DETAILED ACTION
The communication dated 08/15/2024 has been entered and fully considered.
Claims 15-34 are currently pending. Claims 1-14 are cancelled.
Claims 15-34 are new.
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.
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.
Claims 15-19, 30, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin) in view of Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837).
As to claim 15, (New) Jin teaches a laundry treating apparatus for performing a processing operation for laundry, the laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a main body configured to accommodate the laundry (FIG. 1 paragraph [0035] drum washing machine that can contain laundry);
a cover (paragraph [0034] housing 2, front panel 4, control panel 10, and top panel 5 read on the claimed cover) defining an exterior of the main body, the cover including:
a first through hole located at a front upper end portion of the cover (FIG. 2 paragraph [0045] knob hole 17);
a second through hole located lower than a center of the first through hole (FIG. 2 holes for buttons 15); and
a control panel located at an inner surface of the cover (FIG. 2 paragraph [0039] a control board 20 is provided behind the control panel 10), the control panel being partially exposed to an exterior of the cover through the first through hole to allow a user to input a control signal for the processing operation (paragraph [0041] knob 30 is installed on the control panel 10 for users to rotate); and
a first control button located inside the cover, the first control button being partially exposed to the exterior of the cover through the second through hole (paragraph [0041] there are multiple buttons 16 for users to press).
Jin differs from the instant claim in failing to teach a first hook protrusion protruding rearward from a circumferential edge of the second through hole, and the control panel being coupled to the hook protrusion.
Kim-837 teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 1 paragraph [0131] washing machine 1). Kim-837 teaches a first hook protrusion protruding rearward from a circumferential edge of the second through hole (FIG. 46 paragraph [0379] exterior panel body 3112 has several portions that protrude rearward from a circumferential edge of the panel hole 3114. The protrusion reads on the claimed hook protrusion), and the control panel being coupled to the hook protrusion (paragraph [0380] exterior panel body 3112 is coupled to the front side of the control panel 3120).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin with a hook protrusion as taught by Kim-837. It is known in the art to use hooks to secure panels to each other.
As to claim 16, (New) Kim-837 further teaches the first hook protrusion incudes a hook hole extending through the hook protrusion (FIGS. 46-47 paragraph [0380] coupling groove 3112a), and wherein the control panel includes a hook located at a lower end portion of the control panel, the hook being configured to be inserted into the hook hole (paragraph [0380] a coupling protrusion 3121a is formed in the control panel 3120 so as to correspond to the coupling groove 3112a. Figure 47 shows a coupling groove 3112a at the lower end portion and Figure 52 shows a protrusion at a lower end portion that is in coupling groove 3112a).
As to claim 17, (New) Jin further teaches fasteners fastening an upper portion of the control panel to the inner surface of the cover (FIG. 2 there are screws/fasteners that fasten an upper portion of the control board 20).
As to claim 18, (New) Jin further teaches the cover includes a third through hole (FIG. 2 there is a second hole 15 for buttons), wherein the second through hole and the third through hole are arranged symmetrically on opposite sides of the control panel (FIG. 2 the button holes 15 are arranged symmetrically on opposite sides of knob hole 17), and wherein the laundry treating apparatus further comprises a second control button located inside the cabinet cover (FIG. 2 button 16 is located inside the control panel cover 10), the second control button being partially exposed to the exterior of the cover through the third through hole (FIG. 2 paragraph [0041] buttons 16 are exposed to the exterior for users to press).
As to claim 19, (New) Kim-837 further teaches a second hook protrusion protrudes rearward (FIG. 47 paragraph [0379] exterior panel body 3112 has several portions that protrude rearward from a circumferential edge of the panel hole 3114. The protrusion reads on the claimed hook protrusion), and wherein the control panel is fastened to both the first hook protrusion and the second hook protrusion (FIG. 52 paragraph [0380] a coupling protrusion 3121a is formed in the control panel 3120 so as to correspond to the coupling groove 3112a)
The combination of Jin and Kim-837 would result in a hook protrusion that extends from a circumferential edge of the third through hole.
As to claim 30, (New) Jin further teaches the control panel includes: a fixed UI section including a first control UI having a fixed display (see following annotated Figure 2); and a variable UI section including a second control UI having a variable display (FIG. 2 paragraphs [0037] and [0040] display component 14 displays the user’s operation status or the driving status of the drum. Since the driving status changes, it reads on a claimed variable display).
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As to claim 32, (New) Jin further teaches the variable display is configured to display a variable laundry setting input (FIG. 2 paragraphs [0037] and [0040] display component 14 displays the user’s operation status or the driving status of the drum.).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin) and Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837) as applied to claim 15 above, in further view of Hiroshi et al. EP2896735 (henceforth referred to as Hiroshi).
As to claim 20, (New) Jin and Kim-837 differ from the instant claim in failing to teach the control panel includes: a window having a front surface, a portion of the front surface being bonded to the inner surface of the cover adjacent the first through hole; a touch screen located at a rear surface of the window; and a coating guide configured to support a rear surface of the touch screen, the coating guide being located at the inner surface of the cover.
Hiroshi teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 3 paragraph [0022] front-loading-type washing machine 100). Hiroshi teaches the control panel includes:
a window having a front surface, a portion of the front surface being bonded to the inner surface of the cover adjacent the first through hole (FIG. 6 paragraph [0024] transparent glass plate 22 is attached via elastic body 23 to a rear surface side of opening window 21);
a touch screen located at a rear surface of the window (paragraphs [0024] and [0027] electrode 24 adheres to a rear surface of transparent glass plate 22 and detects a change in electrostatic capacitance when a finger touches transparent glass plate 22); and
a coating guide configured to support a rear surface of the touch screen, the coating guide being located at the inner surface of the cover (FIG. 6 paragraph [0024] liquid crystal panel 25 reads on the claimed coating guide).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin and Kim-837 with a touch screen control panel as taught by Hiroshi. It is known in the art to use a touch screen to control appliances and it would have been obvious to replace the control knob of Jin with a touch screen of Hiroshi to provide ease of use.
Claims 21-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin), Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837), and Hiroshi et al. EP2896735 (henceforth referred to as Hiroshi) as applied to claim 20 above, in further view of Beckley et al. U.S. Publication 2019/0169781 (henceforth referred to as Beckley).
As to claim 21, (New) Hiroshi further teaches the control panel further includes a board cover located at a rear surface of the coating guide (paragraph [0024] liquid crystal mounting base 26 reads on the claimed board cover), the board cover including a control board unit (paragraph [0024] a control board unit 27 is attached to the rear surface of liquid crystal mounting base).
Jin, Kim-837, and Hiroshi differ from the instant claim in failing to teach a printed circuit board (PCB) connected to the touch screen.
Beckley teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 1 paragraph [0021] washing machine appliance 100). Beckley teaches a printed circuit board connected to the touch screen (FIG. 3 paragraph [0038] printed circuit board 202 is positioned behind control panel 160).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin, Kim-837, and Hiroshi with a printed circuit board as taught by Beckley. It is known in the art to use a printed circuit board within a control panel in order to control an appliance (paragraph [0038]).
As to claim 22, (New) Hiroshi further teaches a panel frame configured to press the rear surface of the control panel, the panel frame being located at the inner surface of the cover (FIG. 6 paragraph [0039] rear surface cover 33 is located at an inner surface of the cover).
As to claim 23, (New) Hiroshi further teaches the panel frame includes a frame protrusion protruding from a front surface of the panel frame (see following annotated Figure 6), the frame protrusion being configured to press a rear surface of the board cover (paragraph [0039] the liquid crystal mounting base 26 and rear surface cover 33 are fastened together. The protrusions on rear surface cover 33 would press on a rear surface of crystal mounting base 26).
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As to claim 24, (New) Hiroshi further teaches the control panel further includes a first sealing member interposed between the window and the coating guide (FIG. 6 paragraph [0037] elastic body 23 reads on the claimed sealing member and is between the window 21 and the liquid crystal panel 25).
As to claim 25, (New) Hiroshi does not teach the control panel further includes a second sealing member interposed between the coating guide and the board cover.
However, absent the demonstration of any new or unobvious results, the claimed configuration is considered by Examiner to be prima facie obvious as a duplication of parts. It is old and well known in the art to duplicate components to reduce time of a process or operation, for the process or operation to be at least twice as effective with respect to a single device component, due to size/ space design criteria, or purely for aesthetics. See MPEP § 2144.04, VI, B. Duplication of Parts.
As to claim 26, (New) Jin further teaches a controller configured to input and output signals related to controlling the processing operation (paragraph [0039] a microcomputer is provided in the control board 20 and is used to receive signals from the plurality of input units and control the drive).
As to claim 27, (New) Beckley further teaches the controller is configured to receive signals for controlling the processing operation from the touch screen through the printed circuit board (paragraph [0037] input/output signals are routed between the controller and various operation components of appliance 100 such as control panel 160).
Claim 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin), Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837), Hiroshi et al. EP2896735 (henceforth referred to as Hiroshi), and Beckley et al. U.S. Publication 2019/0169781 (henceforth referred to as Beckley) as applied to claim 26 above, in further view of Kwon et al. U.S. Publication 2020/0248356.
As to claim 28, (New) Jin, Kim-837, Hiroshi, and Beckley differ from the instant claim in failing to teach a wireless communicator configured to transmit and receive wireless signals to and from an outside of the laundry treating apparatus, the wireless communicator being located at the inside surface of the cover and coupled to a bottom of the control panel.
Kwon teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 1 paragraph [0055] laundry treating apparatus). Kwon teaches a wireless communicator configured to transmit and receive wireless signals to and from an outside of the laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 3 paragraph [0100] laundry treating apparatus 1 maty be remotely controlled by external terminal 40 via a communication module 60).
Kwon does not teach that the wireless communicator being located at the inside surface of the cover and coupled to a bottom of the control panel. However, absent the demonstration of any new or unobvious results, the claimed configuration is considered by Examiner to be prima facie obvious as a rearrangement of parts. It is old and well known to rearrange parts, with no change in their respective functions, due to size/space design criteria, the manufacturing expense thereof or purely for aesthetics. See MPEP § 2144.04, VI, C. Rearrangement of Parts.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin, Kim-837, Hiroshi, and Beckley with a wireless communicator as taught by Kwon. It is known in the art to wirelessly control appliances to provide convenience for the user.
As to claim 29, (New) Kwon further teaches the wireless communicator is configured to transmit and receive the wireless signals for controlling the processing operation from and to the controller (paragraphs [0030]-[0031] a communication module is configured to transmit information for facilitating the controller by means of communication with a server or an external terminal. The controller may transmit information via the communication module).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin) and Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837) as applied to claim 30 above, in further view of Ohta et al. U.S. Publication 2002/0116959 (henceforth referred to as Ohta).
As to claim 31, (New) Jin and Kim-837 differ from the instant claim in failing to teach the variable display is configured to display an on/off input.
Ohta teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (paragraph [0052] washing machine). Ohta teaches the variable display is configured to display an on/off input (paragraph [0085] if button item is pressed, the corresponding image display changes from the ON face to the OFF face or from the OFF face to the ON face. Paragraph [0106] when the power switch 15 is turned on, the screen shown in FIG. 17A is displayed on the liquid crystal panel).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin, Kim-837, and Hiroshi with a variable display as taught by Ohta. It is known in the art for display to show an on/off input in order to indicate whether an operation is selected/active or simply if power is supplied to the washing machine.
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin), Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837), and Hiroshi et al. EP2896735 (henceforth referred to as Hiroshi) as applied to claim 20 above, in further view Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2017/0321367 (henceforth referred to as Kim-367).
As to claim 33, (New) Hiroshi further teaches the window includes an area corresponding to the first through hole (paragraph [0024] transparent glass plate 22 is attached to a rear surface side of a portion where opening window 21 is disposed in operation display panel 16), a first portion of the area being a transmissive area, and
wherein the touch screen is located at a rear surface of the window (paragraph [0024] electrode 24 adheres to a rear surface of transparent glass plate 22), the touch screen being visible through the transmissive area (paragraph [0027] the user can look through the transparent glass plate 22 to see a display on liquid crystal panel 25).
Jin, Kim-837, and Hiroshi differ from the instant claim in failing to teach a non-transmissive area.
Kim-367 teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (paragraph [0066] washing apparatus). Kim-367 teaches a non-transmissive area (FIGS. 2 and 7 paragraph [0071] display 540 may be a touch display. Any area outside of the squared display 540 would read on a non-transmissive area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin, Kim-837, and Hiroshi with a non-transmissive area as taught by Kim-367. By having non-transmissive areas in the window (or limiting the size of the transmissive area), it would require a smaller touch screen which can save on production costs.
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin CN101446019 (henceforth referred to as Jin), Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2018/0044837 (henceforth referred to as Kim-837), Hiroshi et al. EP2896735 (henceforth referred to as Hiroshi), and Kim et al. U.S. Publication 2017/0321367 (henceforth referred to as Kim-367) as applied to claim 33 above, in further view Hong et al. KR20170082060 (henceforth referred to as Hong).
As to claim 34, (New) Jin, Kim-837, Hiroshi, and Kim-367 differ from the instant claim in failing to teach the control panel further includes a shield layer located on the window, the shield layer defining the non-transmissive area.
Hong teaches a similar laundry treating apparatus (FIG. 1a paragraph [0047] garment treatment device 100). Hong teaches the control panel further includes a shield layer located on the window, the shield layer defining the non-transmissive area (FIG. 2 paragraph [0074] non-transparent area 193 reads on the shield layer as it defines the non-transmissive area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laundry treatment apparatus as taught by Jin, Kim-837, Hiroshi, and Kim-367 with a shield layer as taught by Hong. It would have been obvious to provide a shield layer on the window in order to manipulate the shape of the display screen, such as only displaying a circular portion of the display (paragraph [0079]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAUREN G ORTA whose telephone number is (703)756-5455. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30-5:00.
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/L.G.O./Examiner, Art Unit 1711
/MICHAEL E BARR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1711