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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 components" in line 2. There is no mention of these features earlier in the claim nor in the claims from which claim 14 depends. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 8, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kerner et al. (US Patent No. 4,792,059).
Re: Claim 1, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including top-loaded water dispenser, comprising:
a first manifold (7, 44, 36) having a water receiving basin (35), a water inlet passageway (35), and a water outlet passageway (37, 52, 57) (Fig. 2, ;
a second manifold (64) having a drainage passageway (65);
a cooling tank (60) adapted to be in communication with the water inlet passageway to receive water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the water outlet passageway to output refrigerated water, and further adapted to be in communication (63) with the drainage passageway to drain the water in the cooling tank (Fig. 2); and
a heating tank (59) adapted to be in communication with the water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the water outlet passageway to output heated water (Fig. 1), and further adapted to be in communication (54) with the drainage passageway to drain the water in the heating tank (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 2, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the water inlet passageway comprises a first water inlet passageway (37) and a second water inlet passageway (46) that are in communication with the water receiving basin (Fig. 2);
the water outlet passageway comprises a first water outlet passageway (57) (Fig. 2) and a second water outlet passageway (52) (Fig. 2);
the drainage passageway comprises a first drainage passageway (63) and a second drainage passageway (54) (Fig. 2);
the cooling tank is adapted to be in communication with the first water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the first water outlet passageway to output the refrigerated water (Figs. 2), and adapted to be in communication with the first drainage passageway to drain the water in the cooling tank (Fig. 2); and
the heating tank is adapted to be in communication with the second water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the second water outlet passageway to output the heated water (2), and adapted to be in communication with the second drainage passageway to drain the water in the heating tank (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 4, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the first water inlet passageway has a first water inlet connector (55) at an end of the first water inlet passageway (Fig. 2);
Re: Claim 8, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the second manifold further comprises an openable member (65), the openable member openably closing an end of the first drainage passageway away from the cooling tank or an end of the second drainage passageway away from the heating tank (Fig. 2, Col. 5, lines 34-40, openable member for open/close of drainage passageways).
Re: Claim 15, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the water outlet passageway further comprises a third water outlet passageway (3A, 37) connected to one of the water receiving basin (35) (Fig. 2), the first water inlet passageway, and the second water inlet passageway (Fig. 2, all connected).
Re: Claim 16, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the water receiving basin is located above the water inlet passageway and the water outlet passageway (Fig. 2); and the first manifold is located above the second manifold (Fig. 2) and the cooling tank and the heating tank are disposed between the first manifold and the second manifold (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 17, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the cooling tank is fixedly connected to the first manifold and the second manifold, respectively (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 18, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the first manifold has a first connection portion (57) (Fig. 2); the second manifold has a second connection portion (63) (Fig. 2); and the cooling tank has a third connection portion (56) fixedly connected to the first connection portion (Fig. 2), and a fourth connection (62) portion fixedly connected to the second connection portion (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 19, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including the heating tank is fixedly connected to the first manifold and spaced apart from the second manifold (Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 20, Kerner discloses the claimed invention including a smart base (1) disposed in the water receiving basin, the smart base being adapted for an inverted loading of a water bucket (27) on the smart base (Fig. 1 & 4).
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) 1-5, 8-10, 12-14, and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burrows (US Patent No. 5,390,826), and further in view of Kerner et al. (US Patent No. 4,792,059).
Re: Claim 1, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including
a first manifold (16) having a water receiving basin (7), a water inlet passageway (54, 70), and a water outlet passageway (5) (Fig. 2-5) except for a water receiving basin. However, Burrows in the embodiment of Fig. 6 teaches a water basin attachment (100) for the manifold (Fig. 6)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include the water receiving basin of Fig. 6 of Burrows, since Burrows states in col. 6, lines 38-44 that such a modification effectively isolating the water within the upper chamber from the cooling effect provided within the cooling tank thus the heating tank does not have to expend more energy to heat a chilled product;
Burrows discloses the claimed invention except for a second manifold. However, Kerner disclose a second manifold (64) having a drainage passageway (65) (Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date to include a second manifold as taught by Kerner, since such a modification allows the user to safely and effectively drain the fluid system allowing for more effective cleaning and storage when not in use.
a cooling tank (60) adapted to be in communication with the water inlet passageway to receive water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the water outlet passageway to output refrigerated water, and in view of Kerner above further adapted to be in communication (63) with the drainage passageway to drain the water in the cooling tank (Kerner: Fig. 2); and
a heating tank (74) adapted to be in communication with the water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the water outlet passageway to output heated water (Fig. 1), and in view of Kerner above further adapted to be in communication (54) with the drainage passageway to drain the water in the heating tank (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 2, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including
the water inlet passageway comprises a first water inlet passageway (Depicted in Fig. 6) and a second water inlet passageway (98) that are in communication with the water receiving basin;
the water outlet passageway comprises a first water outlet passageway (55) (Fig. 3) and a second water outlet passageway (58) (Fig. 5);
in view of Kerner as modified in the rejection of claim 1 above the drainage passageway comprises a first drainage passageway (63) and a second drainage passageway (54) (Kerner: Fig. 2);
the cooling tank is adapted to be in communication with the first water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the first water outlet passageway to output the refrigerated water (Figs. 3 and 6), and in view of Kerner above further adapted to be in communication with the first drainage passageway to drain the water in the cooling tank (Kerner: Fig. 2); and
the heating tank is adapted to be in communication with the second water inlet passageway to receive the water from the water receiving basin, adapted to be in communication with the second water outlet passageway to output the heated water (Figs. 5 and 6), and in view of Kerner above further adapted to be in communication with the second drainage passageway to drain the water in the heating tank (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 3, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1 above discloses the claimed invention including the cooling tank is connected to the first manifold (Fig. 4, cooling tank inserted on the first manifold) and the second manifold in an insertion manner (Kerner: Fig. 2, 2 manifold tube inserted into tank).
Re: Claim 4, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including the first water inlet passageway has a first water inlet connector (56) at an end of the first water inlet passageway (Fig. 4);
Re: Claim 5, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1 above discloses the claimed invention including the first water outlet passageway has a first water outlet connector (56) at an end of the first water outlet passageway (Fig. 4); and in view of Kerner the first drainage passageway has a first drainage connector (62) at an end of the first drainage passageway (Kerner: Fig. 2); and the cooling tank has a cooling-tank water inlet connector connected to the first water inlet connector in an insertion manner (Fig. 4, cooling tank inserted on the first manifold), a cooling-tank water outlet connector (66, 68) connected to the first water outlet connector in an insertion manner (Fig. 4), and a cooling-tank drainage connector connected to the first drainage connector in an insertion manner (Fig. 4).
Re: Claim 8, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1 above discloses the claimed invention including the second manifold further comprises an openable member (65), the openable member openably closing an end of the first drainage passageway away from the cooling tank or an end of the second drainage passageway away from the heating tank (Fig. 1, Col. 5, lines 34-40, openable member for open/close of drainage passageways).
Re: Claim 9, Burrows discloses the claimed invention except for exhaust passageways. However, Kerner teaches a manifold (33) further has an exhaust passage (48, 61), each of the cooling tank and the heating tank being further adapted to be in communication with the exhaust passage for exhausting (Depicted in Fig. 2)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date to include exhaust passageways on the manifold as taught by Kerner, since Kerner states in col. 5, lines 64-66, allows the tanks to vent to the atmosphere if additional pressure built up or when filling tanks to full, air may exhaust to facilitate this.
Re: Claim 10, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 9 above discloses the claimed invention including the exhaust passage comprises a first air passage (61) and a second air passage (48), the cooling tank being adapted to be in communication with the first air passage for exhausting, and the heating tank being adapted to be in communication with the second air passage for exhausting (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 12, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 9 above discloses the claimed invention including the cooling tank is connected to the first manifold in an insertion manner, to enable the cooling tank to in communication with the first air passage (Kerner: Fig. 2, manifold tubing inserted into tank).
Re: Claim 13, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 9 above discloses the claimed invention including the first air passage has a first exhaust connector at an end of the first air passage, and the cooling tank has a cooling-tank exhaust connector connected to the first exhaust connector in an insertion manner (Kerner: Fig. 2, manifold tubing inserted into tank).
Re: Claim 14, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including a sealing member (67) is provided between the components connected in the insertion manner for sealing (Fig. 4).
Re: Claim 16, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including the water receiving basin is located above the water inlet passageway and the water outlet passageway (Fig. 6); and in view of Kerner the first manifold is located above the second manifold (Kerner: Fig. 2) and the cooling tank and the heating tank are disposed between the first manifold and the second manifold (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 17, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1above discloses the claimed invention including the cooling tank is fixedly connected to the first manifold and the second manifold, respectively (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 18, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1 above discloses the claimed invention including the first manifold has a first connection portion (57) (Kerner: Fig. 2); the second manifold has a second connection portion (63) (Kerner: Fig. 2); and the cooling tank has a third connection portion (56) fixedly connected to the first connection portion (Kerner: Fig. 2), and a fourth connection (62) portion fixedly connected to the second connection portion (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 19, Burrows as modified by Kerner in the rejection of claim 1 above discloses the claimed invention including the heating tank is fixedly connected to the first manifold and spaced apart from the second manifold (Kerner: Fig. 2).
Re: Claim 20, Burrows discloses the claimed invention including a smart base (10) disposed in the water receiving basin, the smart base being adapted for an inverted loading of a water bucket (12) on the smart base (Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 11 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References cited on the PTO-892 provide additional examples of dispensers with hot and cold water tanks.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES P. CHEYNEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9971. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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