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) 8 objected to because of the following informalities: claim(s) should be amended to recite “wherein the lock body further comprises a control circuit board”. Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
Claim(s) 9 objected to because of the following informalities: claim(s) should be amended to recite “wherein the lock body further comprises a latch bolt position monitoring assembly”. Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
Claim(s) 11 objected to because of the following informalities: claim(s) should be amended to recite “wherein the lock body further comprises a door connector”. Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
Claim(s) 12 objected to because of the following informalities: claim(s) should be amended to recite “wherein the lock body further comprises a lock hook in place monitoring assembly”. Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DeYoung (US-20200115923-A1).
With regards to claim 1, DeYoung discloses a door lock (Figure 18), comprising:
a lock hook (110 Figure 18); and
a lock body (100 Figure 18), the lock body comprising a lock housing (140 Figure 22) and a partition (shown Figure 26) provided inside the lock housing, the partition divides an internal space of the lock housing into a lock core area (internal space right of the partition, Figure 26) and a lock hook connection area (receiving slot left of the partition, Figure 26), a through hole (hole in the partition, Figure 26) connecting the lock core area and the lock hook connection area is formed on the partition;
a lock opening (top opening in 100, Figure 18) connected to the lock hook connection area is formed on the lock housing, allowing the lock hook to extend into (Figure 19) or retract from (Figure 18) the lock hook connection area;
a latch bolt (170 Figure 25) and a driving element (150 Figure 25) are provided in the lock core area, and the driving element is configured to drive the latch bolt to perform a linear reciprocating motion (Para. 0087) between a locked position (Figure 25) and an unlocked position (Figure 24).
With regards to claim 8, DeYoung discloses the door lock according to claim 1, wherein further comprises a control circuit board (160 Figure 31), the control circuit board is equipped with a processor, and the processor is electrically connected to the driving element (150 Figure 25);
the processor is configured to:
when receiving a locking instruction, control the driving element to drive one end of the latch bolt (170 Figure 25) to extend into the lock hook connection area through the through hole to lock with the lock hook (Para. 0092);
when receiving an unlocking instruction, control the driving element to drive the latch bolt to retract back into the lock core area to unlock (Para. 0092).
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.
Claim(s) 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DeYoung in view of Linney (US-10495377-B2).
With regards to claim 16, DeYoung discloses an appliance (Para. 0002), comprising an appliance body and a door disposed on the appliance body (Para. 0083), a storage compartment is defined inside the appliance body, and a door lock (Figure 18) according to claim 1 is arranged between the appliance body and the door, wherein the lock body (100 Figure 18) is installed on the appliance body and is located on an inner wall of the appliance body facing the storage compartment, and the lock hook (110 Figure 18) is correspondingly installed on the door (Para. 0083).
DeYoung does not disclose that the appliance is a refrigerator.
However, Linney discloses a refrigerator (10 Figure 1) comprising a body (12 Figure 1) and a door (13 Figure 1) having an electronically operated door lock (30 Figure 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use DeYoung’s appliance door lock as a refrigerator door lock, with a reasonable expectation of success. One would have been motivated to use DeYoung’s door lock with a refrigerator for its improved packaging of electronic components for use in an appliance having a sealed and temperature controlled inner compartment (Para. 0003 – DeYoung).
With regards to claim 20, DeYoung in view of Linney teaches the refrigerator according to claim 16, wherein the door (13 Figure 1 – Linney) comprises a door frame (frame of 13, Figure 1), a viewing window (window of 13, Figure 1) and a shielding part (shielding part comprising control element 40, Figure 2), the shielding part is arranged on the door frame and extends toward the viewing window to shield the lock body at front of the refrigerator (as shown Figure 2), and a control panel (40 Figure 2) is arranged on the shielding part.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Although the references of record show some features similar to those of applicant's device, the prior art fails to teach or make obvious the claimed invention.
With regards to claim 2, DeYoung discloses the door lock according to claim 1, wherein a sealing member is provided between an outer periphery of the latch bolt and the partition, the sealing member is located in the lock core area. However, the prior art does not teach wherein a first end of the sealing member is connected to the outer periphery of the latch bolt, and a second end of the sealing member is connected to the partition; the sealing member separates the lock core area into a sealed area, which is sealed and isolated from the lock hook connection area, and a non-sealed area connected to the lock hook connection area, the driving element is located in the sealed area, and the sealing member is made of elastic material that stretches and contracts with the movement of the latch bolt. Although such sealing arrangements are generally known in the art, such an arrangement satisfying each and every limitations of the claims would be non-obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art without the benefit of impermissible hindsight reasoning.
With regards to claim 5, DeYoung discloses the door lock according to claim 1. However, the prior art does not teach wherein a side wall of the lock housing facing the storage compartment is a first side wall, and an operation window is formed on the first side wall; a linkage member is arranged in the lock core area, the linkage member comprises an operation panel and a driving plate arranged at a bottom of the operation panel, the operation panel is pressed against an inner surface of the first side wall and closes the operation window; a toggle block is provided on the operation panel, and the toggle block is exposed through the operation window; an end of the latch bolt away from the lock hook connection area is fixedly connected to a linkage base, when the latch bolt is in the locked position, a linkage rod arranged on the linkage base rests on an upper surface of the driving plate, by toggling the toggle block upward, the linkage member drives the linkage rod to move upward through the driving plate, and thereby driving the latch bolt to retract upward to unlock. Although alternative mechanical operating means for electronically operated lock are generally known in the art, such an arrangement satisfying each and every limitations of the claims would be non-obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art without the benefit of impermissible hindsight reasoning.
With regards to claim 9, DeYoung discloses the door lock according to claim 8, wherein further comprises a latch bolt position monitoring assembly, the latch bolt position monitoring assembly is configured to detect position of the latch bolt to determine whether the latch bolt is in the locked position or the unlocked position. However, the prior art does not teach a temperature sensor and a heating element which are connected to the processor, the temperature sensor is configured to detect temperature of the latch bolt, and the heating element is configured to heat the latch bolt, and the processor is configured to: when the processor controls the latch bolt to move to the unlock position but the latch bolt position monitoring assembly does not detect that the latch bolt is in the unlocked position, determine whether the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a preset temperature, and control the heating element to heat the latch bolt if the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than the preset temperature. Although heating elements for latch components can be found in the art, such an arrangement satisfying each and every limitations of the claim would be non-obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art without the benefit of impermissible hindsight reasoning.
With regards to claim 17, DeYoung in view of Linney teaches the refrigerator according to claim 16. However, the prior art does not teach wherein a linkage member is slidably installed in the lock housing of the lock body, the linkage member is linked with the latch bolt to drive the latch bolt to move from the locked position to the unlocked position, an external lock is installed on an outer side of the refrigerator body, and the external lock is connected to the linkage member through a lock wire and is configured to drive the linkage member to move and pull the latch bolt from the locked position to the unlocked position through the lock wire when the external lock is manually operated, thereby releasing lock on the door. Although alternative mechanical operating means for electronically operated lock are generally known in the art, such an arrangement satisfying each and every limitations of the claims would be non-obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art without the benefit of impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-20240368920-A1: A related door lock device.
US-10580237-B2: A related door lock device.
US-12033448-B2: A related door lock device.
US-9885515-B2: A related door lock device.
US-11365559-B2: A related door lock device.
US-20190338999-A1: A related door lock device.
US-11525617-B2: A related door lock device.
US-20130276489-A1: A related door lock device.
US-11371261-B2: A related door lock device.
US-11805898-B2: A related door lock device.
US-9295345-B2: A related door lock device.
CN-112267772-A: A related door lock device.
CN-108386083-A: A related door lock device.
CN-109424272-A: A related door lock device.
KR-20260011065-A: A related door lock device.
DE-102013106220-A1: A related door lock device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Noah Horowitz, whose telephone number is (571)272-5532. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 11:00AM - 7:00 PM.
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/NOAH HOROWITZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3675