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.
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 1-4, 6, 7 and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 5,347,476 issued to McBean, Sr. (“McBean”) in view of U.S. Patent 10,918,340 issued to Quinn et al. (“Quinn”), U.S. Patent 11,169,040 issued to Bashan et al. (“Bashan”) and U.S. Patent 11,297,143 issued to Emmert et al. (“Emmert”).
As for claim 1, McBean discloses a pressure testing system, comprising:
a plurality of pressure sensors (20, 34), each pressure sensor, comprising:
a pressure transducer (22) to measure pressure and convert the measured pressure to pressure data;
a sensor storage module (24), the sensor storage module containing a unique identifier of the pressure sensor (col. 9, line 60 - col. 10, line 14); and
a sensor communications module (26-32) in communication with the pressure transducer for transmitting identifier data and the pressure data; and
a user interface (36), comprising:
an interface storage module (60, 92) for containing a library of identifiers of the pressure sensors associated with the user interface by the user (col. 13, lines 53-55),
an interface communications module (42-60) which communicates with the sensor communications module of each pressure sensor for receiving the transmitted identifier data and pressure data from a selected pressure sensor, the selected pressure sensor being one of the pressure sensors of the pressure testing system that is selected for use (steps 152, 154 and 166); and
a controller (38) which communicates with each pressure sensor via the interface communications module (see Fig. 1) and the sensor communications module of the selected pressure sensor for identifying the selected pressure sensor (steps 152, 154) and confirming that the selected pressure sensor is associated with the user interface (step 156).
McBean does not explicitly disclose that the identifier of each pressure sensor is a unique identifier. Instead, McBean discloses that the identifier is a sensor-type identifier that provides information about the sensor type (col. 13, lines 49-53). McBean separately discloses a unique identifier (i.e. a serial number) for each sensor (col. 13, lines 45-48).
However, Quinn discloses an identifier of a sensor that is a unique identifier (i.e. a serial number; col. 31, line 67 - col. 32, line 6). Quinn discloses that the unique identifier is a unique serial number that also describes the sensor type (col. 32, lines 2-6).
Because McBean and Quinn both disclose identifying information that uniquely identifies a sensor and the type of sensor, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to substitute the unique identifier of Quinn for the sensor-type identifier and unique identifier of McBean to achieve the predictable result of providing information that uniquely identifies a sensor and the type of sensor, and also to reduce the amount of data needed to describe the sensor.
McBean as modified by Quinn does not explicitly disclose a housing.
However, Bashan discloses a housing (molded case; see Abstract and col. 10, lines 13-17) mountable to an item the pressure of which is to be measured.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the pressure sensor of McBean and Quinn to include a housing as disclosed by Bashan in order to conveniently provide a sensor with associated electronics (Bashan: col. 2, lines 10-13).
McBean as modified by Quinn and Bashan discloses a housing (Bashan: molded case; see Abstract and col. 10, lines 13-17) mountable to an item the pressure of which is to be measured;
a pressure transducer (McBean: 22 and Bashan: 120) arranged in the housing (Bashan: see Fig. 2) to measure pressure and convert the measured pressure to pressure data;
a sensor storage module (McBean: 24 and Bashan: 142) arranged in the housing (Bashan: see Fig. 2), the sensor storage module containing a unique identifier of the pressure sensor (col. 9, line 60 - col. 10, line 14).
McBean as presently modified by Quinn and Bashan does not disclose that the interface communications module communicates wirelessly.
However, Bashan discloses an interface communications module (implied to connect 816 to 1 in Fig. 8; col. 22, lines 2-23) which communicates wirelessly (col. 22, lines 2-23) with a sensor communications module (150) of a pressure sensor.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the interface communications module and sensor communications module of McBean, Quinn and Bashan to communicate wirelessly as disclosed by Bashan in order to simplify the mechanical configuration of the system by not requiring components of the system to be connected by wires.
Although McBean as modified by Quinn and Bashan discloses the unique identifier (McBean: col. 9, line 60 - col. 10, line 10 and Quinn: col. 32, lines 2-6), McBean as modified by Quinn and Bashan does not disclose a representation of the unique identifier carried on an external surface of the housing to be visible to a user.
However, Emmert discloses a representation of a unique identifier carried on an external surface of a housing (5) to be visible to a user (col. 3, lines 30-32).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the housing of the McBean, Quinn and Bashan to include the unique identifier on an external surface as disclosed by Emmert in order to allow the visual identification of the sensor component by a user (Emmert: col. 1, lines 20-32).
McBean as presently modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert does not disclose that the user interface is configured to receive and store as recited.
However, Bashan discloses a user interface (Fig. 10 and col. 20, line 64 - col. 21, line 1) that is configured to:
receive a manual entry of a unique identifier (step 1023; col. 24, lines 11-14; see also col. 20, line 64 - col. 21, line 1), the manual entry based on the respective representation of the unique identifier seen by a user (This limitation describes the process of making the interface storage module - i.e. the interface storage module is electronic memory that has a database of unique identifiers, and this limitation describes how the data is entered into the database. The method of entering the data into the database does not structurally distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art.), and
store the received manual entry of each unique identifier in a library of the interface storage module (steps 1020-1023; col. 24, lines 16-14; see also col. 20, line 64 - col. 21, line 1).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the interface storage module of McBean, Quinn, Bashan and Emmert to include the function of receiving and storing as disclosed by Bashan in order to allow a user to add more pressure measurement devices to the system.
As for claim 2, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that each pressure sensor further comprises a sensor controller (Bashan: 140) for controlling operation of the sensor communications module (Bashan: 150) to send the pressure data after a connection has been established with the interface communications module (McBean: step 166).
As for claim 3, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that the sensor communications module (Bashan: 150) is operable, by the sensor controller (Bashan: 140), to provide access to the unique identifier of the sensor storage module for the interface communications module to read the unique identifier (McBean: steps 152, 156; col. 13, lines 37-55 and Bashan: step 910) for determining that the unique identifier of the selected pressure sensor matches one of the unique identifiers stored in the interface storage module to establish the connection with the sensor communications module (McBean: steps 152, 156; col. 13, lines 37-55).
As for claim 4, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that the controller (McBean: 38 and Bashan: part of 816) of the user interface is configured to operate the interface communications module (McBean: 58 and Bashan: pat of 816) to read the unique identifier of the sensor storage module of the selected pressure sensor (McBean: step 152 and Bashan: step 1010) to determine that the unique identifier of the selected pressure sensor matches one of the unique identifiers stored in the interface storage module to establish the connection with the sensor communications module (McBean: steps 152, 156).
As for claim 6, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses a Bluetooth protocol used as a communications protocol (Bashan: col. 2, lines 55-60) between the sensor communications module of each pressure sensor (Bashan: col. 9, line 66 - col. 10, line 6) and the user interface (Bashan: col. 2, lines 51-54), the sensor communications module thus being a Bluetooth module and the interface communications module also being a Bluetooth module.
As for claim 7, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that the user interface (McBean: 36) further comprises a display (McBean: 40) on which information is displayed to the user.
As for claim 20, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that the controller of the user interface is configured to identify the selected pressure sensor by operating the interface communications module to read the unique identifier that is:
stored in the sensor storage module of the selected pressure sensor (McBean: steps 152, 154 and Bashan: steps 938), and
transmitted wirelessly as identifier data by the sensor communications module of the selected pressure sensor to the interface communications module (McBean: steps 152, 154 and col. 13, lines 42-45; and Bashan: steps 910 and 1010).
As for claim 21, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that the controller of the user interface is configured to confirm that that the selected pressure sensor is associated with the user interface (McBean: step 156) by determining if unique identifier read by the interface communications module matches with one of the unique identifiers stored in the library (McBean: col. 13, lines 49-60).
As for claim 22, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses that if the unique identifier read by the interface communications module matches one of the unique identifiers in the library (McBean: col. 13, lines 49-60 and step 156 - yes), the controller of the user interface is configured to operate the interface communications module to obtain pressure data from the selected pressure sensor (McBean: step 166).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 5,347,476 issued to McBean, Sr. (“McBean”) in view of U.S. Patent 10,918,340 issued to Quinn et al. (“Quinn”), U.S. Patent 11,169,040 issued to Bashan et al. (“Bashan”) and U.S. Patent 11,297,143 issued to Emmert et al. (“Emmert”) as applied to claim 4, further in view of U.S. Patent 10,828,943 issued to Bill et al. (“Bill”).
As for claim 5, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses the system according to claim 4 (see the rejection of claim 4 above).
McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert does not disclose that each pressure sensor further comprises an annunciator controlled by the sensor controller for indicating operational status of the pressure sensor.
However, Bill discloses an annunciator (204) controlled by a sensor controller (200) for indicating operational status of a pressure sensor.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify each pressure sensor of McBean, Quinn, Bashan and Emmert to include an annunciator as disclosed by Bill in order to notify a user when a pressure sensor has a fault condition (Bill: col. 11, lines 44-50).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 5,347,476 issued to McBean, Sr. (“McBean”) in view of U.S. Patent 10,918,340 issued to Quinn et al. (“Quinn”), U.S. Patent 11,169,040 issued to Bashan et al. (“Bashan”) and U.S. Patent 11,297,143 issued to Emmert et al. (“Emmert”) as applied to claim 1, further in view of U.S. Patent 10,565,899 issued to Dignam et al. (“Dignam”).
As for claim 8, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert discloses the system according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1 above).
McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan and Emmert does not disclose a carrier defining a plurality of receptacles for receiving the pressure sensors and the user interface, each pressure sensor and the user interface being received in their respective receptacles.
However, Dignam discloses a plurality of receptacles for receiving sensors and a user interface, each sensor and the user interface being received in their respective receptacles (col. 1, lines 46-51).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the system of McBean, Quinn, Bashan and Emmert by including the carrier as disclosed by Dignam in order to provide portability for the system (Dignam: col. 1, lines 46-53).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 5,347,476 issued to McBean, Sr. (“McBean”) in view of U.S. Patent 10,918,340 issued to Quinn et al. (“Quinn”), U.S. Patent 11,169,040 issued to Bashan et al. (“Bashan”), U.S. Patent 11,297,143 issued to Emmert et al. (“Emmert”) and U.S. Patent 10,565,899 issued to Dignam et al. (“Dignam”) as applied to claim 8 above, further in view of U.S. Patent 10,258,309 issued to Su et al. (“Su”).
As for claim 9, McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan, Emmert and Dignam discloses the system according to claim 8 (see the rejection of claim 8 above).
McBean as modified by Quinn, Bashan, Emmert and Dignam does not disclose that the carrier houses a store of electrical power and in which each receptacle has an electrical terminal associated with it for supplying electrical power to each pressure sensor and the user interface when the pressure sensors and the user interface are contained in their respective receptacles.
However, Su discloses a carrier (1205) that houses a store of electrical power and in which each receptacle has an electrical terminal associated with it for supplying electrical power to each sensor (1201) and a user interface (1202) when the sensors and the user interface are contained in their respective receptacles (col. 45, lie 58 - col. 46, line 4).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to modify the carrier of McBean, Quinn, Bashan, Emmert and Dignam to include the store of electrical power as disclosed by Su in order to allow the sensors to operate for a long period of time without accessing an external power source (Su: col. 46, lines 1-4).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/11/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On the third page of the Remarks, Applicant argues that McBean does not disclose an interface storage module for containing a library of unique identifiers of the pressure sensors associated with the user interface by the user. However, the examiner notes that this limitation is met by McBean as modified by Quinn and Bashan.
On the fourth page of the Remarks, Applicant argues that McBean, Quinn, Petrucelli and Emmert do not disclose a user interface configured to receive and store a manual entry of the unique identifier. The examiner agrees; therefore a rejection under McBean, Quinn, Bashan and Emmert has been provided in response to the amendment to claim 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN N OLAMIT whose telephone number is (571)270-1969. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am - 5 pm (Pacific).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Meier can be reached at (571) 272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN N OLAMIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853