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 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 (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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation).
Regarding Claim 1: Joung teaches a refrigerator (page 2 of the machine translation) comprising: an ice maker (see Figure 1) including a tray (5) configured to form a cell (cavities in 5) having a space configured to store liquid (see Figure 1); a supply valve (9) configured to control a flow of liquid into the space of the cell (abstract); and a controller (1) configured to control the supply valve (9, page 4 of the machine translation), wherein the controller (1) controls the supply valve (9) such that a first amount of liquid is supplied, the liquid supply is paused, and a second amount of liquid is supplied after the liquid supply is paused (9, page 4 of the machine translation).
Joung fails to teach wherein the first amount is less than the second amount, and wherein the first amount is less than a half of a volume of the cell.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Regarding Claim 2: Joung further teaches wherein after at least a portion of the first amount of the liquid has been phase-changed to ice (functional limitation as water will freeze in the tray between supplies), the second amount of liquid is supplied (1 adds water in different additions, page 4 of the machine translation).
Regarding Claim 3: Joung fails to teach wherein the second amount is greater than the half of the volume of the cell.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Mogi et al. (JP 2003042613 A, machine translation), hereafter referred to as “Mogi.”
Regarding Claim 4: Joung fails to teach further comprising a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process.
Mogi teaches a heater (33) configured to supply heat to a cell (24) in at least a section of an ice making process (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process to the structure of Joung as taught by Mogi in order to advantageously provide heat to prevent cloudy ice and increase transparency (Mogi, abstract).
Regarding Claim 5: Joung fails to teach further comprising a heater configured to supply heat to the cell after the second amount of liquid is supplied.
Mogi teaches a heater (33) configured to supply heat to a cell (24) after a second amount of liquid is supplied (page 8 of the machine translation, Figures 9A and 9B).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a heater configured to supply heat to the cell after the second amount of liquid is supplied to the structure of Joung as taught by Mogi in order to advantageously provide heat to prevent cloudy ice and increase transparency (Mogi, abstract).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Son et al. (US 2013/0081412 A1), hereafter referred to as “Son.”
Regarding Claim 6: Joung fails to teach wherein: the tray includes a first tray forming a first portion of the cell, and a second tray forming a second portion of the cell, the second tray being configured to move relative to the first tray, the controller controls the supply valve to be opened for supply of the first and second amounts when the second tray is at a first position relative to the first tray, the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart.
Son teaches a tray (11, 12) includes a first tray (11) forming a first portion of a cell (113, 141), and a second tray (12) forming a second portion of the cell (141), the second tray (12) being configured to move relative to the first tray (paragraph [0006]), a controller (not shown, paragraphs [0005] and [0072]) controls a water supply (paragraph [0004]) to be opened for supply of water amounts (see Figures 6 and 10) when the second tray (12) is at a first position relative to the first tray (see Figure 6), the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided wherein: the tray includes a first tray forming a first portion of the cell, and a second tray forming a second portion of the cell, the second tray being configured to move relative to the first tray, the controller controls the supply valve to be opened for supply of the first and second amounts when the second tray is at a first position relative to the first tray, the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart to the structure of Joung as taught by Son in order to advantageously provide spherical ice (see Son, paragraphs [0057] and [0060]).
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation).
Regarding Claim 7: Joung teaches a refrigerator (page 2 of the machine translation) comprising: an ice maker (see Figure 1) including a tray (5) configured to form a cell (cavities in 5) having a space configured to store liquid; a supply valve (9) configured to control a flow of liquid into the space of the cell (abstract); and a controller (1) configured to control the supply valve (9, page 4 of the machine translation), wherein the controller (1) is configured to: open the supply valve (9) to supply a first amount of liquid, close the supply valve after the first amount of liquid is supplied, open the supply valve to supply a second amount of liquid after at least a portion of the first amount of liquid has been phase-changed to ice (9, page 4 of the machine translation, functional limitation as water will freeze in the tray between supplies), and close the supply valve (9) after the second amount of liquid is supplied (1 adds water in different additions, page 4 of the machine translation).
Joung fails to teach wherein the first amount is less than the second amount, and wherein the first amount is less than a half of a volume of the cell.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Regarding Claim 8: Joung fails to teach wherein the second amount is greater than the half of the volume of the cell.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Mogi et al. (JP 2003042613 A, machine translation), hereafter referred to as “Mogi.”
Regarding Claim 9: Joung fails to teach further comprising a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process.
Mogi teaches a heater (33) configured to supply heat to a cell (24) in at least a section of an ice making process (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process to the structure of Joung as taught by Mogi in order to advantageously provide heat to prevent cloudy ice and increase transparency (Mogi, abstract).
Regarding Claim 10: Joung fails to teach further comprising a heater configured to supply heat to the cell after the second amount of liquid is supplied.
Mogi teaches a heater (33) configured to supply heat to a cell (24) after a second amount of liquid is supplied (page 8 of the machine translation, Figures 9A and 9B).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a heater configured to supply heat to the cell after the second amount of liquid is supplied to the structure of Joung as taught by Mogi in order to advantageously provide heat to prevent cloudy ice and increase transparency (Mogi, abstract).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Son et al. (US 2013/0081412 A1), hereafter referred to as “Son.”
Regarding Claim 11: Joung fails to teach wherein: the tray includes a first tray forming a first portion of the cell, and a second tray forming a second portion of the cell, the second tray being configured to move relative to the first tray, the controller controls the supply valve to be opened for supply of the first and second amounts when the second tray is at a first position relative to the first tray, the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart.
Son teaches a tray (11, 12) includes a first tray (11) forming a first portion of a cell (113, 141), and a second tray (12) forming a second portion of the cell (141), the second tray (12) being configured to move relative to the first tray (paragraph [0006]), a controller (not shown, paragraphs [0005] and [0072]) controls a water supply (paragraph [0004]) to be opened for supply of water amounts (see Figures 6 and 10) when the second tray (12) is at a first position relative to the first tray (see Figure 6), the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided wherein: the tray includes a first tray forming a first portion of the cell, and a second tray forming a second portion of the cell, the second tray being configured to move relative to the first tray, the controller controls the supply valve to be opened for supply of the first and second amounts when the second tray is at a first position relative to the first tray, the first position being a position where the first and second portions are at least partially spaced apart to the structure of Joung as taught by Son in order to advantageously provide spherical ice (see Son, paragraphs [0057] and [0060]).
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Son et al. (US 2013/0081412 A1), hereafter referred to as “Son.”
Regarding Claim 12: Joung teaches a refrigerator (page 2 of the machine translation), comprising: an ice maker (see Figure 1) including: a first tray (5) configured to form a first portion of a cell (cavities in 5); a liquid supply (abstract) configured to supply liquid (page 3 of the machine translation); a supply valve (9) configured to control a flow of supplied liquid into the space (page 3 of the machine translation); a controller (1) configured to control supply valve (9, page 4 of the machine translation), wherein the controller (1) is configured to: open the supply valve (9) to supply a first amount of liquid (page 4 of the machine translation), close the supply valve (9) after the first amount of liquid is supplied (page 4 of the machine translation), open the supply valve (9) to supply a second amount of liquid (page 4 of the machine translation), and close the supply valve (9) after the second amount of liquid is supplied (page 4 of the machine translation).
Joung fails to teach a second tray configured to form a second portion of the cell, the first and second portions configured to form a space in which liquid is phase-changed to ice; a driver configured to move the second tray with respect to the first tray; a controller configured to control supply valve, wherein the controller is configured to: move the second tray to a first position, move the second tray to a second position and standby at the second position before moving to the first position, move the second tray to the first position, open the supply valve to supply the second amount of liquid after moving the second tray to the first position.
Son teaches a second tray (12) configured to form a second portion (141) of a cell (113, 141), a first and second portions (113, 114) configured to form a space (see Figure 8) in which liquid is phase-changed to ice (paragraph [0026]); a driver (paragraph [0072]) configured to move the second tray (12) with respect to a first tray (11); a controller (not shown, paragraphs [0005] and [0072]) configured to control water supply (paragraph [0004]), wherein the controller (not shown, paragraphs [0005] and [0072]) is configured to: move the second tray (12) to a first position (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024]), move the second tray (12) to a second position (see Figure 8, paragraph [0026]) and standby at the second position (start of ice making, paragraph [0028]) before moving to the first position (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024], see Figure 10, tray starts at closed position), move the second tray (12, see Figure 10) to the first position (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024]), open the water supply (paragraph [0024]) to supply the second amount of liquid (S12, no, see Figure 10) after moving the second tray (12) to the first position (see Figure 6, paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a second tray configured to form a second portion of the cell, the first and second portions configured to form a space in which liquid is phase-changed to ice; a driver configured to move the second tray with respect to the first tray; a controller configured to control supply valve, wherein the controller is configured to: move the second tray to a first position, move the second tray to a second position and standby at the second position before moving to the first position, move the second tray to the first position, open the supply valve to supply the second amount of liquid after moving the second tray to the first position to the structure of Joung as taught by Son in order to advantageously provide spherical ice (see Son, paragraphs [0057] and [0060]).
Regarding Claim 13: Joung modified supra fails to teach wherein the first amount is less than the second amount.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Regarding Claim 14: Joung modified supra fails to teach wherein the second amount is greater than the half of the volume of the cell.
However, absent evidence of criticality, change in proportions is merely design choice and would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art would before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2144.04 IV A.
Regarding Claim 15: Joung further teaches wherein after the second amount of liquid is supplied (functional limitation as water will freeze in the freeze between supplies), the second amount of liquid is phase-changed to ice (1 adds water in different additions, page 4 of the machine translation).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Son et al. (US 2013/0081412 A1), hereafter referred to as “Son,” as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Mogi et al. (JP 2003042613 A, machine translation), hereafter referred to as “Mogi.”
Regarding Claim 16: Joung modified supra fails to teach further comprising a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process.
Mogi teaches a heater (33) configured to supply heat to a cell (24) in at least a section of an ice making process (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a heater configured to supply heat to the cell in at least a section of an ice making process to the structure of Joung modified supra as taught by Mogi in order to advantageously provide heat to prevent cloudy ice and increase transparency (Mogi, abstract).
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joung (KR 20100054488 A, machine translation) in view of Son et al. (US 2013/0081412 A1), hereafter referred to as “Son,” as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Kim (US 2008/0236187 A1).
Regarding Claim 17: Joung modified supra fails to teach further comprising a first tray case formed as a separate component to the first tray and configure to support the first tray.
Kim teaches a first tray case (640, 720, 740, 750) formed as a separate component to a first tray (600) and configure to support the first tray (600,paragraphs [0056]-[0060]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a first tray case formed as a separate component to the first tray and configure to support the first tray to the structure of Joung modified supra as taught by Kim in order to advantageously provide a mounting surface that can accommodate the rotating tray (see Kim, paragraph [0054]).
Regarding Claim 18: Joung modified supra fails to teach wherein the first tray case includes a first tray cover and a first tray supporter coupled to the first tray cover.
Kim teaches a first tray case (640, 720, 740, 750) includes a first tray cover (640) and a first tray supporter (720) coupled to the first tray cover (640 mounts to 720, paragraph [0067]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided wherein the first tray case includes a first tray cover and a first tray supporter coupled to the first tray cover to the structure of Joung modified supra as taught by Kim in order to advantageously provide a mounting surface that can accommodate the rotating tray (see Kim, paragraph [0054]).
Regarding Claim 19: Joung modified supra fails to teach further comprising a bracket configured to support the first tray case.
Kim a bracket (700) configured to support a first tray case (740, 750, paragraph [0056]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a bracket configured to support the first tray case to the structure of Joung modified supra as taught by Kim in order to advantageously provide a mounting surface that can accommodate the rotating tray (see Kim, paragraph [0054]).
Regarding Claim 20: Joung modified supra fails to teach a bracket, wherein the bracket includes a first wall on which the liquid supply is installed, and a second wall on which the driver is installed.
Kim a bracket (700), wherein the bracket (700) includes a first wall on which a liquid supply is installed (paragraph [0060]), and a second wall on which a driver is installed (paragraph [0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a bracket, wherein the bracket includes a first wall on which the liquid supply is installed, and a second wall on which the driver is installed to the structure of Joung modified supra as taught by Kim in order to advantageously provide a mounting surface that can accommodate the rotating tray (see Kim, paragraph [0054]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al. (WO 2011105791 A2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIRSTIN U OSWALD whose telephone number is (571)270-3557. The examiner can normally be reached 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. M-F.
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/KIRSTIN U OSWALD/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/LEN TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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