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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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 Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 8 be found allowable, claim 9 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Applicant is advised that should claim 10 be found allowable, claim 11 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
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 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) and Stuenitz (DE 4408149 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Emerich teaches of:
A cabinet for holding a plurality of food products (Fig. 1, 10), the cabinet comprises:
a housing (Fig. 1, 20) that is formed with a plurality of outer walls (Fig. 6, 41-45), 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, 68),
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 (Fig. 5, F) that draws suction from the holding volume (F draws suction from the holding volume 69 via 78), directs air through the air handling volume (F directs air through B+C), and returns air to the holding volume (air is returned to 69);
the housing includes an inner bottom wall (Fig. 5, 63) that is spaced from the lower wall to allow air to flow therethrough (63 is spaced from the lower wall to form flow path C), 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 has apertures 63a to direct air to 69)
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 without boiling the water within the storage volume.
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 art 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
Stuenitz teaches of:
further comprising a storage volume (cabinet 10 has a water tank which acts as a storage volume; ¶ [0027], “Cabinet 10 has a water tank”), provided upon the housing and in gaseous communication with the air handling volume (the water tank must be in gaseous communication with an air handling volume within the cabinet to be able to distribute the water vapor within the cabinet), wherein the storage volume is configured to receive and store water therewithin (the water tank receives water via filling port 24), wherein the storage volume is further configured to create a humid environment with water vapor traveling into the air handling volume (¶ [0027], “Cabinet 10 has a water tank whose capacity (18 liters) is sufficient for five hours of humidification”)
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 without boiling the water within the storage volume (Stuenitz recites that the water can be either evaporated or nebulized, therefore when utilizing the nebulizer there would be no boiling of the water; ¶ [0029], “The water is either evaporated or nebulized using an ultrasonic nebulizer”).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a storage volume for holding water within C of Emerich and further add a nebulizer within the storage volume
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 water vapor to be added as needed to the air flowing into the holding volume of Emerich, improving the humidity control of the system
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 (Emerich, Fig. 5, 25), wherein the at least one fan takes suction from air that flows into the air handling volume from the holding volume (25 suctions air from air that flows into the handling volume from the holding volume 69), wherein during fan operation air flows across an opening in communication with the storage volume (Fig. 5, air flows across opening 68 due to suction from 25 creating an air curtain), 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 (air curtain 68 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 (Dobie, Fig. 8, there are at least three parallel lines of 50 formed), 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 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 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.”)
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a heater disposed within the air handling volume (Emerich, Fig. 5, 24 is a heating element within the air handling volume) to interact humid air that flows into the air handling volume from the storage volume (the air within 69 of Emerich is cycled through the system and therefore the humid air that flow into 69 from the storage volume would be interacted with an heated by 24).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emerich (US 20110278278 A1) in view of Dobie (US 7087872 B1) and Stuenitz (DE 4408149 A1) and in further view of Ohata (US 4426923 A).
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the cabinet of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly 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 teaches of:
wherein the storage volume receives a level probe (Fig. 2, storage volume 14+15 has OL1 and OL2), wherein the level probe can identify a low water level condition thereby causing more water to be directed into the storage volume (OL2 detects a low water level condition; Col. 4, lines 20-25, “When the amounts of water in the steam generator 14 and tank 15 have decreased to a certain extent, the switch OL.sub.2 is opened, and the valve BV is opened, so that the water is supplied from the tank 19 to the steam generator 14 and tank 15”) and the level probe can identify a high water level condition that stops water from being directed into the storage volume (OL1 detects a high water level condition; Col. 4, lines 25-30, “When the levels of the water in the steam generator 14 and tank 15 have thereafter reached positions shown in FIG. 2, the switch OL.sub.1 is closed, and the valve BV is closed, so that the supplying of water to the steam generator 14 and tank 15 is stopped”).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the storage volume of the combined teachings so that there is a low level probe and a high level probe and further so that the storage volume can be supplied with water from a water line with an electromagnetic valve based on the level probe readings as described in Ohata
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 improve the efficiency of the system by automatically refilling the storage volume with water as needed, reducing the need for human interaction and improving operating endurance
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) and Stuenitz (DE 4408149 A1) 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 (Fig. 1, 50) comprises a plurality of second apertures (Fig. 1, 56) 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 (Fig. 2, 56 extends between a left and right outer wall of the system), wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path (air flowing through 56 flow into the upper flow path of the system);
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan (air flows into suction fan 52), 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 (air flowing from apertures form on 44 flow into apertures 56).
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 would prevent large debris from entering the upper flow path and would further improve laminarity of the flow improving efficiency of the fan
Regarding claim 11, 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 (Fig. 1, 50) comprises a plurality of second apertures (Fig. 1, 56) 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 (Fig. 2, 56 extends between a left and right outer wall of the system), wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path (air flowing through 56 flow into the upper flow path of the system);
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan (air flows into suction fan 52), 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 (air flowing from apertures form on 44 flow into apertures 56).
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 would prevent large debris from entering the upper flow path and would further improve laminarity of the flow improving efficiency of the fan
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 (Fig. 1, 50) comprises a plurality of second apertures (Fig. 1, 56) 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 (Fig. 2, 56 extends between a left and right outer wall of the system), wherein the air flowing through the plurality of second apertures flows into the upper flow path (air flowing through 56 flow into the upper flow path of the system);
wherein the upper flow path extends to a suction of a fan (air flows into suction fan 52), 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 (air flowing from apertures form on 44 flow into apertures 56).
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 would prevent large debris from entering the upper flow path and would further improve laminarity of the flow improving efficiency of the fan
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) and Stuenitz (DE 4408149 A1) 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), Stuenitz (DE 4408149 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
PNG
media_image1.png
490
780
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 8 of Dobie
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
Prosecution Insights