DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-10 are pending.
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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 9 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kuijpers et al., U.S. Patent No. 10,386,015 (hereinafter Kuijpers).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Kuijpers discloses all the limitations of claims 1 and 3, as outlined below.
Claim 1. A lubricator control method comprising: reading current configuration information including periodic oil filling time and periodic reporting time (C6 L61-67 operating the lubricator at preset intervals);
controlling a lubricator to wake up from a sleep state to perform an oil filling task when the periodic oil filling time is reached (C6 L61-67 - - the machine/lubricator goes to the “OFF/SLEEP” state),
controlling the lubricator to switch to the sleep state after the oil filling task ends normally or an abnormal alarm is provided (C6 L61-67 - - the machine/lubricator goes to the “OFF/SLEEP” state the lubricator will wake up to perform oil filling at corresponding instances);
controlling the lubricator to wake up from the sleep state to perform a data reporting task through a wireless network (C5 L32-35 - - using low-power wireless emission technology) when the periodic reporting time is reached (C8 L29-37 - - when in “ON/WAKE” state reports/warnings are performed); and controlling the lubricator to switch to the sleep state after the data reporting task is completed (C6 L61-67 - - when in OFF/SLEEP state no reporting is performed).
Claim 3. The lubricator control method according to claim 1, wherein the oil filling task comprises: detecting a normal or abnormal lubricator state; and controlling the lubricator to stop the oil filling task and providing an abnormal alarm in response to the abnormal lubricator state being detected, wherein the providing the abnormal alarm includes generating alarm information and sending the alarm information through the wireless network (C5 L20-35 - - reporting using low-power wireless emission technology. Transmitting to a central factory control unit or operating room).
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 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.
Claims 2 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuijpers et al., U.S. Patent No. 10,386,015 (hereinafter Kuijpers) in view of Pulsarlube BT, https://pulsarlube.com/blog/blog?tpf=form/blog&form_code=20&code=378, Internet Archive Wayback Machine, Captured from December 09, 2021, Pages 1-2 (hereinafter Pulsar BT).
Regarding claim 2, Kuijpers discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Kuijpers further discloses the data reporting comprises: obtaining data related to lubricator state; reporting the obtained data through the wireless network (C5 L5-35 – reporting using low-power wireless emission technology).
Kuijpers fails to clearly specify receiving target configuration command information that is sent through the wireless network; and updating the configuration information based on the target configuration command information.
However, Pulsar BT teaches receiving target configuration command information that is sent through the wireless network; and updating the configuration information based on the target configuration command information (Page 1 - - the Bluetooth-enabled automatic lubricator is controlled via an App on a mobile device. The lubricator status is monitored. Specifically, battery power, dispensing, and replacement information is sent wirelessly).
The applied prior art is considered analogous art to the claimed invention because they relate to same field of endeavor. They relate to lubricating device control.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the above lubricating device pump control, as taught by Kuijpers, and incorporating the concept of wireless bidirectional communication for control purpose, as taught by Pulsar BT.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to provide convenient monitoring and control, as suggested by Pulsar BT (Page 1).
Regarding claim 7, Kuijpers discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, Kuijpers fails to clearly specify controlling the lubricator to perform a power-on registration through the wireless network; receiving target configuration command information that is sent through the wireless network; and updating the configuration information according to the target configuration command information.
However, Pulsar BT teaches controlling a lubricator to perform a power-on registration through the wireless network; receiving target configuration command information that is sent through the wireless network; and updating the configuration information according to the target configuration command information (Page 1 - - the Bluetooth-enabled automatic lubricator is controlled via an App on a mobile device. The lubricator status is monitored. Specifically, battery power, dispensing, and replacement information is sent wirelessly).
The applied prior art is considered analogous art to the claimed invention because they relate to same field of endeavor. They relate to lubricating device control.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the above lubricating device pump control, as taught by Kuijpers, and incorporating the concept of wireless bidirectional communication for control purpose, as taught by Pulsar BT.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to provide convenient monitoring and control, as suggested by Pulsar BT (Page 1).
Regarding Claim 8 - - Pulsar BT further teaches wherein a lubricator state includes a battery power state and a lubricating oil emptying state (Page 1 - - the Bluetooth-enabled automatic lubricator is controlled via an App on a mobile device. The lubricator status is monitored. Specifically, battery power, dispensing, and emptying state/replacement information is sent wirelessly).
Claim 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuijpers et al., U.S. Patent No. 10,386,015 (hereinafter Kuijpers) in view of Baiji, Youssef, and Prabha Sundaravadivel. "ILoLeak-detect: An IoT-based LoRAWAN-enabled oil leak detection system for smart cities." 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Smart Electronic Systems (iSES)(Formerly iNiS). IEEE, 2019 (hereinafter Baiji).
Regarding claim 10, Kuijpers discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Kuijpers fails to clearly specify wherein the wireless network is a wireless network based on a 5G-NB-IoT communication mode or a LoRaWan communication protocol.
However, Baiji teaches a wireless network based on a 5G-NB-IoT communication mode or a LoRaWan communication protocol (Abstract).
The applied prior art is considered analogous art to the claimed invention because they relate to same field of endeavor. They relate to oil control systems.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the above lubricating control pump and system, as taught by Kuijpers, and incorporating diverse wireless communication protocols, as taught by Baiji.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to provide fast manner of acquiring information and reduce potential failures, as suggested by Baiji (Abstract).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
U.S. Patent No. 5732794 – relates to automatic lubricator.
U.S. Patent No. 5921350 – relates to multi-purpose lubricating oil control apparatus.
U.S. Patent No. 6123174 – relates to automatically controlling fluid changes.
U.S. Patent No. 6216822 – relates to programmable automatic lubricant dispenser.
U.S. Patent No. 6354816 – relates to automatically feeding lubricating oil.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0147627 – relates to closed loop lubrication system.
U.S. Patent No. 8424722 – relates to self-contained lubricant dispenser.
U.S. Patent No. 8509935 – relates to monitoring machinery.
U.S. Patent No. 8893857– relates to purging air form automatic lubrication systems.
U.S. Patent No. 9109748 – relates to closed loop lubrication.
U.S. Patent No. 9659414 – relates to wireless fluid level sensors.
U.S. Patent No. 10041844 – relates to fluid flow rate assessment.
U.S. Patent No. 10876685 – relates to lubricator pump adjuster.
U.S. Patent No. 11035715 – relates to wireless monitoring liquid storage containers.
Conclusion
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/CARLOS R ORTIZ RODRIGUEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119