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 .
Claim Objections
There are two claim 13’s. Therefore, the claim numbers after the first claim 13 is incorrect. For examination purposes, the claims are now interpreted as follows:
The second claim 13 becomes claim 14;
Claim 14 becomes claim 15;
Claim 15 becomes claim 16;
Claim 16 becomes claim 17;
Claim 17 becomes claim 18 which depends on claim 17 (not claim 16);
Claim 18 becomes claim 19 which depends on claim 18 (not claim 17);
Claim 19 becomes claim 20 which depends on claim 17 (not claim 16); and
Claim 20 becomes claim 21 which depends on claim 17 (not claim 16).
THIS NEW CORRECTIVE NUMBERING THAT WILL BE UTILIZED MOVING FORWARD WITH REPSECT TO ALL PRIOR ART REJECTIONS
Claims 2-9, change each preamble to read, “The ventilation control receiving unit of …” or change claim 1 to “A ventilation control receiver”.
Claim 9, change “air quality sensor” to “an air quality sensor”. Then change “via the air quality sensors” to “via the air quality sensor” … or use “air quality sensors” consistently throughout the claim.
Claim 9, “the DDP input” lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claim 9, “triggering the adjusting …” is confusing, what is being adjusted?
Claim 10, “the air quality information” lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 10, “the first threshold” lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 14, change “calculating offset value” to “calculating an offset value”.
Claim 14, change “a BMS system, an algorithm determining the set point based on the” to “a BMS system running an algorithm that determines a set point based on the derived differential pressure”.
Claim 20, change “BMS system, an algorithm determining the set point based on the DDP input” to “BMS system running an algorithm that determines a set point based on a DDP input”.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 1, 4, 10-11, 15, 17 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laine et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0268956 A1 (hereinafter: ‘956), in view of Ahmed, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0076346 A1 (hereinafter: ‘346).
As per claim 1, ‘956 discloses a ventilation control receiving unit (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to “a control unit”; See ‘956; [0025]) comprising:
an absolute pressure sensor (e.g., See ‘956; [0001]);
receiving a first absolute pressure (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to getting an initial pressure reading from a sensor or other source; See ‘956; [0001] and [0020]);
via the absolute pressure sensor, determining a second absolute pressure in a space (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to using the pressure sensor to measure the air pressure inside a room; See ‘956; [0018]);
deriving a differential pressure in the space based on an absolute pressure difference between the second absolute pressure and the first absolute pressure (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to calculating the pressure difference between the room pressure and a reference pressure; See ‘956; [0001] and [0006]); and
modifying the derived differential pressure (DDP) by an offset value (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to adjusting the calculated pressure difference by adding or subtracting a correction amount; See ‘956; [0026]).
However, ‘956 does not specifically disclose that the controller (control unit) utilizes at least one processor or a memory storing operational instructions.
In analogous art, ‘346 discloses ventilation control being implemented via one or more processors and memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform ventilation operations (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to a device with at least one processor and software to run ventilation control functions; See ‘346; [0062] and [0065]).
Further, ‘956’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346) discloses:
transmitting a control command to a ventilation control system based on a difference between the modified DDP and a pressure set point (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to sending a control signal so that the ventilation matches a target value; See ‘346; [0045] and [0074]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘346 into ‘956 for the purpose of using a standard processor based, set point driven controller to automatically adjust the ventilation settings so that a building pressure stays at or very near a target level, thereby improving overall comfort, increasing stability and allowing for easy integration into a pre-existing HVAC control system.
As per claim 4, ‘956’s combined system further discloses that the ventilation control receiver of claim 1, further comprising an occupancy sensor, wherein the operations further comprise: via the occupancy sensor, determining occupancy status of the space; and triggering the transmitting in response to the occupancy status changing from unoccupied to occupied (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to adding an occupancy sensor that determines if the room is empty or not, and only sends control commands when the room becomes occupied; See ‘346; [0051], [0053], [0054] and [0057]).
As per claim 10, the rejection and rationale as set forth above for claim 1 is incorporated herein by reference and applied to the limitations of claim 10 that correspond to claim 1. It is further noted that claim 10 additionally recites (1) air quality (e.g., CO2) based control and (2) a separate ventilation system controller. These additional features are disclosed by ‘346 (e.g., See ‘346 disclosing (1); [0055] – [0057]), and (2); [0045] and [0074]).
As per claim 11, the rejection and rationale as set forth above for claim 4, with respect to the occupancy related features, are incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding limitations of claim 11.
As per claim 15, ‘956’s combined system further discloses that the first ventilation control receiving unit further comprises: a CO2 sensor, wherein the operations further comprise: via the CO2 sensor, determining the occupancy status based on the level of CO2 in the space measured by the CO2 sensor; and triggering the determining of the air quality component in response to the occupancy status transitioning from unoccupied to occupied. ‘956’s combined system discloses these features (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to the system adding a CO2 sensor, using CO2 levels to determine occupancy, and triggering air quality monitoring when the room switches from being unoccupied to occupied; See ‘346; [0051] and [0053]).
As per claim 17, this claim recites method steps that correspond to the apparatus limitations of claim 1. The mapping and rationale set forth above for claim 1 is incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding method steps of claim 17. Further with respect to “computer implemented method”, ‘346 discloses processing circuitry implemented as any processer/computer with memory and program instructions for HVAC control (e.g., See ‘346; [0062] and [0065]).
As per claim 21, ‘956’s combined system further discloses determining the occupancy status based on the level of CO2 in the space, and triggering the transmitting in response to the occupancy status transitioning from unoccupied to occupied (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to using the CO2 sensor to decide when the room is occupied and only sending commands when the room changes from unoccupied to occupied; See ‘346; [0051] and [0057]).
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laine et al.’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346), as applied to claim 1, from above, and further in view of Schwartz et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0139517 A1 (hereinafter: ‘517).
As per claim 2, ‘956’s combined system does not specifically disclose utilizing air quality sensors, wherein the operations further comprise: via the air quality sensors, determining an air quality factor in the space based on a combination of dewpoint, volatile organic gases, and small particles.
In analogous art, ‘517 discloses these features (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to air quality sensors measuring dewpoint, harmful gases and fine particles; See ‘517; [0024]; wherein dewpoint is a function of humidity; also see [0034]).
It is noted that the control command controls for increasing fresh or new air into the space and/or decreasing used or stale air from the space, based on the air quality factor of the space, are already adequately addressed in the rejection of claim 1 (e.g., See ‘346; [0032], [0056] and [0057]).
As per claim 3, ‘956’s combined system does not specifically disclose that the ventilation control receiver of claim 1, further comprising: a power management module, wherein the operations further comprise: waking up the receiver according to a power plan established for the power management module; and configuring the receiving unit to receive sensor information based on waking up.
In analogous art, ‘517 discloses these features (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to adding a power manager that wakes the receiver on a planned schedule and then has it reading sensor data; See ‘517; [0023], [0031] and [0032]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘517 into ‘956’s combined system for the purpose of improving indoor air quality comfort and health by using extra air quality sensors to adjust the fresh air more precisely in combination with pressure and CO2 control, thereby saving energy while keeping the air cleaner and safer to the occupants.
Claims 5, 7-8, 12, 14, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laine et al.’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346), as applied to claims 4 and 11, respectively, from above, and further in view of Kuentz, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0139105 A1 (hereinafter: ‘105).
As per claim 5, this claim further recites that that the ventilation control receiver further comprises: a zeroization module and the steps of determining that the occupancy status of the space is unoccupied, calculating the offset value, and triggering zeroization to the set point in response to determining that the occupancy status is unoccupied, including applying the offset value until the modified DDP is within a preset tolerance of the set point.
In the opinion of the examiner, ‘956’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346) adequately discloses most of the features (e.g., See ‘956; [0026]; also see ‘346; [0051] and [0057]), except the feature of until the modified DDP is within a preset tolerance of the set point. This feature is believed to be adequately disclosed by ‘105 (e.g., See ‘105; [0014] and [0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘105 into ‘956’s combined system for the purpose of using a known statis pressure setpoint and algorithm to automatically bring pressure closer to a target range in order to accurately and reliably provide stable and efficient controlled ventilation.
As per claim 7, and as best understood, this claim appears to further add that tolerance based zeroization responds to a BMS generated setpoint signal produced from an algorithm that uses a differential pressure input. ‘105 appears to adequately disclose this feature (e.g., See ‘346; [0003] and [0045] for BMS signal and control sending setpoint; also see ‘105; [0023] and [0029] for using differential pressure input and a tolerance).
As per claim 8, ‘956’s combined system further discloses that that the ventilation control receiver of claim 5, further comprising: a CO2 sensor, wherein the operations further comprise: via the CO2 sensor, determining the occupancy status based on the level of CO2 in the space measured by the CO2 sensor; and triggering the transmitting in response to the occupancy status transitioning from unoccupied to occupied. These features are interpreted to correspond to adding a CO2 sensor that determines if the room is occupied and only sends commands when the room becomes occupied, and these features appear to be adequately disclosed by ‘956’s combined system (e.g., ‘346; See [0051], [0053] and [0057]).
As per claim 12, the rejection and rationale as set forth above for claim 5, are incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding limitations of claim 12.
As per claim 14, the rejection and rationale as set forth above for claim 7, are incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding limitations of claim 14.
As per claim 18, the rejections and rationales as set forth above for claims 4 (‘956 in view of ‘346) and 5 (‘956 in view of ‘346 in further view of ‘105) are incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding limitations (method steps) of claim 18.
As per claim 20, this claim recites determining that the occupancy status of the space is unoccupied; calculating the offset value; and triggering zeroization to the set point in response to receiving a signal from a BMS system, an algorithm determining the set point based on the DDP input as an independent variable, including applying the offset value until the modified DDP is within a preset tolerance of the set point.
In analogous art, ‘105 discloses these features (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to the zeroization features of claims 5/12, so the rationale as set forth in the rejection of those claims, from above, is incorporated by reference herein. Further, claim 20 also adds a feature of a BMS set-point pressure target and tolerance, and this feature is also believed to be adequately addressed by ‘105; See [0009], [0023] and [0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘105 into ‘956’s combined system for the purpose of using a known BMS driven pressure setpoint to automatically bring the differential pressure closer to a target value in order to ensure stable, efficient zeroization.
Claims 6, 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laine et al.’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346, in further view of ‘105), as applied to claims 5, 12 and 18, respectively, from above, and further in view of Guan et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0168956 A1 (hereinafter: ‘8956).
As per claim 6, ‘956’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346 in view of ‘105) does not specifically disclose continuously calculating the offset value during the unoccupied status until the occupancy status transitions from unoccupied to occupied, but seems to cover all of the other claimed features (e.g., See ‘956; [0026] and ‘346; [0051] and [0057]).
In analogous art, ‘8956 discloses these features (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to the zeroization continuing to update when the room is empty, then the updating stops and the offset is locked in when the room becomes occupied again (e.g., See ‘8956; [0019] and [0059]).
As per claims 13 and 19, the rejection and rationale as set forth above for claim 6, are incorporated herein by reference and applied to the corresponding limitations of claim 13.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘8956 into ‘956’s combined system for the purpose of automatically re-zeroing the pressure offset during periods when the room is empty, so as to correct sensor drift, maintaining accurate pressure readings and avoiding the need to manually recalibrate the sensors.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laine et al.’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346), as applied to claim 10, from above, and further in view of Ritmanich et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0331358 A1 (hereinafter: ‘358).
As per claim 16, ‘956’s combined system (‘956 in view of ‘346) does not adequately teach a plurality of ventilation control receiving units that include the first ventilation control receiving unit and a second ventilation control receiving unit, wherein: the first absolute pressure is received from an outdoor transmitting unit; the first ventilation control receiving unit is configured to re-transmit the first absolute pressure received from the outdoor transmitting unit; and the second ventilation control receiving unit is configured to receive the first absolute pressure from the first ventilation control receiving unit.
In analogous art, these features are disclosed by ‘358 (e.g., Interpreted to correspond to the system further having plural receiving units where one unit relays an outdoor pressure value to another unit over the network; See ‘358; [0003] – [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated the teachings of ‘358 into ‘956’s combined system for the purpose of wirelessly sharing outdoor pressure data between distant units, giving a more flexible system that allows for greater communication distance to be traversed without the need for expensive cabling to interconnect the sensors.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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.
References Considered but Not Relied Upon
The following references were considered but were not relied upon with respect to any prior art rejections:
(1) US 20160054024 A1, which discloses an energy recovery ventilator that uses a pressure sensor to adjust two blowers, keeping indoor air pressure controlled while exchanging stale and fresh air;
(2) US 2003/0064676, which discloses a variable air volume HVAC fan control that resets a duct static pressure setpoint based on measured airflow;
(3) US 2021/0011644 A1, which discloses an indoor air quality system that senses pollutants and occupant conditions, then correlates symptoms with measured air data to control mitigation devices and thresholds;
(4) US 5,394,934, which discloses an indoor air quality sensor combining CO2 and other contaminant signals, using processing and/or fuzzy logic to produce control signals for zone ventilation; and
(5) US 8,918,218, which discloses a demand control ventilation device with a damper, controller and remote interface that monitors and adjusts outside air flow into a building from a remote location.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RONALD D HARTMAN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-3684. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 4:30 EST.
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/RONALD D HARTMAN JR/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119 November 28, 2025; /RDH/