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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-7, 9-12, and 18-20 in the reply filed on September 16, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 8, and 13-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on September 16, 2025.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: 1) paragraph [0004], line 12, “blending p of concrete” does not make sense; and 2) the heading “[Reference Signs List]” prior to paragraph [0134] should be deleted along with the entire paragraph [0134] on pages 53-54 of the specification, since the reference numerals should each appear within the body of the “Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claims 1-3 be found allowable, claims 18-20, respectively, will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being substantial duplicates thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by KR 102045298 B1.
KR 102045298 B1 (Fig. 1; English Translation) discloses a humidity adjustment device (claim 1), or system (claim 18) comprising a processor (130) configured to execute a method comprising acquiring humidity information using a humidity sensor (120) indicating humidity of an enclosed manhole space, and adjusting based on the humidity information, the humidity of the space part of the manhole (claims 1 and 18) via controlled ventilation means.
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 1-7, 9-12, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 110360724 A taken together with KR 102045298 B1.
CN 110360724 A (Fig. 1; English Machine Translation) discloses a humidity adjustment device (claim 1), or system (claim 18) comprising a processor (10) configured to execute a method comprising acquiring humidity information using a humidity sensor (HR) indicating humidity of an enclosed laboratory space (9), and adjusting based on the humidity information, the humidity of the space part of the laboratory (claims 1 and 18). CN ‘724 does not suggest that the laboratory space is a manhole space.
KR 102045298 B1, as applied in paragraph 7 above, clearly discloses adjustment of the humidity level within a manhole space using a control unit that utilizes sensed humidity from within the manhole space to control the means for adjusting the humidity within the manhole space. It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to adapt the laboratory humidity control means of CN ‘724, to be applicable to a manhole space, if such were desired, in view of KR ‘298, since electronics within a manhole space would benefit from the same humidity control scheme, as would be applicable to electronics within a laboratory space.
With regard to the process parameters as set forth by instant claims 2 and 19, including the use of temperature sensors to detect the space and wall surface temperatures within the manhole space, and using the collected temperature and humidity data to determine the critical humidity value at which condensation would occur within the manhole space or on the inner walls of the manhole, both of the applied references utilize temperature and humidity sensors to detect temperature and humidity levels within the internal spaces of their respective enclosures (manhole or laboratory) and further utilize stored steam and humidity data tables to determine condensation dew points, so that the humidity adjustment control means of the references can be constantly and actively adjusted to avoid condensation of moisture within their respective enclosure spaces. It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to again utilize the humidity adjustment control means of CN ‘724 within the manhole space of KR ‘298. With regard to the utilization of multiple temperature sensors (space and inner wall surface sensors), as set forth by instant claims 2 and 19, it would have been well within the purview of the prior art to use multiple temperature sensors for sensing air and surface temperatures, where the expectation would have been that the air and surface temperatures might deviate, as may be the case in an underground enclosure, such as a manhole. As such one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the application, would have envisaged the use of plural temperature sensors to accurately monitor all areas and surfaces within an enclosure that would be subject to the formation of condensation.
Likewise, with regard to instant claims 3 and 20, it would have also been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to provide for control of humidity within an enclosure, in view of the reference combination, wherein the humidity level would be maintained between a desired relative humidity level set point and a critical (dew point) humidity level to allow for proper operation of the devices within the enclosure (manhole) without subjecting the devices to excess humidity levels (condensation).
With regard to instant claims 4 and 5, control of water supplied to the humidifier (83) of CN ‘724 of the reference combination would have been an absolute necessary inherent property of the control unit thereof, since lack of such control would quickly result in an inoperable device that would either be flooded or would run dry due to the lack of such control. One having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the application would clearly have envisaged the necessity of such a basic control parameter.
With regard to instant claims 6, 7, and 9-12, including the humidity control of the concrete of the manhole of instant claim 7, both references teach device enclosures that would utilize proper sealing means between the internal and external environments, and therefore any unintended breach of the sealing property of the enclosure would be quickly detected by routine monitoring of the temperature and/or humidity sensors that are utilized by both references of the reference combination. As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it to have been entirely obvious at the time of the filing of the application, to operate the control process of the applied reference combination, utilizing detected information from the sensors that would have indicated a breach of the manhole internal environment seal, such information being used to compensate for any seal breach during the controlled adjustment of the humidity within the manhole space, to maintain the humidity level at a desired optimal level.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES S BUSHEY whose telephone number is (571)272-1153. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 6:30-5:00.
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/C.S.B/12-26-25
/CHARLES S BUSHEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776