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 § 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AU 2019386525 A1 to Bae et al. (Bae) in view of KR 101275198 B1 to Son et al. (Son).
In reference to independent claim 1, Bae discloses:
A clothing processing apparatus comprising:
a drum (20) comprising:
a drum body (21) having a cylindrical shape with two opposing sides open;
a front cover (160) arranged to close one of the open sides of the drum body to define a front surface of the drum body;
a rear cover (22) arranged to close the other one of the open sides of the drum body to define a rear surface of the drum body; and
a drum inlet (140) formed through the front cover in a penetrating manner to communicate with an interior of the drum body;
a fixing panel (130) apart from the rear cover;
a power transmitter (230)comprising:
a housing (230; see Fig. 1) fixed to the fixing panel;
an input shaft (220) with one end located outside the housing and another end located inside the housing;
an output shaft (210) with one end formed to pass through the fixing panel and fixed to the rear cover and another end positioned inside the housing; and
a gear unit (223, 213) disposed inside the housing to transmit rotational motion of the input shaft to the output shaft; and
a motor (260) comprising:
a stator (280) fixed to the fixing panel or the housing to form a rotating magnetic field; and
a rotor (270) rotated by the rotor, the one end of the input shaft being fixed to the rotor.
Bae is silent regarding the drum body, the rear cover, and the front cover are formed of a same material, and a thickness of the drum body is set to be less than a thickness of the rear cover and a thickness of the front cover.
Son teaches a similar washing machine including a drum (20) that is made from stainless steel and the thickness of the drum front (290) and drum center (280) is 0.5mm, and the thickness of the drum back (270) is 1mm (see [0100]-[0104]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the washing machine of Bae with the drum of Son in order to strengthen the structure of the machine.
In reference to dependent claim 6, Bae is silent regarding the among the thickness of the drum body, the thickness of the rear cover, and the thickness of the front cover, the thickness of the front cover is set to be the greatest. Son teaches the rear cover having the greatest thickness (see [0100]-[0104] of Son).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the front cover of Bae to have the greatest among the drum body, the rear cover, and the front cover as a matter of obvious design choice absent criticality or unexpected results. One of ordinary skill in the art to configure the thickness of the front cover to be the greatest among the elements listed, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have chosen from various relative thicknesses based on suitability for the intended results. See MPEP 2144.04(IV)(A).
In reference to dependent claim 7, Son further teaches: among the thickness of the drum body, the thickness of the rear cover, and the thickness of the front cover, the thickness of the rear cover is set to be the greatest (see [0100]-[0104]; with the drum back being 1mm thick while the others are 0.5mm thick).
In reference to dependent claim 8, Bae further discloses: a drum support (293) rotatably supporting a circumferential surface of the front cover or a circumferential surface of the drum body (the drum shaft 210 is fastened to the drum 20 via coupler 293, thus rotatably supporting the drum body and consequently the circumferential surface thereof; see [00299] and Figs. 3-4).
In reference to dependent claim 9, Bae further discloses: the input shaft (220) and the output shaft (210) form a concentric axis (see Fig. 3), wherein the input shaft and the output shaft are parallel to a ground (see Fig. 3).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bae in view of Son further in view of CN 113355860 A to Jin.
In reference to dependent claim 10, Bae is further silent regarding the input shaft and the output shaft are inclined at an angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to a ground.
Jin teaches a similar washing machine having a rotating shaft (O) that is inclined (see Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shafts of Bae to be inclined as a matter of obvious design choice absent criticality or unexpected results. One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have chosen from different relative angles dependent on the suitability for the intended results. See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 11-13 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ngoc T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-7176. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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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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/NGOC T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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