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 Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 1 of the claim recites “wherein a the t least one” but should instead read “wherein the at least one”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-8 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 5,505,046) in view of Galdeano (US 2022/0227058) and Nakajima (US 2015/0121899).
As to claim 1, Nelson teaches a refrigerator comprising:
a main body including at least one storage chamber (Fig. 2);
doors (col. 4, lines 61-62) provided to open or close the at least one storage chamber (col. 4, lines 15-29);
a thermoelectric module 90 configured to cool down the at least one storage chamber; and
at least one processor configured to control the thermoelectric module 90 (col. 10, lines 31-40);
wherein the thermoelectric module includes internal elements 94 classified into a plurality of groups including a first group 94a and second group 94b;
wherein the internal elements 94 in each of the plurality of groups are connected to each other in series (Fig. 4b); and
wherein the plurality of groups 94a-b are connected in parallel with each other to a power line 160/162 connected to the thermoelectric module 90 (Fig. 4b).
Nelson does not explicitly teach that the internal elements of the first group 94a and the internal elements of the second group 94b are arranged alternately with each other based on rows or columns. However, Galdeano teaches that it is known to arrange such elements in a matrix of alternating rows and columns to uniformly cover a surface (paragraphs 23 and 27-29) in order to provide the capability for precise temperature control each portion of a chamber (paragraph 59). Therefore would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Nelson to incorporate the elements of groups 94a-b into alternately arranged rows/columns as claimed and taught by Galdeano to increase the ability of the device to maintain a desired temperature at all portions of the cooled space.
Nelson does not explicitly teach that the at least one processor is configured to control a magnitude of a voltage input supplied to the power line 160/162 based on a variation in an operating current of the module that indicates a loss of function in at least one of the plurality of groups. However, Nakajima teaches that it is known to control a magnitude of a voltage input based on a variation in an operating current of a thermoelectric module that indicates a loss of function of a thermoelectric group (Fig. 6; paragraph 136). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the processor of Nelson to be configured in the manner as claimed and taught by Nakajima in order to protect further damage to the thermoelectric elements in the event of a malfunction.
As to claim 2, Nelson discloses a start point of an arrangement of the internal elements 94 in each of the plurality of groups 94a-b connected to a positive power line 160 and an end point of the arrangement in each group connected to a negative power line 162 (Fig. 4b).
As to claim 3, Nelson discloses the groups 94a-b being commonly connected to the positive and negative lines 160-162 (Fig. 4b).
As to claim 4, Nelson discloses the internal elements 94 in different groups 94a-b being electrically disconnected from each other except for an input node and an output node (Fig. 4b).
As to claim 5, Nelson discloses the elements 94 in the first group 94a and the elements 94 in the second group 94b being distributed entirely throughout the thermoelectric module 90 (Figs. 3 and 4b).
As to claim 6, Nelson discloses arranged the thermoelectric module 90 on an upper end of the main body such that a heating portion faces an outside of the refrigerator and a cooling portion faces an inside of the refrigerator (Fig. 8; col. 12, lines 25-30).
As to claims 7-8, Nelson does not explicitly teach a voltage sensing circuit, current sensing circuit, or the processor being configured to identify a loss of function as claimed. However, Nakajima teaches that it is known to utilize voltage and current sensing circuits to identify a loss of function of a thermoelectric module based on a variation in an operating current (paragraph 31). In light of this teaching it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Nelson to utilize voltage and current sensing to identify a loss of function in at least one of the groups 94a-b as claimed and taught by Nakajima in order to alert a user to system malfunction.
As to claims 12-15, Nelson, as modified does not explicitly teach providing notifications as claimed. However, Official Notice is taken that provision of a service notification to a user via display, speaker, terminal device, server, etc. is a common and typical feature in the refrigeration art that would have been obvious to use in conjunction with the modified system of Nelson for the purpose of alerting a user of a potential malfunction of the thermoelectric module 90.
As to claim 16, Nelson discloses at least one processor configured to selectively operate a thermoelectric device including the thermoelectric module 90 based on an operating environment of the refrigerator (col. 10, lines 31-40).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 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.
Claims 17-20 are allowed because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest the claimed method of controlling a thermoelectric refrigerator that includes determining whether power consumption of a group of thermoelectric devices exceeds a maximum for the group when identifying a loss of function of the group.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-10, filed 7/22/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nakajima (US 2015/0121899) as discussed above.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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