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 with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9-10, 13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ludvik (US 20180265204 A1) in view of Space (US 20190100318 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ludvik teaches of:
An environmental control system for an aircraft, the environmental control system comprising:
a first inlet configured to receive recirculation air from a cabin of the aircraft (Fig. 2, the outlet of 212 is the inlet for recirculation air in the environmental control system);
a second inlet configured to receive fresh air (Fig. 2, 201);
a manifold for mixing the recirculation air with the conditioned fresh air to form mixed air (Fig. 2, 214);
a contaminant removal system configured to remove contaminants from the mixed air to form cabin air (Fig. 2, 205);
an outlet configured to supply the cabin air to the cabin (Fig. 2, 208)
Ludvik in the embodiment of figure 2 fails to explicitly teach:
a controller configured to receive air quality information from an air quality sensor, the controller configured to control the contaminant removal system based on the air quality information.
Ludvik in a further embodiment teaches of:
a controller (Fig. 4, 413 is a controller; ¶ [0046], a supply air flow 401 can be filtered by a particulate filter 402 to protect downstream apparatus from mechanical damage. The quality of the air flow 401 can be sensed by an air quality sensor 403 that may be able to detect constituents like VOC's, CO2, CO, O2 or N2. Depending on the quality of air 409 sensed by the air quality sensor 403, a valve 404 may bypass, partially or fully, the regenerative treatment beds 405 and 406, through a duct 409. The air stream entering regenerative treatment subsystem 400 can be directed by one of the dual acting solenoid valves 407A and 407B, controlled by a control system 413, to enter one of the combined treatment beds 405 or 406).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace 205 of figure 2 of Ludvik with 400 of figure 4 of Ludvik so that 401 is positioned at 215 and 412 is positioned at 208
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the system of Fig. 4 is designed to be utilized in the system of Fig. 2 as stated within the specification of Ludvik (¶ [0045], FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a regenerative treatment subsystem 400 that can be employed in the embodiments of an ECS shown in FIGS. 1-3. Although FIG. 4 is depicted to show four adsorbent areas/phases in one treatment bed, fewer or more areas/phases can be employed.)
Space teaches of:
a controller configured to receive air quality information from an air quality sensor, the controller configured to control the contaminant removal system based on the air quality information (Fig. 2, controller 30 receives air quality sensor information from 18 and controls valve 42 and 46 for a bypass duct to bypass a first and second contaminant removal system)
wherein the contaminant removal system comprises first and second contaminant removal units for removing different types of contaminants (Fig. 2, 44 and 48 each remove different types of contaminants) and wherein, in response to the air quality information indicating a first contaminant being determined to be present in the mixed air above a first threshold, the controller is configured to increases the proportion of the mixed air flowing through a first contaminant removal unit that is configured to remove the first contaminant (¶ [0061], Based on the contaminant level reported by the upstream air quality sensor 40, the controller 30 is operative to output control signals that cause the bypass valve 42 to divert none, some, or all of the airflow through a regenerative gas contaminant filter 44)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add 44 of Space upstream from 400 of Ludvik but downstream from the mix manifold 214 and air quality sensor of Ludvik and further add bypass valve 42 of Space upstream from 44 so that 42 can have the mixed air selectively bypass the now first contaminant removal unit 44 and further connect both the air quality sensor and the bypass valve of Fig. 4 of Ludvik to the controller 413 of Ludvik and have 413 either open or close the bypass valves for the first contaminant removal unit 44 and the second contaminant removal unit 400 based on readings provided by the air quality sensor and further modify 413 so that it can alert the flight crew if air quality falls outside of predetermined parameter
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
by making the modifications above, automated control of the entire system can be achieve based upon received air quality data allowing for various forms of contaminants to be removed from the system (Space, ¶ [0009], The system further includes a controller operatively connected to the external air supply device, recirculation device, regenerative gas contaminant filter, bypass valves, and air quality sensors, and operative to control one or more of the external air supply device, recirculation device, regenerative gas contaminant filter, and bypass valves in response to air quality deduced from the air quality sensors.; ¶ [0063], the controller 30 can monitor the operation of the ECS components 44, 48, and adjust one or both of the bypass valves 42, 46 to control the levels of contaminants, VOCs, and CO2 in the recirculated air) and further modifying 413 to be able to alert the flight crew allows the flight crew to be notified if detected air quality deviates from an acceptable parameter (Space, ¶ [0008], The controller can alert a flight crew if air quality falls outside predetermined or programmable parameters.)
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising:
a bypass duct (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 409); and
a bypass valve (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 404);
wherein the controller is configured to control the bypass valve to selectively bypass the contaminant removal system via the bypass duct (see combination made in claim 1 above, the controller 413 was modified to control 404 based on readings from 403).
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the contaminant removal system comprises first and second contaminant removal units connected in parallel (Space, Fig. 2, the arrangement of bypass valves 42 and 46 for first and second contaminant removal units 44 and 48 are the same as the arrangement of the bypass valve and units of Ludvik as modified, in a situation where the valves 42 and 46 are partially open, which is said to be possible in ¶ [0061] of Space, then equal amounts of air would be simultaneously flowing through the first and second units thus connecting the units in parallel).
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 3, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the controller is configured to control a proportion of the mixed air flowing through the first and second contaminant removal units (Space, Fig. 2, the controller can control the amount of air bypassed by each of the bypass valves allowing for a selective control of air through each of the units).
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the controller is configured to control the contaminant removal system based on the air quality information to provide cabin air meeting a minimum quality standard while minimising fuel consumption (see combination made in claim 1 above, the controller 413 receives air quality information from the air quality sensor and further the system as a whole mixes recirculated cabin air with fresh air which minimizes fuel consumption and the controller of the contaminant removal system of the combined teachings maintains air quality within predetermined parameters; Space, ¶ [0008], The controller can alert a flight crew if air quality falls outside predetermined or programmable parameters.; ¶ [0055], As described above, due to the conditions of air at altitude, extensive conditioning (pressurizing, heating, and humidifying) of the external air is required, which consumes energy and hence increases fuel burn. Accordingly, the ECS also comprises a recirculation air path, which recirculates air, such as from the first interior volume portion 14a to the second interior volume portion 14b).
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising:
an air quality sensor configured to provide the air quality information (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 403).
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 6, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the air quality sensor is a mixed air quality sensor, the mixed air quality sensor configured to determine air quality of the mixed air to provide the air quality information (Ludvik, Fig. 4, the air 401 is mixed air within the combined teachings as described in the rejection of claim 1 and therefore, 403 is a mixed air quality sensor).
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the controller is comprised in the contaminant removal system (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 403 is within the contaminant removal system 400).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the contaminant removal system comprises a first regenerative filter, the first regenerative filter configured to receive regeneration air (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 405 is a regenerative filter and receives regeneration air via 411B; ¶ [0051], A desorption phase can be enabled in FIG. 4 by purging orifice 411A (or 411B), allowing a fraction of treated air 412 to pass the combined treatment bed backwards, supporting the desorption of individual segments 405A-D (or 406A-D) with adsorbed air constituents flowing back through the solenoid valve and venting as overboard air stream 408. Another desorption enabler is heating the bed, then cooling it to return to the ready-to-adsorb state.).
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of:
An aircraft comprising:
an environmental control system according to claim 1 (Ludvik, Fig. 2, 209 is an aircraft cabin).
Regarding claim 15, Ludvik teaches of:
A method of controlling an aircraft environment, the method comprising:
receiving recirculation air from a cabin of the aircraft (Fig. 2, 211 is introduced into 214);
receiving conditioned fresh air (Fig. 2, 201 is introduced into 214);
mixing the recirculation air with the conditioned fresh air to form mixed air (Fig. 2, 215 is formed from 211 and 201 mixing);
receiving air quality information;
controlling a contaminant removal system, based on the air quality information, to remove contaminants from the mixed air to form cabin air, wherein the contaminant removal system comprises first and second contaminant removal units for removing different types of contaminants and wherein, in response to the air quality information indicating a first contaminant being determined to be present in the mixed air above a first threshold, the controller is configured; and
supplying the cabin air to the cabin (Fig. 2, 208 is supplied to the cabin 209).
Ludvik fails to explicitly teach:
receiving air quality information;
controlling a contaminant removal system, based on the air quality information, to remove contaminants from the mixed air to form cabin air wherein the contaminant removal system comprises first and second contaminant removal units for removing different types of contaminants and wherein, in response to the air quality information indicating a first contaminant being determined to be present in the mixed air above a first threshold, the controller is configured
Ludvik in a further embodiment teaches of:
receiving air quality information (Fig. 4, 403 is an air quality sensor)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace 205 of figure 2 of Ludvik with 400of figure 4 of Ludvik so that 401 is positioned at 215 and 412 is positioned at 208
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the system of Fig. 4 is designed to be utilized in the system of Fig. 2 as stated within the specification of Ludvik (¶ [0045], FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a regenerative treatment subsystem 400 that can be employed in the embodiments of an ECS shown in FIGS. 1-3. Although FIG. 4 is depicted to show four adsorbent areas/phases in one treatment bed, fewer or more areas/phases can be employed.)
Space teaches of:
controlling a contaminant removal system, based on the air quality information, to remove contaminants from the mixed air to form cabin air (Fig. 2, controller 30 receives air quality sensor information from 18 and controls valve 42 for a bypass duct to bypass a contaminant removal system) wherein the contaminant removal system comprises first and second contaminant removal units for removing different types of contaminants (Fig. 2, 44 and 48 each remove different types of contaminants) and wherein, in response to the air quality information indicating a first contaminant being determined to be present in the mixed air above a first threshold, the controller is configured (¶ [0061], Based on the contaminant level reported by the upstream air quality sensor 40, the controller 30 is operative to output control signals that cause the bypass valve 42 to divert none, some, or all of the airflow through a regenerative gas contaminant filter 44)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add 44 of Space upstream from 400 of Ludvik but downstream from the mix manifold 214 and air quality sensor of Ludvik and further add bypass valve 42 of Space upstream from 44 so that 42 can have the mixed air selectively bypass the now first contaminant removal unit 44 and further connect both the air quality sensor and the bypass valve of Fig. 4 of Ludvik to the controller 413 of Ludvik and have 413 either open or close the bypass valves for the first contaminant removal unit 44 and the second contaminant removal unit 400 based on readings provided by the air quality sensor and further modify 413 so that it can alert the flight crew if air quality falls outside of predetermined parameter
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
by making the modifications above, automated control of the entire system can be achieve based upon received air quality data allowing for various forms of contaminants to be removed from the system (Space, ¶ [0009], The system further includes a controller operatively connected to the external air supply device, recirculation device, regenerative gas contaminant filter, bypass valves, and air quality sensors, and operative to control one or more of the external air supply device, recirculation device, regenerative gas contaminant filter, and bypass valves in response to air quality deduced from the air quality sensors.; ¶ [0063], the controller 30 can monitor the operation of the ECS components 44, 48, and adjust one or both of the bypass valves 42, 46 to control the levels of contaminants, VOCs, and CO2 in the recirculated air) and further modifying 413 to be able to alert the flight crew allows the flight crew to be notified if detected air quality deviates from an acceptable parameter (Space, ¶ [0008], The controller can alert a flight crew if air quality falls outside predetermined or programmable parameters.)
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ludvik (US 20180265204 A1) in view of Space (US 20190100318 A1) as presented in claim 6, and in further view of Fox (US 20180118351 A1).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 6, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the air quality sensor is a cabin air quality sensor, the cabin air quality sensor configured to determine air quality in the cabin to provide the air quality information.
Fox teaches of:
wherein the air quality sensor is a cabin air quality sensor, the cabin air quality sensor configured to determine air quality in the cabin to provide the air quality information (Fig. 1A, air quality sensor 12 is within the environment 14; ¶ [0041], The sensors 12 may be positioned in various points throughout the ECS to sense contaminants in, and/or air characteristics of, the outside air supplied through engine or APU bleeds or other air sources including ground supplies and electric compressors, and/or recirculating air in the ECS and/or, in particular, an environment 14, such an aircraft cabin).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
move the air quality sensor 403 of Ludvik to the cabin of Ludvik but keep it connected to the controller 413 so that the controller is still capable of operating all the same controls based upon the received air quality information
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the air within the aircraft cabin where passengers are located to be measured and maintained at a safe level (Fox, ¶ [0049], The controller 11 may then compare the contamination signals and/or characteristic signals to one or more thresholds that may relate to, for example, cabin pressure, cabin temperature, particulate mass and VOC concentrations. In the example of VOC concentrations, the controller 11 may compare contamination signals to a contaminant concentration look up table that may have information/data of contaminant class and/or contaminant concentration versus sensor response (e.g., resistance/current) and applied voltage.)
Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ludvik (US 20180265204 A1) in view of Space (US 20190100318 A1) as presented in claim 6, and in further view of Zhu (US 20210197974 A1).
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 10, the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the contaminant system comprises a second regenerative filter (Ludvik, Fig. 4, 406)
Ludvik fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the first and second regenerative filters share a common inlet to receive regeneration air.
Zhu teaches of:
the first and second regenerative filters share a common inlet to receive regeneration air (see 9 representing the common inlet for the regeneration air that is utilized in the first and second regenerative filters 7 and 8).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the system of Fig. 4 of Ludvik so that instead of recycling the supply air 412 back through the regenerative filters to regenerate them, provide a common inlet for the two regenerative filters 405 and 406 that supplies separate conditioned regeneration air, further modify the 405 and 406 so that they can each receive this separate conditioned regeneration air and after they pass through 405 and 406 include a phase change material heat exchanger so that the heat from the used air can be recovered and utilized to pre-warm new regeneration air
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
utilizing separate conditioned regeneration air instead of recirculating the supply air allows for a greater quantity of regeneration air to be utilized without affecting the amount of clean air be supplied to the cabin which improves performance of the system (Zhu, ¶ [0025], There is no risk of leakage between the processing air flow and the regeneration air flow as they are in different loops and so the pressure of the regeneration air could be lower than that of the processing air. Thus, the regeneration air can be less energy/power intensive to process. Also, a greater quantity of regeneration air could be used to regenerate the contaminant removal devices to improve performance) and further providing the heat exchanger downstream from the regenerative filters for the regeneration air allows for the excess heat within the air to be recovered and utilized to pre-warm new regeneration air which improves efficiency (Zhu, ¶ [0023], In a preferred arrangement, the system can be configured to enable energy to be recovered from the exhausted regeneration air—i.e. after it has been passed through the contaminant removal devices to regenerate them. The energy can be recovered from this air using an energy storage device, such as phase change material (PCM). The recovered energy could, e.g. be used to pre-warm the regeneration air so that less heat energy is needed downstream of regeneration air conditioning.)
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the environmental control system according to claim 10, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising:
a heat recovery unit, the heat recovery unit configured to recover heat from exhaust air exhausted from the first regenerative filter, optionally, wherein the recovery unit is configured to heat regeneration air.
Zhu teaches of:
further comprising:
a heat recovery unit, the heat recovery unit configured to recover heat from exhaust air exhausted from the first regenerative filter, optionally, wherein the recovery unit is configured to heat regeneration air (see PCM which receives the used regeneration air; ¶ [0023], In a preferred arrangement, the system can be configured to enable energy to be recovered from the exhausted regeneration air—i.e. after it has been passed through the contaminant removal devices to regenerate them. The energy can be recovered from this air using an energy storage device, such as phase change material (PCM). The recovered energy could, e.g. be used to pre-warm the regeneration air so that less heat energy is needed downstream of regeneration air conditioning.).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the system of Fig. 4 of Ludvik so that instead of recycling the supply air 412 back through the regenerative filters to regenerate them, provide a common inlet for the two regenerative filters 405 and 406 that supplies separate conditioned regeneration air, further modify the 405 and 406 so that they can each receive this separate conditioned regeneration air and after they pass through 405 and 406 include a phase change material heat exchanger so that the heat from the used air can be recovered and utilized to pre-warm new regeneration air
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
utilizing separate conditioned regeneration air instead of recirculating the supply air allows for a greater quantity of regeneration air to be utilized without affecting the amount of clean air be supplied to the cabin which improves performance of the system (Zhu, ¶ [0025], There is no risk of leakage between the processing air flow and the regeneration air flow as they are in different loops and so the pressure of the regeneration air could be lower than that of the processing air. Thus, the regeneration air can be less energy/power intensive to process. Also, a greater quantity of regeneration air could be used to regenerate the contaminant removal devices to improve performance) and further providing the heat exchanger downstream from the regenerative filters for the regeneration air allows for the excess heat within the air to be recovered and utilized to pre-warm new regeneration air which improves efficiency (Zhu, ¶ [0023], In a preferred arrangement, the system can be configured to enable energy to be recovered from the exhausted regeneration air—i.e. after it has been passed through the contaminant removal devices to regenerate them. The energy can be recovered from this air using an energy storage device, such as phase change material (PCM). The recovered energy could, e.g. be used to pre-warm the regeneration air so that less heat energy is needed downstream of regeneration air conditioning.)
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 MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steve McAllister can be reached at (571) 272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762