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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites obtaining an initial stable temperature corresponding to an initial accumulated usage time during an initial usage period by using a temperature sensor in the projection apparatus; obtaining at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to at least one accumulated usage time by using the temperature sensor in the projection apparatus; estimating an estimated time corresponding to a target temperature according to the initial accumulated usage time, the initial stable temperature, the at least one stable temperature, and the at least one accumulated usage time; and executing a temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to a current accumulated usage time of the projection apparatus exceeding the estimated time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the step of estimating the estimated time corresponding to the target temperature according to the initial accumulated usage time, the initial stable temperature, the at least one stable temperature, and the at least one accumulated usage time comprises: establishing an interpolation polynomial by using the initial accumulated usage time, the initial stable temperature, the at least one stable temperature, and the at least one accumulated usage time; and substituting the target temperature into the interpolation polynomial to obtain the estimated time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the step of obtaining the initial stable temperature corresponding to the initial accumulated usage time during the initial usage period by using the temperature sensor in the projection apparatus comprises: collecting a plurality of temperature rising curves of a plurality of turn-on processes during the initial usage period by using the temperature sensor; analyzing the temperature rising curves to determine the initial stable temperature; and obtaining the initial accumulated usage time during the initial usage period.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the step of analyzing the temperature rising curves to determine the initial stable temperature comprises: obtaining a reference stable temperature of each of the temperature rising curves; and performing a statistical analysis on the reference stable temperature of each of the temperature rising curves to determine the initial stable temperature.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to the at least one accumulated usage time comprises a previous stable temperature corresponding to a previous accumulated usage time, the overheating protection method further comprising: continuously sensing a plurality of current temperatures by using the temperature sensor; and executing the temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to a temperature rising value between the current temperatures and the previous stable temperature being continuously greater than a preset temperature difference parameter for more than a specific observation time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to the at least one accumulated usage time further comprises a current stable temperature corresponding to a current accumulated usage time, the overheating protection method further comprising: calculating a time difference value between the previous accumulated usage time and the current accumulated usage time, and calculating a temperature difference value between the previous stable temperature and the current stable temperature; obtaining a ratio according to the time difference value and the temperature difference value; and calculating a product of the ratio and the preset temperature difference parameter to obtain the specific observation time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites obtaining a temperature rising curve of a turn-on process through the temperature sensor; and calculating a total temperature change before a specific time according to the temperature rising curve; and executing the temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to the total temperature change being greater than a change threshold.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the step of calculating the total temperature change before the specific time according to the temperature rising curve comprises: performing an integral operation on the temperature rising curve according to the specific time to obtain the total temperature change within a time interval from a turn-on time to the specific time, wherein the change threshold is obtained by performing an integral operation on a specific temperature change curve according to the specific time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites a plurality of tangent slopes corresponding to the specific time on a plurality of reference temperature change curves meet an increment condition.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the temperature protection operation comprises increasing a heat dissipation capacity of a heat dissipation apparatus or providing a warning message.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the controller is further configured to: establish an interpolation polynomial by using the initial accumulated usage time, the initial stable temperature, the at least one stable temperature, and the at least one accumulated usage time; and substitute the target temperature into the interpolation polynomial to obtain the estimated time. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the controller is further configured to: collect a plurality of temperature rising curves of a plurality of turn-on processes during the initial usage period by using the temperature sensor; analyze the temperature rising curves to determine the initial stable temperature; and obtain the initial accumulated usage time during the initial usage period.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the controller is further configured to: obtain a reference stable temperature of each of the temperature rising curves; and perform a statistical analysis on the reference stable temperature of each of the temperature rising curves to determine the initial stable temperature.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to the at least one accumulated usage time comprises a previous stable temperature corresponding to a previous accumulated usage time, and the controller is further configured to: continuously sense a plurality of current temperatures by using the temperature sensor; and execute the temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to a temperature rising value between the current temperatures and the previous stable temperature being continuously greater than a preset temperature difference parameter for more than a specific observation time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to the at least one accumulated usage time further comprises a current stable temperature corresponding to a current accumulated usage time, and the controller is further configured to: calculate a time difference value between the previous accumulated usage time and the current accumulated usage time, and calculate a temperature difference value between the previous stable temperature and the current stable temperature; obtain a ratio according to the time difference value and the temperature difference value; and calculate a product of the ratio and the preset temperature difference parameter to obtain the specific observation time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the controller is further configured to: obtain a temperature rising curve of a turn-on process through the temperature sensor; and calculate a total temperature change before a specific time according to the temperature rising curve; and execute the temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to the total temperature change being greater than a change threshold.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the controller is further configured to: perform an integral operation on the temperature rising curve according to the specific time to obtain the total temperature change within a time interval from a turn-on time to the specific time, wherein the change threshold is obtained by performing an integral operation on a specific temperature change curve according to the specific time.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites a plurality of tangent slopes corresponding to the specific time on a plurality of reference temperature change curves meet an increment condition.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites a heat dissipation apparatus or a prompting apparatus, wherein the temperature protection operation comprises increasing a heat dissipation capacity of the heat dissipation apparatus or providing a warning message through the prompting apparatus.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because obtaining temperatures and estimating an estimated time are extra-solution data gathering and do not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. Additionally, the claimed temperature sensor and controller are generic. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps are insignificant extra-solution data gathering and do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1, 10, 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maeda et al (US 2011/0115992; hereinafter referred to as Maeda).
Regarding Claims 1 and 11, Maeda teaches a projection apparatus (Figure 1; Projection Display Apparatus 100), comprising:
a temperature sensor (Figure 1; Temperature Sensor 381 and Temperature Sensor 382); and
a controller (Figure 4; Control Unit 200), coupled to the temperature sensor (see Figure 4) and configured to:
obtain an initial stable temperature corresponding to an initial accumulated usage time during an initial usage period by using the temperature sensor (see Paragraph [0087]; wherein it is disclosed that after the receipt of an operation start instruction the temperature sensor 381 detects a temperature of the air flowing in the air passage 310);
obtain at least one stable temperature respectively corresponding to at least one accumulated usage time by using the temperature sensor (see Paragraph [0087]; wherein it is disclosed that during the light-amount reduction period, a period which lasts until a predetermined length of time passes after the receipt of the operation start instruction, the temperature sensor 381 detects a temperature of the air flowing in the air passage 310);
estimate an estimated time corresponding to a target temperature according to the initial accumulated usage time, the initial stable temperature, the at least one stable temperature, and the at least one accumulated usage time (see Paragraph [0119]; wherein it is disclosed that the predetermined length of time is the length of time X; in the case of using the period (B2) as the irradiation continuation period, the temperature of the cool air blowing against the optical elements is calculated on the basis of the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 381, and the predetermined temperature is determined so that the temperature of the cool air should not exceed the temperature t4. Similarly, in the case of using the period (B3) as the irradiation continuation period, the temperature of the cool air blowing against the optical elements is calculated on the basis of the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 382, and the predetermined temperature is determined so that the temperature of the cool air should not exceed the temperature t4); and
execute a temperature protection operation of the projection apparatus in response to a current accumulated usage time of the projection apparatus (Figure 1; Projection Display Apparatus 100) exceeding the estimated time (see Paragraph [0139]; wherein it is disclosed that the reduction amount controller 250 controls the reduction amount of the light-amount iris unit 60 upon receipt of the operation start instruction so that the light emitted from the light source 10 may have the reduction amount larger than the predetermined reduction amount. Accordingly, like in the first embodiment, the temperature of the optical elements to be cooled can be inhibited from exceeding the upper limit of the allowable temperature range during the time until the projection display apparatus 100 comes into the normal operation state after the receipt of the operation start instruction).
Regarding Claims 10 and 20, Maeda teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11 as detailed above.
Maeda further teaches a heat dissipation apparatus (Figure 8; Cooling Device 300) or a prompting apparatus, wherein the temperature protection operation comprises increasing a heat dissipation capacity of the heat dissipation apparatus (see Paragraph [0120]; wherein it is disclosed that the cooling device 300 (the heat absorber 320) starts the cooling of the air flowing through the air passage 310 upon receipt of the operation start instruction such that the temperature of the optical elements can be inhibited from exceeding the upper limit of the allowable temperature range during the time until the projection display apparatus 100 comes into the normal operation state after the receipt of the operation start instruction) or providing a warning message through the prompting apparatus.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A LAMB II whose telephone number is (571)270-0648. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minh-Toan Ton can be reached at (571) 272-2303. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER A LAMB II/Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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