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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 6 November 2023. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-123 are currently presented in the instant application. In light of a preliminary amendment, presently claims 1-98 have been cancelled, and claims 99-123 have been newly added.
Information Disclosure Statement(s)
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/6/2023, 4/16/2024, 4/16/2024, and 2/19/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
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 (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 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) 99-101, 103-106, 112, 115, 117-119, 121-122 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Iihoshi et al. (Patent No.: US 7,489,997 B2, herein known as D1).
It is noted that for the following rejections, the broadness of the claims using relative term of degree language (such as “operable”, “enabling”, “significant” “average” “and/or” “one or more”, “operable” “erratic, noisy, fluctuating”, “range”, and the like) allows for a broad reading of the prior art as these terms are ill-defined in both the claims and the specification.
It is also noted that these sets of claims are all directed to the alternative of monitoring an engine for fuel/power consumption for fluctuations indicative of pump cavitation.
With respect to claim 99, D1 discloses a controller configured to be operable for monitoring at least one of torque load and/or fuel/power consumption of an engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation, thereby enabling the controller to be operable for alerting to indications of pump cavitation when fluctuation of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption indicate pump cavitation (abstract, “wherein a deterioration of fuel consumption caused by an abnormality of the engine can been soon detected with no affection by an operating condition of the engine and unevenness of component parts.”, pump cavitation is an example of a deterioration of the engine, on Column 8 lines 45-47 “If an abnormality is determined, at step S607, an abnormality of the internal combustion engine is notified, and further, is recorded in the recording device 205.”).
With respect to claim 100, D1 further discloses a controller wherein in the controller is configured to be operable for: detecting a significant drop in average magnitude of the monitored fuel/power consumption that is indicative of pump cavitation; and/or detecting a significant drop in average magnitude of the monitored torque load that is indicative of pump cavitation (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 101, D1 further discloses a controller wherein the controller is configured to be operable for detecting one or more or all of the following, which are usable individually or in combination as an indicator of pump cavitation: a significant drop in average magnitude of the monitored fuel/power consumption; and/or a significant drop in average magnitude of monitored torque load; and/or erratic, noisy, fluctuating data in the monitored fuel/power consumption; and/or erratic, noisy, fluctuating data in the monitored torque load (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 103, D1 further discloses a controller wherein the controller is configured to be operable for: monitoring fuel/power consumption for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the fuel/power consumption; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the fuel/power consumption (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 104, D1 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring torque load and instantaneous fuel consumption of an engine for significant drops in average magnitude indicative of pump cavitation; or the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring torque load and power consumption of an electric motor for significant drops in average magnitude indicative of pump cavitation (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 105, D1 further discloses a controller wherein the fluctuation indicative of cavitation of the pump includes: a significant drop in average magnitude of torque load and/or instantaneous fuel consumption of an engine; or a significant drop in average magnitude of torque load and/or power consumption of an electric motor (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 106, D1 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring torque load for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation; determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and/or the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring fuel/power consumption for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation; determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the fuel/power consumption; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the fuel/power consumption (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 109, D1 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring either torque load or fuel/power consumption, but not both, for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation; and the controller is configured to be operable for detecting pump cavitation by using only the monitored torque load or the monitored fuel/power consumption without requiring reliance upon any existing or additional vibration sensors for detecting pump cavitation (fuel power consumption as described above).
With respect to claim 112, D1 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to compare fluctuation, if any, of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption to steady-state fluctuation level(s) to determine whether any said fluctuation of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption deviated more than a positive/negative (+/-) percentage acceptable range or error threshold from the steady-state fluctuation level(s); and the controller is configured to be operable for generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption deviates more than the positive/negative (+/-) percentage acceptable range or error threshold from the steady-state fluctuation level(s) (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected; the threshold can be considered more than a positive/negative percentage from the acceptable range).
With respect to claim 115, D1 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to be operable for executing a fluctuation detection algorithm to detect fluctuation outliers of the torque load and/or fuel/power consumption over a period of time that are indicative of pump cavitation; and/or the controller is configured to be operable for calculating and analyzing standard deviation(s) of steady-state fluctuation of the torque load and/or fuel/power consumption to detect fluctuation outliers over a period of time that are indicative of pump cavitation (see for example Figs. 7A-7C which shows the calculation and analyzing of the deterioration of fuel consumption over time).
With respect to claim 117, D1 discloses a system comprising:
the controller according to claim 99 (see above);
a pump (fuel pump 109); and
an engine including an electronic control unit, the engine configured to be operable for driving the pump (engine with a control unit 115);
wherein the controller is configured to be operable for:
receiving engine torque load information and/or engine instantaneous fuel consumption from the electronic control unit of the engine; monitoring at least one of the engine torque load information and/or engine instantaneous fuel consumption information, received from the engine's electronic control unit, for fluctuation indicative of cavitation of the pump; and generating an alert if any fluctuation of the monitored engine torque load information is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the engine torque load, and/or generating an alert if any fluctuation of the monitored engine instantaneous fuel consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the engine instantaneous fuel consumption (see rejections of claims 99-101 above).
With respect to claim 18, D1 discloses a method comprising monitoring at least one of torque load and/or fuel/power consumption of an engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation, wherein the method further comprises: determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and/or determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the engine fuel/power consumption; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the fuel/power consumption (abstract, “wherein a deterioration of fuel consumption caused by an abnormality of the engine can been soon detected with no affection by an operating condition of the engine and unevenness of component parts.”, pump cavitation is an example of a deterioration of the engine, on Column 8 lines 45-47 “If an abnormality is determined, at step S607, an abnormality of the internal combustion engine is notified, and further, is recorded in the recording device 205.”).
With respect to claim 119, D1 further discloses a method wherein: the method includes monitoring engine torque load for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored engine torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the engine torque load; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored engine torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the engine torque load; and/or the method includes monitoring engine instantaneous fuel consumption for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored engine instantaneous fuel consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the engine instantaneous fuel consumption; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored engine instantaneous fuel consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the engine instantaneous fuel consumption (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
With respect to claim 121, D1 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage media including executable instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause a controller to monitor at least one of torque load and/or fuel/power consumption of an engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation, thereby enabling the controller to be operable for alerting to indications of pump cavitation when fluctuation of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption indicate pump cavitation (abstract, “wherein a deterioration of fuel consumption caused by an abnormality of the engine can been soon detected with no affection by an operating condition of the engine and unevenness of component parts.”, pump cavitation is an example of a deterioration of the engine, on Column 8 lines 45-47 “If an abnormality is determined, at step S607, an abnormality of the internal combustion engine is notified, and further, is recorded in the recording device 205.”).
With respect to claim 122, D1 further discloses a storage media wherein the executable instructions include executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the controller to be operable for: monitoring engine torque load for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored engine torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the engine torque load; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored engine torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the engine torque load; and/or monitoring engine instantaneous fuel consumption for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored engine instantaneous fuel consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the engine instantaneous fuel consumption; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored engine instantaneous fuel consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the engine instantaneous fuel consumption (Column 8 lines 3-44, if accumulation value (the index f of deterioration of fuel consumption) over a predetermined period of time is above or below a predetermined threshold value the indication that the pump is abnormal/normal is detected).
Claim(s) 99, 102, 108, 116, 118 and 120 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahonen et al. (Publication No.: EP 2196678 B1, herein known as D2, and submitted with the IDS on 4/16/2024, and will not be supplied with this Office Action).
For brevity, any claim that was rejected by D1 will not be twice rejected under D2 aside from the independent claims 99 and 118. However, as there are overlapping limitations due to the and/or nature of the dependent claims, these claims would still be able to be rejected by D2. As a non-limiting example, claim 102, rejected below due to its singular focus on electric motors, has the same “drop in magnitude of monitored torque load” found in claim 100, 101, etc.
It is also noted that these sets of claims are all generally directed to the alternative of monitoring an electric motor for fluctuations in torque load indicative of pump cavitation.
With respect to claim 99, D2 discloses a controller configured to be operable for monitoring at least one of torque load and/or fuel/power consumption of an engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation, thereby enabling the controller to be operable for alerting to indications of pump cavitation when fluctuation of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption indicate pump cavitation (paragraphs [0017]-[0021] and claim 1 describe using the estimated torque from the frequency converter to determine features that would indicate cavitation or likelihood of cavitation, paragraph [0052] describes using the output to give an alarm, as an example).
With respect to claim 102, D2 further discloses a controller wherein the controller is configured to be operable for: monitoring torque load for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the torque load; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the torque load (Feature 1 is the comparison of the torque with the normal value of the estimate, claim 2, it would be obvious that the threshold this determination becomes abnormal can qualify as a ‘significant drop’).
With respect to claim 108, D2 further discloses a controller wherein: the controller is configured to be operable for monitoring both torque load and fuel/power consumption of the engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation; and the controller is configured to be operable for detecting pump cavitation by using only the monitored torque load and the monitored fuel/power consumption without requiring reliance upon any existing or additional vibration sensors for detecting pump cavitation (Feature 4 uses the torque and power consumption to determine the volumetric flow utilized in one of the features to determine cavitation, claim 8, dependent on claim 1 and 4).
With respect to claim 116, D2 discloses a system comprising:
the controller according to claim 99 (see above);
a pump (pump 4, claim 1); an electric motor configured to be operable for driving the pump (motor 3, claim 1); and
a variable frequency drive (VFD) configured to be operable for controlling a speed of the electric motor ([0011]);
wherein the controller configured to be operable for:
controlling the variable frequency drive ([0016]);
receiving electric motor torque load information and/or electric motor power consumption information; monitoring the electric motor torque load information and/or electric motor power consumption information for fluctuation indicative of cavitation of the pump; and generating an alert if any fluctuation of the monitored electric motor torque load information is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the electric motor torque load, and/or generating an alert if any fluctuation of the monitored electric motor power consumption information is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the electric motor power consumption (see rejections of claims 99, 102, and 108 above).
With respect to claim 118, D2 discloses a method comprising monitoring at least one of torque load and/or fuel/power consumption of an engine or electric motor for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation, wherein the method further comprises: determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the torque load; and/or determining whether fluctuation, if any, of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the engine fuel/power consumption; and generating an alert if any said fluctuation of the monitored fuel/power consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold of fluctuation for the fuel/power consumption (paragraphs [0017]-[0021] and claim 1 describe using the estimated torque from the frequency converter to determine features that would indicate cavitation or likelihood of cavitation, paragraph [0052] describes using the output to give an alarm, as an example).
With respect to claim 120, D2 further discloses a method wherein: the method includes monitoring electric motor torque load for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored electric motor torque load is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the electric motor torque load; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored electric motor torque load is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the electric motor torque load; and/or the method includes monitoring electric motor power consumption for a drop in average magnitude; determining whether the drop, if any, in the average magnitude of the monitored electric motor power consumption is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the electric motor power consumption; and generating an alert if any said drop in the average magnitude of the monitored electric motor power consumption is outside of the acceptable range or error threshold for the electric motor power consumption (Feature 1 is the comparison of the torque with the normal value of the estimate, claim 2, it would be obvious that the threshold this determination becomes abnormal can qualify as a “whether the drop, if any, is outside of an acceptable range or error threshold for the electric motor torque load’, the error is generated as described above and in paragraph [0052]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 107 and 113-114 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
With respect to claim 107, D1 does not explicitly disclose a controller wherein the controller is configured to be operable for: establishing, via machine learning, a setting or default for the acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of torque load; and/or establishing, via machine learning, a setting or default for the acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of fuel/power consumption (while D1 describes establishing a default for the threshold using collected data and logged as described in Column 7 lines 53-61, and also describes using a learning method to determine the correlation between the index f of the fuel consumption deterioration and the instantaneous fuel consumption in Column 11 lines 19-30, these are not explicitly stated to be using machine learning).
However, it has been held that automating a manual process is an obvious variant over the prior art of record, and machine learning is the logical progression on a computer calculation system that collects recorded data and sets thresholds/creates correlations in measured and known data such as those found in D1.
With respect to claims 113 and 114, D1 does not explicitly disclose a controller wherein the controller is configured to be operable for learning, via machine learning, steady-state fluctuation level(s) for torque load and/or fuel/power consumption, thereby enabling the controller to be operable for comparing fluctuation, if any, of the monitored torque load and/or fuel/power consumption to the learned steady-state fluctuation level(s) for detecting pump cavitation (claim 113), or wherein the controller is configured to algorithmically learn, via an artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning algorithm, the steady- state fluctuation level(s) for torque load and/or fuel/power consumption (114) (while D1 describes establishing a default for the threshold using collected data and logged as described in Column 7 lines 53-61, and also describes using a learning method to determine the correlation between the index f of the fuel consumption deterioration and the instantaneous fuel consumption in Column 11 lines 19-30, these are not explicitly stated to be using machine learning).
However, it has been held that automating a manual process is an obvious variant over the prior art of record, and machine learning/AI is the logical progression on a computer calculation system that collects recorded data and sets thresholds/creates correlations in measured and known data such as those found in D1.
Claim(s) 110-111 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D2 as applied to claim 99 above, and further in view of Dimino et al. (Publication No.: US 2011/0257934 A1, herein known as D3).
With respect to claim 110, D2 does not disclose a controller wherein the controller includes a user interface configured to allow one or more user inputs including: selection of either or both of the torque load and/or fuel/power consumption to be monitored for fluctuation indicative of pump cavitation; and/or an acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of torque load, which may be an adjustment to a default setting established or machine learned by the controller for the acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of torque load; and/or an acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of fuel/power consumption, which may be an adjustment to a default setting established or machine learned by the controller for the acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of fuel/power consumption (both controllers of D1 and D2 always do the measurements with no described or defined method of setting the thresholds for failure in both).
D3 teaches a wellness circuit to be added to motors with pumps ([0037]) that can be used to detect cavitation ([0068]), and utilizes user configuration data to set the thresholds for alarm ([0042], [0047] states that they can be changed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the controller of D2 by utilizing the wellness circuit of D3 which can be altered/removed/updated to change the thresholds for a user to determine how sensitive the system should be when performing observation for faults such as cavitation. This combination would allow a user of the system of D2 to set the sensitivity/thresholds of the calculations of D2 to only cause alarms once certain thresholds are reached on an individual pump level or alter over time as the system ages.
With respect to claim 111, while the combination of D2 and D3 does not explicitly disclose a controller wherein the user interface is configured to allow one or more user inputs including: a positive/negative (+/-) percentage acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of torque load; and/or a positive/negative (+/-) percentage acceptable range or error threshold for fluctuation of fuel/power consumption, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the threshold modifications as described in paragraphs [0042] and [0047] of D3 that the thresholds could be modified in absolute values or in percentages, depending on the person of ordinary skill’s desires.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Detrey et al. (Publication No.: US 2023/0366933 A1)
Matsumoto et al. (Publication No.: US 2022/0170987 A1)
Zhang et al. (Publication No.: US 2018/0038216 A1)
Schmalz et al. (Patent No.: US 6,709,240 B1)
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANA HANCOCK whose telephone number is (571)270-7547. The examiner can normally be reached on 10AM-6PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached on (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
2/21/2026
/STEPHANIE E BLOSS/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852