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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7 May 2026 has been entered.
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) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krause et al. (US 3,940,971) in view of Last et al. (US 3,888,106), and further, in view of Yamasaki et al. (US 2017/0052056 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Krause et al. discloses an automated method of performing a water meter test, the method comprises the steps of: fluidly connecting at least one meter (M; fig. 1) to a fluid inlet valve (60) and a flow control valve (70), wherein the fluid inlet valve (60) is also fluidly connected to a fluid source (main valve 60 is fluid connected to tank 16) and the flow control valve (70) is fluidly coupled to the at least one meter (M) opposite the fluid inlet valve (main valve 70 is fluidly coupled to at least one meter M on an opposite side of meter M from main valve 60; fig. 1), wherein a valve controller (118; fig. 2) operates the flow control valve (control 118 operates main valve 70 via main flow control 126; c. 6, ll. 25-29), a controller (118, 126) electrically connected to the fluid inlet valve (control 118 operates main flow control 126 connected to main valve 60; c. 6, ll. 25-29), and the flow control valve (electrical control 118 controls main flow control 126; fig. 2); setting test parameters in the controller (test parameters are set in control section 118; c. 6, ll. 20-25); opening the fluid inlet valve (60) by the controller (after a test is started, control 118 opens main valve 60 via main flow control 126; fig. 2 and c. 7, ll. 20-26); dispensing fluid from the fluid source (16) through the fluid inlet valve (60), the at least one meter (M), and the flow control valve (70; c. 7, ll. 42-55); setting the flow control valve (70) by the controller (118, 126) to a selective open position so that, as the fluid passes through the fluid inlet valve (60) and the at least one meter (M), the flow control valve (70) is open only to the extent to correspond to a designated flow rate based on the test parameters (main valve 70 is opened to an amount that corresponds to the flow rate of the test; c. 7, ll. 42-55); recording an initial flow rate meter reading of the at least one meter (an initial flow rate meter reading from meter M is recorded during a high flow rate test; c. 8, ll. 26-31); monitoring by the controller (118) the flow rate of fluid passing through flow control valve (control 118 monitors the flow rate of fluid that passes through meters M and main valve 70; c. 5, ll. 40-44); comparing a flow rate of fluid determined by the controller (118) to the designated flow rate based on the test parameters (control 118 uses system 116 to compare a measured flow rate to the designated flow rate to output an accuracy of each meter at each test flow rate; c. 6, ll. 5-16); recording a final flow rate meter reading of the at least one meter (printer 214 prints the final test results of each meter M; c. 8, ll. 26-31).
Although Krause et al. discloses controlling the flow control valve (70) to open or close, it is silent on incrementally opening or closing the flow control valve.
Last et al. teaches an automated method of performing a water meter test including the steps of setting the flow control valve (280) by the controller (40, 72) to a selective open position so that as the fluid passes through the fluid inlet valve (300) and the at least one meter (104), the flow control valve (280) is open only to the extent to correspond to a designated flow (for example, high, intermediate and low flows) based on the test parameters (control center 40 sets an opening amount of valve 280 to correspond with a high, intermediate, or low flow; c. 9, ll. 1-20 and c. 11, ll. 2-4); incrementally opening or closing a flow control valve (280) to increase or decrease a flow rate of the fluid passing through flow control valve (280) to match a designated flow rate within a tolerance (valve 280 is controlled to perform at least high, intermediate, and low rates of flow tests in which valve 280 must be incrementally opened or closed to match the desired flow rate within some tolerance; c. 9, ll. 1-20); recording flow rate meter readings of at least one meter (display units 76 record whether a flow registering device 104 has passed or failed and teletype 80 prints the test results; c.6, ll. 17-20 and c. 10, ll. 20-24).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the method of Krause et al. to incrementally control the flow valve as taught by Last et al. to provide a more accurate meter testing method by allowing for real-time flow adjustment.
Additionally, although Krause et al. discloses determining a volume of fluid collected in a tank (c. 6, ll. 5-11), and a volume deviation, it silent on determining an adjusted volume which includes a temperature of the fluid.
Yamasaki et al. teaches a meter testing system including a scale (5) that weighs fluid collected in a tank (weighing scale 5 weighs fluid collected in tank 4; ¶ [0058]); and determining an adjusted volume at test end (at time T2) which includes determining a temperature (using thermometer 6; ¶ [0057]) and a weight of the fluid collected in a tank (as the type of fluid is known, at time T2, which is at test end, a weight and temperature of fluid in tank 4 are determined, and this final weight is an adjusted weight, or volume, from at least a volume at time T1; ¶¶ [0064, 0068]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to further modify the method of Krause et al. with the volume adjustment of Yamasaki et al. to provide an accurate calibration method of a flowmeter even for low flow rates (Yamasaki et al., ¶ [0002]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 and 8 are allowed.
The prior art does not disclose or suggest “calculating a current flow rate based on the weight of the fluid collected in the tank over time and comparing the current flow rate to a designated flow rate…incrementally opening or closing the flow control valve to further increase or decrease the flow rate of fluid passing through the flow control valve to match the designated flow rate within a tolerance based on the comparing the current flow rate to the designated flow rate” in combination with the remaining claim elements as recited in claims 1-6.
The prior art does not disclose or suggest “wherein the controller is configured to monitor a flow rate of fluid passing through the flow control valve, monitor a weight of the fluid collected in the tank, calculate a flow rate based on the weight of the fluid collected in the tank over time, compare the calculated flow rate to a designated flow rate, and send said at least one signal to the valve controller based on comparison to incrementally open or restrict the flow control valve” in combination with the remaining claim elements as recited in claim 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7 May 2026, with regard to claim 9, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the combination of Krause, in view of Last, and further, in view of Yamasaki, Applicant argues that “Yamasaki’s weighing methodology does not supply the specific relationship between tank-collected fluid weight, fluid temperature, and end-of-test volume that is now set out in claim 9.” Response, page 15. However, Yamasaki teaches measuring a weight of fluid collected in tank 4 with weighing scale 5 (¶ [0058]) and measuring temperature with thermometer 6 (¶ [0057]). As the type of collected fluid and volume of tank 4 are known, in determining an adjusted weight of the collected fluid at time T2 (¶ [0068]), Yamasaki is also determining an adjusted volume of the collected fluid at time T2. Yamasaki even describes the calibration method as “liquid passage type weighing or volume method” (¶ [0019]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erika J. Villaluna whose telephone number is (571)272-8348. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.
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/ERIKA J. VILLALUNA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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