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 § 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 1-5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Anderson (US Patent 6,247,360).
With regards to claim 1, Anderson discloses a vapor pressure deficit sensor (FIG. 1-2) for a horticultural environment (col. 1, lines 19-30), the vapor pressure deficit sensor comprising:
an upper housing (60-66; FIG. 2A);
a lower housing (housing seen in FIG. 1) coupled with the upper housing (FIG. 2A) and comprising a lower sidewall (side surfaces of FIG. 1 including 52, 54) and a bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1 including 40) that cooperate to define an interior ; and
a vapor pressure deficit sensing module (measuring sensors I; col. 1, lines 10-16; similar to [0015] of the Specification of the instant invention) coupled with the lower housing and disposed in the interior (col. 2, line 64 to col. 2, line 8), wherein:
the upper housing (60-66; FIG. 2A) and the lower housing (housing seen in FIG. 1) are spaced from each other along a centerline to define an air gap therebetween (see gap having arrows of airflow; FIG. 1) that is in fluid communication with the interior (FIG. 1);
the lower sidewall defines an opening (opening between 50-54) that is in fluid communication with the interior and cooperates with the interior and the air gap to define a fluid pathway that extends through the interior and between the opening and the air gap (see airflow (arrows) shown in FIG. 1);
the lower sidewall comprises an upper portion (including 52-54) adjacent to the upper housing (including 60-66; FIG. 2A) and a lower portion (portions 50 and below; FIG. 1) adjacent to the bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1 including 40), wherein the upper portion (including 52-54) serves as a hood that overhangs the lower portion (portions 50 and below) such that the opening faces towards the bottom wall (FIG. 1); and
the fluid pathway causes surrounding air to take a tortuous path through the interior to mix the air and mitigate humidity and temperature hot spots at the vapor pressure deficit sensing module (col. 3, lines 28-47).
With regards to claim 2, Anderson discloses the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the upper portion (including 50-54) is laterally offset (see 50 offset outward from centerline) from the lower portion (portion lower than 50 in FIG. 1) relative to the centerline such that a perimeter of the upper portion (perimeter of 60-66) at the opening is greater than a perimeter of the lower portion (including 50-54) at the opening (60-66 has a larger perimeter than 50-54 at the same height), and
the opening is defined by the upper portion and the lower portion of the lower sidewall (openings between 50-52).
With regards to claim 3, Anderson discloses vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 2 wherein the opening (openings between 50-52) extends circumferentially along at least part of the lower sidewall (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 4, Anderson discloses vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the air gap (see arrows defining airflow within the air gap) extends circumferentially around the upper housing and the lower housing (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 5, Anderson discloses vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 4 wherein the air gap (see arrows defining airflow within the air gap) extends entirely circumferentially around the upper housing and the lower housing (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 8, Anderson discloses vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1) defines a vent (at 40) that is in fluid communication with the interior of the lower housing (col. 3, lines 28-34; FIG. 1).
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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US Patent 6,247,360) in view of Mo et al. (US Publication 2022/0018531; IDS dated 03/15/2024 US Publication Cite No. 1; hereinafter Mo).
With regards to claim 6, Anderson teaches the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the upper housing (including 60-66) further comprises: an upper sidewall (64).
However, Anderson is silent regarding the upper housing comprising a light ring attached to the upper sidewall adjacent to the lower housing such that the light ring at least partially defines the air gap.
Mo teaches an upper housing (110) comprising a light ring (130) attached to the upper sidewall adjacent to the lower housing (140; [0018-0020]; FIG. 1A-B).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the light ring as taught by Mo to the upper housing as taught by Anderson with reasonable expectation of conveying information to the user as desired ([0019]; Mo).
With regards to claim 7, Anderson, as combined with Mo, teaches the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 6 wherein the light ring is routed entirely circumferentially around the upper sidewall (see 130; FIG. 1A; Mo).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Beggs et al. (US Publication 2022/0357062; hereinafter Beggs), and further in view of Fedegari (US Publication 2021/0108969).
With regards to claim 9, Beggs teaches a vapor pressure deficit sensor (abstract) for a horticultural environment (the claimed preamble “for a horticultural environment” merely states the purpose or intended use of the invention, rather than any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations. Therefore, the preamble “for a horticultural environment” is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction. See MPEP 2111.02 and Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165-66 (Fed. Cir. 1999)), the vapor pressure deficit sensor comprising:
a humidity sensing module (144, 304) configured to measure the humidity of surrounding air ([0029]; FIG. 1 and 3);
a temperature sensing module (140, 302) configured to measure the temperature of surrounding air ([0029]; FIG. 1 and 3);
an onboard controller (126) in signal communication with the humidity sensing module (including 304) and the temperature sensing module (including 302) and configured to determine a vapor pressure deficit value based upon the measured humidity and the measured temperature ([0054]) by utilizing a lookup table (316; FIG. 3) that maps different humidity and temperature values to specific vapor pressure deficit values ([0054]; FIG. 3).
However, Beggs is silent regarding a CAN communication module in signal communication with the onboard controller and configured to facilitate bidirectional communication with a remote controller and with a plurality of daisy-chained vapor pressure deficit sensors via a controller area network architecture, wherein the onboard controller is configured to transmit one or more of the humidity measurement, the temperature measurement, or the vapor pressure deficit value to the remote controller via the CAN communication module.
Fedegari teaches a system for measuring temperature comprising temperature sensors (3a-d; [0040-0043]), and a CAN communication module ([0059]) in signal communication with the onboard controller (7, 9) and configured to facilitate bidirectional communication with a remote controller (8; [0059-0064]) and with a plurality of daisy-chained temperature sensors (3a-d; [0043-0044]) via a controller area network architecture wherein the onboard controller (7, 9) is configured to transmit the temperature measurement to the remote controller (8) via the CAN communication module ([0059-0064]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the known type of communication as taught by Beggs with another known type of communication as taught by Fedegari with reasonable expectation of providing communication between the desired features while minimizing the risk of data lost ([0063]; Fedegari).
With regards to claim 10, Beggs, as combined with Fedegari, teaches (citations to Beggs unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 9 further comprising a display screen (824) configured to display information about the environmental parameter ([0110]).
Claims 11-15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US Patent 6,247,360) in view of Beggs et al. (US Publication 2022/0357062; hereinafter Beggs), and further in view of Fedegari (US Publication 2021/0108969). Mo et al. (US Publication 2022/0018531; IDS dated 03/15/2024 US Publication Cite No. 1; hereinafter Mo).
With regards to claim 11, Anderson teaches a vapor pressure deficit sensor (FIG. 1-2) for a horticultural environment (col. 1, lines 19-30), the vapor pressure deficit sensor comprising:
an upper housing (60-66; FIG. 2A);
a lower housing (housing seen in FIG. 1) coupled with the upper housing (FIG. 2A) and comprising a lower sidewall (side surfaces of FIG. 1 including 52, 54) and a bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1 including 40) that cooperate to define an interior; and
a vapor pressure deficit sensing module (measuring sensors I; col. 1, lines 10-16; similar to [0015] of the Specification of the instant invention) coupled with the lower housing and disposed in the interior (col. 2, line 64 to col. 2, line 8), the vapor pressure deficit sensing module comprising:
a humidity sensing module configured to measure the humidity of surrounding air (col. 1, lines 10-16);
a temperature sensing module configured to measure the temperature of surrounding air (col. 1, lines 10-16);
wherein:
the upper housing (60-66; FIG. 2A) and the lower housing (housing seen in FIG. 1) are spaced from each other along a centerline to define an air gap therebetween (see gap having arrows of airflow; FIG. 1) that is in fluid communication with the interior (FIG. 1);
the lower sidewall defines an opening (opening between 50-54) that is in fluid communication with the interior and cooperates with the interior and the air gap to define a fluid pathway that extends through the interior and between the opening and the air gap (see airflow (arrows) shown in FIG. 1);
the lower sidewall comprises an upper portion (including 52-54) adjacent to the upper housing (including 60-66; FIG. 2A) and a lower portion (portions 50 and below; FIG. 1) adjacent to the bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1 including 40), wherein the upper portion (including 52-54) serves as a hood that overhangs the lower portion (portions 50 and below) such that the opening faces towards the bottom wall (FIG. 1); and
the fluid pathway causes surrounding air to take a tortuous path through the interior to mix the air and mitigate humidity and temperature hot spots at the vapor pressure deficit sensing module (col. 3, lines 28-47).
However, Anderson is silent regarding the vapor pressure deficit sensing module comprising: an onboard controller in signal communication with the humidity sensing module and the temperature sensing module and configured to determine a vapor pressure deficit value based upon the measured humidity and the measured temperature; and a CAN communication module in signal communication with the onboard controller and configured to facilitate bidirectional communication with a remote controller via a controller area network architecture, wherein the onboard controller is configured to transmit one or more of the humidity measurement, the temperature measurement, or the vapor pressure deficit value to the remote controller via the CAN communication module.
Beggs teaches a vapor pressure deficit sensor (abstract) comprising:
a humidity sensing module (144, 304) configured to measure the humidity of surrounding air ([0029]; FIG. 1 and 3);
a temperature sensing module (140, 302) configured to measure the temperature of surrounding air ([0029]; FIG. 1 and 3);
an onboard controller (126) in signal communication with the humidity sensing module (including 304) and the temperature sensing module (including 302) and configured to determine a vapor pressure deficit value based upon the measured humidity and the measured temperature ([0054]) by utilizing a lookup table (316; FIG. 3) that maps different humidity and temperature values to specific vapor pressure deficit values ([0054]; FIG. 3).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the onboard controller as taught by Beggs to the vapor pressure deficit sensor as taught by Anderson to additionally provide vapor pressure data using existing temperature and humidity data ([0054]; Beggs).
Furthermore, Anderson, as combined with Beggs, is silent regarding a CAN communication module in signal communication with the onboard controller and configured to facilitate bidirectional communication with a remote controller and with a plurality of daisy-chained vapor pressure deficit sensors via a controller area network architecture, wherein the onboard controller is configured to transmit one or more of the humidity measurement, the temperature measurement, or the vapor pressure deficit value to the remote controller via the CAN communication module.
Fedegari teaches a system for measuring temperature comprising temperature sensors (3a-d; [0040-0043]), and a CAN communication module ([0059]) in signal communication with the onboard controller (7, 9) and configured to facilitate bidirectional communication with a remote controller (8; [0059-0064]) and with a plurality of daisy-chained temperature sensors (3a-d; [0043-0044]) via a controller area network architecture wherein the onboard controller (7, 9) is configured to transmit the temperature measurement to the remote controller (8) via the CAN communication module ([0059-0064]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the known type of communication as taught by Anderson, as combined with Beggs, with another known type of communication as taught by Fedegari with reasonable expectation of providing communication between the desired features while minimizing the risk of data lost ([0063]; Fedegari).
With regards to claim 12, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the upper portion (including 50-54) is laterally offset (see 50 offset outward from centerline) from the lower portion (portion lower than 50 in FIG. 1) relative to the centerline such that a perimeter of the upper portion (perimeter of 60-66) at the opening is greater than a perimeter of the lower portion (including 50-54) at the opening (60-66 has a larger perimeter than 50-54 at the same height), and
the opening is defined by the upper portion and the lower portion of the lower sidewall (openings between 50-52).
With regards to claim 13, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 2 wherein the opening (openings between 50-52) extends circumferentially along at least part of the lower sidewall (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 14, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the air gap (see arrows defining airflow within the air gap) extends circumferentially around the upper housing and the lower housing (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 15, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 4 wherein the air gap (see arrows defining airflow within the air gap) extends entirely circumferentially around the upper housing and the lower housing (FIG. 1-2A).
With regards to claim 18, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 1 wherein the bottom wall (bottom surface of FIG. 1) defines a vent (at 40) that is in fluid communication with the interior of the lower housing (col. 3, lines 28-34; FIG. 1).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US Patent 6,247,360) in view of Beggs et al. (US Publication 2022/0357062; hereinafter Beggs) and Fedegari (US Publication 2021/0108969) as applied to claim 11, and further in view of Mo et al. (US Publication 2022/0018531; IDS dated 03/15/2024 US Publication Cite No. 1; hereinafter Mo).
With regards to claim 16, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, teaches (citations to Anderson unless specified otherwise) the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 11 wherein the upper housing (including 60-66) further comprises: an upper sidewall (64).
However, Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, is silent regarding the upper housing comprising a light ring attached to the upper sidewall adjacent to the lower housing such that the light ring at least partially defines the air gap.
Mo teaches an upper housing (110) comprising a light ring (130) attached to the upper sidewall adjacent to the lower housing (140; [0018-0020]; FIG. 1A-B).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the light ring as taught by Mo to the upper housing as taught by Anderson, as combined with Beggs and Fedegari, with reasonable expectation of conveying information to the user as desired ([0019]; Mo).
With regards to claim 17, Anderson, as combined with Beggs, Fedegari, and Mo, teaches the vapor pressure deficit sensor of claim 16 wherein the light ring is routed entirely circumferentially around the upper sidewall (see 130; FIG. 1A; Mo).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG X.L NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1585. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEPHEN D. MEIER can be reached at (571) 272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QXN/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/STEPHEN D MEIER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights