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
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claims 1 – 2, 8 – 9 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sung et al. (KR 20210007294 A – hereafter “Sung”).
As per claim 1, Sung teaches:
A temperature sensing device for an induction stove, comprising:
a sensor package including one or more sensors (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” 1st & 2nd paragraphs; sensor module 650);
a plunger assembly configured to hold the sensor package (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” para starting with “The tubular member,” Figs. 40 – 45, barrel member 652, piston ring 659, and spring 678);
and a support base configured to provide a physical support for the plunger assembly (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” 2nd & 3rd paragraphs, Fig. 44, sensor installation part 680, coil installation base 611).
Regarding claim 2, Sung teaches a temperature sensing device of claim 1, wherein the plunger assembly includes a movable plunger, a fixed plunger support, and a spring disposed between the plunger and the plunger support (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” para starting with “The tubular member 652,” Figs. 40 – 45, barrel member 652, sensor installation part 680, and spring 678).
Regarding claim 8, Sung teaches a temperature sensing device of claim 2, wherein the plunger has an inner column portion and an outer cap portion disposed on a top side of the plunger (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” para starting with “The module body,” Fig. 40, barrel member 652 and head 655).
Regarding claim 9, Sung teaches a temperature sensing device of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the spring is held between the inner column portion and the outer cap portion of the plunger when the plunger assembly is assembled (see section “Temperature measurement unit;” Fig. 44, spring 678 and head 655).
As per claim 20, Sung teaches the following:
A method for assembling a temperature sensing device, the temperature sensing device including a temperature sensor subsystem that includes a sensor package (sensor module 650),
a sensor holding unit (contact insert member 660), a compliant bumper (Fig. 45, rubber sealing cover 670), a plunger assembly (see Figs. 40, barrel member 652, piston ring 659, and spring 678), and a support base (see Fig. 44, sensor installation part 680, coil installation base 611), and the method comprising: attaching the plunger assembly to the support base (see Figs. 44 – 45);
disposing the compliant bumper (sealing cover 670) inside a top hollow portion of a plunger included in the plunger assembly (see Fig. 41);
positioning the sensor holding unit over the compliant bumper, and positioning the sensor package over the sensor holding unit (see Fig. 41);
and clamping down the sensor package and the sensor holding unit using a sliding ramp (see Fig. 45).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sung in view of Shigeoka et al. (JP 2011124165 A – hereafter “Shigeoka”).
Regarding claim 3, the claim recites “The temperature sensing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one self-heated flux sensor.” Sung fails to teach one or more sensors that include one self-heated flux sensor.
Shigeoka teaches an induction cooker comprising a heat flux sensor (temperature sensor 30) that responds to magnetic flux and the generated heat which is measured by the sensor (see “Embodiment 1,” para. starting with “Here, when the first temperature sensor 30 is positioned above the heating coil 24”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify Sung in view of Shigeoka to modify the temperature sensing device by using at least one heat flux sensor as taught by Shigeoka in order to improve temperature sensing responsiveness in an induction heating environment where magnetic flux contributes to sensor heating.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 7 and 10 – 19 are 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.
Conclusion
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/MANUEL SALVADOR CASTELLON JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855