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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5, 7-8,10, 13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103(a) as being unpatentable over Us Pub No.: 20210396456 (“Park et al.”). in view of KR 20040094456 (“Yoon et al.”)
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Figure 1. Fig. 20 from Park et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Park et al. discloses (best seen in Figs 1-6 and 20-32) a home appliance comprising:
a body (10) having an inner space defined therein; and
a door (30) configured to open and close the inner space, the door (refer to Figs.1-32) including:
a door frame (40) located in front of the body; and a door panel located in front of the door frame (40), the door panel including: a panel body located in front of the door frame (40) to cover the door frame (40);
a fitting protrusion (55) fitted with the door frame (40) to couple the panel body to the door frame (40), the fitting protrusion (55) being displaced upwardly or downwardly relative to the door frame (40) to prevent the panel body from moving forwardly or rearwardly relative to the door frame (40); and
a fastening protrusion (535, 535a, see Fig. 32) coupled to the door frame (40) to prevent the panel body from moving upwardly or downwardly relative to the door frame (40), the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) being located below the fitting protrusion (55),
wherein the door frame (40) includes:
a panel support portion defining a front surface of the door frame (40); and
a fitting hole (cut through 41, see Figs. 6 and 27) extending through the panel support portion in a front-rear direction,
wherein the fitting protrusion (55) includes:
a protrusion body (hook , see Figure 2 below) protruding rearwardly from the panel body; and
a stopper portion (end portion 554) protruding upwardly from the protrusion body, wherein, when the door panel is moved rearward during assembly while being aligned to face the panel support portion, the stopper portion (end portion) is configured to pass through the panel support portion through the fitting hole, and
wherein, when the door panel is moved upwardly during assembly, at least a portion of the stopper portion (end portion 554) is located higher than an uppermost extent of the fitting hole so as to face a rear surface of the panel support portion.
Park et al. discloses panel with a plurality of protruding trim members but dose not disclose the claimed invention but does not expressly disclose a rib protruding from the panel body.
Yoon et al. discloses a similar invention having a door panel further includes a rib (51, 52) protruding from the panel body, the rib being located between the panel body and the panel support portion, and wherein the rib (51, 52) contacts the panel support portion when the door panel is coupled to the door frame (as seen in Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added ribs protruding ribs to the door body as to strengthen the door panel by providing for reinforcement ribs; and also to provide an airtight seal between the door and exterior panel as taught by Yoon et al.
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Figure 2. First fitting protrusion (533) from Park et al.
Regarding Claims 2-5 and 7-8, the combination discloses (Park et al.) Claim 2-wherein the door frame (40) further includes a top protrusion (424a, best seen in Figure 1 above) and located in front of the panel support portion, the top protrusion being spaced from the panel support portion in a front-rear direction to define a fitting groove (see 533 extending into groove), and wherein the door panel further includes a first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) at least a portion of the first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) is inserted into the fitting groove (best seen in Fig. 23 and 41); Claim 3- wherein the first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) includes: a first protrusion portion (flat portion connected to panel) protruding rearwardly from the panel body ; and a second protrusion portion (533) protruding upwardly from the first protrusion portion, the second protrusion portion being inserted into the fitting groove (as see Figs. 23 and 41) ; Claim 4- wherein a top of the second protrusion portion (533) protrudes upwardly beyond a top of the panel body (see Fig.22-23); Claim 5, wherein the panel body is located in front of the first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) so as to cover the first fitting protrusion; Claim 7 - wherein the fitting protrusion (55) includes a recess at a connection portion (in the upper curved portion, see Figure 2 below) between the protrusion body and the stopper portion (end portion 554), the recess having a shape in which at least one of a top surface of the protrusion body is downwardly depressed or a front surface of the stopper portion (end portion 554) is rearwardly depressed; Claim 8, wherein the fitting protrusion (55) has a curved portion connecting a rear surface of the stopper portion (end portion 554) and a top surface of the stopper portion (end portion 554) to each other.
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Figure 3. Second fitting protrusion (55)
Regarding Claim 10, 13 and 15-20, the combination discloses (Park et al.) wherein the door frame (40) includes: a panel support portion defining a front surface of the door frame (40); a top protrusion (424a) located in front of the panel support portion, the top protrusion (424a) being spaced from the panel support portion in a front-rear direction to define a fastening groove (best seen in Figs 22-23, 533 extending into groove); and a first fitting groove located between a lower end of the panel support portion and the top protrusion, the first fitting hole extending through the panel support portion in the front-rear direction, and wherein the fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) includes: a first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) inserted into the fastening groove (as seen in Figure 1 above); and a second fitting protrusion (55) located between the first fitting protrusion (55) and the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) , the second fitting protrusion (55) extending through the first fitting hole (as shown in Figure 2 above);Claim 13, the combination discloses (Park et al.) wherein the first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) includes a plurality of first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) spaced from each other horizontally, and wherein one of the first fitting protrusion 533, 535, 536) is located at a horizontal center of the door panel and has a length in the horizontal direction that is larger than a length in the horizontal direction of each of remaining ones of the plurality of first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) located at positions other than the horizontal center of the door panel; Claim 15 , wherein the door frame (40) includes: a first fastening groove recessed rearwardly in a front surface of the door frame (40) ; and a fastening boss located above the first fastening groove, wherein the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) is inserted into the first fastening groove so as to face the fastening boss in a vertical direction, and wherein the home appliance further includes a fastener passing through the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) and the fastening boss in the vertical direction to couple the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) and the fastening boss to each other (as seen in Figs, 32, 39; Claim 16 , wherein the door panel further includes a second fastening groove recessed upwardly in a bottom surface of the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) , and wherein the fastener includes: a body passing through the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) and the fastening boss; and a head connected to the body and exposed below the fastening boss, the head being accommodated in the second fastening groove; Claim 17 , wherein the door frame (40) includes a second fitting hole recessed rearwardly in a front surface of the door frame (40) , and wherein the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) is received within the second fitting hole; Claim 18 , wherein a bottom surface of the door frame (40) and the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) face each other in the vertical direction, and wherein the home appliance further includes a fastener passing through the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) and the bottom surface of the door frame (40) in the vertical direction to couple the door frame (40) and the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) to each other; Claim 19, the combination discloses wherein the door frame (40) further includes: a fastening groove recessed upwardly in the bottom surface of the door frame (40) ; and a fastening boss located above the fastening groove, wherein the fastener includes: a body passing through the fastening protrusion (535, 535a) and the fastening boss; and a head connected to the body and exposed downwardly of the fastening boss, wherein the head is accommodated in the fastening groove; Claim 20, the combination discloses comprising a cap (the lower cap of the door frame, as seen in Fig . 39) located below the head to cover the head, the cap being inserted into the fastening groove.
Claims 11, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103(a) as being unpatentable over Park et al. and Yoon et al. as applied to claims 10 and 13 above, and further in view of KR 20220068124 (“JONGHYUN et al.”).
Park et al. discloses the second fitting protrusion (55) includes a pair of second fitting protrusion spaced from each other horizontally (as seen in Fig. 20), and includes a plurality of first fitting protrusion (533, 535, 536) spaced from each other horizontally but does not disclose a third fitting protrusion between the pair of second fitting protrusions and first fitting protrusions.
Regarding Claims 11, 12 and 14, JONGHYUN et al. discloses a similar invention wherein Claim 11-wherein the door frame further includes a second fitting hole (50) extending through the panel support portion in the rear-front direction, wherein the second fitting protrusion includes a pair of second fitting protrusion spaced from each other horizontally, and wherein the fitting protrusion further includes a third fitting protrusion (120) located between the pair of second fitting protrusion , the third fitting protrusion (120) extending through the second fitting hole (50); Claim 12, wherein the first fitting protrusion (along the top) includes a plurality of first fitting protrusion spaced from each other horizontally, wherein the third fitting protrusion (120) includes a plurality of third fitting protrusions (120) located between the pair of second fitting protrusion s, and wherein each of the third fitting protrusions (120) is located between an adjacent pair of the first fitting protrusion s (along the top); Claim 14-, wherein the door frame (40) further includes a pair of second fitting holes (50) extending through the panel support portion in the rear-front direction, wherein the fitting protrusion further includes a pair of third fitting protrusions (120) spaced from each other horizontally, the pair of third fitting protrusions being located between the first fitting protrusion and the fastening protrusion , the pair of third fitting protrusion extending through the pair of second fitting holes, and wherein the one of the first fitting protrusion is located between the pair of third fitting protrusion .
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have positioned third fitting protrusion between the first and second fitting protrusion in the manner demonstrated by JONGHYUN et al. to provide a secure and durable connection that minimizes deformation of the door panel.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 7-8 and 10-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)270-3328. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 11:30-5:30.
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/KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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