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)(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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chaanine (U.S. Pat. No. 9566917).
With respect to claim 16, Chaanine discloses a drawer assembly for a household appliance, comprising: a conduit protection cover (Fig. 3, first enclosure member 20) having a longitudinal body and a housing slot (Fig. 3 shows longitudinal channel within enclosure member 20) extending longwise along said longitudinal body capable of guiding a conduit (branch 12A); said longitudinal body having: an elongated portion (see modified Fig. 3 below, elongated portion) enabling the conduit to extend along said housing slot (branch 12A may extend along the length of the channel within enclosure member 20); an enlarged portion (see modified Fig. 3 below, right side intermediate opening 30) projecting outwardly in a radial direction of said longitudinal body capable of housing fitting members of the conduit (12A); and a narrowed portion (see modified Fig. 3 below, narrow portion) formed at one end of said longitudinal body capable of being inserted into an inlet opening on a panel of the household appliance (the narrow portion is capable of fitting within a panel opening), wherein said enlarged portion is positioned between said narrowed portion and said elongated portion (Fig. 3 shows intermediate opening 30 is located between an elongated portion and a narrow portion of the enclosure member 20).
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Modified Fig. 3
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 16-18, 20-22, 29-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai (EP3722716) in view of Okamoto (U.S. Pat. No. 10714916).
With respect to claim 16, Bai discloses a drawer assembly for a household appliance, comprising: a conduit protection cover (Fig. 2, guidance mechanism 140) having a longitudinal body (rigid component 142) and a housing slot (see modified Fig. 6 below) extending longwise along said longitudinal body for guiding a conduit (cable 102); said longitudinal body (rigid component 142) having: an elongated portion (Fig. 2 shows length of rigid component 142 is a long, narrow structure) enabling the conduit (cable 102) to extend along said housing slot; and capable of being inserted into an inlet opening on a panel of the household appliance (Page 11, Col. 20, lines 27-29, “the cable 102 is led from a cable housing 104 secured on the main body 101 to the drawer-type door 110”).
Bai fails to disclose an enlarged portion projecting outwardly in a radial direction of said longitudinal body for housing fitting members of the conduit; and a narrowed portion formed at one end of said longitudinal body, wherein said enlarged portion is positioned between said narrowed portion and said elongated portion.
Okamoto discloses a cable protector (Fig. 1, protector 10) having an enlarged portion (derivation part 10B) projecting outwardly in a radial direction of a longitudinal body capable of housing fitting members of the conduit (wire bundle 1) positioned between a narrowed portion and an elongated portion (see modified Fig. 1 below).
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Modified Fig. 3
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the cable cover component of Bai to include a branched (enlarged) deviation portion near the front end such as taught by Okamoto in order to guide additional wires, such as wires for lighting, to other areas of the assembly.
With respect to claim 17, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Bai) further discloses two opposing guiding slides (sliding support mechanisms 130 can be seen on the left side of drawer 110 in Fig. 1, and on the right side of drawer 110 in Fig. 3) and at least one connection bracket (Fig. 4, hook structure 133) configured for attaching said elongated portion (rigid component 142 modified by Okamoto) on at least one of said guiding slides (support mechanisms 130).
With respect to claim 18, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Bai) further discloses wherein said at least one connection bracket is one of at least two connection brackets (Fig. 4 shows two hook structures 133) each configured to be detachably attached on a connection lug (see modified Figs. 3 and 8 below) disposed on said elongated portion (rigid component 142 modified by Takaya).
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Modified Figs. 3 & 8
With respect to claim 20, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Okamoto) further discloses wherein said enlarged portion (deviation part 10B) has at least two opposing fixing clips (Fig. 3, engagement piece 44 and receiving part 39) capable of holding fitting members within the enlarged portion.
With respect to claim 21, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Okamoto) further discloses wherein said enlarged portion (deviation part 10B) is further formed with at least two opposing fixing ribs (upper edges/ribs protruding from deviation part 10B as shown in modified Fig. 3 below) capable of allowing fitting members to firmly settle into said enlarged portion (deviation part 10B).
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Modified Fig. 3
With respect to claim 22, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Okamoto) further discloses wherein said enlarged portion (deviation part 10B) further comprises a support protrusion (Fig. 3, raised parts located in between the recessed parts 38) that is capable of enabling disassembly of a conduit (wire bundle 1) by creating a certain distance between fitting members and a surface (surface of recessed parts 38) of said enlarged portion facing said housing slot (raised parts of 10B face away from the surface of the main body 20, towards the opening of 20).
With respect to claim 29, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination further discloses a conduit protection cover (Bai, guidance mechanism 140) capable of housing a conduit (cable 102), wherein the conduit is an electrical cable (cable 102) and said fitting members are at least two corresponding cable connectors connecting to each other. It is noted that the conduit protection cover as claimed above is configured for guiding a conduit and configured for housing fitting members, however a conduit and fitting members are not directly claimed.
With respect to claim 30, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Bai) further discloses the drawer assembly is configured for a cooling appliance (refrigerator 100).
With respect to claim 31, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses a household appliance (Bai, Fig. 1, refrigerator 100), comprising a drawer assembly according to claim 16 (drawer assembly of Bai modified by Okamoto as mapped in claim 16 above).
With respect to claim 32, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Bai) further discloses the household appliance is a cooling appliance (refrigerator 100).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai (EP3722716A1) in view of Okamoto (U.S. Pat. No. 10714916) in further view of Baiza (U.S. Pat. No. 7258583).
With respect to claim 19, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above except wherein said narrowed portion has a retaining lug that partially covers said housing slot for enclosing a respective length of the conduit within said narrowed portion, preventing the conduit from coming into contact with the panel of the household appliance.
Baiza discloses a retaining lug (Fig. 1, retention member 22) that partially covers a housing slot (open portion of cable management arm 12) for enclosing a respective length of the conduit (cabling 44), preventing the conduit from coming out of a conduit cover (cable management arm 12).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the narrow portion wire cover component of Bai in view of Okamoto to include a retaining member such as taught Baiza in order to easily secure any loose cabling within the wire cover component.
Claims 23-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai (EP3722716) in view of Okamoto (U.S. Pat. No. 10714916) in further view of Kuemmel (U.S. Pub. No. 20190310009).
With respect to claim 23, Bai in view of Okamoto discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Bai) further discloses an end of the cable (102) is electrically connected to an electrically powered component disposed on the drawer door (110).
The combination fails to disclose wherein the panel of the household appliance is a door panel comprising a first wall and a second wall spaced apart from the first wall, wherein the door panel is provided with a conduit holder embedded between the first wall and the second wall, and comprising a receiving opening on the first wall for enabling the conduit to be inserted into the door panel.
Han discloses wherein the panel of the household appliance is a door panel (Fig. 1, door 2) comprising a first wall (Fig. 3, rear wall 22) and a second wall spaced apart from the first wall (front wall 21), wherein the door panel (2) is provided with a conduit holder (cable guiding member 4) is embedded between the first wall and the second wall (Fig. 2 shows cable guiding member 4 within accommodating space 24, between rear and front walls 22 and 21), and comprising a receiving opening on the first wall (Fig. 5, through hole 25 on rear wall 22) capable of enabling the conduit to be inserted into the door panel (Paragraph 0044, “the power and/or signal transmission apparatus 3 outside the door 2 can pass through the through hole 25 to extend into the door 2” via the cable guiding member 4 as shown in Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drawer door of Bai in view of Okamoto to include a cable guiding member embedded within the door walls such as taught by Kuemmel in order to create a secure, fixed path for the cable to the electrically powered component disposed on the drawer door.
With respect to claim 24, Bai in view of Okamoto in further view of Kuemmel discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Kuemmel) further discloses wherein said conduit holder (cable guiding member 4) is configured to be fixedly attached on at least the second wall (front wall 21) by way of a mounting interface (Paragraph 0046 “In an alternative implementation, the cable guiding member 4 is fixed on the front wall 21” via a fixing portion 42. Paragraph 0052 “the front wall 21 has a positioning structure 26 matched with the fixing portion 42, and the fixing portion 42 is located in the positioning structure 26”).
With respect to claim 25, Bai in view of Okamoto in further view of Kuemmel discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Kuemmel) further discloses wherein said conduit holder (cable guiding member 4) comprises a leading duct (Fig. 6, guiding portion 41) forming an extension of the receiving opening (see modified Fig. 6, portion of guiding member 4 that passes through the through hole 25) for guiding and directing the conduit within the door panel (Paragraph 0054, “The cables can pass through the guiding portion 41 and extend towards the front wall 21”).
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Modified Fig. 6
With respect to claim 26, Bai in view of Okamoto in further view of Kuemmel discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Kuemmel) further discloses wherein an insulation material is provided between the first wall and second wall (Paragraph 0041, “an accommodating space 24 that is formed by encirclement of the front wall 21, the rear wall 22, and the side wall 23 and is filled with a heat insulation material”).
With respect to claim 27, Bai in view of Okamoto in further view of Kuemmel discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Kuemmel) further discloses wherein said conduit holder (cable guiding member 4) has a carrier frame (Fig. 6, fixing portion 42 with legs 43) formed with a plurality of transfer holes (gap between the pair of legs 23 on the left side of guiding member 4, and gap between the pair of legs 23 on the right side of guiding member 4).
With respect to claim 28, Bai in view of Okamoto in further view of Kuemmel discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Kuemmel) further discloses a sealing material (Fig. 5, sealing portion 6) between the first wall (rear wall 22) and said conduit holder (guidance portion 41), capable of preventing the insulation material from leaking into said conduit holder (Paragraph 0047, “the sealing portion 6 seals a contact surface of the cable guiding member 4 and the rear wall 22, to avoid foam leakage”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH IRENE ARTALEJO whose telephone number is (571)272-4292. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-6.
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/E.I.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3637 /DANIEL J TROY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3637