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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/28/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In reference to applicant’s arguments with respect to Zhou not teaching the detection being less than a starting voltage of the motor, Zhou describes in Col. 1 lines 45-48 that at least two different currents (normal operating current and a peak start current) are detected, these currents are sent to the motor control unit to determine is the motor is operating properly (col. 5 lines 58-67 and col. 6 lines 1-25). The “normal” operating current is lower than any “peak” current since the control unit maintains an operating state of the motor based on the detected information.
In reference to applicant’s arguments with respect to Zhou not teaching the feature of “acquiring an impedance of the motor using detected current and voltage through the motor resistor” of claim 1, contrary to applicant’s statement claim 1 does not specify how any impedance is “acquired”. Zhou teaches, fig. 2, a motor current sampling circuit comprising resistors R/R4 and capacitors C2/C3. The impedance would be the combination of the measured resistance and measured capacitance.
In reference to applicant’s comments with respect to Zhou not teaching the feature of “determining a brush type corresponding to the brus motor based on the first impedance and a correspondence between impedances and brush types stored”, the determination of the brush type uses the first impedance since the impedance is used to obtain the motor current and a plurality of motor currents are stored to correspond to different brushes as described in col. 6 lines 60-67 and col. 7 lines 1-10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-10 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou (US Patent 11000167).
Claims 1, 5, and 17, Zhou teaches a vacuum cleaner and a method for controlling a vacuum cleaner comprising: detecting a voltage of a brush motor (col. 4 lines 23-31); acquiring an impedance of the motor using detected current and voltage through the motor resistor and capacitor in the current detecting module (see for example col. 4 lines 53-65 as well as fig. 2); and determining a brush type based on the acquired motor information which is previously stored in a storage module (col. 5 lines 39-48).
Claims 2-4, 6-10, and 18-20, Zhou describes, in fig. 2 and corresponding description, how the voltage and current of each brush is detected, the acquired information is stored in a storage module, determining a duty ratio for the brush motor driving signal (signal to control the speed of the motor from an operating speed to zero or from zero to an operating speed, and controlling the motor based on the determined duty ratio (speed). The specific values for the initial starting voltages of the brush motor will depend on the type and size of the motor being used.
Claim Objections
Claims 11-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rina I Duda whose telephone number is (571)272-2062. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at (571) 272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RINA I DUDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846