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 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, 7-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lathrop et al. (US 2011/0057514, IDS Document) in view of Jarrett, Jr. et al. (US 6,747,368) and Gaus JR.et al. (US 2002/0196128).
Regarding Claim 1, Lathrop discloses a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system (Figures 1-3) comprising:
(i) a unit enclosure having a unit door (80, 87 having 82, Figure 3);
(ii) a ground bus mounted within said unit enclosure, adapted to provide a connection to earth ground (comprising 95, 95c, Figure 3);
(iii) a controller mounted within said unit enclosure, adapted to control, record, and report system operations (part of 124, Figure 3, Paragraph 19, “….the switching logic includes a microprocessor…”, Paragraph 20);
(iv) a unit display mounted on said unit door, adapted to display information about system operations under control of said controller (Paragraphs 4, 19, 21);
(vi) an indicator light mounted within said unit enclosure behind said non-blocking cover, adapted to provide a visual indication of system status under control of said controller (126, Figure 3, Paragraph 21);
(ix) a switching unit mounted within said unit enclosure (comprising part of 120, Figure 3), adapted to switch a connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system between a closed-connected state and an open-disconnected state (Paragraph 19), and sensing in real time the state of the switched connection and the presence and quality of voltage on the mains service drop, under control of said controller (comprising 112, Figure 3, Paragraph 20);
(x) a mains-voltage sensor within said switching unit (comprising 112, Figure 3), adapted to sense the presence and quality of voltage on the mains service drop, and to supply such information to said controller (Paragraph 20);
(xi) a fail-safe switch and a fail-safe switch actuator within said switching unit (contactor 122 actuator in 124 providing actuating signal 115, Figure 3), adapted to make and break the connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system, under control of said controller, and to fail in an open-disconnected state (Paragraphs 19-20); and
Lathrop does not disclose (v) a non-blocking cover mounted on said unit enclosure; (vii) an RF communication link mounted within said unit enclosure behind said non-blocking cover, adapted to communicate with a remote unit, under control of said controller; (viii) a battery unit adapted to provide power for operation of said controller, said switching unit, said indicator light, and said RF communication link; and (xii) a remote unit adapted to receive operational status information through said RF communication link, under control of said controller.
Jarrett, Jr. discloses a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system (Figures 1-7) comprising a unit enclosure (enclosure of 17, Figure 5), a controller mounted within said unit enclosure (comprising 18c, Figure 5), an RF communication link mounted within said unit enclosure adapted to communicate with a remote unit (comprising 15, Figures 5-6, Figure 7, Column 2, lines 40-53) and a remote unit adapted to receive operational status information through said RF communication link, under control of said controller (Figure 6, wireless transmission from 36 to 15).
Gaus JR. discloses a controller in a power system (Figures 1-7) comprising a controller (16, Figures 1-4) that comprises a battery back-up power unit (Paragraph 21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Lathrop, an RF communication link as taught by Jarrett, Jr., to command and large number of remote systems (Jarrett, Jr., Column 3, lines 47-55) and to provide a battery unit as taught by Gaus JR. such that the controller can use the battery power to operate in the event of a power failure and provide a non-blocking cover mounted on the unit enclosure to safely enclose the RF communication link to protect from hazardous weather conditions.
Regarding Claim 2, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said controller is further adapted to control system operations by sensing in real time the presence of voltage on the mains service drop through said mains-voltage sensor (comprising 112, Figure 3), and by causing the switched connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system to become open-disconnected through said fail-safe switch and said fail-safe switch actuator when the voltage on the mains service drop is absent (Paragraph 20).
Regarding Claim 3, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said controller is further adapted to control system operations by sensing in real time the quality of voltage on the mains service drop through said mains-voltage sensor (comprising 112, Figure 3), and by causing the switched connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system to become open-disconnected through said fail-safe switch and said fail-safe switch actuator when the voltage on the mains service drop is not of sufficient quality (Paragraph 20).
Regarding Claim 4, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said controller is further adapted to control system operations by sensing in real time the quality of voltage on the mains service drop through said mains-voltage sensor (comprising 112, Figure 3), and by causing the switched connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system to become closed-connected through said fail-safe switch and said fail-safe switch actuator when the voltage on the mains service drop is of sufficient quality (Paragraphs 19-20).
Regarding Claim 7, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said controller is further adapted to record and report operational status through said RF communications link and said remote unit (Jarrett, Jr., Figures 5-6, Column 3, lines, lines 8-30, Column 6, lines 40-55, “…a command message, typically by way of the Internet or a private network 34, to a Network Operations Center 35, where control of one or more wireless networks 36 are managed. …. and the message is transferred to wireless carrier(s) used in the one or more wireless networks 36”, Column 8, lines 40-51).
Regarding Claim 8, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, further comprising a current sensor within said switching unit, adapted to sense electrical current flowing through said switching unit, and to transmit such information to said controller (Jarrett, Jr., Column 8, lines 40-51, “….there is a transformer in between, and/or other circuitry is used to detect the presence or absence of power and to drive the relays. It is to be understood that the present invention may readily be used in three phase and high voltage systems, and would include a transformer, and/or other circuitry to detect the presence or absence of power and to drive the relays”).
Regarding Claim 9, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, further comprising a current sensor within said switching unit, adapted to sense electrical current flowing through said switching unit, and to transmit such information to said controller, and where said controller is further adapted to record and report electrical-current information (Jarrett, Jr., Column 8, lines 40-51, “….there is a transformer in between, and/or other circuitry is used to detect the presence or absence of power and to drive the relays. It is to be understood that the present invention may readily be used in three phase and high voltage systems, and would include a transformer, and/or other circuitry to detect the presence or absence of power and to drive the relays”).
Regarding Claim 10, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said remote unit is further adapted to provide remote control of operations (Jarrett, Jr., Figures 5-6, Column 6, lines 40-55).
Regarding Claims 11-13, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said remote unit further comprises implementation by use of internet and network operations center and managing wireless network (Jarrett, Jr., Figures 5-6, Column 6, lines 40-55).
Combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. does not specifically disclose implementation on a computer device (Claim 11), on a portable computer device (Claim 12), or on a smartphone device (Claim 13). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, implementation of the remote unit in the combination, on a computer device, a portable computer device or on a smart phone, as such devices are normally used in network operations center for fast, secure and reliable operation of the system.
Regarding Claims 14-16, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. does not specifically disclose the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said battery unit is further adapted to use voltage present on the premises electrical system when no voltage is present on the mains service drop (Claim 14), where said battery unit is further adapted to use voltage supplied by an external source (Claim 15) or where said battery unit is further adapted to use voltage supplied through a USB connection (Claim 16). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the battery unit in the combination adapted to use voltage present on the premises electrical system, voltage supplied by an external source or voltage supplied through a USB connection based on the availability and operating conditions.
Claim 17 recites a method corresponding a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system having combined limitations of Claims 1, 3-4. Therefore, Claim 17 is rejected at least for the same reasons as for Claims 1, 3-4.
Claim 18 recites a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system having combined limitations of Claims 1, 3-4. Therefore, Claim 18 is rejected at least for the same reasons as for Claims 1, 3-4.
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lathrop et al. (US 2011/0057514, IDS Document) in view of Jarrett, Jr. et al. (US 6,747,368), Gaus JR.et al. (US 2002/0196128) and Cooper (US 10,840,735).
Regarding Claim 5, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. does not specifically disclose the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, further comprising a premises-voltage sensor within said switching unit, adapted to sense the presence and quality of voltage on the premises electrical system, and to transmit such information to said controller.
Cooper discloses a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system (Figures 1-23, Abstract) comprising a switching unit (comprising 15, Figure 4, 100, Figure 19), a controller (22, Figure 4, 99, Figure 19) adapted to switch a connection between a mains service drop (comprising 12, Figure 4, via 104, Figure 19) and the premises electrical system (comprising 22, 19, Figure 4, 99 and loads connected via 101, 102, Figure 19) between a closed-connected state and an open-disconnected state (15 closed/open connection state to 12, Figure 4, 111, Figure 19), and a premises-voltage sensor within said switching unit (comprising 23e-i, Figure 19), adapted to sense the presence and quality of voltage on the premises electrical system, and to transmit such information to said controller (Figure 19, Column 68, lines 16-53, “….while 23e-i are shown in FIG. 19 as having a singular location, the voltage, current and frequency may actually be sensed at different physical locations as convenient. There is no requirement that voltage and current be sensed at the precise location of 23e-i or at the same location. Current may be sensed at one location, for example on an insulated cable via a current transformer and voltage at another….”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide in the combination, a premises-voltage sensor as taught by Cooper, to use the sensed load parameter for efficient load management.
Regarding Claim 6, combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. discloses the fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system of Claim 1, where said controller is further adapted to control system operations by sensing in real time the presence and quality of voltage on the mains service drop through said mains-voltage sensor(comprising 112, Figure 3), by sensing in real time the presence of voltage on the premises electrical system, by causing the switched connection between the mains service drop and the premises electrical system to become closed-connected through said fail-safe switch and said fail-safe switch actuator when the voltage on the mains service drop is of sufficient quality and when no voltage is present on the premises electrical system (Paragraphs 19-20).
Combination of Lathrop, Jarrett, Jr. and Gaus JR. does not specifically disclose a premises-voltage sensor within said switching unit, adapted to sense the presence and quality of voltage on the premises electrical system, and to transmit such information to said controller.
Cooper discloses a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system (Figures 1-23, Abstract) comprising a switching unit (comprising 15, Figure 4, 100, Figure 19), a controller (22, Figure 4, 99, Figure 19) adapted to switch a connection between a mains service drop (comprising 12, Figure 4, via 104, Figure 19) and the premises electrical system (comprising 22, 19, Figure 4, 99 and loads connected via 101, 102, Figure 19) between a closed-connected state and an open-disconnected state (15 closed/open connection state to 12, Figure 4, 111, Figure 19), and a premises-voltage sensor within said switching unit (comprising 23e-i, Figure 19), adapted to sense the presence and quality of voltage on the premises electrical system, and to transmit such information to said controller (Figure 19, Column 68, lines 16-53, “….while 23e-i are shown in FIG. 19 as having a singular location, the voltage, current and frequency may actually be sensed at different physical locations as convenient. There is no requirement that voltage and current be sensed at the precise location of 23e-i or at the same location. Current may be sensed at one location, for example on an insulated cable via a current transformer and voltage at another….”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide in the combination, a premises-voltage sensor as taught by Cooper, to use the sensed load parameter for efficient load management.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Loucks et al. (US 2006/0028069) discloses a fail-safe automatic mains-electricity cutoff system in Figure 2, comprising a switching unit 20 and a controller 36 to switch power between a main/utility power source 32 and a generator power source 34 and including voltage sensors 70, 72.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCY M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-6002. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Crystal L Hammond can be reached at (571)270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUCY M THOMAS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2838, 12/20/2025
/CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838