DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-14, in the reply filed on 6/24/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/24/26.
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.
Claim 14 is 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 14 recites the limitation "the first flow path". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the second flow path". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 6-9, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR20210114735A by Seo in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210180233 by Park et al.
As to claim 1, Seo teaches a clothes care apparatus comprising a main body 110 (fig. 1); a chamber 110A; a heat exchanger to dehumidify air (para. 6); a water purification filter 170 (fig. 2); a water tank 120 disposed downstream of the water purification filter; a steam generation device 130 that generates steam using water from the water tank 120; a sump 141 to store condensate; a water supply pump 161 to pump water from the water tank to the steam generation device; and a sump pump 162 to pump water from the sump to the water purification filter 170.
Seo teaches water supply and sump pumps, but does not teach that water is conveyed from the steam generator to the sump and thus does not teach a third, circulation pump that pumps water from the steam generation device to the sump or the water purification filter. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to convey water from a steam generation device to a sump using a pump. Park teaches a clothes care apparatus having a pump 200 that conveys water from a steam generation device 120 to a sump 65 to allow for mixing with condensed water and storage before transfer to a water tank (fig. 6, para. 105). Notably, Park teaches a three-pump configuration: a water supply pump 111, a sump pump 131, and a circulation pump 200.
Seo also does not teach the claimed controller configuration in which a circulation pump is operated based on a specified condition being satisfied. However, Park also teaches that the circulation pump 200 may be activated when a predetermined indicated time has elapsed since an operation of a supplying steam or a level of contamination of the water in the steam generation device in order to remove scale and prevent problems resulting from scale buildup (paras. 90, 119, 126).
Based on the teachings of Park, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to modify the clothes care apparatus of Seo to have a circulation pump and the claimed controller configuration in order to provide for temporary mixing and storage of water discharged from the steam generation device and to manage the removal of scale from the steam generation device, as taught by Park.
As to claim 2, Park teaches the specified conditions including a predetermined indicated storage time of water in the steam generation device and a level of contamination of the water in the steam generation device being greater than a specified contamination level (paras. 90, 119, 126).
As to claim 6, Park teaches that its circulation pump pumps water from the steam generation device to the sump (fig. 6). Park does not explicitly teach operating the circulation pump and the sump pump together when the specified condition is satisfied, but Seo teaches that water may be drained from its steam generation device directly into the water tank via the water purification filter, bypassing the sump (see fig. 3), and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to operation both a circulation pump and a sump pump together when storage of the water in the sump is not desired, in particular when the discharged water contains scale that needs filtering and removal.
As to claim 7, Seo teaches that water discharged from its steam generation device may be pumped through the water purification filter or it may bypass the filter and be conveyed directly to the water tank (paras. 43-44). Based on these teachings of Seo, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to provide a branch flow path that includes a first path in which water in the sump is pumped through the water purification filter, a second path in which water in the sump is pumped to the water tank, bypassing the water purification filter, and appropriate valves to close the flow paths to direct the water along the desired path. Seo contemplates bypassing the filter, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have separate flow paths and valves to allow for water to flow along either path as desired.
As to claim 8, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to close the first flow path to the water purification filter and open the second flow path to the water tank when a contamination level of water in the steam generation device, which is drained into the sump, is less than a specified level, since one of ordinary skill in the art would have readily understood that filtering would not be necessary if little or no contamination is present; and when a cumulative storage time of the water in the steam generation device reaches a specified time, since the apparatus taught by Seo is not intended to be operated in a continuous loop, rather the intended operation is to drain water from the steam generation device and sump at periodic intervals, which would have at least a minimum cumulative time in which water was stored in the steam generation device.
As to claim 9, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to open the first flow path to the water purification filter and close the second flow path to the water tank when a contamination level of water in the steam generation device, which is drained into the sump, is greater than a specified level, since one of ordinary skill in the art would have readily understood that filtering would be necessary if a certain degree of contamination is present.
As to claim 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to flow water in the steam generation device to the water purification filter through a flow path using the circulation pump and to flow water in the sump to the water purification filter through a flow path using the sump pump, the apparatus having valves on the flow paths. Configuring pumps and flow paths to convey water to a desired location was within the routine skill of one of ordinary skill in the art, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to use pumps to flow water to a water purification filter from a steam generation device and a sump in order to filter impurities from the water.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR20210114735A by Seo in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210180233 by Park et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210301456 by Lee et al.
As to claim 3, Seo does not teach a sterilization pump or sterilization device. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have a sterilization device, pump, and a controller configuration that operates the sterilization pump and device after pumping water from the sump to the water purification filter so that water is sterilized and then received in the water tank. Lee teaches that condensate in a laundry treatment apparatus may remain in a collector for a long time, which may cause propagation of bacteria (para. 11). Lee teaches the use of a sterilization device to sterilize condensed water to prevent contamination when the water remains in a water tank (para. 49), the sterilization device configured to irradiate ultraviolet light (para. 18). Based on these teachings of Lee, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have a sterilization pump to pump water stored in the water tank through a sterilization device that irradiates ultraviolet light in order to sterilize condensed water that remains in the tank in order to prevent contamination by bacteria.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR20210114735A by Seo in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210180233 by Park et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210301456 by Lee et al. and KR20080073449A by Jo et al.
As to claim 4, Seo does not teach an electrolysis device. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to modify its apparatus to have an electrolysis device to electrolyze water in its steam generation device based on a the specified condition being satisfied. Lee recognizes that water in a laundry treatment apparatus may remain in a collector for a long time, which may cause propagation of bacteria (para. 11), and Jo teaches that electrolytic water has a bactericidal effect (para. 30). One of ordinary skill in the art would have thus recognized as obvious to provide an electrolysis device to electrolyze water in the steam generation device upon a specified condition, such as a length of time the water has remained in the device, in order to sterilize and prevent propagation of bacteria.
Claims 5 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR20210114735A by Seo in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210180233 by Park et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KR20080073449A by Jo et al.
As to claim 5, Seo does not teach a deionization module. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have a deionization module and associated pump and controller configuration. Jo teaches a deionization module comprising a filter that removes magnesium and potassium ions before entering a steam generator to prevent a precipitate (i.e. scale) that causes problems (para. 41). One of ordinary skill in the art would thus have been motivated to modify the apparatus of Seo to have a deionization module in order to prevent problematic precipitate, and would have recognized as obvious to have a pump in order to convey water from the steam generator to the ion filter and back to the generator as a routine and expected means to convey water. One of ordinary skill in the art would have also recognized as obvious to operate the deionization pump in response to a specified condition being satisfied, in particular an indication that scale may be present as taught by Park.
As to claim 10, Seo teaches a first filter, but does not teach a second filter. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have a second filter. Jo teaches a deionization module comprising a filter that removes magnesium and potassium ions before entering a steam generator to prevent a precipitate (i.e. scale) that causes problems (para. 41). One of ordinary skill in the art would have thus recognized as obvious to have first and second filters, a conventional water purifier as taught by Seo (see para. 41), and a deionization filter, to remove different types of impurities, either filter interpreted as one of the first or second filters. One of ordinary skill in the art would have further recognized as obvious to have a branch flow path and valves to allow water to flow to either or both of the first and second filters based on a desired need for either or both types of filtration.
As to claim 11, Seo teaches a first filter, but does not teach a second filter. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to have a second filter. Jo teaches a deionization module comprising a filter that removes magnesium and potassium ions before entering a steam generator to prevent a precipitate (i.e. scale) that causes problems (para. 41). One of ordinary skill in the art would have thus recognized as obvious to have first and second filters, a conventional water purifier as taught by Seo (see para. 41), and a deionization filter, to remove different types of impurities. One of ordinary skill in the art would have further recognized as obvious to configure the sump pump to pump water in the steam generation device to a first flow path to flow to the first filter and to configure the circulation pump to pump water in the steam generation device to a second flow path to flow to the second filter to allow water to flow to either of the first and second filters based on a need for a particular type of filtration, for example based on a lack of sensed contamination.
As to claim 12, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to close the first flow path to the water purification filter and open the second flow path to the deionization filter when a contamination level of water in the steam generation device is less than a specified level, since one of ordinary skill in the art would have readily understood that ion filtering would not be necessary if little or no scale is sensed; and when a cumulative storage time of the water in the steam generation device reaches a specified time, since the apparatus taught by Seo is not intended to be operated in a continuous loop, rather the intended operation is to drain water from the steam generation device and sump at periodic intervals, which would have at least a minimum cumulative time in which water was stored in the steam generation device.
As to claim 13, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as obvious to open a first flow path to a deionization filter and close a second flow path to a water purification filter when a contamination level of water in the steam generation device is greater than a specified level, since one of ordinary skill in the art would have readily understood that ion filtering would be necessary if a certain degree of contamination, in particular sensed scale, is present.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Spencer Bell whose telephone number is (571)272-9888. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 6:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Barr can be reached at 571.272.1414. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SPENCER E. BELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
Prosecution Insights