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
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) 1-11 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (10551100) in view of Kim et al. (20210024342).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a refrigerator, comprising: a storage space (20, 30); a door (21, 22, 31) to open and close the storage space; a water supply device (110, 250) in the door (Fig. 3), and including: a control valve (216) configured to control the supply of water by the water supply device, a water supplier (272, 116), and an operation lever (136) extending downward from the water supplier; and a controller (300) configured to: in response to the water supplier being pressed, control the control valve in a first mode to supply water to a water container (col. 21, lines 21-39), and in response to the operation lever being manually operated while the water supplier is not pressed, control the control valve in a second mode differently than in the first mode to supply water to the water container and not pressing the water supplier (col. 29, lines 32-47).
Park DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the water supplier is configured to be movable up and down. Attention, however, is directed to the Kim reference, which discloses a water supplier that is configured to be movable up and down (par. 0014).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Park reference in view of the teachings of the Kim reference by configuring the water supplier to be movable up and down for the purpose of minimizing splashing (par. 0024 of Kim).
Regarding claim 2, the controller is configured to control the control valve so that, in the first mode, a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the water container (col. 13, lines 45-51 of Park; par. 0139 of Kim).
Regarding claim 3, the controller is configured to control the control valve so that, in the second mode, water is supplied to the water container only while the operation lever is manually operated (Fig. 26 of Park).
Regarding claim 4, the refrigerator further comprising: a water container mounting space (132 of Park) below the water supply device; and a water container (170 of Park) which is removably positionable in the water container mounting space.
Regarding claim 5, the water container is configured to press the water supplier upward when the water container is positioned in the water container mounting space (Fig. 27 of Park).
Regarding claim 6, the refrigerator further comprising: a water level sensor (218 of Park) to detect a water level of the water in the water container.
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses the controller, level sensor, and valve, but does not explicitly disclose the controller is configured to, in the first mode, and according to the water level detected by the water level sensor, control the control valve so that water is supplied to the water container until the detected water level in the water container reaches a preset water level. However, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. In this case, Park discloses that the controller is intended to control operation of the refrigerator (col. 8, lines 40-41; col. 21, lines 32-39; col. 28, lines 15-20; Fig. 31). Therefore, the Park controller is capable of controlling the valve as claimed.
Regarding claim 8, the water container includes: a water container body (172 of Park) to store water, and a water container cover (175 of Park) coupled to an upper portion of the water container body, and including: an opening/closing portion (col. 19, lines 23-25 of Park) configured to open and close an inlet through which water flows into the water container body.
Regarding claim 9, while the water container is positioned in the water container mounting space in a state in which the opening/closing portion is open (Fig. 27 of Park).
Regarding claim 10, the refrigerator further comprising: a seating recess (water collecting case, 134, of Park) configured to support a bottom surface of the water container while the water container is positioned in the water container mounting space.
Regarding claim 11, the refrigerator further comprising: an anti-slip member the top of the water collection case in Fig. 20 of Park) on the seating recess and configured to prevent the water container supported on the seating recess from slipping on the seating recess.
Regarding claim 14, the refrigerator further comprising: an operation lever sensor (139 of Park) configured to: detect manual operation of the operation lever, and transmit a signal indicating the detected manual operation of the operation lever to the controller.
Regarding claim 15, the operation lever sensor includes at least one of a pressure sensor, a capacitive sensor, an infrared sensor, an optical fiber sensor, or a magnetic sensor (col. 24, lines 1-2 of Park).
Claim(s) 12-13 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Kim et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Phallen et al. (20070204930).
Regarding claims 12 and 16, Park DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the refrigerator further comprising: a water container sensor configured to: detect upward movement of the water supplier, and transmit a signal indicating the detected upward movement of the water supplier to the controller. Attention, however, is directed to the Phallen reference, which discloses a water container sensor configured to: detect upward movement of a water supplier, and transmit a signal indicating the detected upward movement of the water supplier to a controller to begin a dispensing operation (par. 0182, 0535-0536, and 0539).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the Park reference in view of the teachings of the Phallen reference by including a water container sensor as claimed to provide additional or alternative means to detect when the container is in position to begin a dispensing operation.
Regarding claim 13, the water container sensor includes at least one of a magnetic sensor, an infrared sensor, or a capacitive sensor (par. 0213, 0497, and 0549 of Phallen).
Regarding claim 17, the controller is configured to control the control valve so that, in the first mode, a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the water container under the water supplier and pressing the water supplier upward (col. 13, lines 45-51 of Park; par. 0139 of Kim).
Regarding claim 18, the controller is configured to control the control valve so that, in the second mode, water is supplied to the water container under the water supplier and not pressing the water supplier upward only while the operation lever is manually operated (Fig. 26 of Park).
Regarding claim 19, the refrigerator further comprising: a water container mounting space (132 of Park) below the water supply device, wherein the water container mounting space is configured so that a water container (170 of Park) is removably positionable in the water container mounting space to receive water supplied by the water supply device.
Regarding claim 20, the water container is configured to press the water supplier upward when the water container is positioned in the water container mounting space (Fig. 27 of Park; par. 0182, 0535-0536, and 0539 of Phallen).
Conclusion
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/DONNELL A LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754