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 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 6 requires “the first flam burner” and should require “the first flame burner”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ren et. al (US 2014/0060517 A1) in view of Rasi (US 10,451,27 B2).
With respect to claim 1 Ren discloses multi-burner comprising: a base [reference character 7]; a cover [reference characters 5-6] disposed on a top of the base and coupled to the base; and a head [reference characters 1 and 3] disposed on a top of the cover and configured to generate a flame, wherein the head includes: a first flame burner [reference character 1] disposed in a central area of the head and having a plurality of first flame openings [see Fig. 2] and arranged along a circumference of the central area; and a second flame burner [reference character 3] disposed in an outer area of the head and provided adjacent to the first flame burner, wherein a plurality of second flame openings [see Fig. 2] is provided in the second flame burner and are arranged along a circumference of the outer area, wherein the base, the cover, and the head are configured such that: the gas discharged from the mixing tube flows through the cover, and then flows to a central area of the cover, the gas is divided into portions in the central area of the cover, and one of the portions of the gas flows into the first flame burner, and at least one remaining portion flows into an outer area of the cover and flows into the second flame burner [see annotated Fig. below].
Ren does not disclose that the base and the cover define a mixing tube in which gas and air flow and are mixed with each other.
Rasi discloses a gas burner assembly that includes a base [reference character 16] and a cover [reference character 14] that define a mixing tube [reference characters 32 and 34].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the burner system taught by Ren by defining the mixing tube using the base and the cover, as taught by Rasi, in order to decrease the overall height of the burner appliance.
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With respect to claim 2 the combination of Ren and Rasi discloses that the body includes a lower cell [see annotated Fig. of Rasi below] recessed from an upper surface of the base to provide a lower section of the mixing tube; and a guide tube [reference character 34 of Rasi] embodied as a space connected to an outlet of the mixing tube, wherein the first guide tube changes a flow direction of the gas discharged from the mixing tube into an upward direction [in combination with 36 and 38 of Rasi].
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With respect to claim 3 the combination of Ren and Rasi disclose an injection portion [see annotated Fig. below of Rasi] provided one side of the body and having a gas injection hole [reference character 36 of Rasi] defined therein; and an air receiving passage [see annotated Fig. below and reference character 56 in Fig. 6 of Rasi] disposed between an inlet of the mixing tube and an outlet of the injection portion, wherein a space into which the air is introduced is defined in the air receiving passage.
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With respect to claim 5 the combination of Ren and Rasi disclose that a through-hole [reference character 38 of Rasi] through which the gas flows is formed in the cover in an area thereof at least partially overlapping the guide tube.
With respect to claim 6 the combination of Ren and Rasi disclose that the cover includes an upper cell [see annotated Fig. below] protruding downwardly toward the base, wherein the upper cell has an inner space upwardly recessed from a lower surface thereof into the upper cell, wherein the inner space constitutes an upper section of the mixing tube [see Fig 2].
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With respect to claim 7 the combination of Ren and Rasi disclose that a gas channel is defined by a combination of the cover and the head, wherein the gas channel has a space in which the gas flowing into the space from the body flows between the outer area of the head and the central area thereof.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 8-14 and 16-19 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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