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 .
Non-Final Office Action
DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Notes
(a) Claim date: 07/28/2023
(b) Priority date: 08/23/2022.
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 1–20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zikes (US20130211615").
(As to claim 1 and 16, Zikes discloses)
1. (Original) A relay system comprising:
PNG
media_image1.png
572
392
media_image1.png
Greyscale
a relay logic evaluator comprising circuitry configured to receive signals indicative of a status change, the circuitry configured to send a second signal indicative of the status changes received by the circuitry; [ [0039], [0041], FIG. 1: discloses a relay switch control (10/100) in which the processor (14) receives thermostat control signals via Y and C terminals (20) indicative of status changes in compressor operation, and sends a corresponding control signal to operate the relay (24) responsive to those received status change signals, disclosing relay logic evaluator circuitry that receives signals indicative of a status change and sends a second signal indicative of the status changes received;]
a controller coupled to the relay logic evaluator, the controller configured to determine a value indicative of a count of status changes responsive to receiving the second signal from the circuitry, [0039]: discloses that the processor includes a cycle counter feature that a user may activate by push button to determine and display how many times the compressor relay has turned on, thereby determining a value indicative of a count of status changes responsive to receiving the relay activation signals;]
the controller configured to provide a signal indicative of the value [ [0058], [0062]: discloses that the tri-color LED indicator (104) is operable by the processor to indicate the number of relay cycles by blinking out the stored count, thereby providing a signal indicative of the count value, disclosing the controller providing a signal indicative of the determined value.].
(As to claim 2, Zikes discloses)
2. (Original) The relay system of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises:
a reflash queue counter configured to receive the second signal and determine the value indicative of a count of status changes responsive to receiving the second signal from the circuitry of the relay logic evaluator; [[0039]: discloses that the processor contains a cycle counter that increments and stores a count of relay activations responsive to each relay control signal received, disclosing a counter that receives the second signal and determines a count of status changes;]
and a relay output controller configured to provide the signal indicative of the value [[0058], [0062]: discloses that the LED indicator (104) is operable by the processor to blink out the stored cycle count, constituting a relay output controller that provides the signal indicative of the count value.].
(As to claim 3, 17, Zikes discloses)
3. (Original) The relay system of claim 1, further comprising input configuration pins configured to receive configuration signals configured to adjust settings of the controller
PNG
media_image2.png
408
434
media_image2.png
Greyscale
[FIG. 2: discloses three dipswitches (108) on the control functioning as input configuration pins that receive configuration signals to adjust settings of the controller, including short cycle delay time (SW1-1), pressure switch lockout (SW1-3), and brownout protection (SW1-2).].
(As to claim 4, Zikes discloses)
PNG
media_image3.png
410
526
media_image3.png
Greyscale
4. (Original) The relay system of claim 1, wherein the signal indicative of the value comprises a square wave signal [[0062], Table 2: discloses that the LED indicator blinks at defined rates to indicate count values and status conditions; a periodic on/off blink signal is a square wave signal; it would have been obvious to implement the LED blink control output as a square wave signal, as this is the standard and well-known circuit technique for generating a periodic on/off indicator signal.]
(As to claim 5, 18, Zikes discloses)
5. (Original) The relay system of claim 1, further comprising a light coupled to the controller [FIG. 2: discloses a tri-color LED indicator light (34/104) coupled to and operable by the microprocessor of the control to indicate faults, status conditions, and/or the number of relay cycles.].
(As to claim 6, 19, Zikes discloses)
6. (Original) The relay system of claim 5, wherein the light is configured to flash at a rate wherein a count of flashes is discernable by a human observe.[[0062]: discloses that pressing the "COUNT" button activates a cycle count display mode in which the LED blinks out the stored compressor relay count.].
(As to claim 7, 20, Zikes discloses)
7. (Original) The relay system of claim 1, wherein the relay logic evaluator comprises a plurality of inputs, the relay logic evaluator configured to receive multiple signals sequentially by the plurality of inputs [[0050], FIG. 1: discloses a plurality of inputs from which multiple status change signals are received sequentially.].
(As to claim 8, Zikes discloses)
8. (Original) The relay system of claim 7, wherein the relay logic evaluator comprises up to 255 inputs [[0071]: discloses that the processor counter produces a value in the range of 0–255 (an 8-bit value)].
(As to claim 9, Zikes discloses)
9. (Original) The system of claim 7, wherein the signal indicative of a status change originates from a sensor outputting a signal that exceeds a threshold value, the sensor operating within a plant [[0050]: disclosing sensors operating within a plant that output signals exceeding a threshold value.]
(As to claim 10, Zikes discloses)
10. (Original) A method comprising:
receiving a signal, by logic evaluator circuitry, indicative of a status change [FIG. 1: the processor (14) receiving thermostat and pressure switch signals via Y, C terminals (20) indicative of status changes in compressor operation, as further discussed for claim 1;];
determining, by a controller, a value indicative of a number of status changes based on the received signal [[0039]: the processor determining and storing a count of relay cycle activations (status changes) based on the received signals, as discussed for claim 1;];
and providing a signal, by the controller indicative of the determined value [[0058], [0062]: the LED indicator providing a blink signal indicative of the stored cycle count value, as further discussed for claim 1.].
(As to claim 11, Zikes discloses)
11. (Original) The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving the signal by a light configured to flash a sequence of flashes equal to the determined value responsive to receiving the signal [[0062]: the LED indicator receives the count value signal and flashes a sequence of blinks corresponding to the digit values of the stored count].
(As to claim 12, Zikes discloses)
12. (Original) The method of claim 11, wherein the light flashes at a rate discernable to a human observer [[0062], [0078]: the LED blink count observable to a human observer.].
(As to claim 13, Zikes discloses)
13. (Original) The method of claim 10, wherein the controller comprises configuration pins, the method further comprising:
PNG
media_image4.png
180
508
media_image4.png
Greyscale
configuring, by configuration pins, the controller [Table 1: discloses configuring the controller by setting the dipswitches (108)—input configuration pins—to adjust the short cycle delay time, pressure switch lockout, and brownout protection settings, as further discussed for claim 3.]
(As to claim 14, Zikes discloses)
14. (Original) The method of claim 13, wherein configuring the controller comprises:
adjusting an allowable queue length [Table 1: discloses that dipswitch SW1-3 sets the pressure switch lockout—i.e., the allowable number of consecutive pressure switch openings before lockout—corresponding to adjusting an allowable queue length];
adjusting a reflash time [Table 1: dipswitch SW1-1 sets the short cycle delay time to 0 or 180 seconds, corresponding to adjusting a reflash time];
or changing a reflash enablement state [Table 1: dipswitch SW1-3].
(As to claim 15, Zikes discloses)
15. (Original) A relay system comprising:
a relay logic evaluator comprising circuits configured to receive signals indicative of a status change, the circuits configured to send a second signal indicative of the status changes received by the relay logic evaluator [[0039], [0041], FIG. 1: discloses relay logic evaluator circuits receiving thermostat and pressure switch signals indicative of status changes and sending a second signal to operate the relay, as discussed for claim 1;];
a controller coupled to the relay logic evaluator, the controller configured to determine a value indicative of a count of status changes responsive to receiving the second signal from the circuits of the relay logic evaluator, the controller configured to provide a signal indicative of the value [[0062]: controller determining the cycle count value and providing a blink signal indicative of that value, as discussed for claim 1;];
the controller comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory memory containing instructions instructing the processor to: [ [0041]: the control (10/100) includes a processor (14) and non-volatile EEPROM memory (16) containing instructions that instruct the processor to perform the relay control and count operations;]
determine, by the controller, a value indicative of a number of status changes based on a received signal [ [0039]: the processor-implemented cycle counter determining and storing the count of relay cycle activations based on received signals, as discussed for claim 1];
and provide a signal, by the controller indicative of the determined value [ [0058], [0062]: Zikes discloses the processor instructing the LED indicator to provide a blink signal indicative of the stored count value, as discussed for claim 1.].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record in the form PTO-892 are not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.Contact information:Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED ALAM whose telephone number is (571) 270-1507, email address: [mohammed.alam@uspto.gov] and fax number (571) 270-2507. The examiner can normally be reached on 10AM to 4PM (EST), Monday to Friday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's Supervisor, JACK CHIANG can be reached on (571) 272-7483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300./Mohammed Alam/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851
Prosecution Insights