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 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 of this title, 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 1-5 and 9-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103(a) as being unpatentable over WO 2023008735 (“LIM et al.”) in view of US 3506325 (“HORVAY”).
Regarding Claims 1 and 13, LIM et al. discloses a refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the refrigerator appliance comprising:
a cabinet (see Fig. 1) defining a chilled chamber (3);
a door (not shown, pg. 9) being rotatably hinged to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber (3); and
a bin assembly (100) comprising: a shelf (150, 170) positioned within the chilled chamber; a mounting bracket (110) supporting the shelf within the chilled chamber (3);
a storage bin (130) positioned below the shelf (150, 170), the storage bin including an interior portion (130a);
a storage bin door (170 ,sliding shelf door functions in the dame same manner as Applicant’s invention) slidable between an open position for providing access to the interior portion of the storage bin (130) and a closed position for prohibiting access to the interior portion of the storage bin (130), a sliding interface (125) contacted by the storage bin door (170) as the storage bin door (170) slides between the open position and the closed position.
LIM et al. discloses the claimed invention but does not expressly disclose the storage bin door including an electrically powered component and the sliding interface with one or more electrical contacts.
HORVAY discloses an illuminated shelf (2) an electrically powered component (10); and a sliding interface ( 3) including one or more electrical contacts (14, 15) for conveying electrical power to the electrically powered component (10) of the illuminated as the shelf slides.
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 sliding storage door or lid taught by LIM et al could be modified with an electrically powered component by providing one or more electrical components along the sliding interface as taught by HORVAY to illuminate the sliding storage bin door as taught by HORVAY.
Regarding Claims 2 and 14, the combination discloses (Lim et al.)
the storage bin door (170) includes a storage bin door bracket (182) coupled thereto; and
the sliding interface (125) corresponds to a guide track (127) positioned on the mounting bracket (110) for receiving the storage bin door bracket (182) for mounting the storage bin door (170) thereto, the storage bin door bracket (182) slidable along the guide track (127) such that the storage bin door (127) is slidable between the open position and the closed position.
Regarding Claims 3 and 15, the combination discloses (HORVAY) wherein: the one or more electrical contacts (14, 15) are positioned between the guide track (along 3) and the storage bin door such that the storage bin door bracket (8) is in contact with the one or more electrical contacts (14, via 15) as the storage bin door bracket (8) slides along the guide track (along 3); and electrical power is conveyed to the electrically powered component (10) of the storage bin door (2) when the storage bin door bracket (8) is in contact with the one or more electrical contacts (14, via 15).
Regarding Claims 4 and 16, the combination discloses (HORVAY) wherein: the guide track (along 3) extends in the transverse direction such that the storage bin door (2) is slidable between the open position and the closed position in the transverse direction; and the one or more electrical contacts (14) extend parallel to the guide track along a length of the guide track (along 3).
Regarding Claims 5 and 17, the combination discloses (HORVAY) the one or more electrical contacts (14, 15) comprise: a first electrical contact (14) coupled to and extending along a length of the guide track (along 3); and a second electrical contact (15) coupled to the storage bin door bracket (8) and in contact with the first electrical contact (14) as the storage bin door bracket (18) slides along the guide track (along 3); and wherein, the first electrical contact (14) conveys the electrical power to the second electrical contact (15) and the second electrical contact (15) conveys the electrical power from the first electrical contact (14) to the electrically powered component (10) of the storage bin door 2) as the storage bin door slides between the open position and the closed position.
Regarding Claim 9, the combination discloses (LIM et al.) wherein the storage bin door (170) is a storage bin lid positioned above the storage bin (130).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination discloses (HORVAY) wherein the electrically powered component is a light source (10) for providing light to the interior portion (130a) of the storage bin (130).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination discloses (LIM et al.) wherein the storage bin door (170) is slidable between the open position and the closed position within the chilled chamber (3).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination discloses (LIM et al.) wherein the storage bin (130) and the storage bin lid (170) extend across a width of the chilled chamber (3) in the lateral direction (as seen in Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 18-20 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)270-3328. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 12:30-6:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Troy can be reached on 5712703742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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