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 .
Election/Restrictions
Note the correction to the species defined in the parent application, 5/23/2024.
This application contains claims directed to the following patentably distinct species:
Species 1, Figures 1-6, the first embodiment
Species 2, Figures 7-14B, the second embodiment
Species 3, Figures 15-17, the third embodiment
Species 4, Figures 18-21, the fourth embodiment
Species 5, Figures 22-25, the fifth embodiment
Species 6, Figures 26-33B, the sixth embodiment
As written, claim 1 is generic to species 2-6, the species will be rejoined if a generic claim is deemed allowable.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims, 1, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Pub No.: 20200393190 (“Choi et al.”) and US 20100033067 (“Kim et al.”)
Regarding Claims 1 and 10-11, Choi et al. disclose Claim 1- a refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet (10);
a hinge shaft (70) fixed to the cabinet.
a door (32) configured to open or close the cabinet, the door including a lower frame part (40);
an upper moving plate (43) on an upper surface of the lower frame part of the door, and movable with respect to the lower frame part;
a lower moving plate (44) on a lower surface of the lower frame part of the door, including a hinge hole (54) formed therein and into which the hinge shaft (70) is inserted.
Choi et al. a hinge for a refrigerator with an upper and lower plate secured to the lower frame part of the door but does not expressly disclose the upper and lower moving plater moving integrally and a hinge hole adjuster configured to move the upper moving plate or the lower moving plate in a forward direction or a rearward direction.
Kim et al. discloses a hinge for a refrigerator door having a hinge shaft (H) is coupled to the upper moving plate (420) so that the lower moving plate (410) moves integrally with the upper moving plate; and a hinge hole adjuster (450) configured to move the upper moving plate (420) or the lower moving plate in a forward direction or a rearward direction with respect to a front surface of the cabinet (10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the upper and lower moving plate taught by with a hinge hole adjuster , similar to the one taught by Kim et al., so that the that distance between the refrigerator body and the refrigerating compartment door can be adjusted easily to maintain the desired distance between the cabinet and door after installation.
Regarding Claims 10 and 11, the combination discloses Kim et al. Claim 10-
a locking member (430) configured to selectively fix the lower moving plate to the lower frame part of the door; Claim 11- wherein the locking member (430) includes a locking bolt or a locking lever (433).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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. Specifically, the closest art does not disclose a fixing groove formed in the lower frame part of the door and including a hooking portion, or the a fixing member on the lower frame part of the door and including a hooking portion; such that front and rear adjusting bolt rotatable with respect to the hooking portion and configured to move the lower moving plate in the forward direction or the rearward direction with respect to the front surface of the cabinet.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)270-3328. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11:30-5:30.
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/KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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