DETAILED ACTION
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
The claims listed below are objected to because of the following informalities:
In each of Claims 2, 3, 12, 17 and 18, change “when” to -- wherein --
Appropriate correction is required.
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 9, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chian et al. (US 2014/0199641 A1) (hereinafter “Chian”).
Regarding Claim 9, Chian teaches of a water heater (201) (see Fig. 2) comprising:
a water tank (250) (see at least [0030] and Fig. 2);
a burner (159) (see at least [0018] and Fig. 2);
a pilot (157) for igniting the burner (see at least [0018] and Fig. 2);
an ignitor (140) for igniting the pilot (see at least [0018] and Fig. 2);
a thermoelectric device (160) in thermal communication with a flame of the pilot (see at least [0018] and Fig. 2);
a rechargeable power storage device (120) (see at least [0019], [0023] and Fig. 2);
a controller (110) operatively coupled to the burner, the pilot, the ignitor, the thermoelectric device and the rechargeable power storage device (see at least [0021]-[0023] and Fig. 2);
the rechargeable power storage device (120) configured to supply power to the ignitor and the controller, the rechargeable power storage device is rechargeable using energy produced by the thermoelectric device (see at least [0018]-[0019], [0023] and Fig. 2);
the controller is configured to:
control the pilot and the burner to maintain the temperature of water in the water tank (water temperature is maintained at a desired “set point” and/or “set points”) (see at least [0020], [0022], [0029] and Fig. 2) between a lower temperature setpoint threshold (at least the lower temperature setpoint threshold of the “set point” minus 1 degree) and an upper temperature setpoint threshold (at least the upper temperature setpoint threshold of the “set point” plus 1 degree) (see at least [0020], [0022], [0029] and Fig. 2);
detect when the rechargeable power storage device has a charge that has fallen below a charge threshold (“threshold”) (see at least [0008]-[0009], [0024] and Fig. 2), and in response, control the pilot and the burner to fully recharge the rechargeable power storage device (see at least [0019] - “When at least one of the pilot burner 157 or the main burner 159 is operational, the thermal electric and/or photoelectric device 160 may be used to power the controller 110, to charge the runtime power source 120 and/or to charge the start-up power source 170, as desired”) while maintaining the temperature of water in the water tank between the lower temperature setpoint threshold and the upper temperature setpoint threshold (as is evident from at least [0008]-[0009], [0019], [0024], [0029] and Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 13, Chian also teaches that activating the pilot and not the burner is used to fully charge the rechargeable power storage device (see at least [0019] and note that it is disclosed that only the pilot may be used to fully charge the rechargeable power storage device - “When at least one of the pilot burner 157 or the main burner 159 is operational, the thermal electric and/or photoelectric device 160 may be used to power the controller 110, to charge the runtime power source 120 and/or to charge the start-up power source 170, as desired” (bolding added for emphasis)).
Regarding Claim 14, Chian also teaches that the charge threshold is below fully charged (“below a threshold level”) (see at least [0008], [0021], [0024] and Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 4-8, 15-16 and 19-20 are allowed.
Claims 2-3, 12 and 17-18 are objected to for informalities (see the Claim Objections presented above in this Office Action), but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims and in a way that overcome all informalities raised. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim (i.e., Claim 9), but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Independent Claim 1: Claim 1 expands upon the allowable subject matter of parent case 15/968626 (now allowed as US 11,236,930 B2). Claim 1 establishes a method that comprises, inter alia, distinct steps relating to different conditions of the rechargeable power storage device relative to a claimed “charge threshold” in addition to first and second heating segments that are neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by any known prior art in combination with the other limitations of the claim. While Chian teaches of a water heater (201) (see Fig. 2 and the rejection for Claim 9 above) that comprises some elements of Claim 1, Chian (and all other known prior art) fails to teach of a method that includes the combination of method steps claimed. Therefore, Claim 1 is not anticipated by any known prior art. Furthermore, no known motivation would have existed to have intentionally reconfigured the functioning method already taught by Chian (or that of any other known prior art) in a way that would have resulted in the totality of Claim 1. Therefore, the subject matter of Claim 1 is considered to be allowable over the known prior art.
Regarding dependent Claim 10: The combination of limitations claimed in Claim 10, which establish a controller configuration that relies upon, inter alia, a specific “first heating segment”, “second heating segment” and “sufficient time to fully recharge”, is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by any known prior art including that of Chian. Therefore, the subject matter of Claim 10 is considered to be allowable over the known prior art. However, Claim 10 is objected to (as is presented above) and is consequently not in condition for allowance at this time.
Regarding Independent Claim 15: Similar to Claim 1, Claim 15 expands upon the allowable subject matter of parent case 17/649267 (now allowed as US 11,719,467 B2). The combination of limitations claimed in Claim 15, that relies upon, inter alia, method steps related to specific “lower” and “higher” water “usage periods”, is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by any known prior art including that of Chian. Therefore, the subject matter of Claim 15 is also considered to be allowable over the known prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following prior art is considered relevant to this application in terms of structure and use:
Furmanek et al. (US 2016/0265811 A1)
Hazzard et al. (US 2015/0276268 A1)
Gann (US 4,689,006)
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/BENJAMIN W JOHNSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 1/24/2026
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762