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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed on 22 July 2025 fails to properly display in the Document Application Viewer. Examiner has sent an email/filed a ticket to have the document rescanned. However, if Applicant were to refile the document this may expedite matters.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it exceeds the 150-word limit. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 9 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.
Regarding claim 9, Applicant claims “a rib reinforcing portion” in line 2. Examiner notes that this claim depends from claim 8, which depends from claim 4, wherein in line 4, Applicant has previously claimed “a rib reinforcing portion”. Examiner asks is this the same rib reinforcing portion or a different one? Therefore, this claim language is indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 and 10-15 are allowed.
The following is an Examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance the prior art fails to disclose or make obvious the limitations of claim 1, claiming a clothes treating apparatus comprising: a tub including a tub back forming a rear side of the tub, the tub back having a first region including a plurality of reinforcing ribs, and a second region including a tub exhaust port and a recessed portion forming an exhaust path along which air discharged through the tub exhaust port is flowable; a drum inside the tub, the drum configured to accommodate laundry and to be rotatable; a rotatable shaft connected to the drum and configured to rotate the drum; a drying device provided at an upper side of the tub and configured to remove moisture from air discharged from the tub along the exhaust path, heat the discharged air, and supply the heated air back to the tub; a bearing housing coupled to the tub and configured to support the rotatable shaft; and a reinforcing bracket including a bracket exhaust port corresponding to the tub exhaust port, and a rigidity reinforcing portion coupled to the recessed portion to reinforce a strength of the recessed portion.
The closest prior art of record is that of KR 20230057787 to Kang et al. (Kang). Feng discloses a clothes treating apparatus comprising: a tub including a tub back forming a rear side of the tub, the tub back having a first region including a plurality of reinforcing ribs, and a second region including a tub exhaust port; a drum inside the tub, the drum configured to accommodate laundry and to be rotatable; a rotatable shaft connected to the drum and configured to rotate the drum; a drying device provided at an upper side of the tub and configured to remove moisture from air discharged from the tub along the exhaust path, heat the discharged air, and supply the heated air back to the tub; a bearing housing coupled to the tub and configured to support the rotatable shaft. Kang does not disclose or make obvious a recessed portion forming an exhaust path along which air discharged through the tub exhaust port is flowable, a reinforcing bracket including a bracket exhaust port corresponding to the tub exhaust port, and a rigidity reinforcing portion coupled to the recessed portion to reinforce a strength of the recessed portion.
The advantage of the current invention over that of Kang is that of the combination and configuration of the recessed portion, reinforcing bracket, and rigidity reinforcing portion wherein this allows for maximally increasing the volume of the exhaust to thereby effectively remove moisture from the tub and increase a drying efficiency thereof without a degradation in strength of the tub back due to the recessed portion thereof.
Since claim 1 is allowed, claims 2-8 and 10-15 which depend thereon are also allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN LEE OSTERHOUT whose telephone number is (571)270-7379. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm.
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BENJAMIN LEE OSTERHOUT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/BENJAMIN L OSTERHOUT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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