concentric circles
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it has been found that when an element the prior art and the element claimed invention only differ in shape and the claimed shape does not have criticality in the instant application, then changing the shape of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.IV.B). In the instant case, the combined teachings teach of the protuberances as claimed except they do not form a plurality of concentric circles. Neither Antal or applicant have placed criticality on the particular shape of the protuberances, and particularly Antal states that they can be arranged in any pattern (see rejection in claim 13 above). Therefore, a modification to the shape of the protuberances to be concentric circles would be obvious.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emerich (US 20110278278 A1) in view of Dobie (US 7087872 B1), Ohata (US 4426923 A), Braeken (WO 03094684 A1) and Antal (US 20070131698 A1) as presented in claim 14, and in further view of Shei (US 20040069155 A1)
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet as claimed in claim 14, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the holding surface of each of the plurality of pans includes a plurality of apertures, wherein the plurality of apertures upon each holding surface are arranged to form one or more circles that are concentric with the plurality of concentric circles of the plurality of protuberances.
Shei teaches of:
wherein the holding surface of each of the plurality of pans includes a plurality of apertures (Fig. 10, see plurality of apertures 194 in pan)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add plurality of apertures 194 to the pans of the combined teachings
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the amount of moisture that escapes the food within the pans to be controlled, improving how long the food can be held (Shei, ¶ [0055], Whatever the circumstances, the size and pattern of the opening(s) 194 can be selected to closely control the amount of moisture evaporated from the tray 103 and thus optimize the conditions for maintaining food quality over an extended period of time.)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the location of the apertures 194 so that they are formed in circles that are concentric to the protuberances of Antal in the combined teachings
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it has been found that when an element the prior art and the element claimed invention only differ in shape and the claimed shape does not have criticality in the instant application, then changing the shape of the prior art would be obvious (see MPEP 2144.04.IV.B). In the instant case, the combined teachings teach of the apertures as claimed except they do not form a plurality of concentric circles around the protuberances. Neither Shei or the Applicant have placed criticality on the particular shape of the pattern of the apertures, and particularly Shei states that they can be arranged in any pattern (see ¶ [0055] of Shei) that fits the given food type. Therefore, a modification to the pattern of the apertures to be concentric circles would be obvious.
Annotated Figures
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Annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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