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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09 April 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended instant independent claim(s) 1, 12 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant’s arguments regarding previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 are persuasive and are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4-12, 14-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15 all conclude with the limitations: “wherein the second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air is not compromised.” This is considered new matter, since the instant filed disclosure fails to have adequate written description that the second source, or any of the plurality of sources are “not compromised.” The only source that is, or can be deemed compromised is the original source of breathable air connected to the fixed piping system, which can only be determined to be compromised by the air quality analyzer that is physically coupled to the fixed piping system. The air quality analyzer cannot determine if the second source of the plurality of sources, or any one of the other plurality of sources is not compromised, since none of the breathable air from the second source or any one the other plurality of sources has not entered the fixed piping system to be tested for air quality by the air quality analyzer. Furthermore, the instant filed disclosure fails to have adequate written description in regards to any establishment or predetermination that the second source, or any of the other plurality of sources is not compromised prior to any determination that the original source is deemed compromised by the air quality analyzer and the isolation thereof by one or more valves which also connect the second source of the plurality of sources. Thus the aforementioned limitations are new matter. All claims depending from instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15 are similarly rejected due to their dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
As best understood, claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14-16, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2008/0041378 to Turiello, U.S. 10,161,923 to Laughlin, Applicant’s cited non-patent literature reference: “An Analysis of Firefighter Breathing Air Replenishment Systems” to Gu et al., U.S. 2012/0266889 to Roberts, U.S. 2016/0121151 to Schmitt et al. and U.S. 2012/0215488 to Carter et al. Turiello discloses a safety system, and method to deliver breathable air from a source across the safety system of a structure/building (see entire reference) including a fixed piping system (104) installed within the structure to facilitate delivery of breathable air from a plurality of sources/supply units including an additional source (air storage sub-system) of compressed air (100, 1050) (See Fig. 1, Fig. 10, Fig. 11, para 0051 and associated text disclosure within the Turiello reference) to internal air fill stations (102, 102B) disposed at different locations within the structure (see para 0052), each of the plurality of sources including an additional source being fluidly coupled to the fixed piping system (see paras 0048 and 0050 and Fig. 11) and wherein a valve is associated with the plurality of sources/supply units (see para 0049) ensuring that a prescribed pressure/air quality parameter threshold in the fixed piping system is maintained; and wherein the additional source of compressed air (1050) of the plurality of sources can be selectively connected or supplied independently from the other plurality of sources (100), as well as an external source of compressed air (see para 0092); an air quality analyzer (110, 806) coupled to the fixed piping system; the air quality analyzer including at least one senor (106, 108) to sense at least one air quality parameter of the breathable air and perform analysis of the sensed parameter (pressure, carbon monoxide (CO), moisture) (see para 0053) the air quality analyzer having status indicators indicating/displaying system pressure (see para 0083) and communication of signals to a remote data processing device (802, 804) (suggesting limitations recited in instant dependent claims 4 and 14 and meeting limitations recited in instant dependent claim 7) inherently based on coupling thereof to the air quality analyzer and to transmit data associated with the analysis over a communication link (see Fig. 8) via a wireless module (114, 808) thus being coupled to a remote device held by building administration (802) and/or an authority agency (804) (e.g. a police station, a fire station, and/or a hospital, etc.) through a computer network (810) by transmitting the data associated with the analysis by the analysis module (see paras 0082-0083 and Fig. 8), wherein the analysis module is further configured to indicate that the air sample is compromised in response to the sensed at least one air quality parameter exceeding at least one predetermined threshold (see paras 0021, 0024, 0049, 0056, 0089, 0093 and 0099) and transmitting a control signal to the fixed piping system to shutdown/suspend transfer of breathable air from a supply unit via the one or more valves, thus i) causing the one or more valves to isolate a source from the plurality of sources of compressed air that includes the compromised air sample (see paras 0012, 0065, 0095 and aforementioned paras), meeting a majority of the limitations recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15.
Turiello does not explicitly disclose the structural aspects and functionality of the air quality analyzer, including an air sequestration chamber in which a portion of the breathable air is segregated/sequestered for the analysis as an air sample and the at least one sensor measures the air quality parameter from the segregated/sequestered air sample within the air sequestration chamber (as recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15); wherein the air sample is released from the air sequestration chamber following the analysis of the sensed at least one air quality parameter through the analysis module and a new air sample from the breathable air is received within the air sequestration chamber (as recited in instant dependent claims 2 and 16); the air quality analyzer further includes a display module to display a result associated with the sensing of the at least one air quality parameter through the at least one sensor (as recited in instant dependent claims 4 and 14); a chipset to convert data associated with the sensed at least one air quality parameter into a computer-readable form (as recited in instant dependent claims 5 and 14); wherein the air quality analyzer is permanently affixed to the fixed piping system, the air quality analyzer further comprises an intake pump to ingest the portion of the breathable air, the analysis module is at least one of: the remote data processing device coupled to the air quality analyzer through a computer network and internal to the air quality analyzer, and the communication link represents a communication interface to the computer network (as recited in instant dependent claims 6 and 19); and wherein the analysis module is coupled to the remote data processing device via the communication link and the at least one sensor, the analysis module further configured to: receive, from a mobile device, a request to test the air sample within the air sequestration chamber, and further, ii) connect a second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air to supply each internal air fill station using the one or more valves of the fixed piping system, in response to a selection of a tab at a user interface of the mobile device that identifies the source of the compressed air that includes the air sample that is compromised and the second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air, wherein the second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air is not compromised (as recited in the remaining limitations of instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15).
Laughlin discloses an air quality analyzer with a gas analysis module (10) (see entire reference) to be connected/permanently installed/integrated to the fixed piping system (note: based on the Turiello disclosure, the air quality analyzer appears to be permanently installed/affixed to the fixed piping system, since there is no disclosure that the air quality analyzer is removably/temporarily installed/affixed to the fixed piping system and is fully integrated into the disclosed system of Turiello). Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to permanently affix the gas analysis module to the fixed piping system ensuring constant/continuous monitoring of the breathable air within the fixed piping system) with breathable air sources/systems (11) for human inhalation in industrial plants, hospitals and by fireman, for measuring and providing analysis of air purity/quality parameters associated with the breathable air and subsequently transmitting the analysis to a remote data processing device coupled to the air quality analyzer through a computer network and internal to the air quality analyzer via a communication link representing a communication interface to the computer network (see Laughlin, col. 2, line 28 to col. 4, line 9 and col.4, line 53 to col. 5, line 2) (meeting some of the limitations of instant dependent claim 6 and all the limitations recited in instant dependent claim 19), wherein the gas analysis module includes an air sequestration chamber/gas collection compartment (103) for collecting and temporarily storing/segregating a portion of the breathable air via an inlet (101) and associated valve (see col. 3, lines 4-10 and col. 5, lines 8-27) and at least one sensor (104) to sense at least one air quality parameter/impurity (see col 5, lines 28-60); wherein the air sample is inherently released from the air sequestration chamber/gas collection compartment via outlet (102) and an associated valve after temporarily being stored/sequestered, and following the analysis of the sensed at least one air quality parameter, the air sample is released/purged following the analysis, and then a new air sample from the breathable air is received within the air sequestration chamber/gas collection compartment, and the cycle is repeated to maintain viability of the breathable air at all times (meeting limitations recited in instant dependent claim 2 and 16); the air quality analyzer further including a display module (107) to display a result associated with the sensing of the at least one air quality parameter through the at least one sensor, and a chipset (105) to convert data associated with the sensed at least one air quality parameter into a computer-readable form (see col. 5, line 55 to col. 6, line 32 and col. 7, lines 3-49 and col. 8, line 64 to col. 9, line 65) (as recited in instant dependent claims 4, 5 and 14), as well as the air analysis module further including a calibration module associated with the at least one sensor to compare the air sample based on the analysis of the sensed at least one air quality parameter to known calibration data stored in the calibration module (see col. 6, line 25 to col. 10, line 3); wherein the analysis module includes a remote data processing device/server (20) employing the communication link/network (30) which is bi-directional, to send a command/instruction signals to shut down, by closing valves at inlet (101) and outlet (102), preventing/stopping the flow of breathable air once the air quality parameter exceeds a threshold (i.e. contamination detected by sensor(s)) (see col. 2, lines 11-13, col. 3, line 2 and col. 7, lines 50-57). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to employ the air quality analyzer with a gas analysis module, as taught by Laughlin, modifying the safety system, air quality analyzer and method disclosed by Turiello, thus providing continuous and automatic remote monitoring of gas impurities at all time by a remote data processing device, rather than weekly or monthly intervals; on-board calibration and certification from a qualified monitoring center via electronic notification, as well as receiving instructions from the monitoring center/remote data processing device via a bi-directional communications link to shut down the system, or alert individuals at the user facility that the gas/breathable air is contaminated; display of messages from the monitoring center on the air quality analyzer; and, being permanently installed, eliminates the need for a user to physically transport a gas sample to a certification facility for gas purity testing (see entire Summary and col. 8, lines 46-50 of Laughlin) thus meeting many of the remaining limitations recited in in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15 and all the limitations recited in instant dependent claims 2, 4, 5, 7, 14, 16 and 19.
As to the limitations of instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15, regarding a control signal transmitted to the fixed piping system over the communication link/network further including: ii) connect a second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air to supply each internal air fill station using the one or more valves of the fixed piping system wherein the second source is not compromised, Gu et al. disclose a safety system structure (see entire reference) with a fixed piping system (FARS) installed within a structure to facilitate delivery of breathable air from a source of compressed air, wherein the source of compressed air can be provided from and/or switched between at least three sources, being an Exterior Mobile Air Connection (EMAC) and an air storage system (bank of air cylinders and Mobile Air Unit (MAU), booster pump and other components permanently installed on-site within the structure) (see Chapter 2 of Gu et al.), wherein the EMAC is a locked box mounted on the exterior of the structure or in a remote lockable monument outside the structure that enables the connection between a Mobile Air Unit (MAU) with an on-board air compressor of the fire department and FARS installed in the structure, wherein the Incident Commander (IC) (i.e. fire commander of a fire command center) can choose/switch between the air storage system installed in the structure and the MAU as a source of compressed air, wherein the EMAC also includes gauges, digital visual display, and LEDs to monitor the system’s air quality parameters of pressure, moisture and CO exceeded threshold levels (see page 7) ; and an air monitoring system/air quality analyzer (referred to as ENMET) to continuously monitor the quality of air (including, but not limited to system pressure, moisture, carbon monoxide) throughout the system, and the ENMET unit sends information to the fire command center only if and when an air composition (i.e. quality) reading is detected to be beyond established/predetermined levels/values, and the system is similar to the air monitoring system used in fire departments, fire training facilities, and MAUs, and the quality of the air can also be monitored off-site via web-application (see pages 9, 39 and 40). Gu et al. further disclose that during normal day-to-day operations, if the concerned air quality values exceed safety thresholds, an audible and visual signal is activated to inform local supervisors, fire command center, and web-monitoring station, thus indicating an emergency state, and response to the emergency state (see page 10). Gu et al. further disclose that the air monitoring system/analyzer is also located in conjunction with the air storage system, and using a valve at the air monitoring system/analyzer, the Incident Commander (IC) can choose between the air storage system and the fire department’s MAU as a source of compressed air (see page 12); and that FARS can be operated with (a) MAU with an onboard air-compressor (b) an air storage system installed in the structure (c) a combination of both systems and requirements of communications between IC and MAU operators, in case of failures of either sources of air (see page 15). Thus, based on the entirety of the Turiello, Laughlin and Gu et al. disclosures, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to further have the transmitted control signal that employs the communication link to control one or more valves to not only isolate/shut down the source of breathable air from one of the plurality of sources when the air sample is determined to be compromised via the air quality analyzer, but additionally connect a second/different source that is not compromised (i.e. switch from one of the plurality of sources to another source when the air sample is determined to be compromised to ensure the breathable air is available in the fixed piping system/FARS system for firefighters to safely replenish their tanks with uncompromised breathable air from the second/different source, at the plurality of fill stations, while fighting a fire, meeting limitations recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15, and all the limitations recited in instant dependent claims 2, 4, 5, 7, 14, 16 and 19.
In addition to the above, Roberts discloses a safety system (10) (see Fig. 1) for providing and ensuring delivery of breathable air of good quality (see entire reference), having a remote control system (200) providing control signals, and having a plurality of sources of breathable air (80A, 80B, 12, 400) which are connected via air lines (19) to a breathing air supply manifold (90A, 90B), which supplies breathable air to users, wherein the safety system provides back-up breathing air should operation a generation assembly source (12) fail or a contaminant is detected via at least one sensor (220) detecting contaminants (see para 0030), wherein the safety system is further connected to a reserve air supply source (400) (see Fig. 8, paras 0046, 0048, 0049 and 0051), wherein switching between the sources is provided by a control valve (232) and a controllable switch-over connect in line with the reserve air supply source, such that if the compressor fails or if some other problem arises (i.e. contaminant is detected), the control unit (210) sends a command signal to activate the controllable switch-over (230) to supply breathable air from the reserve supply source to a dry tank (70) for the safety system (10). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to employ the teachings of Roberts, to modify the safety system, air quality analyzer and method of a safety system, disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin and Gu et al., to further have the control signal control one or more valves to connect a second/different source as a back-up breathable air source (see para 0046 of Roberts) (i.e. switch from one of the plurality of sources to another/second source that is not compromised, when the air sample is determined to be compromised/contaminated from the original source to ensure the breathable air is available in the fixed piping system/FARS system for firefighters to safely replenish their tanks with uncompromised breathable air from the second/different source, at the plurality of fill stations, while fighting a fire, meeting the limitations recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15, and all the limitations recited in instant dependent claims 2, 4, 5, 7, 14, 16 and 19.
As to the remaining limitations of instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15, wherein the analysis module being further configured to receive, from a mobile device, a request to test the air sample within the air sequestration chamber and switch to a second source that is not compromised in response to a selection of a tab at a user interface of the mobile device that identifies the source of the compressed air that includes the air sample that is compromised and the second source of the plurality of sources of compressed air, which is not compromised, one of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date of the instant invention is well aware of employing smart/mobile devices (i.e. smart phones, tablets, personal data assistants, etc.), all of which employ an interface, such as software/programs/applications (i.e. apps) that include tabs/menus/virtual buttons displayed on a screen to form a user interface so that a user to make operational selections/choices/commands by tapping/touching the tabs/menus/buttons typically displayed on the screens of the smart/mobile devices, as well as the capability of the devices to recognize voice commands, wherein the commands/operational selections of tabs/menu items/buttons in the respective apps can initiate (i.e. make a request) operational controls commands to remote systems/devices, such as, but not limited to, turning lights on and off within a home (i.e. by selecting particular rooms in the home from a list of tabs/buttons each associated with individual rooms, such as bedrooms, living room, dining room, etc.), and climate control (i.e. adjusting heating/cooling levels by selecting the air conditioning system or heating system from a list of tabs/buttons to turn on, or turn off the heating system, or set a particular desired interior temperature for the air condition and heating systems to each maintain) in a home via the commands/requests. Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al. and Roberts clearly disclose that the switching (either manually or automatically) to a second source of breathable air that is not compromised when its determined an air sample is compromised in response to the sensed air quality parameter exceeding at least one predetermined threshold is either performed automatically through periodic monitoring/analyzing of the breathable air (i.e. by/via computer/server/remote data processing device, see Turiello and Laughlin), or manually manipulating valves by an Incident Commander (see Gu et al.). Laughlin further discloses that the remote data processing device/server (20) can not only initiate control/operational commands/instructions automatically to the module/air quality analyzer (10), including a “shut down” instruction, via closing inlet (101) and outlet (102) valves, thus preventing further flow and/or collection of contaminate gas when the source of breathable air is compromised (see col. 7, lines 50-57), but that “on-demand” testing/monitoring can be employed, and if either on-demand or automated testing is not desired, the module (10) can operate in manual mode wherein it only sends instructions/commands/requests and impurity/compromised data to server (20) upon user manipulation and/or instruction (see col. 8, lines 42-46). Laughlin further disclose the module can establish wireless bi-directional connection to a computer network (30) to the server (20), to receive the commands/instructions. As such, based on the knowledge of one having ordinary skill in the art in regards to the capabilities of mobile devices, wherein a user is capable of making requests/commands via tabs displayed on a screen via apps running on the mobile devices, along with the disclosures of Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al. and Roberts, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to provide for a user of a mobile device, such as the Incident Commander of Gu et al., to make a manual request/command to test the air sample within the air sequestration chamber of the air quality analyzer via the app’s tabs, the tabs indicating the sources of compressed air, to not only make/request a test of the air sample to ensure the source of breathable air is safe for firefighters, but to switch to a second source of the plurality of sources if the requested test results in an indication of air sample is compromised, thus ensuring safe breathable air is to be provided for firefighters, especially during an fire incident, thus meeting all remaining limitations recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15 regarding a mobile device.
Evidence of a user employing a mobile device having an interface app to send a request/command to perform an action, including monitoring/testing from sensors, is provided by U.S. 2016/0121151 to Schmitt et al. and U.S. 2012/0215488 to Carter et al. Schmitt et al. disclose a remote control system of fire suppression systems (see entire reference), including monitoring sensors within a building, to determine if a fire has been extinguished, employing a mobile computing device (126) having a user interface (160) providing real time status information for a fire, along with a computing system, the mobile computing device receives a notification that a fire has been detected via the sensors and automatically disabling, by the mobile computing device when the user interface is initially presented, a feature (i.e. tab/menu/button, see Figs. 1A-1E) for remotely turning off the water supply in the building; receiving, at the mobile computing device, extinguish information indicating that the fire has been extinguished; the user selecting a monitor option of the sensors (see para 0035) as well as activating, by the mobile computing device and in response to receiving the extinguish information, the feature in the user interface; receiving, at the mobile computing device, user input selecting the activated feature in the user interface; and transmitting, by the mobile computing device and to the computer system, instructions to turn off the water supply via a valve in the building, the instructions causing the computer system to send a control signal to a device at the building to turn off the water supply via a valve to the fire suppression system (see paras 0008-0012 and 0030). Carter et al. disclose a method of testing of a valve (104) (see entire reference) wherein an user/operator uses a portable/mobile device (120) such as a smartphone in a process control system to establish wireless communication to an emergency shutdown ESD system to transmit one or several requests/commands to the ESD system so as to initiate a valve test, wherein data and/or other parameters are reported to the portable/mobile device via the wireless communication link during the execution of the test or following completion of the test, wherein the portable/mobile device includes software/interface/app that layer commands of an industrial automation protocol as well as a software system for controlling and diagnosing the valve (see paras 0005, 0006, 0031 and 0032). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the safety system disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al. and Roberts, employing the teachings of Schmitt et al. and Carter et al., to provide for a user of a mobile device, such as the Incident Commander of Gu et al., to make a manual request/command to test the air sample within the air sequestration chamber of the air quality analyzer via the app’s tabs, the tabs indicating the sources of compressed air, to not only make/request a test of the air sample to ensure the source of breathable air is safe for firefighters, but to switch to a second source of the plurality of sources if the requested test results in an indication of air sample is compromised, thus ensuring safe breathable air is to be provided for firefighters, especially during an fire incident, as well as verification that the original source is compromised and to switch to the secondary source (see Summary of Schimtt et al., paras 0004-00016 and ensure the test is successful (see Carter et al. paras 0002-0009) thus meeting all remaining limitations recited in instant independent claims 1, 12 and 15 regarding a mobile device.
Claim(s) 6, 13 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2008/0041378 to Turiello, U.S. 10,161,923 to Laughlin, Applicant’s cited non-patent literature reference: “An Analysis of Firefighter Breathing Air Replenishment Systems” to Gu et al., U.S. 2012/0266889 to Roberts, U.S. 2016/0121151 to Schmitt et al. and U.S. 2012/0215488 to Carter et al. as applied to claims 1, 12 and 15 above, and further in view of U.S. 2017/0254787 to Campanella et al. Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. disclose a safety system, and method to deliver breathable air from a source across the safety system of a structure/building having all of the elements and associated functionality/methodology stated previously, meeting many of the limitations recited in instant dependent claims 6, 13 and 18. Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. do not explicitly disclose that the air quality analyzer further includes an intake pump to ingest the portion of breathable air to be analyzed, as recited in instant dependent claims 6, 13 and 18. As a preliminary matter, one of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date in the sampling of fluids art, in the instant case, gasses, being breathable air, if the pressure in the fixed piping system disclosed by Turiello and Laughlin, or exterior pressure outside the air quality analyzer is not greater than the pressure within the chamber into which the fluid/air sample is to be drawn into to be sensed by the sensors, a fluid mover, such as a pump would be required to ingest the sample into the sequestration chamber. The fluid mover/pump would either be a vacuum pressure type or a positive-pressure type. In the instant case, the fixed piping system disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. is clearly pressurized (i.e. well over atmospheric pressure) and being fluidly connected to fill sites/stations (102, 102A) (i.e. fill panel and/or fill station) to fill breathable air apparatuses, and, as such, would not require a fluid mover/pump to obtain the portion of breathable air to be analyzed for an air quality parameter. However, if the fixed piping system is not pressurized, for some reason, such as maintenance, not in use, or lack of adequate pressure measured by the pressure sensor (108) of Turiello (see para 0083 of Turiello), a pump/fluid mover would be required to obtain the portion of the breathable air sample to be analyzed, and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to include a pump/fluid mover in the air quality analyzer disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al., to ingest a sample of the breathable air when the fixed piping system is at an inadequate pressure for sampling, thus meeting the limitations recited in instant dependent claims 6, 13 and 18. In addition to the above, Campanella et al. disclose a gas sampling system (see Fig. 1 and entire reference) employing sensors to detect physical properties of a gas sample (i.e. gas composition, pressure, etc.) (see para 0066); a sensor unit (200) including a sensor chamber to ingest the gas sample being an enclosed volume containing the sensors which may include purging of the ingested gas sample (see para 0067); employing valves to control the sampling of the gas (see para 0073); a sample pump to provide pressure to ingest the gas sample when differential pressure is not enough to fill the sensor chamber during a sample cycle (i.e. ingestion of a gas sample and subsequent purging of the gas sample to ingest a new gas sample) (see paras 0074 and 0077). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to modify the system and method of sampling breathable air disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al., by including a pump/fluid mover to sample the breathable air, as taught by Campanella et al., to ensure a sample of breathable air is ingested into the air sequestration chamber for sensing the at least one air quality parameter when the differential pressure is not sufficient, thus meeting the remaining limitations recited in instant dependent claims 6, 13 and 18.
Claim(s) 8-11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. 2008/0041378 to Turiello, U.S. 10,161,923 to Laughlin, Applicant’s cited non-patent literature reference: “An Analysis of Firefighter Breathing Air Replenishment Systems” to Gu et al., U.S. 2012/0266889 to Roberts, U.S. 2016/0121151 to Schmitt et al. and U.S. 2012/0215488 to Carter et al. as applied to claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of U.S. 2020/0334778 to Lotter. Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. disclose a safety system, and method to deliver breathable air from a source across the safety system of a structure/building having all of the elements and associated functionality/methodology stated previously. Turiello further discloses that the air quality analyzer/monitoring system communicates sensor readings of at least one air quality parameter to building administration (802) or an emergency/authority agency/emergency supervising station (police/fire station/hospital)/fire command center (804) so that proper maintenance measures/steps/actions can be taken, as well as alert signals (i.e. an emergency state) (see para 0083), as well sending warning signals (i.e. emergency state) to an emergency supervising station when the at least one air quality parameter (i.e. pressure) is outside a safety range or level/threshold, which is coupled to an alarm system (i.e. for indicating an emergency state) (see paras 0010, 0015, 0022, 0083, 0089 and 0100). Gu et al. further disclose that during normal day-to-day operations, if the concerned air quality values exceed safety thresholds, an audible and visual signal is activated to inform local supervisors, fire command center, and web-monitoring station, thus indicating an emergency state, and response to the emergency state (see page 10). As stated previously, the combination of the disclosures of Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. clearly disclose to one of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date the safety system can be directed to acquire breathable are from different (i.e. second) source when the sensed at least one air quality parameter is determined to be associated with a compromised quality of the breathable air, and wherein the threshold condition is detected by the at least one sensor for at least carbon dioxide (CO) and/or moisture. As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date of the instant invention to receive the control signal, via the communication link from the remote device at a fire command center and a fire control room, transform the safety system to an emergency state, and direct the safety system to acquire the breathable air from the second source when the at least one air quality parameter is determined to be associated with a compromised quality of breathable air (as recited in instant dependent claims 8 and 20); wherein the emergency state is triggered when at least a carbon monoxide or moisture sensor exceeds a first and seventh predetermined threshold (as recited in instant dependent claim 9); and the analysis module is configured to transmit through the communication link/network, a signal to at least one of a fire command center and a fire control room, as recited in instant dependent claim 10. Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal is provided in accordance with execution of an artificial intelligence algorithm based on a regression analysis involving the at least one air quality parameter, as recited in instant dependent claim 11. Lotter discloses a safety system (100) and associated method (see entire reference) wherein air quality sensors (2) (see para 0013) are employed in a structure/building, wherein a remote device/server and/or web based application (4) communicates with the sensors via a communication link/network (see para 0024 and 0025), wherein during an emergency situation is active involving first responders, employs artificial intelligence (see paras 0017 to 0023) (note: basing artificial intelligence on regression analysis is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date, as well as other predictive-type engines based on input variables and target variables to make desired predictive outcomes) involving the at least one air quality parameter. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to modify the safety system and method disclosed by Turiello, Laughlin, Gu et al., Roberts Schmit et al. and Carter et al., employing the teachings of Lotter, thus providing first responders with fast, accurate and detailed situational awareness around emergency situations in the building/structure, which enables improved action by first responders on emergency situations (see para 0004 of Lotter), thus meeting all the limitations recited in instant dependent claim 11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant is invited to review PTO form 892 accompanying this Office Action listing Prior Art relevant to the instant invention cited by the Examiner.
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/JOHN FITZGERALD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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