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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in the Republic of India on 3/31/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IN202221019603 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea (mathematical relationships and mental processes) without significantly more. Claim 1 recites:
A method for evaluating and controlling building equipment, the method comprising: (this falls within the statutory categories of invention, but intended use in the preamble does not receive patentable weight.)
obtaining a device model for a physical device of building equipment installed at a building site, the device model indicating an expected performance of the physical device under design operating conditions; (obtaining this data is insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of mere data gathering as per MPEP 2106.05(g). The link to equipment at a building site is merely generally linking the use of the exception to the technical field of building management, as per MPEP 2106.05(h). The device model has no lower bound on complexity and could be conducted mentally by a person’s mental evaluations and judgements.)
obtaining operating conditions under which the physical device is operating at the building site; (the obtaining of this data is, again, insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of mere data gathering as per MPEP 2106.05(g). The data itself is within the scope of what a person could handle mentally by observing and then making mental evaluations and judgements.)
generating a virtual device representing the physical device by adapting the device model to the operating conditions; (a person can accomplish this by observing the data and making mental evaluations and judgements to imagine potential ideal operation based on their expertise and experience.)
using a rating engine to generate a device rating for the virtual device, the device rating indicating an expected performance of the physical device under the operating conditions; (a person can accomplish this mentally by evaluating and judging the information and situation based on their professional knowledge and experience with how components should operate, i.e. by remembering memorized optimum performance characteristics.)
obtaining actual operating data indicating an actual performance of the physical device under the operating conditions; and (the obtaining of this data is, again, insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of mere data gathering as per MPEP 2106.05(g). The data itself is within the scope of what a person could handle mentally by observing and then making mental evaluations and judgements.)
initiating an automated action based on a comparison of the actual operating data with the device rating for the virtual device. (This automated action, absent further detail in the claim, would include merely providing a generic output to display results, as exemplified in claim 7 which explicitly recites this as a narrowing limitation of this step. This falls within the scope of insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated as per MPEP 2106.05(g), notably similar to example iii. of such, “Selecting information, based on types of information and availability of information in a power-grid environment, for collection, analysis and display”.)
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites the following additional elements: 1) mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components (the processor/memory of claims 12 and 17), 2) generally linking the use of the exception to the technical field of building management, and 3) insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of mere data gathering (obtaining data) and selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated (initiating an automated action). The processor/memory is recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor/memory performing a generic computer function of executing instructions and storing data) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Limitations that amount to merely indicating a field of use or technological environment in which to apply a judicial exception cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. The limitations that data is obtained and automated action is initiated are only tangentially linked to the calculation and analysis steps, and do not meaningfully limit the claim. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor/memory to perform the claimed steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Limitations that amount to merely indicating a field of use or technological environment in which to apply a judicial exception do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself. The addition of insignificant extra-solution activity does not amount to an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible.
Claims 12 and 17 are substantially similar to claim 1, and are rejected under the same grounds as those set forth above.
The dependent claims 2-7, 9-11, 13-16, and 18-20 recite only features within the scope of the abstract idea as discussed above, as well as additional details directed to the insignificant extra-solution activity and general link to the technical field of building management. The above analysis remains applicable to them, and they are ineligible for the reasons set forth above.
Claim 8 further limits the automated action that is initiated to “controlling a component of the physical device to bring the actual performance of the physical device in accordance with the expected performance”. This provides significantly more than the abstract idea and provides a practical application of enabling better management of faults and maintenance actions for building equipment (see e.g. ¶153 of the specification). As a result, claim 8 is eligible.
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 1-2, 4-11, 13-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yuan (US 20200003444 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Yuan teaches:
obtaining a device model for a physical device of building equipment installed at a building site, the device model indicating an expected performance of the physical device under design operating conditions; (Abstract, instructing the HVAC system and a digital twin system corresponding to the HVAC system to respectively operate with the at least one test work condition by the controller of the HVAC system; ¶14 The digital twin system is a simulation model of digital expressions in a virtual space on the basis of the physical HVAC system, which comprises the same devices, components and elements as those of the physical HVAC system, and which can highly reflect in the virtual space the properties and features that embodies these entity devices, components and elements in the reality; ¶15 The commissioned object can be a performance situation of either a certain component of a system or a branch portion of the system)
obtaining operating conditions under which the physical device is operating at the building site; (¶15 The test work condition unit is intended for establishing a commissioning mission, and the commissioning mission comprises setting at least one test work condition with respect to an object to be commissioned.; ¶15 The commissioned object can be a performance situation of either a certain component of a system or a branch portion of the system. To examine the situation of a target commissioned object in a system, it is necessary to set a test work condition so as to make the system operate in a preset work state, e.g., the speed of a certain water pump in the system is set to reach a certain frequency; ¶18 whereby the diagnostic engine knows which test work condition the current HVAC system and digital twin system are operated in and, therefore, further knows which data are necessary to capture from the HVAC sensing components and the digital sensing components.)
generating a virtual device representing the physical device by adapting the device model to the operating conditions; (Abstract, instructing the HVAC system and a digital twin system corresponding to the HVAC system to respectively operate with the at least one test work condition by the controller of the HVAC system)
using a rating engine to generate a device rating for the virtual device, the device rating indicating an expected performance of the physical device under the operating conditions; (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
obtaining actual operating data indicating an actual performance of the physical device under the operating conditions; and (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
initiating an automated action based on a comparison of the actual operating data with the device rating for the virtual device. (¶18 if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
Regarding Claim 2, Yuan teaches:
determining a state of the physical device. (¶15 it is necessary to set a test work condition so as to make the system operate in a preset work state, e.g., the speed of a certain water pump in the system is set to reach a certain frequency, or some valve is set to open a predetermined degree within certain time.; ¶15 the state of a plurality of the objects to be commissioned can be examined in one work condition.; ¶17 the data detected by the sensing component is indicative of a variable of the state of the HVAC components operating in a test work condition, comprising, but not limited to, air speed, air capacity, flow rate, flux, power consumption, temperature, hydraulic pressure, frequency, etc.; ¶17 the HVAC system generates physical data which reflect an actual situation of the HVAC system; ¶17 the digital twin system generates digital data that reflect a theoretical state.)
Regarding Claim 4, Yuan teaches:
determining additional rating information based on the device model and the operating conditions. (¶17 the data detected by the sensing component is indicative of a variable of the state of the HVAC components operating in a test work condition, comprising, but not limited to, air speed, air capacity, flow rate, flux, power consumption, temperature, hydraulic pressure, frequency, etc.;)
Regarding Claim 5, Yuan teaches:
wherein determining additional rating information includes determining at least one of an operating capacity of the physical device, a load applied at the physical device, and a flow rate of a fluid of the physical device. (¶17 the data detected by the sensing component is indicative of a variable of the state of the HVAC components operating in a test work condition, comprising, but not limited to, air speed, air capacity, flow rate, flux, power consumption, temperature, hydraulic pressure, frequency, etc.;)
Regarding Claim 6, Yuan teaches:
comparing the actual operating data with the device rating for the virtual device; and (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
determining whether the actual operating data is within a predetermined threshold compared to the device rating for the virtual device. (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
Regarding Claim 7, Yuan teaches:
wherein in response to determining the actual operating data is within the predetermined threshold compared to the device rating for the virtual device, (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
initiating the automated action includes providing an indication that the physical device is operating in accordance with the expected performance. (¶18 if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
Regarding Claim 8, Yuan teaches:
wherein in response to determining the actual operating data is outside the predetermined threshold compared to the device rating for the virtual device, (¶18 Subsequently, the physical data and the digital data are compared when necessary data are captured. If these two values are close, it means a current commissioned object is normal and the next object to be commissioned can be tested continuously. If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification. Moreover, the diagnostic engine provides a tolerance as the benchmark; if the bias between the physical data and the digital data are within the range of the tolerance, the current commissioned object will be diagnosed as a normal one and a current commissioning mission be terminated while the subsequent commissioning can be carried out)
initiating the automated action includes controlling a component of the physical device to bring the actual performance of the physical device in accordance with the expected performance. (¶18 If these two values are far different, abnormality might happen to the current commissioned object and a continuous test of the object to be commissioned is necessary for verification; ¶18 When the bias between the physical data and the digital data goes beyond the range of the tolerance, it means that the current commissioned object might have a problem. At this moment, other objects to be commissioned relevant to the current commissioned object would be tested to verify the current commissioned object. In this case, a new commissioned mission needs to be established. The diagnostic engine transmits the information to the test work condition unit. For the test work condition unit, it takes the responsibility to build up a new commissioning mission, or it can also establish a new work condition in the original commissioning mission. As for a certain object to be commissioned, for example, a series of test work conditions can be implemented, multiple of which are corresponding to multiple target state levels.)
Regarding Claim 9, Yuan teaches:
wherein obtaining the device model for the physical device of building equipment installed at the building site includes (Abstract, instructing the HVAC system and a digital twin system corresponding to the HVAC system to respectively operate with the at least one test work condition by the controller of the HVAC system; ¶14 The digital twin system is a simulation model of digital expressions in a virtual space on the basis of the physical HVAC system, which comprises the same devices, components and elements as those of the physical HVAC system, and which can highly reflect in the virtual space the properties and features that embodies these entity devices, components and elements in the reality; ¶15 The commissioned object can be a performance situation of either a certain component of a system or a branch portion of the system)
obtaining a heat pump model for a physical heat pump installed at the building site. (¶11 commissioning a cooling pump; ¶15 cooling, chilling and heating water system balance commissioning, fresh air system balance commissioning, cold and heat source commissioning (such as a cooling machine, a heating pump and a boiler))
Regarding Claims 10, 11, 13-18, and 20:
Claims 10, 11, and 13-16 are substantially similar to claims 1, 2, and 4-7 respectively, and are rejected under the same grounds as those claims.
Claims 17, 18, and 20 are substantially similar to claims 1, 2, and 4 respectively, and are rejected under the same grounds as those claims.
Note that for claims 10 and 17 which additionally recite a processor/memory, that Yuan’s controller inherently involves a processor and memory.
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 3, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan (US 20200003444 A1) in view of Changzhou (CN 113011010 A)
Regarding Claim 3:
Yuan teaches:
wherein in response to determining the state of the physical device is a [[transient]] state, the method further comprises (¶17 the operation of HVAC components leads to a change in physical quantity of the components themselves and the system. For example, upon an adjustment to the open degree of a valve, the flow of waterway is influenced, and physical quantity of the change is detected by a sensing component. The sensing component, in a general sense, can be a sensor or a feedback device of the HVAC components.)
initiating another automated action to bring the physical device to a [[steady]] state. (¶16 the controller controlling several real components and an equivalent number of virtual components. The instruction thereof is transmitted from the physical system so as to ensure consistent input of the HVAC components and the digital components. The HVAC components can be any operating devices, control components, pipes, instruments and so on in an existing HVAC system.; ¶16 The controller can transmit instructions to these drivers or actuators so as to exactly control the associated HVAC components to exert the instructions.; ¶18 For example, the system operates with 20% of the maximum load in a current work condition; in the subsequent round of test work condition, the system will operate in 40% of the maximum load.)
Yuan does not teach in particular, but Changzhou teaches:
wherein in response to determining the state of the physical device is a transient state, the method further comprises initiating another automated action to bring the physical device to a steady state. ( the method for cleaning the real-time data of boiler operation and selecting the stable working condition data of the boiler also includes: the input changes of the boiler's water supply parameters, fuel volume and air volume will affect the operation of the boiler, It leads to unstable operation state, and the unstable working condition data cannot correctly reflect the internal mechanism relationship of the boiler, that is, it cannot be used for the simulation and correction of the mechanism model (structural mechanism model); the stable working condition data is selected according to the real-time data after cleaning)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply the data analysis and stability consideration of Changzhou to the work condition generation of Yuan, in order to ensure the simulation correctly reflects the internal mechanism relationship of the equipment (Changzhou, cited section) thereby providing more accurate simulation.
Regarding Claims 12 and 19:
Claims 12 and 19 are substantially similar to claim 3, and are rejected under the same grounds as claim 3 above.
Conclusion
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/BIJAN MAPAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2189
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