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 .
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 Information Disclosure Statement, filed 31 July 2023 has been fully considered by the examiner. A signed copy is attached.
Claims 1-13 are pending.
Claims 1-13 are rejected, grounds follow.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 2 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Acronyms should be in parenthesis following their full term, e.g. “Building Automation System (BAS)” and the full term should be capitalized for clarity, e.g. “Heating Ventilation Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Emmons et al., US Pg-Pub 2015/0032264.
Method for controlling a Building Automation System, BAS, ([0004] “a building controller may be configured to communicate with and control one or more components of an HVAC system.”) comprising the steps of measuring ([0004] “the controller may be configured to receive a first signal indicative of a measure of indoor air quality”) at least two indoor environmental quality parameter values, ([0043] “Exemplary indoor air quality parameters may include an indoor temperature and an indoor humidity.”)
Calculating for the measured indoor environmental quality parameter values a dimensionless indoor environmental quality index (see eq. 2, embedded in [0052]; and [0052] “a normalization factor could also be used”) from the respective measured indoor environmental quality parameter value, ([0050] “the processor 114 may be programmed to assign a user-determined priority or weight to a number of different parameters related to an indoor air quality and/or an outdoor air quality. The processor 114 may use the weighted indoor air quality parameter values and/or outdoor air quality parameter values when determining the indoor air quality and the outdoor air quality”)
calculating a control index as a weighted sum of the indoor environmental quality indices, ([0036] “ the user profile may include one or more air quality thresholds that may be specified by the user and which, in some cases may be utilized by the processor to determine and/or anticipate the ventilation needs of the building for when the HVAC system 4 is operating in a selected operating mode.”)
and defining a predetermined upper threshold index and starting a control procedure when the control index is below the predetermined upper threshold index, or defining a predetermined ([0036] “user specified”; see also [0044] “determined by the manufacturer”) lower threshold index ([0048] “an air quality index value is lower than a user-specified threshold”) and starting the control procedure ([0048] e.g. ventilation”) when the control index is above the predetermined lower threshold index, ([0048] “For example, if the processor 114 determines that an air quality index value is lower than a user-specified threshold for an air quality index, then the processor 114 may determine that ventilating with fresh air from the outside is recommended or desired.”)
wherein the control procedure includes controlling the BAS such that at least one, multiple or all indoor environmental quality indices are each within a respective first predetermined range. ([0048] “when the processor 114 determines that ventilation is no longer necessary or recommended, the processor may display or transmit a message notifying the user that ventilation is no longer necessary and/or recommended and may automatically close one or more windows and/or cease operation of a ventilation system associated with the building 2. Additionally, in some cases, the processor 114 may cause the HVAC controller 18 to control one or more HVAC controller to regulate the environmental conditions within the building” see also [0049] discussing trading off between Temperature and Pollen count based on weighted preferences.)
Regarding Claim 2, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons further discloses:
wherein the BAS includes or is a heating ventilation air-conditioning, HVAC, system. ([0004] “In one illustrative embodiment, a building controller may be configured to communicate with and control one or more components of an HVAC system.” [0016] “FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a building 2 including one or more operable windows 5. The illustrative building 2 has a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system 4.”)
Regarding Claim 3, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons further discloses:
wherein weights of the weighted sum are deduced from user preferences. ([0050] “the processor 114 may be programmed to assign a user-determined priority or weight to a number of different parameters related to an indoor air quality”)
Regarding Claim 9, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1, Emmons further discloses:
wherein for at least one indoor environmental quality parameter an upper limit of one category is the lower limit of the adjacent higher quality category and/or an upper limit of one category is the lower limit of the adjacent higher quality category. (see fig. 8, e.g. “good” 0-50, “moderate” 51-100, etc.)
Regarding Claim 10, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons further discloses:
wherein at least one of the indoor environmental quality parameter values is a measured value of a single sensor or an average of measured values of multiple sensors of the same kind. ([0045] “the processor 114 may receive a first signal indicative of a measure of indoor air quality from either an internal sensor such as, for example, internal temperature sensor 130 or internal humidity sensor 132 and/or a from a temperature or humidity sensor external to the HVAC controller 18, but located within the building 2”)
Regarding Claim 11, Emmons discloses all of the limitations
wherein at least one sensor (e.g. temperature sensor, see [0045]) measuring one of the measured indoor environmental quality parameter values communicates wirelessly with a controller that controls the BAS. ([0029] “the input port 102 may receive the measure related to an environmental condition inside or outside of the building over a wireless network such, as for example, a wireless LAN”)
Regarding Claim 12, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons further discloses:
further comprising the steps of measuring at least one outdoor environmental quality parameter value that is of the same kind as one of the indoor environmental quality parameters, ([0028] “Additionally, the HVAC controller 18 may receive outdoor air quality data. Exemplary outdoor air quality data may include, but is not limited to a current outdoor temperature and/or outdoor humidity”)
wherein the control procedure further includes the steps of controlling the BAS such that if additional ventilation is required, ([0052] “the processor 114 may be programmed to ventilate the building or recommend ventilation of the building”) and if each of the outdoor environmental parameters has values within respective predetermined ranges, ([0052] “when the processor 114 determines that the outdoor air quality is greater than the indoor air quality”) and if the indoor environmental quality parameters of the same kind as the outdoor environmental parameters are within the same respective predetermined ranges, (ibid.) then air from an outdoor environment is fed into an indoor environment. ([0022] “the ventilation system 50 may employ one or more dampers to control air flows within the various ducts of the ventilation system 50 of the HVAC system 4. These dampers may include an exhaust damper 70 to regulate the fraction of the return air stream 62 that is exhausted 71 from the building 2, an intake damper 72 to regulate the flow of an incoming outside air stream 73 into the building 2, and/or a return damper 74 to regulate the flow of the retained return air stream 75 to mix with the incoming outside air stream 73.”)
Regarding Claim 13, Emmons discloses all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons further discloses:
wherein the at least two indoor environmental parameters and the at least one outdoor environmental parameter are selected from a group comprising air temperature, relative humidity, total volatile organic compounds carbon dioxide and particulate matter. ([0043] “Exemplary indoor air quality parameters may include an indoor temperature and an indoor humidity. Exemplary outdoor air quality parameters may include a current outdoor temperature and/or outdoor humidity, weather related data, pollen forecast and/or pollen count, a current air pollutant concentration”)
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emmons in view of Nesler et al., US Pg-Pub 2021/0010701.
Regarding Claim 4, Emmons teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons does not appear to clearly articulate:
acquiring a time series of each of the at least two indoor environmental quality parameter values over a period of time
nor determining an average value of each of the quality parameter values over the time series,
nor setting the average values as the measured indoor environmental quality parameters.
However, Nesler teaches a building controller ([0103] “exemplary building management system (BMS) and HVAC system”) which acquires time-series data from sensors ([0198] “In some embodiments, data collector 1712 receives sensor and/or input signals and coverts said signals to time series data.”) including averaging the data over multiple sensors ([0393] “In some embodiments, temperature measurements collected by mobile sensors 4124 for a given room or area may be analyzed collectively with averages (including weighted averages, for example)…”) and sets those values as the indoor environmental quality parameter (ibid. [0393] “…computed in order to determine temperature in various locations and subsequent occupant comfort.”)
Nesler is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of Building automation systems for HVAC control.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Emmons to include monitoring time-series sensor values and aggregating an average of those values as the indoor quality parameter (e.g. temperature), as suggested by Nesler.
One of ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to make this modification in order to aggregate the data from multiple sensors in the controlled space, as suggested by Nesler ([0393] “In some embodiments, temperature measurements collected by mobile sensors 4124 for a given room or area may be analyzed collectively”)
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emmons in view of Dong et al., US Pg-Pub 2022/0178574.
Regarding Claim 8, Emmons teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons does not appear to clearly articulate:
acquiring a time series of each of the indoor environmental quality indices over a period of time,
and calculating the control index as the mean value of the average values of each of the quality indices over the time series.
However, Dong teaches a building controller ([0009] “FIG. 1 a schematic of a building HVAC system 10 including a control system 12 according to the present invention. System 12 includes three primary components, an indoor air quality model 14, an indoor infection risk model 16, and a multi-objective MPC 18.”) which acquires a time series average of the indoor environmental quality indices ([0039] “The model is used to predict the concentrations over a time of horizon in the MPC model, and the predicted concentrations are compared to pre-established threshold limits for each pollutant of interest such as formaldehyde, PM2.5, CO.sub.2, etc. for maintaining satisfactory IAQ in the buildings”) and calculates the control index (i.e. control objective function, see [0040]) as the (weighted) average of each of the quality indices over time ([0040] “Each term is weighted by a cost scalar ρ(.Math.), and the overall objective is a time average of the sum of the five weighted terms. … Thus a centralized MPC controller will solve the following multi-objective problem for all room at an AHU level, over some prediction horizon”)
Dong is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of Building automation systems for HVAC control.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Emmons to use an objective function with a forward looking time horizon, including time series (weighted) averages of the indices, as suggested by Dong.
One of ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to make this modification in order to solve for multiple objectives for each control period, as suggested by Dong. ([0040] “The multi-objective model predictive control can implement a centralized MPC approach where a joint optimization objective can be designed to minimize the weighted sum of total AHU fan energy, total air side heating/cooling energy in an AHU, total zone reheating energy (if applicable), zone infection risk, and the concentrations of pollutants of interest”)
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emmons in view of Bloemer, et al., US Pg-Pub 2022/040456
Regarding Claim 5, Emmons teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons does not appear to clearly articulate:
wherein the indoor environmental quality indices range between 0 and 100.
However Bloemer teaches a building control system ([0003] “ a whole building air quality control system”) which scales indoor environmental indices between 0 and 100 ([0103] “The AQI may include an appropriate constant value so that performance can be determined relative to a constant scale (e.g., 0 to 100, etc.). The AQI may be also include weighting factors for each environmental condition, depending on the relative importance of those conditions to maintaining healthy values of indoor air quality. For example, the AQI may be determined as follows:” see also equations 2, 3, and 4.)
Bloemer is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of Building automation systems for HVAC control
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Emmons to calculate the indices on a 0-100 scale, as suggested by Bloemer.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to simplify categorization, as suggested by Bloemer ([0102] “In some embodiments, the controller 400 is configured to determine a categorical variable of the AQI from the continuous variable (e.g., a categorical variable of “good” IAQ may correspond with a range of continuous variable values such as 95-100, etc.).”)
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emmons in view of Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia – Feature Scaling (January 2022).
Regarding Claim 6, Emmons teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Emmons fails to clearly articulate:
wherein calculating for each measured indoor environmental quality parameter value AP of indoor environmental quality parameter P the dimensionless indoor environmental quality index K from the respective measured indoor environmental quality parameter value AP comprises the steps of dividing the possible range of values of the respective indoor environmental parameter P into adjacent quality categories, calculating the indoor environmental quality index KAP to be KAP = (AP – BQP)/(CQP – BQP) * (DQP – EQP) + EQP, wherein CQP is an upper limit of the quality category QP and BQP is a lower limit of the quality category QP, wherein QP is the quality category in which the measured indoor environmental quality parameter value AP falls, wherein EQP is an upper limit of the index of the quality category QP and DQP is a lower limit of the index of the quality category QP.
However, This expression is the standard way to normalize and scale a feature for use in an objective function, as exemplified by the Wikipedia article “Feature Scaling”: (see e.g. Wikipedia – Feature Scaling Page 2: “To rescale a range between an arbitrary set of values [a,b], the formula becomes:
x
'
=
a
+
x
-
m
i
n
x
b
-
a
m
a
x
x
-
m
i
n
x
Where max(x) and min(x) are the maximum and minimum values of the range of the variable”) (nb. which normalizes the value to a range of (0,1) see page 1; where [a,b] is the scale (e.g. [0%,100%] if expressed as a percentile.))
Wikipedia – Feature Scaling is analogous art because it is representative of the general background knowledge of one of ordinary skill regarding mathematical techniques for normalizing the range of independent variables for subsequent data processing.
One of ordinary skill in the art could have modified the teachings of Emmons to normalize and scale the (subsequently) weighted air quality parameters, as suggested by Wikipedia – Feature Scaling.
One of ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to make this modification in order to ensure that the range of the independent variables were normalized so that each feature would contribute approximately proportionally to the (weighted) objective function, as would have been generally understood as a matter of background knowledge in the art, and suggested by Wikipedia – Feature Scaling (See Page 1 “Motivation – Since the range of values of raw data varies widely … objective functions will not work properly without normalization. … Therefore, the range of all features should be normalized so that each feature contributes approximately proportionately.”)
Regarding Claim 7, Emmons in view of Wikipedia teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 6,
Emmons further teaches:
wherein the upper limit of the index and the lower limit of the index of the quality categories are equally spaced apart and/or upper limit of the index of one quality category is the lower limit of the index of one of the adjacent quality categories. (see fig. 8, e.g. “good” 0-50, “moderate” 51-100, etc.)
(in the interest of compact prosecution examiner notes that the World Health Organization AQI index is also comprised of adjacent categories; as is e.g. any letter-grade scale widely used by public school systems in the last century or so.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sharp et al., US Pg-Pub 2015/0323427 – an indoor air quality monitoring system which monitors indoor air contaminants including VOC, CO, particulates, radiological compounds, etc. (see [0016]).
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/J.T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2119
/MOHAMMAD ALI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119