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 (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(s) 1-3 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN205102189U cited by applicant. Regarding claims 1 and 32, CN205102189U discloses a microwave oven (par. 31-77, Figures 1-6), comprising a main body 10, a door body 20, and an interlocking assembly 30. The door body (20) is provided with a bolt (21, i.e. a first look), and the interlocking assembly 30 is provided on the main body 10 and comprises a support (31, i.e. interlocking support), a first microswitch 32, a second microswitch 33, a first lever (34) and a second lever (35), wherein the first lever (340 and the second lever (35) are rotatably provided on the support (31). The first lever (34) is provided with a protruding block (341), when the door body (20) is closed, the protruding block (341) and the bolt (21) respectively push the first lever (34) to rotate to close the first microswitch (32), and push the second lever (35, i.e. a first lever) to rotate to close the second microswitch (33, i.e. a monitoring switch). The interlocking assembly (30) further comprises a third microswitch(37) fixed on a second side surface (31b) of the support (31), and when the door body (20) is closed, the protruding block (341) pushes the first lever (34, i.e. a second lever) to rotate to close the third microswitch (37, i.e. a first microswitch) first, and when close the first microswitch (32, i.e. a second microswitch). However, CN205102189U does not disclose when the door of a microwave oven is closing, the first lever and the second lever are driven to rotate in sequence, so that the first lever trigger the monitor switch. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to have the first lever and the second lever are driven to rotate in sequence, so that the first lever trigger the monitor switch when the door is closing in order to provide safety lock. Regarding claims 2-3, CN205102189U discloses the support (31) comprises a first side surface (31a) and the second side surface (31b) facing away from each other, the first lever 934) is provided on the first side surface (31a), and the second lever (35) is provided on the second side surface (31b). The support (31) is provided with a rotating shaft(313), and the first lever (34) comprises a mounting hole (342) matching with the rotating shaft (313). The mounting mode of the second lever (35) is the same as that of the first lever (34). It can be seen from figure 2 that the rotating shaft of the second lever (35) is provided on the side of the rotating shaft of the first lever (34) close to the bolt (210.
Claim(s) 4-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN205102189U in view of CN113216776A both cited by applicant. Regarding claims 4-11, CN205102189U discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention including the first driving arm being provided with a first driving portion for triggering the monitoring switch is an adaptive adjustment which can be easily made on the basis of the content, but does not disclose the thickness of the second driving arm is less than the thickness of the first driving arm in the axial direction of the first level. CN113216776A discloses a door lock device and a microwave oven (par. 78-126, Figures 1-20), the microwave oven comprises a door body and a box body, the door lock device comprises a first hook (100) provided on the door body and a support (200) provided on the box body, wherein the support (200) is further connected to a driving assembly (300) and a buffer member (400). The first hook (100) comprises a first hook-shaped portion (120), the driving assembly (300) comprises a connecting member (310) and the driving member (320) connected to the support (200, i.e. an interlocking support), the connecting member (310) may rotate with respect to the support (200) around a fixed axis, and the connecting member (310) comprises a flange matching with the first hook-shaped portion (120). During a door closing process, the connecting member (310) is hooked with the first hook-shaped portion 120, and when the connecting member (310) rotates with respect to the support (200), the first hook portion (120) can be pulled to move in a first direction, thereby closing the door. The driving member (320) may be a spring (i.e. an elastic member). One end of the spring is connected to the support (200) and the other end is connected to the connecting member (310, i.e. the first lever). When the first hook-shaped portion (120) hooks the connecting member (310), the spring pulls the connecting member (310) to rotate, thereby pulling the first hook-shaped portion (120) to move in the first direction, and the door body moves towards the box body to close the door. When the door is opened, the first hook (100) moves with respect to the support (200) in a direction opposite to the first direction. The connecting member (310) comprises a first support arm (3111, i.e. a second driving arm) and a second support arm (3112, i.e. a first driving arm), and the first support arm (3111) is mainly used for matching with the first hook-shaped portion (120). As can be seen from figure 13, first limiting portion is comprised. It can be seen from figures 7-13 that a related structure of a buffer door closing assembly of the present application is disclosed. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to have the thickness of the second driving arm is less than the thickness of the first driving arm in the axial direction of the first level in order to suit user specific application. Regarding claims 12-14, CN205102189U discloses the second lever is a conventional adjustment that can be easily made on the basis of the structure of the first level (34).
Claims 15-16 and 33-34 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: a second lever rotatably mounted at the interlock support, the second lever comprising a first rotation arm provided with a first cooperation portion, a second rotation arm provided with a second cooperation portion, and a third rotation arm provided with a third cooperation portion, and the first cooperation portion, the second cooperation portion, and the third cooperation portion being sequentially arranged about a rotational axis of the second lever in a first direction, wherein the first door hook is configured to move in a door closing direction to abut with the first cooperation portion and drive the second lever to rotate in the first direction, to allow the third cooperation portion to trigger the second microswitch after the first microswitch is triggered by the second cooperation portion as recited in claims 15-16; and a door body having a first door hook and a second door hook, wherein the microwave oven is configured such that during closing of the door body, the first door hook directly abuts with the first switch to trigger the first switch, the second door hook directly abuts with the second switch to trigger the second switch, and the first door hook triggers the third switch through the drive lever as recited in claims 33-34.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Heit et al (US 3,968,983) discloses two position, three function latching mechanism. Fowler et al (US 3,750,643) discloses multiple position door latch mechanism.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG T VAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4789. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00.
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/QUANG T VAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 October 14, 2026
