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(s) 2-6 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2-8 recites “and wherein” and should recite - - wherein - - .
Claim 6 recites “fight triangle” and should recite - - right triangle - - .
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim(s) 4-5 are objected to as being dependent from an objected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “the restricting air flow chill air plenum comprising:…a rear panel…; the rapid freeze cabinet further comprising:…the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet”. It is unclear whether the rear panel is a part of the plenum or a part of the rapid freeze cabinet. For purposes of examination “the rapid freeze cabinet further comprising:…the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet” will be considered - - the rapid freeze cabinet further comprising:…a rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet - - .
Claim 5 recites “The rapid freeze cabinet of claim 4, and wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel increases as the chill air deflectors approach the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet.” However, parent claim 4 recites “wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel is the same for all chill air deflectors”. It is unclear if these are the same distances and it is also unclear how the distance between the upturned end and the rear panel be the same (as required by claim 4) and the distance between the upturned end and the rear panel increases. For purposes of examination “5. The rapid freeze cabinet of claim 4” will be considered - - 5. The rapid freeze cabinet of claim [[4]] 3 - -
Claim(s) 2-8 are rejected to as being dependent from a rejected claim.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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 and 3-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilkinson (US 20040194494) in view of Allard et al. (US 20130257256) and Greve et al. (US 5666742).
Per claim 1, Wilkinson teaches a rapid freeze cabinet, comprising: a frame structure (20); comprising a plurality of spaced apart and horizontally disposed product storage shelves (12) disposed within the frame structure; a restricting air flow chill air plenum attached to the frame structure (25, 26) (see figure 8), the restricting air flow chill air plenum (30) defining an interior chill air volume (space inside the plenum), the restricting air flow chill air plenum comprising: a blower (37) disposed proximate an upper end of the of the restricting air flow chill air plenum (see figure 8), the blower configured to blow chill air into the interior chill air volume (see figure 8); a rear panel (23) covering a back of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 23); and a plurality of chill air deflectors (42, 44), each chill air deflector (42, 44) extending from a rear of an associated product storage shelf (12); the rapid freeze cabinet further comprising: a top panel (25) secured to the rapid freeze cabinet, the top panel extending from a front of the rapid freeze (end of 20 near 24) cabinet to the back of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 23) (to clarify, the top panel is a three dimensional structure and extends in all directions including from a front of the rapid freeze cabinet to the back of the rapid freeze cabinet); a bottom panel (26) secured to the rapid freeze cabinet (20), the bottom panel (26) extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 24) to the back of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 23); a first side panel (21) secured to a first side of the rapid freeze cabinet (side showing 47/48 as shown in figure 1), the first side panel (21) extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 24) to a rear panel (23) of the rapid freeze cabinet (20); a second side panel (22) secured to a second side of the rapid freeze cabinet opposite the first side of the rapid freeze cabinet (side opposite side showing 47/48 as shown in figure 1), the second side panel (22) extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 24) to a rear panel (23) of the rapid freeze cabinet (20); at least one product compartment panel (58) horizontally disposed between the top panel (25) and the bottom panel (26), and beneath at least one of the product storage shelves (12; see figure 8), to thereby segregate the rapid freeze cabinet into at least two product storage cells; and a plurality of product access doors (50) secured to the front of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 24), each product access door (50) being associated with a respective product storage cell (28) , and wherein a gap (space between 44 and bottom of 58) is defined at a lower edge of each product access door (50) to thereby define an exhaust air outlet (outlet of 58; see figure 8) to allow chill air to escape from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet (end of 20 near 24) but fails to explicitly teach the frame structure comprising a horizontally disposed rectangular upper frame; a horizontally disposed rectangular lower frame; two vertically disposed and spaced apart front frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, and two vertically disposed and spaced apart rear frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, to thereby form the frame structure as a rectangular parallelepiped; the top panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the upper frame, the bottom panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the lower frame; and each chill air deflector extending into the interior chill air volume.
Regarding the frame structure, Allard teaches a refrigerator cabinet including a frame structure comprising a horizontally disposed rectangular upper frame (upper frame shown in figure 3); a horizontally disposed rectangular lower frame (lower frame shown in figure 3); two vertically disposed and spaced apart front frame members (leftmost vertical members shown in figure 3) connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, and two vertically disposed and spaced apart rear frame members (rightmost vertical members shown in figure 3) connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, to thereby form the frame structure as a rectangular parallelepiped (see figure 3); the top panel (232) secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the upper frame, the bottom panel (234) secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the lower frame for forming a vacuum panel cabinet structure (para. 0032). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide a frame structure comprising a horizontally disposed rectangular upper frame; a horizontally disposed rectangular lower frame; two vertically disposed and spaced apart front frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, and two vertically disposed and spaced apart rear frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, to thereby form the frame structure as a rectangular parallelepiped; the top panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the upper frame, the bottom panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the lower frame, as taught by Allard in the invention of Wilkinson, in order to advantageously form a vacuum panel cabinet structure (para. 0032), thereby reducing thermal loss from a cabinet.
When the frame structure of Allard is combined with the rapid freeze cabinet of Wilkinson, the result is a plurality of spaced apart and horizontally disposed product storage shelves disposed within the frame structure between the upper frame and the lower frame; a restricting air flow chill air plenum attached to the frame structure at the rear frame members, as claimed.
Regarding the air deflectors, Greve teaches a cooling system where chill air deflectors (plurality of 52) extending into an interior chill air volume (volume between 44 and 45) for evenly distributing air flow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have each chill air deflector extending into an interior chill air volume, as taught by Greve in the combined teachings, in order to advantageously evenly distribute airflow in the system (col. 7, lines 13-14).
Per claims 3-5, Wilkinson, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Wilkinson, as modified, fails to explicitly teach wherein each chill air deflector comprises a horizontal strip of sheet material having an upturned end section disposed within the interior chill air volume (claim 3), wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel is the same for all chill air deflectors (claim 4), wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel increases as the chill air deflectors approach the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet (claim 5).
Regarding the chill air deflector, Greve teaches a cooling system wherein each chill air deflector (52) of a plurality of chill air deflectors comprises a horizontal strip of sheet material having an upturned end section (52; see figure 3) disposed within an interior chill air volume (46) (claim 3), wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector (52) and a rear panel (45) (see figure 3) (claim 4 and 5) for evenly distributing air flow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have each chill air deflector comprises a horizontal strip of sheet material having an upturned end section disposed within the interior chill air volume, as taught by Greve in the invention of Wilkinson, as modified, in order to advantageously evenly distribute airflow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14).
Regarding the distance between the chill air deflectors and the rear panel, one skilled in the art would know that the distance between the air deflector and rear panel will determine the airflow through the plenum and the cooling capacity of the system. Therefore the distance between the chill air deflector and rear panel is recognized as a result-effective variable, i.e. a variable which achieves a recognized result. In this case, the recognized result is that as the distance between each chill air deflector and the rear panel is adjusted the air flow and cooling capacity of the system will be adjusted. Therefore, since the general conditions of the claim, i.e. the distance between each chill air flow deflector and the rear panel and the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet were disclosed in the prior art by Wilkinson, it is not inventive to discover the optimum workable value of the distance by routine experimentation, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the distance between each chill air deflector and the rear panel disclosed by Wilkinson, as modified, being the same distance (claim 4) and increase an increase in distance as the chill air deflectors approach the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet (claim 5).
Per claim 6, Wilkinson, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Wilkinson, as modified, teaches the a chill air plenum and the top panel of the rapid freeze cabinet but fails to explicitly teach wherein in side view the chill air plenum describes a right triangle, with a short side of the right triangle proximate the top panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet defining a hypotenuse of the fight triangle.
However, Greve teaches a cooling system wherein in side view a chill air plenum (46) describes a right triangle, with a short side of the right triangle proximate a top panel of an enclosure, and a rear panel (45) of the enclosure defining a hypotenuse of the right triangle (see figure 3) for evenly distributing air flow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide, in side view, a chill air plenum describing a right triangle, with a short side of the right triangle proximate a top panel of an enclosure, and a rear panel of the enclosure defining a hypotenuse of the right triangle, as taught by Greve in the invention of Wilkinson, as modified, in order to advantageously evenly distribute airflow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14).
Per claim 7, Wilkinson, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Wilkinson, as modified, teaches wherein in side view the chill air plenum describes rectangle (see figure 2).
Per claim 8, Wilkinson, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Wilkinson, as modified, wherein the interior chill air volume (volume inside 30) is defined by a horizontal cross section at any given position between the top panel (25) and the bottom panel (26) of the rapid freeze cabinet but fails to explicitly teach the cross section of the interior chill air volume increases as a function of a distance away from the bottom panel.
However, Greve teaches a cooling system wherein a cross section of an interior chill air volume (volume between 44 and 45) increases as a function of a distance away from a bottom panel (bottom of 61) for evenly distributing air flow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have a cross section of an interior chill air volume increase as a function of a distance away from a bottom panel, as taught by Greve in the invention of Wilkinson, as modified, in order to advantageously evenly distribute airflow through an enclosure (col. 7, lines 13-14).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilkinson (US 20040194494) in view of Allard et al. (US 20130257256) and Greve et al. (US 5666742) as applied to the claims above and further in view of Ishammar (US 3836220).
Per claim 2, Wilkinson, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Wilkinson, as modified, wherein the top panel (25), the bottom panel (26), the rear panel (23), the first side panel (21), and the second side panel (22) are all are fabricated from continuous sheet material (see figures 1 and 2) and an air inlet (see figure 1 showing an air inlet for 36) to allow air to move through the blower and into an interior chill volume (see figure 1 and 2) but fails to explicitly teach wherein the top panel, the bottom panel, the rear panel, the first side panel, and the second side panel have no openings defined therein which allow chill air to move out of the rapid freeze cabinet, other than at an air inlet defined in the top panel to allow air to move through the blower and into the interior chill air volume.
However, Ishammar a refrigerator cabinet wherein a top panel (top of 11), a bottom panel (bottom of 11), a rear panel (rear of 11), a first side panel (left side of 11), and a second side panel (right side of 11) have no openings defined therein which allow chill air to move out of the cabinet (see figure 3), other than at an air inlet (opening for 12) defined in the top panel (top of 11) to allow air to move through a blower (12’) and into an interior chill volume (14’) for convenient storage of goods in the cabinet (col. 1, lines 42-44). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide a refrigerator cabinet wherein a top panel, bottom panel, rear panel, first side panel, and second side panel having no openings defining therein which allow chill air to move out of the cabinet, other than at an air inlet defined in the top panel to allow air to move through the blower and into an interior chill volume, as taught by Ishammar in the invention of Wilkinson, as modified, in order to advantageously provide convenient storage of goods in the cabinet (col. 1, lines 42-44).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Gregor (US 2506448) teaches a cooling system including chill air deflectors associated with product shelves.
Hammond (US 20090321041) teaches a cooling system using a frame structure and panels.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J TEITELBAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-5142. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FRANTZ JULES can be reached on (571) 272-66816681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID J TEITELBAUM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
