Appeal No. 2002-1443 Page 4
Application No. 09/251,833
The appellant describes his invention as an improved cooking appliance that is
relatively simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and provides uniform
distribution of heat over the entire surface of a griddle plate. Independent claim 13 sets
forth the invention in the following manner:
13. A cooking appliance comprising:
a housing:
a lower platen mounted to said housing;
a positioning mechanism mounted to said housing;
an upper platen mounted to said positioning mechanism, said positioning
mechanism being operable to move said upper platen between a cooking
and a non-cooking position with respect to said lower platen; and
a heating assembly for heating said lower platen, said heating assembly
comprising a non-contact infrared heating element disposed within said
heating assembly such that there is a space between said non-contact
infrared heating element and said lower platen and such that said lower
platen is substantially uniformly heated, wherein said infrared heating
element emits radiation that is substantially in the wavelength of about
900 to 4,000 nanometers.
The examiner has rejected claim 13 as being obvious in view of the combined
teachings of Adamson, Person and Payne. Specifically, the examiner has found that all
of the subject matter recited in claim 13 is disclosed by Adamson except for the non-
contact infrared heating element spaced from the lower platen and providing
substantially uniform heating at a radiation wavelength of about 900 to 4,000
nanometers. As we understand the examiner’s position, one of ordinary skill in the art
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