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 .
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 § 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 16-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morris et al (12,234,997) in view of Liu et al (12,094,228)
Regarding claim method claim 16 and household appliance claim 31 Morris discloses,
Generating a plurality of images from a treatment chamber of the household appliance (note fig. 2 block 100 and col. 3 lines 30-40 and 50-55, images from cooking chamber of the cooking appliance) at time intervals (note col. 3 lines 17-29 and col. 6 lines 52-62, images at different rate of capture, showing over a change of time) by a treatment chamber camera (note fig. 2 block 114 and col. 3 lines 57-col. 4 lines 8, describes imaging device position for cooking chamber) with at least one camera setting;
Using at least two of the images for at least two different purposes (note fig. 6 and col. 7 lines 56 and col. 8 lines 3, col. 9 lines 1-9, doneness prediction, images at different times can show foodstuff overcooking or burning). Morris does not clearly disclose with at least one camera setting, varying a camera setting of the treatment chamber as a function of purpose. Liu discloses with at least one camera setting, varying camera setting of the treatment chamber as function of the purpose (note col. 7 lines 40-59, examiner interprets setting as resolution determining level of doneness). Morris and Liu are combinable because they are from the same field of endeavor. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a camera with camera setting in the system of Morris as evidenced by Liu. The suggestion/motivation for doing so provides accuracy when determining level of doneness in food (note col. 1 lines 44-46). It would have been obvious to combine Liu with Morris to obtain the invention as specified by claims 16 and 31.
Regarding method claim 17 Morris and Liu discloses,
Wherein the camera setting comprises at least one camera setting from the group consisting of - image resolution; compression ratio; color depth; white balance; sensor gain; exposure time; gamma correction; file format of image; use of flash; and lens setting, when the treatment chamber camera has a settable lens (note col. 7 lines 40-59 image resolution).
Regarding method claim 18 and household appliance claims 32 and 33 Morris discloses,
Wherein the household appliance is a household cooking appliance (note col. 3 lines 31-34, household cooking appliance), the treatment chamber is a cooking chamber (note col. 3 lines 39-41, cooking chamber), and the treatment chamber camera is a cooking chamber camera (note fig. 1 block 114 and col. 3 lines 64-67, camera oriented to cooking compartment interprets as treatment chamber camera).
Regarding method claim 19 and household appliance claim 33 Morris discloses,
Wherein the household cooking appliance is an oven (col. 3 lines 39-41, household cooking appliance is an oven).
Regarding method claim 20 Morris discloses,
Wherein the at least two different purposes comprise at least two purposes from the group consisting of: - geometric food identification of food being cooked in the cooking chamber, - substantive food identification of food being cooked in the cooking chamber, - identification of a state of food being cooked in the cooking chamber, - identification of soiling of the cooking chamber, - identification of an insertion level of the food being cooked, - display of an image for a user, and - retention for data analysis (note col. 6 lines 23-27, determining from image doneness degree, identification of state of food being cooked in the cooking chamber).
Regarding method claim 21 Morris discloses,
Wherein the state of the food being cooked in the cooking chamber comprises at least one state from the group consisting of degree of browning on a surface of the food being cooked, and volume or change in volume of the food being cooked (note col. 6 lines 23-27, purpose image for doneness degree).
Regarding method claim 22 Morris discloses,
Generating for one of the at least two different purposes at least one of the at least two images with a high resolution, without image compression, and with an automatically set exposure time (col. 7 lines 40-59, image resolution).
Regarding method claim 23 Morris discloses,
Producing an image by generating a number of images with high resolution, a predetermined compression ratio, and with an automatically set exposure time (note col. 7 lines 40-59).
Regarding method claim 24 Morris discloses,
Identifying the state of the food being cooked by generating at least one image with low resolution, a predetermined compression ratio, a predetermined exposure time, and with a predetermined white balance (note col. 7 lines 40-59).
Regarding method claim 25 Morris discloses,
Identifying the insertion level of the food being cooked by generating at least one image with low resolution, a predetermined compression ratio, and reduced color depth (note col. 7 lines 40-59).
Regarding method claim 26 Morris discloses,
Storing the image generated to identify the insertion level as a grayscale image (note col. 3 lines 55-65, capture image).
Regarding method claim 27 Morris discloses,
Identifying the soiling of the cooking chamber by generating at least one image with a predetermined resolution, a predetermined compression ratio, an automatically set exposure time, and a reduced color depth (note col. 7 lines 20-25).
Regarding claim 28 Morris discloses,
Generating at least one image with low resolution, a predetermined compression ratio, and a predetermined exposure time for the retention for subsequent data analysis (note col. 7 lines 40-59).
Regarding claim 29 Morris discloses,
Sending the at least one generated image to an external unit for the retention for subsequent data analysis (note col. 3 lines 13-39).
Regarding claim 30 Morris discloses,
Deciding to generate an image for a specific purpose (note fig. 2 block 100 and col. 3 lines 30-40 and 50-55, images from cooking chamber of the cooking appliance);
Supplying the camera settings associated with the specific purpose (note col. 10 lines 15-20);
Configuring the treatment chamber camera according to the supplied camera settings (note col. 10 lines 1-8, cooking compartment, cooking parameter);
Generating the image (note col. 3 lines 30-40, captures image); and
Supplying the generated image for use for the specific purpose (note col. 6 lines 23-27, determining from image doneness degree, identification of state of food being cooked in the cooking chamber).
Morris does not clearly disclose with camera according to camera setting. Liu discloses camera according to camera setting (note col. 7 lines 40-59, examiner interprets setting as resolution determining level of doneness). Morris and Liu are combinable because they are from the same field of endeavor. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a camera according to camera setting in the system of Morris as evidenced by Liu. The suggestion/motivation for doing so provides accuracy when determining level of doneness in food (note col. 1 lines 44-46). It would have been obvious to combine Liu with Morris to obtain the invention as specified by claim 30.
Regarding household appliance claim 34 Morris discloses,
A control facility receiving the plurality of images from the treatment chamber camera (note col. 6 lines 33-50, computing devices receive first and second image for doneness prediction).
Regarding household appliance claim 35 Morris discloses,
Wherein the control facility comprises a data storage unit for storing the images (note col. col. 6 lines 33-50).
Related Prior Art
Ebrom et al (20190285283) Generating a plurality of images from a treatment chamber of the household appliance (note fig. 2 block 10 oven and block 68 camera and paragraph 0017).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY M DESIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-7449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30am-3:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Henok Shiferaw can be reached at 571-272-4637. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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G.D.
September 22, 2026
/GREGORY M DESIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2676
