DETAILED ACTION
The communication dated 2/14/2025 has been entered and fully considered.
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
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 .
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.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dausch et al. U.S. Patent 5,560,060 (henceforth referred to as Dausch).
As for claim 1, Dausch teaches a dishwasher (Fig. 1: part 10) comprising: a tub (Fig. 1: part 12) defining a washing space therein; a sump (Fig. 1: part 22) disposed under the tub and constructed to store washing water to be supplied to the tub therein; a washing water pump (Fig. 1: part 20) configured to pressurize the washing water and supply the pressurized washing water to the washing space; a turbidity sensor (Fig. 1: part 26) configured to sense turbidity values of the washing water: and a controller (Fig. 1: part 30) electrically connected to the turbidity sensor and the washing water pump, wherein the controller is configured to detect the turbidity values of the washing water via the turbidity sensor during a cycle and determine whether to continue the cycle based on the detected turbidity values (column 4, line 38 to column 5, line 43; Fig. 16).
As for claim 2, Dausch further teaches that the controller configured to determine whether to continue the cycle is further configured to calculate a rate of change of turbidity values during a washing cycle and determine whether to continue the washing cycle based on the calculated rate of change (column 5, lines 44-67).
As for claim 10, Dausch further teaches that the controller configured to determine whether to continue the cycle is further configured to determine whether to continue a rinsing cycle based on turbidity values measured during the rinsing cycle (column 5, lines 44-67).
As for claim 11, Dausch further teaches that the controller configured to determine whether to continue the rinsing cycle is further configured to: receive an output signal from the turbidity sensor and detect turbidity values of the washing water; sample the detected turbidity values of the washing water at a third interval and store the sampled turbidity values: and determine whether the sampled turbidity values exceed a reference turbidity value (columns 14-18).
As for claim 12, Dausch further teaches that the controller is further configured to determine to stop the rinsing cycle when the sampled turbidity values are determined to be smaller than the reference turbidity value (Fig. 16).
As for claim 13, Dausch further teaches that the controller is further configured to stop operation of the washing water pump when the stopping of the rinsing cycle is determined (Fig. 16).
As for claim 14, Dausch further teaches that the third interval is 1 second (column 12, line 46 to column 13, line 62).
As for claim 15, Dausch further teaches that the reference turbidity value is 100 NTU (column 14, lines 14 to 63).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Dausch et al. U.S. Patent 5,560,060, the closest prior art, differs from the instant claims in failing to teach the configuration of the controller as claimed. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dishwasher taught by Dausch as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEVON J SHAHINIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1384. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-6:00pm.
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/LEVON J SHAHINIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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