DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-4, in the reply filed on 6/10/26 is acknowledged.
New claims 21-36 depend from claim 1 and are fully examined for patentability along with claims 1-4.
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.
Claims 3, 4, and 26 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 states that “the high temperature flushing water tank outlet is arranged above at least one of . . . the high temperature flushing water tank outlet.” It is unclear out the outlet could be arranged above itself.
Claim 26 states that “the high temperature flushing water tank outlet is arranged above the high temperature flushing water tank outlet. It is unclear out the outlet could be arranged above itself.
Claim 4 is rejected due to its dependency on claim 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 2, 21-25, and 27-36 are allowed.
Claims 3, 4, and 26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record fails to teach the totality of the limitations of claim 1, either alone or in obvious combination. The claim requires a thermal insulation chamber that is configured to transfer heat to the main washing water tank. An “insulation” chamber that is configured to “transfer heat” would have been understood to have a means in which the chamber can switch or vary between an insulating state and a heat transferring state, since a chamber configured to transfer heat could not simultaneously be an insulation chamber, which suggests low or no heat transfer. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20200154975 by Arandigoyen Martinez et al. teaches an insulation chamber 8 that changes from an insulating state (para. 70) to a thermally conductive heat transfer state (para. 74) by controlling a water fill level in the chamber (para. 58). The chamber is emptied of water in the insulating state in which air in the chamber acts as an insulator, and filled with water in a heat transfer state in which water acts as a heat conductor. This is substantially similar to the means in which the present thermal insulation chamber can be configured to transfer heat as well as insulating. Although Arandigoyen Martinez teaches a dishwasher having a thermal insulation chamber that is configured to transfer heat to a tank, its dishwasher configuration is substantially different than the present claimed invention. Arandigoyen Martinez does not teach that the thermal insulation chamber transfers heat to a water tank; rather, it transfers heat to a tank 5, but from the dishwashing chamber 2, not a water tank (para. 58). Also, Arandigoyen Martinez does not teach a heater in a water tank; rather, it has a heater in the dishwashing chamber (para. 59). Additionally, Arandigoyen Martinez does not teach a partition plate between two water tanks. Nothing in the prior art of record suggests that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious a dishwasher having the combination of features recited in claim 1.
Conclusion
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/SPENCER E. BELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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