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 .
This Office action is in response to the application filed 06/21/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 12-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi et al. (JP 02115675 A) in view of Villemaire et al. (US PG Pub. 2016/0286847).
Regarding claim 1, Kikuchi discloses a refrigerator (1, Fig. 1) comprising: a storage compartment (storage compartments behind doors in Fig. 1); a case (2, Figs. 2-3; 2’, Fig. 5) disposed in the storage compartment; a heater (14) disposed in the case; a cooling fan (11) configured to introduce air outside the case into an inside of the case (see page 6 of the machine translation); and a processor (control circuit controller) configured to: operate the heater for a target time (defrosting process completed by a pre-set timer; page 7), and operate the cooling fan while operating the heater (cold air from fan 11 blown intermittently onto food being thawed; pages 6-7).
Kikuchi does not explicitly teach the processor is configured to determine a target time based on information about an object.
Villemaire teaches the concept of a refrigerator (201) having a processor is configured to determine a target time based on information about an object (thawing time can be based on mass or volume of the food item; paragraphs 61-62) that allows the refrigerator to monitor the thawing process and calculate the time remaining to complete the thawing process in order to notify a user when the thawing process is complete (paragraphs 60-67). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the refrigerator of Kikuchi to have the processor be configured to determine a target time based on information about an object in order to calculate a time needed for defrosting a particular food item and allow the refrigerator to notify a user when the defrosting operation is completed.
Regarding claim 2, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to operate the heater (14) for the target time without stopping the heater (pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 3, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to intermittently operate the cooling fan (11) while operating the heater (pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 4, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to periodically operate the cooling fan (11) while operating the heater (pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 12, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to stop the heater (14) and operate the cooling fan when an operating time of the heater is greater than or equal to the target time (timer turned off after set time arrives and defrosting chamber maintained at refrigerator temperature; page 7).
Regarding claim 13, Kikuchi discloses a control method of a refrigerator comprising a case (2) disposed in a storage compartment, the control method comprising: determining a target time (defrosting process completed by pre-set timer; page 7); operating a heater (14) disposed in the case for the target time (page 7); and operating a cooling fan (11) configured to introduce air outside the case into an inside of the case, while operating the heater (cold air from fan 11 blown intermittently onto food being thawed; pages 6-7)
Kikuchi does not explicitly teach determining a target time based on information about an object.
Villemaire teaches the concept of a control method of a refrigerator (201) comprising the step of determining a target time based on information about an object (thawing time can be based on mass or volume of the food item; paragraphs 61-62) that allows the refrigerator to monitor the thawing process and calculate the time remaining to complete the thawing process in order to notify a user when the thawing process is complete (paragraphs 60-67). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the control method of a refrigerator of Kikuchi to include the step of determining a target time based on information about an object in order to calculate a time needed for defrosting a particular food item and allow the refrigerator to notify a user when the defrosting operation is completed.
Regarding claim 14, Kikuchi as modified discloses the control method of the refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the operating of the heater comprises operating the heater (14) for the target time without stopping the heater (pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 15, Kikuchi as modified discloses the control method of the refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the operating of the cooling fan (11) comprises intermittently operating the cooling fan while operating the heater (pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 16, Kikuchi as modified discloses the control method of the refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the operating of the cooling fan comprises periodically operating the cooling fan (11) while operating the heater (pages 6-7).
Claim(s) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi et al. (JP 02115675 A) in view of Villemaire et al. (US PG Pub. 2016/0286847), further in view of Kim (KR 2013117575 A).
Regarding claim 9, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the processor is further configured to: stop the cooling fan for a first period of time while operating the heater, and operate the cooling fan for a second period of time that is less than the first period of time while operating the heater.
Kim teaches the concept of a refrigerator including a thawing chamber including a processor configured to: stop the cooling fan for a first period of time while operating the heater, and operate the cooling fan for a second period of time that is less than the first period of time while operating the heater (Fig. 5) to allow control of the fan to efficiently thaw the object while reducing power consumption of the refrigerator (paragraph 41). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the refrigerator of Kikuchi to have the processor is further configured to: stop the cooling fan for a first period of time while operating the heater, and operate the cooling fan for a second period of time that is less than the first period of time while operating the heater taught by Kim in order to reduce power consumption of the refrigerator.
Regarding claim 10, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach further comprising: a temperature sensor configured to measure an internal temperature of the case, wherein the processor is configured to operate the cooling fan based on an output signal of the temperature sensor.
Kim teaches the concept of a refrigerator including a thawing chamber including a temperature sensor (16) configured to measure an internal temperature of the case (paragraph 32), wherein the processor is configured to operate the cooling fan based on an output signal of the temperature sensor (paragraph 32) that provides the advantage of conveniently thawing frozen objects while minimizing thawing time and power consumption, and minimizing loss of nutrients from the food object (paragraph 17). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the refrigerator of Kikuchi to have a temperature sensor configured to measure an internal temperature of the case, wherein the processor is configured to operate the cooling fan based on an output signal of the temperature sensor taught by Kim in order to allow the refrigerator to monitor and control the temperature of the thawing chamber to minimize thawing time and power consumption.
Regarding claim 11, Kikuchi as modified discloses the refrigerator of claim 10, and Kim further teaches wherein the processor is configured to: operate the cooling fan when the measured internal temperature of the case is greater than or equal to a reference temperature (paragraphs 32, 41); and stop the cooling fan when the measured internal temperature of the case is less than the reference temperature (paragraphs 39, 41).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 and 17-20 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..
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the independent claims, and specifically does not show "the processor is configured to determine the target time based on the information about the packaging means" and “determining the target time based on information about the packaging means”. The closest prior art of record discloses many of the limitations claimed, but not further including the processor configured in the arrangement as claimed as well as the method step as claimed. Thus, for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in claims 5-8 and 17-20.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH F TRPISOVSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-5296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8AM-4PM.
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/JOSEPH F TRPISOVSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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