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 § 112
1. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13, 14, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. With respect to claim 13, it’s unclear if “a contact surface” is referring back to “a contact surface” of claim 1 or a different surface. With respect to claims 14, 16, and 17, the limitation “the contact portion” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1, 3, 7, 8, 12-17, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO2022203266 (WO ‘266). Examiner is relying on US 20240167754 A1 for the English translation.
With respect to claim 1, WO ‘266 shows a refrigerator (1, Fig.1) comprising: a cabinet (10) having a storage space; a first door (21) configured to open and close at least a portion of the storage space; a hinge (60, Fig.21) connecting the first door (21) to the cabinet (10, FIg.1), the hinge having a contact surface (623b, Fig.18); an auto-closing device (40) configured to provide a closing torque to the first door when the first door is rotated to a set angle (angle when lever 420 contacts 622/623a, FIg.21-Fig.23) relative to a closed position; and a damper (420) disposed on the first door and separate from the auto-closing device (40), the damper configured to contact the contact surface (623b) of the hinge over a portion of a rotation of the first door in a closing direction (Fig.24) when the first door is rotated to a first set angle relative to the closed position and to slow down a rotational speed of the first door (section 0272), wherein the first set angle (angle when lever 420 is in contact with 623b, FIg.24) corresponds to a state of the first door closer to the closed position than the set angle (Fig.21-Fig.23), wherein the damper (420) includes a first damping state (at 623b, FIg.23, Fig.24) configured to exert a first damping force and a second damping state (at contact surface 624, Fig.18) configured to exert a second damping force, and wherein the first damping force (position in Fig.24) is greater than the second damping force (position in Fig.18).
With respect to claim 3, wherein the contact surface includes a pressing portion (623b) and a restraining portion (624), wherein, when the damper contacts the pressing portion (623b), the damper is in the first damping state, and wherein, when the damper contacts the restraining portion (624), the damper is in the second damping state (Fig.18).
With respect to claim 7, wherein the damper (420) is configured to contact the hinge (60) to sequentially provide the first damping force (at 623b, FIg.24) and the second damping force (at Fig.18) to the first door after the auto-closing device (40) starts to provide the closing torque to the first door (Fig.21, FIg.22).
With respect to claim 8, wherein the auto-closing device (40) extends along a rotational axis of the first door (21, Fig.20).
With respect to claim 12, wherein the damper (420) is spaced apart from a rotation shaft (550, Fig.5) of the first door by a set distance such that a torque is generated in a direction opposite to the closing direction about the rotation shaft when the damper is in contact with the hinge (Fig.18, Fig.21-24).
With respect to claim 13, wherein the hinge (60) includes: a hinge bracket (610) located on the cabinet; a hinge plate (620, Fig.18) protruding from the hinge bracket, the hinge plate (620) having a contact surface (623, FIg.18) extending along at least a portion of a circumferential surface of the hinge plate; and a hinge shaft (550, Fig.5) located on the hinge plate (620, FIg.18), the hinge shaft (550, Fig.5) being coupled to the first door, and wherein the damper (420) is configured to contact the contact surface (623b) when a closing angle of the first door with respect to a closed position of the first door is at the first set angle (angle at Fig.24) or less.
With respect to claim 14, wherein the contact portion includes: a pressing portion (623b) configured to place the damper in the first damping state (Fig.24) when the damper contacts the pressing portion as the first door is closed; and a restraining portion (624) located farther rearward than the pressing portion, the restraining portion (624) being configured to maintain contact with the damper when the first door is in the closed position (Fig.18).
With respect to claim 15, wherein a recession depth of the restraining portion (624) is less than a radius of curvature of an end portion of the damper (420, Fig.18).
With respect to claim 16, wherein the contact portion further includes a holding portion (bump between 623b and 624) located between the pressing portion (623b) and the restraining portion (624), the holding portion extending from the pressing portion such that a distance from the hinge shaft between a starting point of the holding portion and an ending point of the holding portion does not increase.
With respect to claim 17, wherein the contact portion further includes a starting portion (623a, FIg.18) ahead of the pressing portion (623b, Fig.18) such that the damper (420) contacts the starting portion (623a, Fig.23) prior to contacting the pressing portion (623b) as the first door is closed.
With respect to claim 21, wherein the closing torque of the auto-closing device (40) is initiated (FIg.21-Fig.23) before the damper contacts the contact surface (623b, Fig.24).
7. Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2022203266 (WO ‘266) in further in view of US 2016/0146528 A1 (YOON).
With respect to claim 9, WO ‘266 shows a second door (FIg.1), the first door (21) and the second door being located adjacent each other in a left-right direction. WO ‘266 doesn’t show the first door includes a pillar. YOON shows wherein the first door (31) includes a pillar (100, Fig.2) configured to rotate when the first door is closed to shield a space between the first door (31) and the second door (33, Fig.11, Fig.12), and wherein the cabinet includes a pillar guide (201, Fig.10) configured to guide rotation of the pillar (Fig.10-Fig.12). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a rotating pillar on the first door of WO ‘266, such as taught by YOON, in order to separately open adjacent storage compartments and selectively open one compartment at a time to avoid more air from escaping the refrigerator and seal the gap between the first and second door to prevent outside air from entering the refrigeration compartment.
With respect to claim 10, modified WO ‘266 teaches wherein the second damping force of the damper is reduced while the pillar is in contact with the pillar guide (the pillar 100 is in contact with the pillar guide 201 when the door is closing and the second damping force is located at the closed position of the door and thus as modified the pillar would be in contact with the pillar guide when the second damping force is reduced).
With respect to claim 11, the combination teaches (YOON) wherein the pillar (100) is configured to be in contact with the pillar guide (201, FIg.11, Fig.12) when the closing angle of the first door is a third set angle or less, and wherein the second damping force of the damper is reduced when the closing angle of the first door is the third set angle or less (the second damping force, when the roller 430 of the lever 420 is in depression 627 in WO ‘266 it relates to closing position of the door and thus as modified the pillar is in contact with the pillar guide, Fig.12 of YOON, when the door is in closed position).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIWOT E TEFERA whose telephone number is (571)270-3320. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6PM.
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/HIWOT E TEFERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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