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 information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 8/4/25, 2/11/25 and 1/28/25 have been considered by the examiner. It is noted the foreign patent document listed on the IDS filed 8/4/25 has been lined through since no copy of this document has been submitted.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph 0040, on the last line, “The” should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 objected to because of the following informalities:
In regard to claim 7, on line 2, it appears “a basin” should be “the basin” and “a cove” should be “the cove” since the basin and cove have already been defined in claims 3 and 4, respectively.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-7 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jablonski et al (U.S. Patent No. 6,945,070, hereinafter Jablonski, as cited by the Applicant) in view of Haskayne (U.S. Patent 6,463,753, as cited by the Applicant).
In regard to claim 1, the Jablonski reference discloses a beverage dispenser comprising:
a cold plate 26 (see Figure 2) comprising a plurality of fluid lines 43a, 43b running therethrough;
a cover 28 comprising a hopper cradle (having opening 30 therein), a cover aperture 30 extending through the hopper cradle of the cover, the cover and cold plate defining a cooling chamber;
an ice hopper 24 comprising a hopper aperture (not shown, see column 2, lines 55-57), wherein the ice hopper is connected to the cover at the hopper cradle with the hopper aperture in alignment with the cover aperture and configured for cubed ice in the ice hopper to fall through the hopper aperture and the cover aperture onto the cold plate; and
a carbonator 44.
Although the cover in the Jablonski device does not include a carbonator housing such that the carbonator is received through the cover and into carbonator housing in order to mount the carbonator within the cooling chamber, attention is directed to the Haskayne reference, which discloses another beverage dispenser having a cold plate 19 and a cooling chamber 18 wherein a carbonator housing 29 is positioned within the cooling chamber and a carbonator 33 is received through an opening and into the carbonator housing in order to enable the carbonator to be placed within the cooling chamber and thereby cooled during use, (see column 2, lines 37-40 and column 3, lines 23-25). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the carbonator in the Jablonski device can be positioned within a carbonator housing in the cooling chamber (for example by extending the cover forming the cooling chamber over the carbonator and thereby rendering a portion of the cover as defining the carbonator housing) in order to enable the carbonator to be cooled during use.
In regard to claim 2, the cold plate in the Jablonski device comprises a front stanchion 46a and a rear stanchion 46b which are integrally formed with the cold plate (see column 3, lines 28-31) and configured to engage the body of the carbonator, wherein, upon extending the cover over the carbonator, as discussed above, the front and rear stanchions would be within the carbonator housing defined by the cover.
In regard to claim 3, the cold plate 26 defines a basin 34 (see Figure 2) to receive cubed ice thereon.
In regard to claim 4, an extension of the basin 34 defines a cove between the front stanchion 46a and the rear stanchion 46b.
In regard to claim 5, the cold plate includes a lip 40 that defines an operative perimeter of the basin wherein the cover is configured to engage the lip to define the cooling chamber.
In regard to claims 6 and 7, viewing Figure 2 there appears to be a ledge extending interior of the lip for engaging the cover. In any event, the examiner takes official notice that such lip/ledge arrangements are commonly employed on containers in order to enable cover to effectively engage the container. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Jablonski device can include such a ledge positioned interior of the lip of the cold plate as claimed in order to enable cover to effectively engage the perimeter of the cold plate.
In regard to claim 10, the Haskayne reference disclose the top end of the carbonator as being exposed such that a user has access to the various fittings thereon.
In regard to claim 11, the carbonator in the Jablonski device includes a water inlet 50 through the top end, a gas inlet 54 through the top end and a carbonated water outlet 52 through the top end.
In regard to claim 12, the carbonated water outlet 52 is fluidly connected to a fluid line of one of the plurality of fluid lines in the cold plate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9 and 13-20 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. The Romanyszyn et al. and Lancaster references are cited as being directed to the state of the art as teachings of other beverage dispensers wherein a carbonator is positioned within an ice bin.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J WALCZAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at 571-270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DJW
6/28/26
/DAVID J WALCZAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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