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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicants’ submission filed on February 13, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 are pending with claims 4, 11-13 and 18-20 being previously withdrawn. An action on the merits is as follows.
Objection to claim 1 has been withdrawn.
Rejection of claims 1-3, 5-10, 14 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: the limitation “wherein the current floor information is the floor label” should be changed to state
“wherein the current floor label information is the floor label” for consistency.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 5-7, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pineau et al. (US 8,688,664 B2) in view of Vogl (US 8,602,171 B2).
Claim 1: Pineau et al. discloses a method for configuring a display unit (114a-b,134a-c) (column 3 lines 59-67), where the display unit includes an in-car display of an elevator system (column 2 lines 40-44). The in-car display includes a controller for controlling displayed information and communications with components of the elevator system, as is recognized in the art. Information corresponding to a request is received via a property server that is required to initiate a learning procedure of the in-car display (column 1 lines 56-61). The learning procedure retrieves data from an elevator control of the elevator system (column 4 lines 4-8), and is started so as to update a configuration of the in-car display by gathering (retrieving) floor information for all floors of the elevator system along with any updated information and generating the configuration of the in-car display based on the floor information that has been gathered for displaying the updated information (column 3 lines 43-46, 56-67). The floor information is a floor label (floor name) for each floor (column 4 lines 3-6). This reference fails to disclose the information required to initiate the learning procedure to be received via the controller of the in-car display such that the controller of the in-car display starts the learning procedure in response to a user initiation.
However Vogl teaches a method, where information (identification pattern) required to initiate switching into another mode (maintenance mode) is received via a controller of an elevator panel (landing call receiving means) such that the controller of the elevator panel starts the switching procedure in response to a user initiation (operation) (column 2 lines 22-25).
Given the teachings of Vogl, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Pineau et al. with providing the information required to initiate the learning procedure to be received via the controller of the in-car display such that the controller of the in-car display starts the learning procedure in response to a user initiation. Doing so would allow an authorized user to manually switch into the learning procedure when convenient for the user, while preventing normal passengers from doing so, as taught in Vogl (column 6 lines 29-32).
Claim 5: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method as stated above, where updating the configuration of the in-car display is disclosed in Pineau et al. to include generating, via the controller of the in-car display, a visual representation on a display (300) for a graphical user interface of the in-car display, as can be seen from FIG. 3 (column 4 lines 26-31).
Claim 6: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method as stated above, where the configuration of the in-car display is disclosed in Pineau et al. to include information about numbers of the floors in a position indicator area (302), as shown in FIG. 3.
Claim 7: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method as stated above, where the information required to initiate the learning procedure is shown in Vogl to include an access authorization code (predetermined sequence) (column 6 lines 27-30). Floor information is disclosed in Pineau et al. to be gathered from an elevator control system (column 4 lines 3-6).
Claim 14: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method as stated above, where a configuration of an elevator car position indicator of the in-car display is disclosed in Pineau et al. to be generated via the controller of the in-car display based on car position indicator information indicating an elevator’s current floor and direction of travel (column 4 lines 32-33) and is updated periodically in a position indicator area (302) shown in FIG. 3, as the elevator car travels through a shaft, as is known in the art.
Claim 15: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method where the configuration of the in-car display is updated based on the received floor information, as stated above. This reference fails to disclose the update to be as the floor information is received, which occurs before the floor information for all floors has been gathered.
However it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Pineau et al. with providing the update to be as the floor information is received, which occurs before the floor information for all floors has been gathered. Doing so would allow a user to verify a correct sequence of floor information being generated in real time.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pineau et al. (US 8,688,664 B2) in view of Kattainen et al. (US 11,897,729 B2).
Claim 16: Pineau et al. discloses a system for configuring a display of an elevator system based on a learning procedure for a display unit (114a-b,134a-c) (column 3 lines 59-67), where the display unit includes an in-car display for an elevator car of the elevator system (column 2 lines 40-44). The in-car display includes a controller for controlling displayed information and communications with components of the elevator system, as is recognized in the art. An in-car display for an elevator is shown in FIG. 3 be configured with a floor label in a position indicator area (302) which corresponds to floor labels (floor names) for each floor that is accessible to the elevator system (column 4 lines 3-8). The in-car display is further shown to display a destination floor to which the elevator car is traveling. A learning mode is implemented to retrieve current floor label information (updated information) during an update to the elevator system in order to provide the current floor label information for display by the in-car display (column 3 lines 43-46, 56-67). An elevator control system provides the current floor label information to the controller of the in-car display, wherein the current floor information is the floor label for each floor (column 4 lines 3-8). The elevator control system would be connected to the in-car display via a serial connection in order to properly provide communications between the elevator control system and the in-car display, as is recognized in the art. This reference fails to disclose the in-car display to indicate a learning mode.
However Kattainen et al. teaches a system, where an in-car display (car operating panel) indicates when the system is in a different mode (service mode) (column 4 lines 16-19).
Given the teachings of Kattainen et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system disclosed in Pineau et al. with providing the in-car display to indicate a learning mode. Doing so would notify potential passengers that the elevator car is “not available for passenger transport” as taught in Kattainen et al. (column 4 lines 16-20).
Claim 17: Pineau et al. modified by Kattainen et al. discloses a system as stated above, where the elevator control system is disclosed in Pineau et al. to receive and fulfill requests to update the floor labels from a location that is remote to the elevator system (column 1 lines 46-48).
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pineau et al. (US 8,688,664 B2) modified by Vogl (US 8,602,171 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Simcik (US 2017/0355556 A1).
Claim 2: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method as stated above, where an elevator car position indicator is disclosed in Pineau et al. to be included in a position indicator area (302), which is based on car position indicator information, and configured for display on the in-car display (column 4 lines 32-33), as shown in FIG. 3. These references fail to disclose the configuration of the generated in-car display to include virtual buttons configured for display on a touchscreen portion of the in-car display for receiving car calls.
However Simcik teaches a method for configuring an in-car display of an elevator system, where a configuration of a generated in-car display includes virtual buttons (destination floor graphical objects) configured for display (page 1 paragraph [0009]) on a touchscreen portion of an in-car display for receiving car calls (page 1 paragraph [0004]).
Given the teachings of Simcik, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Pineau et al. as modified by Vogl with providing the configuration of the generated in-car display to include virtual buttons configured for display on a touchscreen portion of the in-car display for receiving car calls. Doing so would provide an in-car display which allows for “a more intuitive, convenient, and faster method of initiating an elevator call” as taught in Simcik (page 1 paragraph [0003]).
Claim 3: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl and Simcik discloses a method as stated above, where the configuration of the in-car display is disclosed in Pineau to be based on the car position indicator information (column 4 lines 32-33), as shown in FIG. 3. The in-car display is further shown in FIG. 1 of Simcik to include at least two virtual buttons (destination floor graphical objects) configured for display on the touchscreen for floors where an elevator car may be accessible via two different doors corresponding to two different floors (page 1 paragraph [0009]).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pineau et al. (US 8,688,664 B2) modified by Vogl (US 8,602,171 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Drouet et al. (US 9,884,746 B2).
Claim 8: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method, where floor information for all the floors of the elevator system are gathered, as stated above. Pineau et al. discloses current floor information to be displayed on the in-car display in position indicator area (302) (column 4 lines 32-33). The displayed current floor information is gathered for each floor that the elevator car passes as the elevator car passes each floor, as is known in the art. These reference fail to disclose the floor information to be gathered by moving an elevator car past all of the floors of the elevator system, and it to be determined whether the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system, wherein if the elevator car has not passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the elevator car is moved past yet-to-be-passed floors, wherein if the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the configuration of the in-car display is generated based on the gathered floor information.
However Drouet et al. teaches a method, where floor information is gathered by moving an elevator car past all of the floors of the elevator system (from bottom floor to top floor or top floor to bottom floor), and it to be determined whether the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system, wherein if the elevator car has not passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the elevator car is moved past yet-to-be-passed floors, wherein if the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the configuration of the in-car display is generated based on the gathered floor information (column 5 line 58-64).
Given the teachings of Drouet et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Pineau et al. as modified by Vogl with providing the floor information to be gathered by moving an elevator car past all of the floors of the elevator system, and it to be determined whether the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system, wherein if the elevator car has not passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the elevator car is moved past yet-to-be-passed floors, wherein if the elevator car has passed all of the floors of the elevator system then the configuration of the in-car display is generated based on the gathered floor information. Doing so would allow gathering of floor information to “be easily automated. As a result, the installation times and costs can be lowered” as taught in Drouet et al. (column 3 lines 61-34).
Claim 9: Pineau et al. modified by Vogl discloses a method, where the learning procedure is initiated (started), as stated above. The in-car display is disclosed in Pineau et al. to be initially programmed during installation, as is known in the art (column 1 lines 24-26). Therefore the initial learning procedure would be executed during installation of the elevator system. The elevator car is shown in FIG. 2 to include the in-car display and floor-selection buttons (204) (column 4 lines 24-26). Therefore power would be provided to a cabin operating panel having the controller of the in-car display for proper operation of the in-car display and floor-selection buttons, as is recognized in the art. The cabin operating panel receives a total number of floors that are accessible by the elevator system when receiving floor information for all floors of the elevator system (column 4 lines 3-6). Current floor information is displayed on the in-car display in position indicator area (302) (column 4 lines 32-33). An elevator control system provides the floor information for each floor that the elevator car passes to the controller of the in-car display, as is known in the art.
An access authorization code (predetermined sequence) is received (column 6 lines 27-30) at the operating panel (landing call receiving means) as shown in shown in Vogl (column 2 lines 22-25). These references fail to disclose a first call to be put to a first floor and a second call to be put to a top floor, an elevator car to be moved to the first floor and then moving the elevator car to the top floor, and it to be checked whether the elevator car has reached the top floor, wherein if the elevator car has reached the top floor the controller of in-car display generates the configuration of the in-car display based on the floor information that has been gathered.
However Drouet et al. teaches a method, where floor information is gathered by moving an elevator car to the first floor and then moving the elevator car to the top floor (from bottom floor to top floor or top floor to bottom floor), and it to be checked whether the elevator car has reached the top floor, wherein if the elevator car has reached the top floor the controller of in-car display generates the configuration of the in-car display based on the floor information that has been gathered (column 5 line 58-64). A first call then would be put to a first floor and a second call would be put to a top floor in order to move the elevator car to the first floor and then the top floor, as is recognized in the art.
Given the teachings of Drouet et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Pineau et al. as modified by Vogl with providing a first call to be put to a first floor and a second call to be put to a top floor, an elevator car to be moved to the first floor and then moving the elevator car to the top floor, and it to be checked whether the elevator car has reached the top floor, wherein if the elevator car has reached the top floor the controller of in-car display generates the configuration of the in-car display based on the floor information that has been gathered. Doing so would allow gathering of floor information to “be easily automated. As a result, the installation times and costs can be lowered” as taught in Drouet et al. (column 3 lines 61-34).
Claim 10: Pineau et al. as modified by Vogl and Drouet et al. discloses a method, where the first call puts the elevator car to the first floor, and the second call puts the elevator call to the top floor, as stated above. The in-car display then would show the call to the first floor and the second call to the top floor, as is recognized in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER UHLIR whose telephone number is (571)270-3091. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4.
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/Christopher Uhlir/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619 April 3, 2026