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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 8/6/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tedesco (5481962) in view of Lubrina et al. (20020179588).
Tedesco teaches a cooking control method comprising:
in response to a cooking signal (col. 5 lines 54-55), controlling a heating apparatus of a cooking device to heat (col. 5 lines 59-62) a cooking pot (col. 3 line 55 ref. 12) of the cooking device (col. 3 line 32 ref. 10), to cause the cooking device to enter a first cooking stage (col. 6 lines 6-13), the cooking device further including a cooker body (col. 4 lines 15-19 dome and body) and a circulation fan (col. 4 lines 39-42), the cooking pot, the heating apparatus, and the circulation fan being located in the cooker body (fig. 3, fig. 1), the heating apparatus being located between the cooking pot and the cooker body (col. 4 lines 30-33; relative dome top), and the circulation fan being opposite to an opening of the cooking pot (fig. 3 ref. 70).
obtaining a temperature in the cooking pot (col. 6 lines 1-3)
in response to the temperature being equal to a first temperature threshold (col. 6 lines 6-10 less than 375 recycle heating element) and less than a second temperature threshold (col. 6 lines 6-10 375), controlling the circulation fan to operate (col. 6 lines 1-3) and
in response to the temperature being equal to the second temperature threshold (col. 6 lines 6-10 375), controlling the cooking device to enter a second cooking stage (col. 6 lines 14-23), a power (col. 6 line 14; no power) of the heating apparatus in the second cooking stage being less than a power of the heating apparatus in the first cooking stage (col. 6 line 14).
Tedesco teaches a closed cooking cavity and a thermal sensor for determining temperature thresholds and thus one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to look to the art of convection cooking as taught by Lubrina.
Lubrina teaches an enclosed space for cooking food by convection where the cooking space includes a sensor for measuring the temperature of the interior space (par. 0038).
Thus since both teach convection cooking, since both teach temperature sensors and since Lubrina teaches the temperature sensor for the interior of the cooking cavity comprising steam for increasing humidity (par. 0041). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to teach a type of thermal sensor relative the broadly taught genus of a thermal sensor as taught by Tedesco such as sensor for measuring steam temperature in a same cavity, i.e. cavity temperature for its art recognized and applicants intended purpose of controlling the heating elements and fan based on a desired temperature and controlling cooking responsive to temperature conditions within the cooking cavity as taught by Tedesco (col. 6 lines 1-23)
Claim 2, in response to the steam temperature being less than the first temperature threshold (col. 5 lines 59-63 375F), controlling the circulation fan to operate in a first mode (col. 5 lines 59-63; off col. 6 line 1-3 activate)
wherein:
controlling the circulation fan to operate in response to the temperature being greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than the second temperature threshold includes, in response to the steam temperature being greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than the second temperature threshold, controlling the circulation fan to operate in a second mode (col. 6 lines 1-3 activate) and
an average rotation speed of the circulation fan in the second mode is greater than an average rotation speed of the circulation fan in the first mode (col. 6 lines 1-3 activated vs not).
Claim 3, wherein controlling the circulation fan to operate in the second mode includes: controlling the circulation fan to rotate periodically (col. 6 lines 20-22; timed; alternatively relative on/off, subsequent batches).
Claim 4, Tedesco teaches cycling of the heating elements to maintain a temperature (col. 6 lines 8-9). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to teach controlling the circulation fan to rotate periodically includes controlling the circulation fan to alternate between rotating for a first time duration and stopping rotating for a second time duration, i.e. cycling during a same cycling of heating elements as taught by Tedesco thus preventing the drying out of the food products while the temperature is changing during cooking as taught by Lubrina (par. 0049 last 3 lines)
Claim 5, in response to the steam temperature being less than the first temperature threshold, controlling the circulation fan to stop operating (col. 5 lines 59-63; off col. 6 line 1-3 activate).
Claim 6, in response to the steam temperature being greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than the second temperature threshold, obtaining a heating time that the heating apparatus has operated (col. 6 lines 9-10) and
in response to the heating time being equal to a preset time (col. 6 lines 9-10), controlling the cooking device to enter the second cooking stage (col. 6 lines 14-18).
Claim 7, further comprising: in response to the heating time being less than the preset time (col. 6 lines 9-10 less than 10-15 second), reobtaining the steam temperature in the cooking pot (col. 6 lines 6-8 temperature maintained).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. 20200096202, 20080095905, 10123556 directed to methods of controlled steam cooking, 20190045964 directed to cooking device comprising fan in lid.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven Leff whose telephone number is (571) 272-6527. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:30 - 5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erik Kashnikow can be reached at (571) 270-3475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN N LEFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1792
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