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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group II, claims 13-15 (and new claims 21-22 which depend therefrom) is acknowledged. The examiner also notes that claims 1-12 and 16-20 have been canceled in the reply filed 28 January 2026.
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.
Claims 13-15 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Roy et al. US PG-PUB 2023/0090852 A1 (hereafter Roy).
As to claim 13: Roy discloses a method for calibrating a pool device for a pool (10; fig. 1), comprising:
measuring a first water temperature of pool water via a sensor (not labeled but see the disclosed temperature sensors in ¶ 59) at a first calibration time (not labeled but see ¶ 65 with regard to the beginning of a cycle time);
operating a heater (14; see ¶ 59) to heat the pool water (see ¶ 62 and 64-66);
measuring a second water temperature of the pool water via the sensor at a second calibration time (not labeled but see ¶ 65 with regard to the end of a cycle time);
determining a run time of the heater with a controller (12; see ¶ 55) based on a difference between the second calibration time and the first calibration time (see ¶ 57 and 70 regarding the heater cycle time);
determining a change in water temperature with the controller based on a difference between the first water temperature and the second water temperature (see ¶ 66 regarding the deltaTh2o parameter);
determining a volume of the pool based on at least one of the run time of the heater, the change in the water temperature, or a predefined heat output of the heater (see ¶ 66 regarding the calculated estimated pool size); and
adjusting at least one operating parameter of the pool device based on the volume of the pool (see ¶ 74).
As to claim 14: Roy discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the sensor (not labeled but see the disclosed temperature sensors in ¶ 59) sends the first water temperature and the second water temperature measurements to the controller (12) (see ¶ 65).
As to claim 15: Roy discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the sensor (not labeled but see the disclosed temperature sensors in ¶ 59) is communicatively coupled to the controller (12) via a network (see ¶ 67).
As to claim 21: Roy discloses the method of claim 13, further comprising storing the volume of the pool in a memory of the controller (14; see fig. 1 and ¶ 54; the PoolSize variable utilized to represent the volume of the pool as noted in, e.g. ¶ 64).
As to claim 22: Roy discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the at least one operating parameter is one or more of a filter run time, a pump speed, a chemical dosage rate, a heater run time, or a maintenance schedule (see ¶ 64 and ¶ 72).
References Cited but not Relied Upon
Alwerud US Pat 5,326,481 discloses a method for automatic dispensing of chlorine in swimming pools where a computer measures the pool water temperature and appears pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M ROYSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30 E.S.T..
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/JOHN M ROYSTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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