Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-9, 11, 12, 14-16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent 9,903,639 to Eom.
Eom teaches
1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet (10) having a storage compartment (figure 1); a door (31) configured to open and close the storage compartment; a hinge (70) connected to the cabinet, the hinge rotatably connecting the door to the cabinet (as best seen in figure 2); a hinge case (100) configured to accommodate at least a portion of the hinge (as best seen in figures 2, 4, and 6, the case covers and surrounds the hinge structure with the hinge accommodating space 103, col 8, lines 6-15), the hinge case being connected to the hinge (via the posts 108); and a damper (40) configured to generate a damping force by contacting the door when the door moves towards a closed position (as best seen in figures 9 and 10), wherein the damper is installed at the hinge, and at least a portion of the damper is accommodated in a space defined by the hinge and the hinge case (as best seen in figures 2, 4, and 6, the damper is attached to the case, but is in the space between the hinge plate and the case, in addition the rear of the damper contacts an upturned portion the hinge plate as best seen in figure 6).
3. wherein the hinge comprises: a first hinge main body (80, 81) overlapping the cabinet in an up-down direction (as best seen in figure 2), the first hinge main body being connected to the cabinet; and a second hinge main body (83, 85) configured to protrude to a front of the cabinet (as best seen in figures 7 and 9), the second hinge main body being connected to the door, the second hinge main body and the hinge case defining the space, and wherein the damper is connected to the second hinge main body (the movable portion of the damper 62,63 is slidable connected to a guide 90 that is fixed to the second hinge main body).
4. wherein the door includes a hinge mounting space (figure 8) that is open towards the cabinet, wherein the hinge is connected to the door in the hinge mounting space, and wherein, as the door moves towards the closed position, the second hinge main body and the hinge case are inserted into the hinge mounting space (as best seen in figures 2, 9, and 10).
5. wherein the door includes a contact projection (36,38,39) configured to protrude toward the damper, and wherein the damper is configured to generate the damping force by contacting the contact projection (as best seen in figures 7-10).
6. wherein the contact projection contacts the damper in the space defined by the hinge and the hinge case (as best seen in figure 10, the damper is pressed inwards of the guide 90 by the contact projection and as best seen in figures 2, 4 and 6, the end of the guide is near the edge of the hinge case).
7. wherein the contact projection includes a rounded contact surface (39) configured to contact the damper (as best seen in figure 8, the roller has appears to have bevel; also the shaft being narrower than the roller and extending above and below the roller; the combination of the shaft and roller creates a rounded shape).
8. wherein the hinge case includes a passage (104) configured to allow the contact projection to pass through the hinge case towards the damper as the door moves towards the closed position (as best seen in figure 10).
9. wherein the hinge case includes: an upper part (101) covering the hinge from above with the damper located between the upper part and the hinge; and a front part (102) connecting the upper part to the hinge, the front part having the passage to allow the contact projection to pass through the front part as the door moves towards the closed position (as best seen in figure 4).
11. wherein the damper includes: a fixation part (90) fixed to the hinge; and a movement part (62) movable relative to the fixation part, the movement part having a contact end (63) having a planar shape at an end portion thereof (as best seen in figure 3), the movement part being configured to move in a front-rear direction while the contact end contacts a contact surface (39) of the contact projection (as best seen in figures 9 and 10).
12. wherein a contact surface (39) of the contact projection is convex (as best seen in figure 8) towards the damper.
14. wherein the door includes a hinge mounting space (as best seen in figure 2 and 8) that is open towards the cabinet, wherein the hinge is connected to the door in the hinge mounting space (via pivot shaft groove 35), and wherein the contact projection is accommodated in the hinge mounting space (as best seen in figure 8).
15. further comprising a door cover (31, 31a) at the door, at least a portion of the door cover being inserted into the hinge mounting space, wherein the contact projection is located at the door cover (as best seen in figure 8).
16. wherein the hinge mounting space extends forward from a rear surface of the door, wherein the door cover includes: an upper cover part (31a or 37) covering an upper surface of an inside of the door in the hinge mounting space; and a front cover part (wall below and connected to the upper surface 31a or downward flange between elements 37 and 38 as best seen in figure 8) connected to the upper cover part, the front cover part covering a front surface of the inside of the door in the hinge mounting space, and wherein the contact projection is located at the front cover part to protrude rearward from the front cover part.
18. wherein the door cover further includes a projection coupling boss (38) protruding rearward from the front cover part, and wherein the contact projection is connected to the projection coupling boss to protrude rearward from the projection coupling boss.
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) 10 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 9,903,639 to Eom in view of US Patent 9,151,101 to Lowe.
Eom discloses every element as claimed and discussed above the contact surface as a hemispherical shape (rounded in lateral and up/down directions).
Lowe teaches a damper (10, 400, 500) with a hemispherical tip (404) that contacts a flat surface. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to replace the roller with a flexible hemispherical tip as taught by Lowe to absorb energy.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., The damper is installed on the hinge) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
The examiner considers that claim 1 only requires the damper to be located in the space defined between the hinge and the hinge cover, which is shown in figure 2 of Eom. In addition, the examiner considers that the rear end of the damper would contact the upturned flange of the rear of the hinge plate which is also accommodating the damper. Furthermore, the movable piston (61) of the damper includes a movable portion (62) that slide in a fixation portion/guide (90) that is attached to the hinge as best seen in figure 7.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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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/T.M.A/ Examiner, Art Unit 3637 /DANIEL J TROY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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