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 § 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 8 and 9 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.
Claim 8 recites “the inlet is provided on one of the front surface and the rear surface of the housing” where the Examiner is unclear which front surface and rear surface is being referred back to due to improper antecedent basis. For examination purposes claim 8 will be treated as “the inlet is provided on one of [[the]] a front surface and [[the]] a rear surface of the housing.”
Claim 9 is rejected for being dependent from an unclear and indefinite claim.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7-10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0047083 (Yoo hereinafter) in view of US 2007/0023591 (Kwon hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Yoo teaches a laundry treating apparatus (Figures 1, 2, , and 10) that discloses a body (Body made of 1, 2, 13, 143 in Figures 1 and 2) including a base (Base at 13 in Figure 2), a housing provided on one side with an insertion hole into which the base is inserted (Housing being 1 with the insertion hole for 2 to pass into the chamber 14 and covered by 143), and a chamber located inside the housing (Chamber 14); a support body rotatably provided in the housing to form a space in which clothing is supported (Board 2 as seen in Figures 1, 2, 9, and 10); treating means that is removable from the chamber and capable of ironing the clothing by supplying at least one of heat and steam to the clothing mounted on the support body (Treatment means being the iron 5).
Yoo is silent with respect to an adjusting assembly that moves the housing along the height direction of the base.
However, Kwon teaches a laundry treatment device (Figures 1-3) that discloses a housing (Housing 50), a base (Legs 70), and an adjusting assembly that moves the housing along the height direction of the base (¶ 65-74 disclosing the automatic leg/base leveling). The resultant combination would apply the automatic leveling of Kwon to the base of Yoo.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the base of Yoo with the self-leveling of Kwon to allow for the base to always be level during operation on non-level surfaces.
Regarding claim 3, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose that the base is provided to form a bottom surface of the housing (Evident from Figure 2 of Kwon and 13 of Figure 2 in Yoo).
Regarding claim 5, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose a steam generator provided inside the body to generate steam (¶ 101-103 of Yoo); a connector fixing portion provided in the housing and connected to a discharge port of the steam generator (Connection between the tubing 67 to steam generator 6); and a connector, wherein one end of the connector is connected to the connector fixing portion and the other end of the connector is connected to the treating means to supply steam to the treating means (Tubing 67 from 6 to 5).
Regarding claim 7, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 5 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose that the connector fixing portion is provided on a side surface of the housing that connects a front surface and a rear surface of the housing (Connector fixing portion at the steam generator side is on a side surface covered by 161 of Yoo in Figure 1 and seen in profile in Figures 2 and 9).
Regarding claim 8, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose an inlet provided on one side of the housing to expose the chamber (Inlet covered by 161 of Yoo); and a door for opening and closing the inlet (Door 161 of Yoo).
Regarding claim 9, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 8 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose that the inlet is provided on one of the front surface and the rear surface of the housing (Chamber behind 161 in Figures 2 and 9 of Yoo).
Regarding claim 10, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 9 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose that the other one of the front and rear surface of the housing is provided with a support accommodating groove for receiving the support body (Figure 9 of Yoo shows the support body being accommodated on an opposite surface of the chamber covered by 161).
Regarding claim 13, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Yoo and Kwon would further disclose a path extending from either a front surface of the housing or a rear surface of the housing to an upper surface of the housing (Path 41 in Figures 2 and 9 of Yoo); a shaft support movable along the path (Support 45 of Yoo); a first pivoting shaft, one end of which is rotatably fixed to the shaft support and the other end of which is fixed to the support body (Pivot 35 of Yoo); and a second pivoting shaft rotatably fixing the shaft support to the housing (Pivot 37 of Yoo).
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0047083 (Yoo) in view of US 2007/0023591 (Kwon) and further in view of US 2009/0134305 (Thomas hereinafter).
Regarding claim 2, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 but are silent with respect to a controller provided in the housing to control the operation of the adjusting assembly.
However, Thomas teaches an automated height adjustment system that discloses a controller provided in the housing to control the operation of the adjusting assembly (¶ 24, 25, and 48).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the height adjustment of Yoo and Kwon with the controller of Thomas to allow for increased control of adjusting the height of the laundry treatment unit of Yoo.
Regarding claim 4, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 but are silent with respect that the adjusting assembly comprises: a rack provided along the height direction of the housing; a pinion rotatably fixed to the base and coupled to the rack; and a pinion motor that rotates the pinion.
However, Thomas teaches an automated height adjustment system that discloses an adjusting assembly that comprises: a rack provided along the height direction of the housing; a pinion rotatably fixed to the base and coupled to the rack; and a pinion motor that rotates the pinion (¶ 24, 25, and 48 details the use of a rack and pinion along with a motor to drive the height adjustment system).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the height adjustment of Yoo and Kwon with the controller of Thomas to allow for increased control of adjusting the height of the laundry treatment unit of Yoo.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0047083 (Yoo) in view of US 2007/0023591 (Kwon) and further in view of US 5609047 (Hellman hereinafter).
Regarding claim 6, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 5 but are silent with respect that the one end of the connector is detachably connected to the connector fixing portion, and the other end of the connector is detachably connected to the treating means.
However, Hellman teaches a laundry steamer that discloses one end of the connector is detachably connected to the connector fixing portion (Figure 2 with end at 66 for the tubing 44), and the other end of the connector is detachably connected to the treating means (End at 67 in Figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the iron and steam tubing with the teachings of Hellman to allow for easy disconnect for cleaning and potential repairs.
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0047083 (Yoo) in view of US 2007/0023591 (Kwon) in view of US 5365635 (Jang hereinafter).
Regarding claim 11, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 but are silent with respect to a wheel provided on the base; and a fixing portion provided to be pulled out from the base toward a ground on which the base is supported, and fixing the position of the housing by separating the wheel from the ground.
However, Jang teaches a retractable caster wheel that discloses a wheel provided on the base (Figures 3-7 with wheel unit 40); and a fixing portion provided to be pulled out from the base toward a ground on which the base is supported (Fixing portion 20), and fixing the position of the housing by separating the wheel from the ground (Evident from Figures 6 and 7 with Column 3 Line 61 through Column 7 Line 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the base of Yoo with the wheels of Jang to allow for increased ease for movement while still maintaining a solid base when wheels are not needed.
Regarding claim 12, Yoo’s modified teachings are described above in claim 11 where the combination of Yoo, Kwon, and Jang would further disclose that the fixing portion comprises: a fixing body located on a bottom of the base (20 of Jang would be on the bottom of the base of Yoo/Kwon); a fixing body driver that controls the position of the fixing body (Driver being the spring to lock the foot 20 of Jang).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL HOANG can be reached at (571) 272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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