Appeal 2007-0002
Application 10/188,485
single timer version in which the bun and meat are cooked for the same amount of
time is preferable, because the bun and meat portions have the same heating times
and the apparatus is thus easier to make and operate (FF 21).
It would have been obvious to modify Naramura’s apparatus to achieve
simultaneous cooking times of the bread and sandwich contents, in view of
Russell’s teaching that it is desirable to achieve simultaneous cooking for ease of
operation of the apparatus. Further, common sense tells us that it is easier to cook
different parts of the sandwich using different devices if everything takes the same
amount of time to cook. This allows an operator to start all of the sandwich
components cooking at the same time and then retrieve and assemble the
components for serving at the same time. In a fast food environment, such as is
described in Naramura, those cooking are often inexperienced and required to
multitask in a busy environment. By automating the cooking/toasting process, as
in Naramura, the worker is not required to be an experienced cook. Further, in an
automated apparatus, such as Naramura, simultaneous cooking requires only one
timer for both components which is, according to Russell, an easier apparatus to
make.
In this case, the market demand for heightened productivity in the
production of hot sandwiches created a strong incentive to efficiently prepare the
components of a sandwich, and the prior art taught a number of known cooking
methods and devices for achieving this goal. A fast food restaurant owner of
ordinary skill, possessed with knowledge of the prior art and facing the market
demand for fast and hot sandwiches, would have seen a benefit to improving upon
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