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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 16-25 and 34-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ford (US 2020/0054188), and in further view of Kawaguchi (JP 2006282078A machine translation).
Regarding claim 16, Ford figures 1-4 teach a dish washer, comprising:
a tub (104) that defines a washing space configured to accommodate tableware, the tub having an open front side; [0022]
a door (116) configured to rotate relative to the tub to thereby open and close the open front side of the tub, the door having an opening (210 pocket recess) defined at a front surface of the door; [0023][0042]
a handle (200) that includes a gripping groove (226) that extends from the opening in the front surface of the door toward an inside of the door, the gripping groove being configured to be gripped by a user to open and close the door; [0042]and
a light source (252 light pipe) that is disposed inside the door and faces the gripping groove, the light source being configured to emit visible light toward at least a portion of the gripping groove.[0052]
Ford is silent to a cover configured to rotate toward the inside of the door relative to the front surface of the door to thereby open and close the opening of the door.
Kawaguchi is directed towards a dishwasher where figure 18 teaches handle portion that is recessed inwardly at the top of the front panel and that can be inserted with the user's fingertips, and that is provided inside the handle portion and rotates when the user's fingertip is inserted into the handle portion. A rotating body 71 having a grip portion 712 for receiving the inserted finger is provided inside the handle portion 13 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal shaft 711. [page 2][page 12]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to provide a handle portion with a rotating body to facilitate opening and closing of the dishwasher door.
Regarding claim 17, Ford figures 7-9 teach a grip 226 that extends from horizontal arm 222 substantially along a vertical direction V when door assembly 180 is closed thereby reading on the gripping groove comprises: a horizontal groove that extends from the opening of the door rearwardly in a horizontal direction; and a vertical groove that extends from an upper end of the horizontal groove upwardly in a vertical direction, the vertical groove being disposed rearward relative to the opening of the door, and wherein the light source is disposed forward relative to the vertical groove.[0046,0049, 0055]
Regarding claim 18, Ford figure 4 teaches the light source (illuminating status indicators 250, such as light pipe 252) is disposed between the opening of the door and the vertical groove.[0057]
Regarding claim 19, Ford figure 4 teaches wherein the light source (illuminating status indicators 250, such as light pipe 252) is disposed at a height corresponding to the upper end of the horizontal groove.
Regarding claim 20, Ford figure 4 suggests wherein a lower end of the light source is disposed inside the door such that no part of the light source protrudes to an upper end surface of the horizontal groove.
Regarding claim 21, Ford figure 4 suggests wherein the lower end of the light source is flush with the upper end surface of the horizontal groove.
Regarding claim 22, Ford figure 4 suggests wherein the light source extends linearly along an extension direction of the opening of the door.
Regarding claims 23-25, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the width of the light sources in a left-right direction of the door as a change in size/ proportion is an obvious modification. (MPEP 2144.04)
Regarding claim 34, Ford figure 4 teaches a light source 288 includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED) thereby suggesting the light source comprises a substrate and one or more light emitting diodes that are arranged on the substrate along the opening of the door.[0058]
Regarding claim 35, Ford figure 4 teaches light pipe 252 is positioned between a top surface 256 of pocket handle 220 and a bottom surface of handle frame 202. In this regard, status indicator 250, or more specifically light pipe 252, is positioned within illumination gap 254 for directing light out of front 218 of door assembly 180, e.g., directly along the transverse direction T thereby reading on wherein the light source is disposed closer to the front surface of the door than to a rear surface of the door.[0052]
Claim(s) 26-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ford (US 2020/0054188) and Kawaguchi (JP 2006282078A machine translation), as applied to claim 16, and in further view of Kim (KR 20070008818 A machine translation).
Regarding claim 26, Ford in view of Kawaguchi is silent to a cover driver configured to rotate the cover between a forwardmost position of the cover and a rearmost position of the cover relative to the front surface of the door.
Lee is directed towards a lock apparatus of a dishwasher where figure 5 teaches a drive motor (40) to guide rotation of the locking cover (20).[Abstract]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to provide a drive motor as taught in Lee to guide rotation of the locking cover.
Regarding claim 27, Ford teaches to provide a user with information regarding the appliance operation, e.g., such as a status of an operating cycle or an indication that a cycle is complete, status indicators are often positioned on the outer door of the appliance such that they are visible to a user of the appliance thereby suggesting wherein the light source is configured to turn on before the cover driver moving the cover from the forwardmost position to the rearmost position.[0002]
Regarding claim 28, Ford suggests wherein the light source is configured to turn on simultaneously with an operation of the cover driver for moving the cover from the forwardmost position to the rearmost position to be an obvious modification to provide a user with information regarding the appliance operation, e.g., such as a status of an operating cycle or an indication that a cycle is complete, status indicators are often positioned on the outer door of the appliance such that they are visible to a user of the appliance.
Regarding claim 29, Ford figure 4 suggests wherein the cover is configured to, based on the cover being moved to the rearmost position by the cover driver, reflect a first portion of the visible light toward an outside of the door.
Regarding claim 30, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to provide the cover is configured to, based on the cover being moved to the rearmost position by the cover driver, reflect a second portion of the visible light toward the gripping groove as a rearrangement of parts is an obvious modification.(MPEP 2144.04)
Regarding claim 31, Ford modified by Kawaguchi and Lee suggest wherein the forwardmost position of the cover is flush with the front surface of the door.
Regarding claim 32, Ford modified by Kawaguchi and Lee suggest wherein the light source is configured to be disposed rearward relative to a rear surface of the cover based on the cover being moved to the forwardmost position by the cover driver.
Regarding claim 33, Ford modified by Kawaguchi and Lee suggest wherein the cover driver comprises a drive motor that is disposed inside the gripping groove to be an obvious modification through a rearrangement of parts.(MPEP 2144.04)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CRISTI J TATE-SIMS whose telephone number is (571)272-1722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Barr can be reached at 571-272-1414. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CRISTI J. TATE-SIMS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/CRISTI J TATE-SIMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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