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 Objections
Claims 1 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities: Examiner recommend deleting “one of” in last paragraph of claim 1 and last paragraph of claim 10. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 16-17 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.
Claims 16 recites a first air deflector. However claim 10 also recites an air deflector. It’s not clear as to if the first air deflector is the air deflector from claim 10 (NOTE: From the specification it looks like there are only two air deflectors). Examiner recommend applicant to amend claim 16 to (and for examining purpose, examiner interprets this limitation is) “wherein the air deflector is a first air deflector…”
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.
Claims 10-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeong (US 20150107576).
Regarding claim 10, Jeong teaches an oven appliance (system of fig 1) defining a vertical direction (vertical direction in fig 1), a lateral direction (annotated fig 1), and a transverse direction (annotated fig 1), the vertical direction, lateral direction, and transverse direction mutually perpendicular (see fig 1 and annotated figure 1), the oven appliance comprising: a cabinet (housing of oven); a cooking chamber (11, fig 1) defined within the cabinet for receipt of food items for cooking, the cooking chamber delineated by a plurality of walls including a left side wall, a right side wall, and a back wall (interior sidewalls and back wall of cooking chamber); a plurality of sliding rails (annotated fig 1) extending in pairs from each of the left side wall and the right side wall (rails are inherently provided in pairs on left and right sidewalls), each pair of sliding rails of the plurality of sliding rails “configured to hold a baking rack” (rails are capable of support rack); a heating chamber (under floor/base 12, fig 1) defined below the cooking chamber; a heating element (20, fig 1) positioned within the heating chamber ([0021] “A burner 20 that is a heat source for heating a food received in the cooking chamber 11 may be disposed under the base 12”); and an air deflector (38, fig 2) positioned within the cooking chamber, the air deflector one of permanently or removably mountable on the back wall of the cooking chamber (see fig 1).
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Regarding claim 11, Jeong teaches the heating chamber comprises an inlet proximate one or more of a front side, the left side wall, and the right side wall of the heating chamber (see fig 3 for airflow, an inlet is inherently provided at the front side of the heating chamber).
Regarding claim 12, Jeong teaches the heating chamber comprises an outlet at the back side of the heating chamber (13, fig 3), such that air heated by the heating element may emanate from the outlet.
Regarding claim 13, Jeong teaches the outlet at the back side of the heating chamber is positioned proximate the back wall of the cooking chamber such that air emanating from the outlet impinges on the back wall of the cooking chamber and rises vertically along the back wall of the cooking chamber (see fig 3 for airflow direction).
Regarding claim 14, Jeong teaches the air deflector is positioned on the back wall of the cooking chamber (see fig 3) such that air may be deflected in the transverse direction away from the back wall of the cooking chamber (airflow out of outlet 38 is in transverse direction) and continue rising in the vertical direction away from the heating chamber (see fig 5).
Regarding claim 15, Jeong teaches the air deflector is positioned at an angle between zero degrees (outlet 38 is at zero degree with respect to the transverse direction) and seventy degrees from the transverse direction towards an upward vertical direction.
Regarding claim 16, Jeong teaches the air deflector is a first air deflector positioned in the vertical direction between sliding rails of the plurality of sliding rails (outlet 38 is between a pair of rails).
Regarding claim 17, Jeong teaches a second air deflector (slant surface 35, fig 2) positioned in the vertical direction between other sliding rails of the plurality of sliding rails (surface 35 is between another pair of rails as viewed in fig 1).
Regarding claim 18, Jeong teaches the heating element is one of an electric resistance element or a gas burner ([0023] “The burner 20 may include a supply part 21 extending in a direction that is away from the heated air guider 30 and a combustion part 22”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KO-WEI LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7675. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-2:30 Eastern Time.
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.
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/KO-WEI LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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