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 with traverse of claims 1-17 in the reply filed on 05/15/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there would not be a serious search burden on the Examiner to examine inventions I-III. The Examiner agrees with applicants arguments regarding inventions I-III and hereby withdraws the restriction between inventions I-III. However, no arguments were presented by Applicant regarding invention IV and therefore the restriction of invention IV remains. The examined claims are claims 1-31.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the air quality sensor measuring the outdoor air quality in claim 4 and the differential pressure sensor with two pressure ports in claims 3 and 24 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required:
“differential pressure sensor” in claims 1, 3, 18 and 24-26
“pressure port” and “port” in claims claim 3 and 24
“outdoor air quality” in claim 4
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) 1, 3, 7-8 and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Zheng teaches of:
A method comprising:
using one or more first air quality sensors (Fig. 1, 9) and an air purifier (Fig. 2, 301) to detect and adjust air quality within a building envelope having a heating (304), ventilation (3 and 4 ventilate the lab 2), and air conditioning (303) (HVAC) system, the air purifier having a first variable speed fan (302 is a variable speed fan as the power supplied to the fan from frequency converter 7 is modulated via controller 6; ¶ [0035], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7, so that the first frequency converter cabinet 7 controls the output power of the intake fan 302”) in an intake channel (3 is an intake channel) and a second variable speed fan (Fig. 4, 401 is a variable speed fan as it is also controlled via frequency converted 8 connected to a controller; ¶ [0038], “the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”) in an exhaust channel (4 is an exhaust channel); and
in response to detecting an adverse air quality event within the building envelope by one or more second air quality sensors (10 is the second air quality sensor; ¶ [0038], “the humidity inside the laboratory 2 is detected by the temperature and humidity sensor 10”), and measuring a difference in pressure between inside and outside the building envelope by one or more pressure or differential pressure sensors (5 is a pressure differential sensor; ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2”), and automatically adjusting a speed of the first variable speed fan and a speed of the second variable speed fan (¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”) (i) to maintain an air flow ratio between air inflow and air outflow within the HVAC system to ensure air pressure within the building envelope is balanced (¶ [0038], “thereby controlling the pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air.”), (ii) to introduce increased fresh and filtered air flow from outside the building envelope (302 draws fresh air from outside 2 and filters it via 301)
Zheng fails to explicitly teach:
(iii) to increase filtration of indoor air.
Aycock teaches of:
Utilizing return air and fresh air and a filter for the combined air flow resulting in an increase in filtration of indoor air through the filtering of the return air (Fig. 1, see fresh air duct 30 and return air plenum 20 that receives recirculated air from the room being supplied and filter 28 that filters the combined airflow of 20 and 30)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Add a return air duct to the lab 2 connecting the lab 2 to the fresh air module 3 of Zheng and position the connection upstream from the filter 301 so that the fan 302 draws both return air and fresh air as needed and as a result increases the filtration of the indoor air when the speed of the fan 302 increases
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for the already conditioned air in the lab to be recirculated back into the lab, refiltering it and reducing the work load on the heating and cooling systems
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein an air pressure balance within the building envelope is measured by a differential pressure sensor (Zheng, 5) comprised of two pressures ports, where one pressure port is connected to the indoor air and the other pressure port is connected to outdoor air (while not explicitly stated that 5 has two ports, the differential pressure sensor 5 measures the pressure inside and outside the lab and therefore would require a pressure port in the lab and outside the lab).
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising integrating the air purifier with the HVAC system having a return duct and a supply duct (see combination made in the rejection of claim 1 above, a return duct is added to the system of Zheng, particularly upstream the filter 301)
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 7, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising positioning the air purifier directly between the return duct and the HVAC system or plugged into the return duct (in the combined teachings 301 is positioned between the connection point of the return duct and the HVAC system made up of 302, 303 and 304)
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 7, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising connecting the one or more second air quality sensors to the main system controller (Zheng, 9 is connected to 6) or to one or more thermostats cooperating with the HVAC system within the building envelope.
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising connecting the first and second sensors to a controller (Zheng, 9 and 10 are connected to 6), wherein the controller controls the speeds of the first and second variable speed fans (¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”).
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first variable speed fan is independently operable with respect to the second variable speed fan (Zheng, both of the fans 302 and 401 are independently operable via 7 and 8 respectively; ¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”)
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the speed of the first variable speed fan is different than the speed of the second variable speed fan (Zheng, both of the fans are independently operated to control a predetermined pressure difference between the inside and outside, which would require the fans to be at different speeds; ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air, and transmits the data to the controller 6.The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”; and further the exhaust fan can be turned off while the supply fan is still operational in certain situations; ¶ [0039], “When toxic gas is detected inside laboratory 2 by gas detection module 9, the third valve 404 is closed and the fourth valve 405 is opened. At the same time, emergency exhaust 402 is started and exhaust fan 401 is turned off”)
Claim(s) 2 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2) and in further view of Paytas (US 20220065474 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the adverse air quality event is triggered when one or more variables exceed a predetermined threshold.
Paytas teaches of:
wherein the adverse air quality event is triggered when one or more variables exceed a predetermined threshold (¶ [0010], “The data gathered by the plurality of sensors is compared, within the central processing unit to threshold levels for each of the detected parameters. If one or more of the sensors detects a level that is above or below the respective threshold, the processing unit will alert a system manager or may automatically implement an adjustment protocol.”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the controller of Zheng so that it has a threshold level of toxicity detected by sensor 9 and temperature and humidity detected by sensor 10
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the air quality within the lab of Zheng to be maintained with acceptable levels
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the one or more variables are selected from the group consisting of air pressure, temperature, humidity (Zheng, ¶ [0028], “temperature and humidity sensor 10”), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), radon (Rn), natural gas, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), benzene (C6H6), volatile organic compound (VOC), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) readings, and particulate readings.
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising incorporating an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), an ionization filter, and an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light within the air purifier.
Paytas teaches of:
further comprising incorporating an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) (¶ [0032], “the environment management system 100 includes an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) 134”), an ionization filter (¶ [0028], “The environment management system 100 includes an environment treatment unit 130 which may be composed of blowers, motors, fans, ionic filtration elements, and particle filtration elements”), and an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light within the air purifier (¶ [0027], “the environment management system 100 may include an ultraviolet (UV) light disinfecting system, which may include ultraviolet lights 128 as shown in FIG. 3”).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add the replace 301 of Zheng with the ERV, ionization filter and UVC light
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the ERV would create a more efficient temperature control system within the lab and the ionization filter and UVC lights would prevent bacteria and allergens from entering into the lab
Claim(s) 4, 9 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2) and in further view of Grabinger (US 20110264273 A1).
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein one or more of the first air quality sensors measure indoor air quality (Zheng, 9 measure indoor air quality)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
the one or more of the second air quality sensors measure outdoor air quality.
Grabinger teaches of:
the one or more of the second air quality sensors measure outdoor air quality (Fig. 1, 136)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add an outdoor air quality sensor to the system of Zheng and connect it to the controller
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the system of Zheng to determine if the outdoor air has desirable properties such as temperature and humidity which would assist in maintaining the environment within the lab
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 7, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising connecting the one or more second air quality sensors to the return duct and the one or more second air quality sensors to the supply duct.
Grabinger teaches of:
further comprising connecting the one or more second air quality sensors to the return duct (Fig. 1, 140) and the one or more second air quality sensors to the supply duct (Fig. 1, 144).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add an additional temperature and humidity sensor within the supply duct of Zheng and the return duct of Aycock and connect the sensors to the controller 6 of Zheng
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the temperature of the return air and the supply air to be measured, ensuring accurate and efficient control of the system
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising notifying a user of the adverse air quality event by sending a notification and an air quality report to a computing device handled or operated by the user.
Grabinger teaches of:
further comprising notifying a user of the adverse air quality event by sending a notification and an air quality report to a computing device handled or operated by the user (¶ [0026], “In some instances, the remote monitoring device 146 may provide alerts and system faults in real time to the user.”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
connect the controller 6 to a computing device handled by the user which sends reports to the user regarding air quality and adverse air quality events such as negative pressure
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the use to monitor the system without having to be physically located at the system
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2) and in further view of Morgan-Lange (US 20220062489 A1).
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the air purifier includes a housing configured to couple the intake channel and the exhaust channel thereto.
Morgan-Lange teaches of:
wherein the air purifier includes a housing (Fig. 1, 100 has a housing 110) configured to couple the intake channel and the exhaust channel thereto (the air purifier 100 is inline with an existing HVAC system and would couple the two channels; ¶ [0165], “Though an inline air purifier in accordance with the present disclosure can either precede or follow existing coils or air handlers in the HVAC system, the resulting airflow from the air purifier unit will depend on the existing air handler present in the HVAC system”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the system of Zheng so that the air purifier 301 is a separate housing from the intake channel 3 that is positioned inline with the air flowing through 3
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would ensure that all the air entering the air intake channel would be purified and would not bypass the air purifier
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the intake channel receives fresh air flow from outside (Zheng, 3 receives fresh exterior air) the building envelope and the exhaust channel passes stale air outside the building envelope (Zheng, 4 exhaust stale air from 2 to the outside of the lab)
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2) and Morgan-Lange (US 20220062489 A1) and in further view of Grabinger (US 20110264273 A1).
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 16, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the fresh air flow received from the intake channel passes through an ERV and a portion of the stale air, received from a return duct of an HVAC system communicating with the air purifier, passes through the ERV.
Grabinger teaches of:
wherein the fresh air flow received from the intake channel passes through an ERV (Fig. 1, intake channel communicates with ERV 134) and a portion of the stale air, received from a return duct of an HVAC system communicating with the air purifier, passes through the ERV (Fig. 1, return air duct 112 passes a portion of stale air via 110 through ERV 134).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the ducting of the combined teachings to resemble the ducting shown in Fig. 1 of Grabinger and further add an ERV to the ducting as shown in Grabinger
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for energy transfer to occur between the air entering and exiting the system, increasing efficiency of the temperature and humidity control
Claim(s) 18-21 and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of McKie (US 20170191691 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Zheng teaches of:
A method for purifying air within a structure, the method comprising:
detecting air pressure balance within the structure's building envelope by one or more pressure and/or differential pressure sensors (5 is a pressure differential sensor; ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2”) and using an air purifier (Fig. 2, 301) having a first variable speed fan (302) in an intake channel (302 is in 3) and a second variable speed fan (Fig. 3, 401) in an exhaust channel (401 is in 4); and
introducing increased fresh air flow from outside the building envelope by automatically adjusting a speed of the first variable speed fan (¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302”)
Zheng fails to explicitly teach:
detecting negative air pressure balance within the structure's building envelope by one or more pressure and/or differential pressure sensors
McKie teaches of:
detecting negative air pressure balance within the structure's building envelope by one or more pressure and/or differential pressure sensor (Figs. 1-2, 190 is a pressure transducer that measure the pressure within the building; ¶ [0044], “In the event that in the step 330 the pressure is not greater than about zero, the method advances to a step 360. In the step 360 the processor 210 outputs a signal to increase the speed of the blower 115.”)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the controller to determine if a negative pressure balance has occurred within the lab and to increase the speed of fan 302 if such a pressure balance is detected
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
maintaining a negative pressure within the lab is not desirable as explicitly stated by Zheng (Zheng, ¶ [0004], “The technical problem this invention aims to solve is that existing laboratory ventilation systems, which typically rely solely on exhaust fans to expel air, often result in high negative pressure inside the laboratory, making it difficult to effectively regulate the pressure difference between the inside and outside”) and further maintaining a positive pressure would prevent the ingress of outside air into lab beyond what is desired
Regarding claim 19, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein an air flow ratio is maintained between air inflow and air outflow within a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to ensure air pressure within the building envelope is balanced (Zheng, ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air, and transmits the data to the controller 6.The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”)
Regarding claim 20, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the one or more variables are selected from the group consisting of air pressure, temperature, humidity (Zheng, ¶ [0028], “temperature and humidity sensor 10”), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), radon (Rn), natural gas, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), benzene (C6H6), volatile organic compound (VOC), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) readings, and particulate readings.
Regarding claim 21, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 20, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a notification is triggered when the one or more air quality variables exceed respective predetermined thresholds (the system of McKie outputs a signal which is a form of notification when detecting a negative temperature; ¶ [0044], “In the event that in the step 330 the pressure is not greater than about zero, the method advances to a step 360. In the step 360 the processor 210 outputs a signal to increase the speed of the blower 115.”)
Regarding claim 27, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first variable speed fan is independently operable with respect to the second variable speed fan (Zheng, both of the fans 302 and 401 are independently operable via 7 and 8 respectively; ¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”)
Regarding claim 28, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the speed of the first variable speed fan is different than a speed of the second variable speed fan (in the combined teachings McKie teaches of increasing the speed of the supply fan to increase the pressure in the system which would require the speed of the supply fan to be higher than the speed of the exhaust fan)
Claim(s) 22-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of McKie (US 20170191691 A1) and in further view of Aycock (US 9322568 B2).
Regarding claim 22, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising integrating the air purifier with an HVAC system (Zheng, Fig. 2, 303 and 304 are heating and cooling elements) and a supply duct (Zheng, Fig. 2, 3 would need to be connected to a supply duct in order for air from 3 to be supplied to 2)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach of:
a return duct
Aycock teaches of:
a return duct (Fig. 1, see fresh air duct 30 and return air plenum 20 that receives recirculated air from the room being supplied and filter 28 that filters the combined airflow of 20 and 30)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Add a return air duct to the lab 2 connecting the lab 2 to the fresh air module 3 of Zheng and position the connection upstream from the filter 301 so that the fan 302 draws both return air and fresh air as needed and as a result increases the filtration of the indoor air when the speed of the fan 302 increases
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for the already conditioned air in the lab to be recirculated back into the lab, refiltering it and reducing the work load on the heating and cooling systems
Regarding claim 23, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 22, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising positioning the air purifier directly between the return duct and the HVAC system (in the combined teachings 301 is positioned between the connection point of the return duct and the HVAC system made up of 303 and 304)
Regarding claim 24, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 23, and the combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the negative air pressure is detected by a differential pressure sensor (Zheng, 5) with two ports, wherein a first port is connected to an ambient room pressure and a second port is connected to a fresh air intake duct (while not explicitly stated that 5 has two ports, the differential pressure sensor 5 measures the pressure inside and outside the lab and therefore would require a pressure port in the lab and outside the lab)
Regarding claim 25, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 24, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising connecting the differential pressure sensor to a controller (Zheng, 5 is connected to 6), wherein the controller controls a ratio of speeds of the first and second variable speed fans in order to maintain a desired pressure balance within the building envelope (Zheng, ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air, and transmits the data to the controller 6.The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”)
Regarding claim 26, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 24, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising connecting one or more air quality sensors to a controller (Zheng, Fig. 1, 9 and 10 are connected to 6), wherein the controller controls the speed of both the first and second variable speed fans, while maintaining a ratio determined as a result of the differential pressure sensors (Zheng, ¶ [0038], “The air pressure difference sensor 5 inside the laboratory 2 detects the air pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air, and transmits the data to the controller 6.The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”).
Claim(s) 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of McKie (US 20170191691 A1) and in further view of Grabinger (US 20110264273 A1).
Regarding claim 29, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 18, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising notifying a user of the negative air pressure by sending a notification and an air quality report to a computing device handled or operated by the user.
Grabinger teaches of:
notifying a user of sensor readouts in a system via a computing device (¶ [0026], “In some instances, the remote monitoring device 146 may provide alerts and system faults in real time to the user.”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
connect the controller 6 to a computing device handled by the user which sends reports to the user regarding air quality and adverse air quality events such as negative pressure
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the use to monitor the system without having to be physically located at the system
Claim(s) 30-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN 116045410 A) in view of Morgan-Lange (US 20220062489 A1), Aycock (US 9322568 B2) and Paytas (US 20220065474 A1).
Regarding claim 30, Zheng teaches of:
An air purification system for a building (Fig. 1), the air purification system comprising:
an intake channel (Figs. 1-2, 3) wherein a first variable speed fan (Fig. 2, 302) is located in an intake path (302 is in 3); and
an exhaust channel (Figs. 1 and 3, 4), wherein a second variable speed (Fig. 3, 401) fan is located in an exhaust path (401 is in 4),
wherein, when an adverse air quality event is detected within the building, a speed of the first variable speed fan is automatically adjusted by a controller (¶ [0038], “The controller 6 controls the first frequency converter cabinet 7 and the second frequency converter cabinet 8, thereby causing the first frequency converter cabinet 7 to adjust the output power of the intake fan 302, and causing the second frequency converter cabinet 8 to adjust the output power of the exhaust fan 401”) (i) to maintain an air flow ratio between air inflow and air outflow within a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to ensure air pressure within the building is balanced (¶ [0038], “thereby controlling the pressure difference between the inside of the laboratory 2 and the outside air.”), (ii) to introduce increased fresh and filtered air flow from outside the building (302 draws fresh air from outside 2 and filters it via 301).
Zheng fails to explicitly teach:
a housing including at least an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), an ionization filter, and a Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light
an intake channel connected to the housing
an exhaust channel connected to the housing
and (iii) to increase filtration of indoor air
Morgan-Lange teaches of:
a housing (Fig. 1, 100 has a housing 110)
an intake channel connected to the housing
an exhaust channel connected to the housing (the air purifier 100 is inline with an existing HVAC system and would couple the two channels; ¶ [0165], “Though an inline air purifier in accordance with the present disclosure can either precede or follow existing coils or air handlers in the HVAC system, the resulting airflow from the air purifier unit will depend on the existing air handler present in the HVAC system”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the system of Zheng so that the air purifier 301 is a separate housing from the intake channel 3 that is positioned inline with the air flowing through 3
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would ensure that all the air entering the air intake channel would be purified and would not bypass the air purifier
Paytas teaches of:
further comprising incorporating an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) (¶ [0032], “the environment management system 100 includes an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) 134”), an ionization filter (¶ [0028], “The environment management system 100 includes an environment treatment unit 130 which may be composed of blowers, motors, fans, ionic filtration elements, and particle filtration elements”), and an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light within the air purifier (¶ [0027], “the environment management system 100 may include an ultraviolet (UV) light disinfecting system, which may include ultraviolet lights 128 as shown in FIG. 3”).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add the replace 301 of Zheng with the ERV, ionization filter and UVC light
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the ERV would create a more efficient temperature control system within the lab and the ionization filter and UVC lights would prevent bacteria and allergens from entering into the lab
Aycock teaches of:
Utilizing return air and fresh air and a filter for the combined air flow resulting in an increase in filtration of indoor air through the filtering of the return air (Fig. 1, see fresh air duct 30 and return air plenum 20 that receives recirculated air from the room being supplied and filter 28 that filters the combined airflow of 20 and 30)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Add a return air duct to the lab 2 connecting the lab 2 to the fresh air module 3 of Zheng and position the connection upstream from the filter 301 so that the fan 302 draws both return air and fresh air as needed and as a result increases the filtration of the indoor air when the speed of the fan 302 increases
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for the already conditioned air in the lab to be recirculated back into the lab, refiltering it and reducing the work load on the heating and cooling systems
Regarding claim 31, the combined teachings teach of the air purification system of claim 30, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the air purification system is integrated with the HVAC system having a return duct (See combination made in the rejection of claim 30 with Aycock above) and a supply duct (there must be a supply duct in the system in order for the air to be supplied to the lab) such that the air purification system is positioned directly between the return duct and the HVAC system (in the combination made in claim 30 above the return duct is positioned upstream from 301 and therefore 301 is between the return duct and the HVAC system comprised of 303 and 304)
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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