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 § 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.
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Buesher.
Regarding claims 18-20, Buesher teaches an integrated furnace controller (IFC) 230 (fig. 3) for communicative coupling to a modulating gas valve assembly, the IFC comprising: a processor 304; and a memory 306; the claimed IFC is capable of performing the desired functions based including:
the memory capable of storing instructions that program the processor; receive a call for heat; and output a command to the modulating gas valve assembly in response to the call for heat, the command instructing the modulating gas valve assembly to control the modulating gas valve based on a desired gas flow rate and an orientation of the modulating gas valve; wherein the instructions program the processor to: receive an orientation of the modulating gas valve relative to gravity; and store the orientation of the modulating gas valve in the memory; wherein the instructions program the processor to receive the orientation of the modulating gas valve relative to gravity by one of: receiving an image and determining the orientation of the modulating gas valve from the image; receiving the orientation of the modulating gas valve relative to gravity by a user input; or receiving an orientation signal output by a sensor operable to sense its orientation and determining the orientation of the modulating gas valve based on the orientation signal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Buesher teaches the claimed burner, modulating gas valve assembly, a control circuit, an integrated furnace controller including a processor and memory, but fails to disclose a valve memory.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to P. MACADE NICHOLS whose telephone number is (571)270-5428. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00 P.M..
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/P. MACADE NICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753