DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 for Application No. CN202211739689 filed on 12/30/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 06/26/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 9, 11 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bacon (US 2024/0107959 A1) (“Bacon”), in view of DING (CN 109427178 A) (“Ding”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Bacon teaches:
A humidity control method, comprising: (Bacon: [0048] “Once initiated, the controller 14 will begin to increase the light, e.g., starting at 10%, and will seek to maintain a certain temperature (e.g. 70 degrees Fahrenheit), with a certain humidity (e.g., 55% humidity), a certain water temperature (e.g., 70 Fahrenheit), and a certain pH level (e.g., 5.9) in the reservoir 2 without adding any growth specific nutrients. For example, the controller will adjust the light to 10% and the light will stay at this wattage (65 watts) for 2.4 hours. The Temperature and humidity setpoint the controller 14 will try to maintain at each stage is 70 degrees Fahrenheit with 55% humidity.”) (Bacon: [0112] “When implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied. in a processor-executable software module, which may reside on a computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. …”)
… associated with a target humidifier, and (Bacon: [0086] “The controller 514 is configured to receive data from the humidity sensor and control the de-humidifier/humidifier (DEHUM/HUM) relay.”)
determining plant suitable humidity information based on the target plant information; (Bacon: [0043] “The server may be configured to only update the files as completed grow plans are received, though it may also update more or less frequently as new data becomes available. The server will, be configured to update the grow programs information based on the sensor data received from the other completed alike grow programs, e.g., same plant name and species, such as tomato, heirloom. The system can be designed to determine and share a recommended grow plan. For example, if User A grows 12 tomatoes, and User B grows ten tomatoes, and the only determined difference was that User A had a different NPK ratio than User B, then the controller may update the Grow Plan for tomatoes with User A's nutrients NPK Ratio as the preferred NPK ratio because it results in a 20% higher yield only by changing the NPK ratio of the reservoir 2 during the specific growth cycles, e.g., used a different manufacturers nutrients.”) (Bacon: [0044] “One present system is configured to build a genetic blueprint for each hydroponically grown plant, which enables the controller to track and trend data to enhance the efficiency and viability of the Growth Plan. For example, the sensor information received allows the system to compare the yields and viability of grows performed with the system, comparing different nutrients, conditions, etc. Based on this information and the yield information entered by users, the system is configured to develop recommended Grow Plans, which may vary over time based on the input.”) (Bacon: [0060] “Regarding optimizing the growth of the plants in the system, the system (e.g., controller) will rim a grow plan which is optimized for the growth of a specific plant. For example, certain strains of tomatoes may grow better in different conditions (e.g. higher humidity or lower heat). FIG. 7 illustrates one example grow plan according to one embodiment of this disclosure.”) [The grow plan, grow program or grow file that includes humidity setpoints for a specific plant, as illustrated in FIG. 7 for tomato, reads on “determining plant suitable humidity information based on …”.]
based on the plant suitable humidity information, determining a target humidity value; and (Bacon: FIG. 7) [The humidity setpoint at a stage of the tomato plant reads on “determining a target humidity value”.]
based on the target humidity value, controlling operation of the target humidifier. (Bacon: [0086] as discussed above) (Bacon: [0059] “Accordingly, the system can fully automate the grow experience, e.g.,. lights 3, hydro, nutrients, air temp, etc. For each grow, a grow program based on a growth model (discussed below) will be provided as to what setpoints are to be maintained from start to finish. These are the basics of the “Grow Plans” or “Grow Programs”. This grow program is uploaded to the controller from the server at the beginning of the grow. That way, if the system loses the network connection, the controller will still be able to run the program from start to finish.”)
Bacon does not expressly teach: obtaining target plant information associated with a target humidifier.
Ding teaches:
obtaining target plant information associated with a target humidifier. (Ding: Page 2, Summary of the invention, lines 5-9 “Step 1, the floristics of target plant is obtained; Step 2, the corresponding target air temperature of the floristics and target gas humidity are obtained, and acquires the target The current air temperature and present air humidity in space locating for plant; Step 3, according to the target air temperature, the target gas humidity, the current air temperature and current sky Air humidity degree generates warning grade, and generates corresponding early warning according to warning grade and act.”) [Obtaining the floristics of the target plant reads on “obtaining target plant information”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Bacon and Ding before them, to modify the hydroculture control system that maintains grow plans or grow programs for various plant species, to incorporate obtaining target plant species information.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for obtaining the target temperature and humidity setpoints for the corresponding plant species. (Ding: Page 2, Summary of the invention, lines 5-9)
Regarding claim 9, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 1. Bacon further teaches:
before obtaining the target plant information associated with the target humidifier, the method further comprising: obtaining room information associated with plant change information; and determining a humidifier associated with the room information as the target humidifier. (Bacon: [0047] “Accordingly, at the outset of implementing a system disclosed herein, the system may first run a Learning Mode to establish a system baseline. In this mode, for example, the user will set up the growing environment (e.g., grow tent,) with all accessories, including to hang and connect the light, fill the reservoir 2 with water, connect the fans, and everything else necessary to start a new grow, but excluding the plants. This may also include inputting equipment data into the system such as light wattage, NPK ratio of nutrients, serial numbers, manufacture name, etc.”) (Bacon: [0107] “The user sets the parameters of the humidifier or dehumidifier, if used (Settings-Humidity page).”) (Bacon: [0108] “The user will then select whether to use the system's Learning Mode (“Learning Mode” page), described above. It is recommended for users NOT to skip learning mode. After Learning Mode is completed OR users have skipped it, the user will have option to “Start A New Grow”. Users will then go through the process of starting a new grow. Upon entering all applicable information and Clicking save, the controller will initiate the grow cycle for the selected plant.”) [Starting a new grow reads on “plant change information”.]
Regarding independent claim 11:
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 1 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 19, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 9 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding independent claim 20:
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 1 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bacon, in view of Ding, further in view of CHENG (US 2021/0329862 A1) (“Cheng”).
Regarding claim 2, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 1. Bacon further teaches:
wherein: the target plant information at least includes a plant name; and (Bacon: [0043] as discussed above)
determining the plant suitable humidity information based on the target plant information includes … a database to determine the plant suitable humidity information based on the plant name. (Bacon: [0042] “The information from the PID loop and from the ultimate harvest may then be used to update the growth models in the system. More specifically, from the grow plans and the PID information, the information can continually be updated upon completion of each grow so that the controllers are updating the efficiency of the grow plans on the database. Meaning, with each growth, the controller should update the database/update with the aggregated data, which further improves the grow model. When the grow is completed (e.g., the plant is harvested), the user can enter in yield information and store their file wherever they want. That information, including harvest total, will update to the system because the grow information has been hatching updates to the database (e.g. data stored on server) every night (or in real time or other intervals). Upon completion, the database can then look at the file, and actively update the grow plan in accordance with the newly received data, based on the total grows data.”)
Bacon and Ding do not expressly teach: determining the plant suitable humidity information based on the target plant information includes searching a database to determine the plant suitable humidity information based on the plant name.
Cheng teaches:
determining the plant suitable humidity information based on the target plant information includes searching a database to determine the plant suitable humidity information based on the plant name. (Cheng: [0042] “The cultivation suggestion generator in the intelligent cultivation apparatus is an expert system, the expert system is configured for generating a targeted cultivation suggestion based at least on a flowers cultivation database and the flowers cultivation status information, wherein the flowers cultivation database serves as a plants cultivation database. The flowers cultivation database may include common data on flowers cultivation, for example, it may include a flowers growth cycle, a suitable temperature, a suitable humidity, a suitable light intensity, a suitable soil parameter, a required nutrient component, a watering parameter and a fertilizing parameter etc., which data may be stored in a storage device of the local intelligent cultivation apparatus, or downloaded from a cloud server to the intelligent cultivation apparatus after the intelligent cultivation apparatus completes the initialization setting.”) (Cheng: [0052] “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the process of adjusting the calculating parameter may be, for example, in an initial stage of cultivation, the cultivation suggestion generator searches in the flowers cultivation database for cultivation data of the flowers according to the input flowers information, and uses the data as initial calculating parameters for generating the cultivation suggestion, for example, including growth characteristics of the flowers, the parameters such as ambient light intensity, temperature, humidity, soil type suitable for growth of the flowers, watering and fertilizing thresholds. The cultivation suggestion generator generates a cultivation suggestion based on the initial calculating parameters, and the controller controls water storage of the water reservoir and controls fertilization of the fertilizer applicator according to the generated cultivation suggestion.”)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Bacon, Ding and Cheng before them, to modify the hydroculture control system that maintains grow plans or grow programs for various plant species, to incorporate searching a database of target plant species information to obtain corresponding target temperature and humidity.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for obtaining the target temperature and humidity setpoints for a specific plant species that can be searched in a database. (Cheng: [0004])
Regarding claim 12, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 2 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bacon, in view of Ding, further in view of DONG et al. (CN 114440391 A) (“Dong”).
Regarding claim 8, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 1. Bacon and Ding do not expressly teach the recitations of claim 8.
Dong teaches:
wherein controlling the operation of the target humidifier based on the target humidity value further comprises: based on the target humidity value, outputting a humidity control instruction to the target humidifier, wherein the humidity control instruction is used to instruct the target humidifier to stop humidification when an external humidity exceeds the target humidity value by at least a first set threshold, and (Dong: Page 6, third paragraph “For example, when the outdoor environment temperature is greater than or equal to the target set temperature and the outdoor environment humidity is greater than or equal to the target set humidity, the outdoor environment temperature and humidity are considered to meet the target set temperature, and at this time, the purpose of increasing the indoor environment humidity can be achieved only by introducing outdoor air into the room without starting the rotating wheel humidifying device.”) [Greater than or equal to …, means the exceeding the target set temperature by zero or more which reads on “a first set threshold”.]
the humidity control instruction is used to instruct the target humidifier to turn on humidification when the external humidity falls below the target humidity value by at least a second set threshold. (Dong: Page 6, fourth paragraph “When the outdoor environment temperature is less than the target set temperature and the outdoor environment humidity is less than the target set humidity, the outdoor environment temperature is considered not to meet the target set temperature and the outdoor environment humidity does not meet the target set humidity, at the moment, the rotary wheel humidifying device is controlled to start, humidifying indoor air is started through the rotary wheel humidifying device, so that the indoor environment humidity is continuously increased, until the indoor environment humidity reaches the target set humidity, humidification is stopped, and when the air conditioner receives a shutdown control instruction, the air conditioner is controlled to enter a sterilization drying mode, the air conditioner is controlled to enter the sterilization drying mode, the problem of bacterial breeding caused by the fact that the rotary wheel humidifying device is in a humid environment after humidification is completed can be avoided.”) [Less than …, means less by more than zero of the target set temperature which reads on “a second set threshold”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Bacon, Ding and Dong before them, to modify the hydroculture control system that maintains grow plans or grow programs for controlling humidity levels for various plant species, to incorporate considering outdoor humidity level for the indoor humidity level control.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for controlling the indoor humidity level based on target humidity setpoint and external humidity to manage the problem of bacterial breeding caused by undesirable humidity levels. (Dong: Page 6, fourth paragraph)
Regarding claim 18, Bacon and Ding teach all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 8 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 10 and 13-17 are objected to as being dependent upon corresponding rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Diamos et al. (US 2020/0349476 A1) teaches using weighted average for environmental setpoints, such as humidity, as described in at least paragraph [0095] (“According to embodiments of the disclosure, the engine 106 accesses a set of one or more reference (e.g., optimal) environmental setpoints (e.g., temperature, humidity) for each plant variety of interest in the grow space 20, where each set of reference environmental setpoints corresponds to a desired (e.g., optimal) predicted performance of the respective plant variety. For example, a particular temperature may correspond to a high harvest weight for one variety (e.g., kale), but not another (e.g., arugula).”) and paragraph [0110] (“The model then scored each of the possible combinations of set points (e.g., temperature, airflow, humidity), recommending the “best” or offering a range that provided “best” performance. Note that the output score represented a weighted average in proportion to the number of plants per variety expected in the space, making this method “room aware.” Also, the “possible combinations” were considered to be regularly spaced discrete values within the range of each variable to be manipulated.”).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-5069. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Lo can be reached at (571) 272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL W CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116