DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/16/2025 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 28, 29, 32, 35-38, 40-46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugghins (US 20110100349 A1) in view of Yang (KR 2007033668 A) and Castillo (US 20160211985 A1).
Regarding claim 28, Hugghins discloses a controller for a furnace system, comprising:
one or more processors (para. 59); and
a memory (para. 59) comprising instructions stored thereon, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to:
determine an operational speed limit (speed value, e.g., retrieved from a table) of a motor (motor of the draft blower 26) of the furnace system based on an operating characteristic (output capacity) of the furnace system and data (look up table) correlating operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the furnace system (paras. 34, 41, 50), the operational speed limit is a maximum desirable speed (it is a speed at which the furnace must operate at, and no more and no less, for a particular pressure condition and desired output capacity) (para. 33);
determine an operating speed of the motor based on an operating parameter (differential pressure) of the furnace system during operation of the furnace system to condition an air flow (operating speed can vary in response to the differential pressure; see paras. 6, 24);
determine whether the operating speed of the motor is above the operational speed limit during operation of the furnace system to condition the air flow (suggested in para. 41 because if the operating speed is forced to be at the operational speed limit, i.e., speed value, then that means the processor needs to know whether the operating speed is at, above, or below the operational speed limit in order to take the appropriate action to maintain, decrease, or increase the operating speed to match the speed limit) (see also para. 19 disclosing where blower motor speed information is communicated to the processor); and
operate the motor at the operating speed during operation of the furnace system to condition the air flow in response to determining that the operating speed is at or below the operational speed limit (as explained above, the motor speed is constantly monitored and adjusted to be forced at the operational speed limit, which suggests that the processor knows whether the operating speed is at, above, or below the operational speed limit in order to take the appropriate action to maintain, decrease, or increase the operating speed to match the operational speed limit).
Hugghins fails to disclose:
wherein the controller is configured to be installed in and communicatively coupled to a single furnace system of a plurality of furnace systems, each furnace system of the plurality of furnace systems comprises a respective operating characteristic different from respective operating characteristics of other furnace systems of the plurality of furnace systems;
wherein the operational speed limit is less than or equal to a rated speed of the motor, and the rated speed is indicative of an upper speed threshold at which the motor is capable of being operated,
wherein the memory comprises the data correlating the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems stored thereon.
Castillo teaches a controller (see Fig. 1: the claimed controller can either be a single one of the control units 102, or the plurality of control units 102 together) for an HVAC system (para. 32) (Castillo is in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as evidenced by paras. 2-4 of the present specification), comprising:
one or more processors (para. 36);
memory comprising instructions stored thereon (paras. 98, 127); and
wherein the controller is configured (i.e., capable) to be installed in and communicatively coupled to a single HVAC system (104/106) of a plurality of HVAC systems (the portable and separable controllers 102 can be installed inside a single HVAC system and can communicate with a single HVAC system or a plurality of HVAC systems; see para. 39 and Fig. 1), each HVAC system of the plurality of HVAC systems comprises a respective operating characteristic different from respective operating characteristics of other HVAC systems of the plurality of HVAC systems (the HVAC systems are independent from each other and can have different operating parameters; the controller stores universal settings and local settings for each HVAC unit) (paras. 26, 45, 48, 94),
wherein the memory comprises operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems stored thereon (para. 94).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Hugghins wherein the controller is configured to be installed in and communicatively to a single furnace system of a plurality of furnace systems, each furnace system of the plurality of furnace systems comprises a respective operating characteristic different from respective operating characteristics of other furnace systems of the plurality of furnace systems, wherein the memory comprises the data correlating the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems stored thereon.
The motivation to combine is to provide a controller that can control a single furnace system or a plurality of independent furnace systems. For example, the operator can install a single furnace system in the building but then decide at a later time to install additional furnace systems. Having a single controller provides for easier installation, setup, and integration of the additional furnace systems (each furnace having its own unique speed limit values and operating characteristics, as disclosed in paras. 4 and 5 of Hugghins) since all the furnace systems can be linked together into a single control system.
Yang teaches a blower motor limiter for limiting the motor at or below its rated speed, and where the rated speed is indicative of an upper speed threshold at which the motor is capable of being operated (see English abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Hugghins wherein the operational speed limit is less than or equal to a rated speed of the motor, and the rated speed is indicative of an upper speed threshold at which the motor is capable of being operated. The motivation to combine is to protect and extend the life of the blower motor. Hugghins discloses a control system that calculates operating curves for a furnace. The operating curves control the blower motor to operate from a low output to a high output. During the course of developing the operating curve, the determined high output capacity of the furnace could correspond to a maximum output of the blower motor. However, operating a blower motor at its upper limit would stress the motor, thereby decreasing the motor’s life span.
Regarding claim 29, Hugghins discloses wherein the data comprises a lookup table correlating the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems (paras. 34, 41, 50) (see also para. 103 of Castillo teaching the use of a table/database for storing settings for each HVAC system).
Regarding claim 32, Hugghins discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to change the operational speed limit via a user input (a user can adjust a thermostat, which causes a change in the operational speed limit corresponding to a selected heat output capacity) (paras. 26, 40).
Regarding claim 35, modified Hugghins discloses (see Hugghins for citations unless otherwise noted) a furnace system, comprising:
a motor having a rated speed indicative of a maximum speed at which the motor is capable of being operated (see rejection of claim 28);
a controller configured to be installed in and communicatively coupled to a single furnace system of a plurality of furnace systems including the furnace system (see Castillo), and the controller is configured to be interchangeably installed in and communicatively coupled to each furnace system of the plurality of furnace systems (the portable and separable controller 102a of Castillo can be placed inside any of the furnace systems and can communicate with one or more of the furnace systems; see paras. 35, 36 of Castillo), wherein each furnace system of the plurality of furnace systems comprises a respective operating characteristic different from respective operating characteristics of other furnace systems of the plurality of furnace systems, and for each furnace system of the plurality of furnace systems, the controller is configured to:
receive data indicative of the respective operating characteristic (output capacities, and/or current motor speed/torque) of the furnace system (paras. 19, 26);
set an operational speed limit (a speed value; see para. 25) of the motor based on the operating characteristic and additional data (data from the pressure switches/sensor) correlating operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems (para. 25), wherein the operational speed limit is less than or equal to the rated speed of the motor, and the operational speed limit is a maximum desirable speed (see rejection of claim 28);
determine an operating parameter of the furnace system (differential pressure, such as P.sub.L, P.sub.I, and P.sub.H) (when the switches activate, then the controller knows the exact differential pressure) (para. 25);
determine an operating speed of the motor based on the operating parameter (operating speed can vary in response to the differential pressure; see paras. 6, 24 and Fig. 3);
determine the operating speed is at or below the operational speed limit; and
operate the motor at the operating speed in response to determining that the operating speed is at or below the operational speed limit,
wherein the controller comprises a memory comprising the additional data correlating the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics of the plurality of furnace systems stored thereon.
Regarding claim 36, Hugghins discloses a blower (26, Fig. 1) and a heat exchanger (26), wherein the blower is configured to direct a working fluid through the heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger is configured to place the working fluid in a heat exchange relationship with an air flow.
Regarding claim 37, Hugghins discloses a conduit (32, Fig. 1) configured to direct the working fluid out of the furnace system, wherein the blower is configured to direct the working fluid through the heat exchanger, into the conduit, and out of the furnace system.
Regarding claim 38, Hugghins discloses a sensor (64, 68, 68; para. 20) configured to determine a pressure of the working fluid within the conduit and transmit data indicative of the pressure of the working fluid within the conduit to the controller, and the operating parameter comprises the pressure of the working fluid.
Regarding claim 40, Hugghins discloses wherein the controller comprises an input connection (Fig. 2: 42, 44), the motor is configured to communicatively couple to the controller (20) via the input connection, and the motor is configured to communicate the data indicative of the respective operating characteristic of the furnace system to the controller via the input connection.
Regarding claim 41, Hugghins discloses wherein the respective operating characteristic comprises a fuel input rating of the furnace system, a heat output rating of the furnace system (Fig. 3, “output capacity”), a combustion air flow rating of the furnace system, an emissions component limit of a working fluid directed through the furnace system, or any combination thereof.
Regarding claim 42, modified Hugghins discloses the controller of claim 28, wherein the data is indicative of a plurality of models of the plurality of furnace systems (units 104 and 106 in Castillo can be considered different HVAC models and information about these units are sent to the controller; see para. 45 of Castillo) (see also para. 66 of Castillo teaching where data from different types of HVAC units are sent to the controller), and the data correlates the plurality of models of the plurality of furnace systems with the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics (Castillo teaches that each of the plurality of HVAC units operate independently and can have different operating parameters, as discussed in the rejection of claim 28; Hugghins discloses in paras. 4 and 5 a single furnace with its own unique operational speed limit values and respective operating characteristics).
Regarding claim 43, modified Hugghins discloses the controller of claim 28, wherein the respective operating characteristic comprises an identifier of the furnace system (Castillo, in para. 66, teaches where a serial number/identifier associated with each HVAC unit is sent to the controller).
Regarding claim 44, modified Hugghins fails to disclose the controller of claim 43, wherein the identifier comprises a model number, an identification code, or any combination thereof. However, Castillo, in para. 66, teaches where each HVAC unit has a unique serial number or identifier that is sent to the controller. It is a matter of obvious design choice whether the identifier is a model number or identification code, since the specific type of identifier would have no effect on the performance on system.
Regarding claim 45, modified Hugghins discloses the furnace system of claim 36, wherein the respective operating characteristic comprises a fuel input rating of the furnace system, a heat output rating of the furnace system, a combustion air flow rating of the furnace system, an emissions component limit of the working fluid directed through the heat exchanger, or any combination thereof (see rejection of claim 41).
Regarding claim 46, modified Hugghins discloses the furnace system of claim 35, wherein the additional data is indicative of a plurality of models of the plurality of furnace systems (Castillo, in para. 66, teaches where a serial number/identifier associated with each HVAC unit is sent to the controller, and the serial number/identifier is indicative of, i.e., associated with the model), and the additional data correlates the operational speed limit values and the respective operating characteristics with the plurality of models of the plurality of furnace systems (Castillo teaches that each of the plurality of HVAC units operate independently and can have different operating parameters, as discussed in the rejection of claim 28; Hugghins discloses in paras. 4 and 5 a single furnace, i.e., a single furnace model, with its own unique operational speed limit values and respective operating characteristics).
Claim(s) 30, 31, 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugghins (US 20110100349 A1) in view of Yang (KR 2007033668 A) and Castillo (US 20160211985 A1), and as evidenced by Schultz (US 20080124668 A1).
Regarding claim 30, Hugghins fails to explicitly disclose wherein the operating parameter comprises a target rate at which a blower operated by the motor directs working fluid through the furnace system. Yang discloses a differential pressure switch for measuring the differential pressure between an intake end of the heat exchanger and an outlet end of the heat exchanger (para. 20). The working fluid through the heat exchanger can then be calculated by using the differential pressure and Bernoulli’s flow equation (see para. 31 of Schultz as evidentiary support). Since the differential pressure corresponds to a target flow rate, it is a matter of obvious design choice whether the operating parameter is a differential pressure or a target flow rate.
Regarding claim 31, Hugghins discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to: increase the operating speed of the motor to increase a rate at which the blower removes the working fluid from the furnace system (a higher blower speed would draw more combustion gases through the heat exchangers) (para. 17); and decrease the operating speed of the motor to decrease the rate at which the blower removes the working fluid from the furnace system (the blower speeds are increased or decreased based on a DEMAND value) (para. 26).
Regarding claim 39, Hugghins discloses wherein the motor is configured to operate the blower to direct the working fluid through the heat exchanger, and the controller is configured to regulate the operating speed of the motor based on a target rate at which the blower directs the working fluid through the heat exchanger (Yang discloses operating the speed of the motor based on a differential pressure, but not a target rate; however, see the rejection of claim 30).
Claim(s) 34, 47, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugghins (US 20110100349 A1) in view of Yang (KR 2007033668 A) and Castillo (US 20160211985 A1), as applied to claim 28, and further in view of Chian (US 20090293867 A1).
Regarding claim 34, Hugghins fails to disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to suspend operation of the furnace system based on a signal requesting operation of the motor above the operational speed limit.
However, Chian teaches a controller for a heating system, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to suspend operation of the furnace system based on a signal requesting operation of the motor above an operational speed limit (para. 50). The purpose is to prevent an unsafe condition, and so that the furnace can be recalibrated, tested, or maintained (para. 50).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Hugghins wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the one or more processors to suspend operation of the furnace system based on a signal requesting operation of the motor above the operational speed limit. The motivation to combine is so that the operator can perform testing or maintenance to determine if there is a blockage in the flue, or other issues related to the system.
Regarding claim 47, modified Hugghins discloses the furnace system of claim 35, wherein the controller is configured suspend operation of the furnace system in response to a signal indicative of a call for operation of the motor above the operational speed limit (see rejection of claim 34).
Response to Arguments
Applicant asserts on pg. 10 of the remarks the following:
PNG
media_image1.png
238
694
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Examiner’s response:
Each speed value corresponds to a maximum desirable speed for the blower to operate, and no more, for a particular pressure condition and desired output capacity. For example, if the user desires an output capacity of 65% (Hugghins, Fig. 3), then the blower speed must operate at a specific speed (for a particular pressure condition). This speed is a maximum desirable speed because it corresponds to a maximum desirable output capacity.
Applicant asserts on pgs. 11 and 12 of the remarks the following:
PNG
media_image2.png
541
697
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Examiner’s response:
The claimed controller can be interpreted as a single controller 102 or the plurality of controllers 102 collectively, and the plurality of controllers can be installed in a single furnace.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON LAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7644. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Hoang can be reached on 571-272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JASON LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762