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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “I/O” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “I/O” to recite “input/output (I/O)” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “CJC” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “CJC” to recite “cold junction compensation” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “I/O” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “I/O” to recite “input/output (I/O)” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “CJC” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “CJC” to recite “cold junction compensation” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “I/O” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “I/O” to recite “input/output (I/O)” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “CJC” is not defined in the claim. It is recommended to define the first appearance of the abbreviation “CJC” to recite “cold junction compensation” from par.0001 of the specification to be consistent with the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "said terminals" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if it is referring to the plurality of field wiring terminals or other terminals. If it is referring to the plurality of field wiring terminals, then it is recommended to write “said plurality of field wiring terminals”.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "said second constituent contacts" in line 10. This limitation is written in plural form, whereas the first mention of it is in singular form (second constituent contact). It is recommended to write in singular form to avoid confusion.
Claims 2-10 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph for being dependent on claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Betts; Mark Colin (US Publication # US 20230028939 A1; hereinafter Betts) in view of Whiteley; Joseph Lee (US Publication # US 20120065923 A1; hereinafter Whiteley).
Regarding claim 1, Betts teaches an I/O module (“input/output device” see par.33) comprising:
an I/O base (#20 fig.1) comprising a printed circuit board (“the PCB 150” see par.34) including I/O circuitry (“The processing circuit 160” see par.32);
a removable terminal block removably connected to (“The terminal block 110 includes an electrical connector assembly for each wire 10A, 10B of the wire pair of the external thermocouple 10.” See par.28; having connectors makes the terminal block removable; fig. 1 shows its connections to 100 and 20) and selectively separable from the I/O base (“provided as a circuit element separate from the processing circuit 160 on the PCB 150.” See par.30), said removable terminal block comprising a plurality field wiring terminals (“associated with the two different field terminals (e.g., positive and negative terminals) of the input module 100.” See par.34; fig.1 shows field wiring terminals 10)
a plurality of contact pairs (fig.1 #10) each including: (i) a first constituent contact connected to the removable terminal block (fig.1 shows one contact end 10C connected to the RTB (removable terminal block) and the other connected to the base 20) and electrically connected to one of said terminals (fig.1 shows contact pairs 10A-10C connected to terminal block 110);
a first CJC sensor connected to said I/O base (“the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” See par.40) and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry (“the sensor 162 is located between the jaw connectors of the connector assemblies of the terminal block 100 associated with the wires 10A, 10B for the external thermocouple 10.” See par.29), said first CJC sensor thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a first one of said second constituent contacts (“The sensor 162 can be a temperature sensor or other sensor(s) for measuring (e.g., sensing, detecting, measuring, calculating, deriving, determining, etc.) a temperature at a desired region (e.g., area, location, region, etc.) on an integrated chip (IC) on the PCB 150” see par.29).
Betts fails to teach (ii) a second constituent contact connected to said I/O base and electrically connected to said I/O circuitry;
Whiteley does teach (ii) a second constituent contact connected to said I/O base and electrically connected to said I/O circuitry (“first pair of tracings 142 and second pair of tracings 144 on substrate 132 form electrically isolated circuit connections with a computing device 150 (FIG. 3) for calculating a hot junction 106 (FIG. 1) temperature” see par.26);
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Betts to include the teachings of Whiteley; which would provide an apparatus for providing a reference temperature at a thermocouple cold junction, thus allowing the acquisition of an accurate temperature at the cold junction, which is essential to accurate cold junction compensation calculations as disclosed in Whiteley (see par.6 and 18).
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Regarding claim 2, Betts in view of Whiteley teach The I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Betts further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor is thermally associated with and adapted (par.28 “each electric connector assembly includes an internal thermocouple 120 (e.g., a thermal sensor).”) to sense a temperature of said first one of said second constituent contacts and also is thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of a second one of said second constituent contacts ( “the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” see par.40).
Regarding claim 3, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 2, Whiteley further teaches further comprising a second CJC sensor connected to said I/O base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24), said second CJC sensor thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a third one of said second constituent contacts ( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used, each of the two or more temperature sensors 136A-B being located proximal to a cold junction 108A-B, such that the temperature at temperature sensor 136A-B is substantially equal to the temperature the cold junction 108A-B.” see par.23).
Regarding claim 4, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 3, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first and second CJC sensors each comprise a thermistor ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24).
Regarding claim 5, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor comprises a thermistor ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24).
Regarding claim 6, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Whiteley further teaches further comprising a thermocouple ( “A thermocouple” see par.19), wherein said thermocouple comprises first and second conductors that are respectively connected to first and second terminals of said plurality of terminals of said removable terminal block (“Thermocouple extension wires 180, 182 are made of the same materials as thermocouple wires 102, 104 (FIG. 1) respectively, such that thermocouple wire 180 is positive and thermocouple wire 182 is negative. As shown in FIG. 3, cold junction 108A-B occurs at a junction of dissimilar metals at terminal block 134, where thermocouple extension wires 180, 182 may contact, e.g., a copper conductive wire.” See par.19), and wherein said temperature sensed by said first CJC sensor provides a cold junction compensation input value for said thermocouple (“to accurately carry out cold junction compensation calculations, and accurately determine a hot junction temperature where the cold junction is at a nonzero (i.e. not 0. degree. C.) temperature.” See par.46).
Regarding claim 7, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Whiteley further teaches further comprising a second CJC sensor connected to said I/O base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry (“two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used” par.23; fig.4 shows sensors 136 connected to a base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry in terminal block 134), said second CJC sensor thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a second one of said second constituent contacts ( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used, each of the two or more temperature sensors 136A-B being located proximal to a cold junction 108A-B, such that the temperature at temperature sensor 136A-B is substantially equal to the temperature the cold junction 108A-B.” see par.23).
Regarding claim 8, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 7, Whiteley further teaches wherein at least one of said first and second CJC sensors is thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a second one of said second constituent contacts ( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used, each of the two or more temperature sensors 136A-B being located proximal to a cold junction 108A-B, such that the temperature at temperature sensor 136A-B is substantially equal to the temperature the cold junction 108A-B.” see par.23).
Regarding claim 9, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor comprises first and second conductors that are operatively connected to said I/O circuitry of said I/O base through said printed circuit board independent of said plurality of contact pairs (“Temperature sensor 136A-B may further be in electrical signal communication with substrate 132 by a plurality of conductive pins or other means. Temperature sensor 136A-B may further be placed in electrical signal communication with computing device 150 via second pair of tracings 144. Second pair of tracings 144 is in electrical isolation from first pair of tracings 142.” See par.25).
Regarding claim 10, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 1, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor is physically connected to said I/O base both: (i) when said removable terminal block is physically connected to said I/O base (fig.3 shows CJC sensors 136 connected when terminal block 134 is physically connected); and (ii) when said removable terminal block is physically separated from said I/O base (“temperature sensor 136 may be integrated with a surface of 134, 140 by providing a cavity in the body of the terminal block 134 or plug 140, and placing temperature sensor 136 in the cavity. At least one surface of the temperature sensor 136A-B may be exposed to ambient air proximal to cold junction 108A-B.” sensor exposed to ambient air means it is not part of terminal block and physically separated from the substrate (the base)” see par.24).
Regarding claim 11, Betts teaches an I/O module base comprising:
a body (fig.1 #20) adapted to selectively receive an associated removable terminal block (“the input module 100 includes a terminal block 110 and a removable printed circuit board (PCB) 150. The terminal block 110 includes an electrical connector assembly for each wire 10A, 10B of the wire pair of the external thermocouple 10. The electrical connector assembly is configured to electrically couple or decouple a wire from the external thermocouple 10 to the PCB 150” see par.28);
a printed circuit board assembly (“the PCB 150” see par.34) including I/O circuitry (“the processing circuit 160” see par.52) connected to (fig.1 shows circuitry on PCB 150 connected to base 20 via wirings 10) the body ( “As shown in FIG. 1, the input module 100 includes a terminal block 110 and a removable printed circuit board (PCB) 150.” See par.28);
a plurality of contact pair constituents (#10 fig.1) connected to said body (fig.1 shows the connections to base 20) and each electrically connected to said I/O circuitry of the printed circuit board assembly (fig.1 shows one contact end 10C connected to the RTB (removable terminal block) and the other connected to the base 20),
a first CJC sensor connected to said printed circuit board assembly (“the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” See par.40 and fig.1 which teaches temperature sensor 162 as a CJC sensor connected to base 20 through wirings) and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry ( “the sensor 162 is located between the jaw connectors of the connector assemblies of the terminal block 100 associated with the wires 10A, 10B for the external thermocouple 10.” See par.29), said first CJC sensor thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a first one of said contact pair constituents of said body ( “The sensor 162 can be a temperature sensor or other sensor(s) for measuring (e.g., sensing, detecting, measuring, calculating, deriving, determining, etc.) a temperature at a desired region (e.g., area, location, region, etc.) on an integrated chip (IC) on the PCB 150” see par.29).
Betts fails to teach wherein each of said plurality of contact pair constituents is configured to mate electrically with an associated contact pair constituent connected to the associated removable terminal block;
Whiteley does teach wherein each of said plurality of contact pair constituents is configured to mate electrically with an associated contact pair constituent connected to the associated removable terminal block ( “first pair of tracings 142 and second pair of tracings 144 on substrate 132 form electrically isolated circuit connections with a computing device 150 (FIG. 3) for calculating a hot junction 106 (FIG. 1) temperature” see par.26);
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Betts to include the teachings of Whiteley; which would provide an apparatus for providing a reference temperature at a thermocouple cold junction, thus allowing the acquisition of an accurate temperature at the cold junction, which is essential to accurate cold junction compensation calculations as disclosed in Whiteley (see par.6 and 18).
Regarding claim 12, Betts in view of Whiteley teach The I/O module base as set forth in claim 11, Betts further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor is thermally associated with and adapted (“each electric connector assembly includes an internal thermocouple 120 (e.g., a thermal sensor).” See par.28) to sense a temperature of said first one of said constituent contacts and also is thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of a second one of said second contact pair constituents of said body. (“the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” See par.40).
Regarding claim 13, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module base as set forth in claim 12, Whiteley further teaches further comprising a second CJC sensor connected to said I/O base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24), said second CJC sensor thermally associated with and adapted to sense a temperature of at least a third one of said contact pair constituents of said body( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used, each of the two or more temperature sensors 136A-B being located proximal to a cold junction 108A-B, such that the temperature at temperature sensor 136A-B is substantially equal to the temperature the cold junction 108A-B.” see par.23).
Regarding claim 14, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module base as set forth in claim 13, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first and second CJC sensors each comprise a thermistor ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24).
Regarding claim 15, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 11, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor comprises a thermistor ( “temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24).
Regarding claim 15, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module base as set forth in claim 11, Whiteley further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor comprises first and second conductors that are operatively connected to said I/O circuitry of said I/O base through said printed circuit board independent of said plurality of contact pair constituents ( “Temperature sensor 136A-B may further be in electrical signal communication with substrate 132 by a plurality of conductive pins or other means. Temperature sensor 136A-B may further be placed in electrical signal communication with computing device 150 via second pair of tracings 144. Second pair of tracings 144 is in electrical isolation from first pair of tracings 142.” See par.25).
Regarding claim 16, Betts teaches an I/O module (input module 100) comprising:
an I/O module base (fig.1 # 20) comprising a printed circuit board including I/O circuitry (fig.1 shows PCB circuitry);
a removable terminal block removably connected to ( “The terminal block 110 includes an electrical connector assembly for each wire 10A, 10B of the wire pair of the external thermocouple 10.” See par.28; having connectors makes the terminal block removable; fig1 shows its connections to 100 and 20) and selectively separable from the I/O module base ( “provided as a circuit element separate from the processing circuit 160 on the PCB 150.” See par.30), said removable terminal block comprising a plurality field wiring terminals ( “associated with the two different field terminals (e.g., positive and negative terminals) of the input module 100.” See par.34) that are operatively connected to said I/O circuitry when said removable terminal block is connected to said I/O module base ( “temperature sensor 136 may be integrated with a surface of 134, 140 by providing a cavity in the body of the terminal block 134 or plug 140, and placing temperature sensor 136 in the cavity. At least one surface of the temperature sensor 136A-B may be exposed to ambient air proximal to cold junction 108A-B.” sensor exposed to ambient air means it is not part of terminal block and physically separated from the substrate (the base)” see par.24);
a first CJC sensor connected to said I/O base ( “the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” See par.40) and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry ( “the sensor 162 is located between the jaw connectors of the connector assemblies of the terminal block 100 associated with the wires 10A, 10B for the external thermocouple 10.” See par.29 ), said first CJC sensor adapted to sense a first temperature associated ( “The sensor 162 can be a temperature sensor or other sensor(s) for measuring (e.g., sensing, detecting, measuring, calculating, deriving, determining, etc.) a temperature at a desired region (e.g., area, location, region, etc.) on an integrated chip (IC) on the PCB 150” See par.29) with at least a first one of said field wiring terminals of said removable terminal block ( “the cold junction temperature for the external thermocouple 10 can also be determined by calculating or deriving the hot junction temperature of the internal thermocouple 120 based on the temperature measured by the sensor 162 (e.g., cold junction temperature for the internal thermocouple) and the voltage differential between the different legs of at least one of the internal thermocouple 120.” See par.40),
Betts fails to teach wherein said first CJC sensor is physically connected to said I/O module base both: (i) when said removable terminal block is physically connected to said I/O module base; and (ii) when said removable terminal block is physically separated from said I/O module base.
Whiteley does teach wherein said first CJC sensor is physically connected to said I/O module base both: (i) when said removable terminal block is physically connected to said I/O base (fig.3 shows CJC sensors 136 connected when terminal block 134 is physically connected); and (ii) when said removable terminal block is physically separated from said I/O base (“temperature sensor 136 may be integrated with a surface of 134, 140 by providing a cavity in the body of the terminal block 134 or plug 140, and placing temperature sensor 136 in the cavity. At least one surface of the temperature sensor 136A-B may be exposed to ambient air proximal to cold junction 108A-B.” sensor exposed to ambient air means it is not part of terminal block and physically separated from the substrate (the base)” See par.24).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Betts to include the teachings of Whiteley; which would provide an apparatus for providing a reference temperature at a thermocouple cold junction, thus allowing the acquisition of an accurate temperature at the cold junction, which is essential to accurate cold junction compensation calculations as disclosed in Whiteley (par.6 and 18).
Regarding claim 17, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 16, Whiteley further teaches wherein said CJC sensor comprises a thermistor (“temperature sensors 136A-B may be thermistors” see par.24).
Regarding claim 18, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 16, Betts further teaches
said field wiring terminals of said removable terminal block are electrically connected to said I/O circuitry of said I/O module base (Betts fig.1 shows thermocouple wires connected to circuitry in input module 100) through respective contact pairs (contact pairs 10A and 10B) when said removable terminal block is physically connected to said I/O module base (fig.1 shows terminal block 110 physically connected to I/O module base through wires 10C);
each of said contact pairs comprises: (i) a first constituent contact connected to the removable terminal block (fig.1 shows one contact end 10C connected to the RTB (removable terminal block) and the other connected to the base 20) and electrically connected to one of said terminals (fig.1 shows contact pairs 10A-10C connected to terminal block 110); and,
said first CJC sensor is thermally associated with and senses said first temperature of one or more of said second constituent contacts within said I/O module base (“The sensor 162 can be a temperature sensor or other sensor(s) for measuring (e.g., sensing, detecting, measuring, calculating, deriving, determining, etc.) a temperature at a desired region (e.g., area, location, region, etc.) on an integrated chip (IC) on the PCB 150” see par.29).
Betts fails to teach and (ii) a second constituent contact physically connected to said I/O module base and electrically connected to said I/O circuitry;
Whiteley does teach (ii) a second constituent contact physically connected to said I/O module base and electrically connected to said I/O circuitry (“first pair of tracings 142 and second pair of tracings 144 on substrate 132 form electrically isolated circuit connections with a computing device 150 (FIG. 3) for calculating a hot junction 106 (FIG. 1) temperature” see par.26);
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Betts to include the teachings of Whiteley; which would provide an apparatus for providing a reference temperature at a thermocouple cold junction, thus allowing the acquisition of an accurate temperature at the cold junction, which is essential to accurate cold junction compensation calculations as disclosed in Whiteley (par.6 and 18).
Regarding claim 19, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 18, Betts further teaches wherein said first CJC sensor is thermally associated with said one or more of said second constituent contacts within said I/O module base by being at least one of: (i) physically connected to the one or more second constituent contacts; (ii) electrically connected to the one or more second constituent contacts ( “the cold junction temperature (also referred to as the cold junction compensation (CJC) temperature) can be determined by adjusting the temperature measured by the sensor on the PCB 150 using an average of the detected temperature differential from the two internal thermocouples 120 associated with the two different field terminals (e.g., positive and negative terminals) of the input module 100.” See par.34; fig.1 shows temp sensor both physically and electrically connected to the base 20 through connections of thermocouples 120).
Regarding claim 20, Betts in view of Whiteley teach the I/O module as set forth in claim 16, Whiteley further teaches further comprising a second CJC sensor physically connected to said I/O base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry ( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used” see par.23; fig.4 shows sensors 136 connected to a base and operatively connected to said I/O circuitry in terminal block 134), said second CJC sensor adapted to sense a second temperature associated with at least a second one of said field wiring terminals of said removable terminal block ( “two or more temperature sensors 136A-B may be used, each of the two or more temperature sensors 136A-B being located proximal to a cold junction 108A-B, such that the temperature at temperature sensor 136A-B is substantially equal to the temperature the cold junction 108A-B.” see par.23), wherein said second CJC sensor is physically connected to said I/O base both: (i) when said removable terminal block is physically connected to said I/O base (fig.3 shows CJC sensors 136 connected when terminal block 134 is physically connected); and (ii) when said removable terminal block is physically separated from said I/O base ( “temperature sensor 136 may be integrated with a surface of 134, 140 by providing a cavity in the body of the terminal block 134 or plug 140, and placing temperature sensor 136 in the cavity. At least one surface of the temperature sensor 136A-B may be exposed to ambient air proximal to cold junction 108A-B.” sensor exposed to ambient air means it is not part of terminal block and physically separated from the substrate (the base)” see par.24).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 7234864 B2; Streicher; Steven R. is a Measurement of multi-channel cold junction temperature.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARL F.R. TCHATCHOUANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3991. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am -5:00am.
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/CARL F.R. TCHATCHOUANG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858