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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
An information disclosure statement has not been received. If the applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending applications not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.56 to disclose the same.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims
particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the compensation output circuit configured to output a compensated pressure output signal based on a difference between the differential pressure signal and the common error signal of the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule” where the order of operations is unclear as a “difference between” applies to two values and here three values are cited (e.g. the differential pressure signal, the common error signal and the compensation signal). It seems the limitation is meant to have “a difference between each of the differential pressure signal and the common error signal of the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule.
All dependent claims are rejected for their dependence on a rejected base claim.
Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 & 7 are objected to and would be allowable if:
1) Rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
2) Rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claims 4-5 & 7. The closest prior art is Kurtz (US 4695817) discloses an oil-filled differential pressure transducer assembly, comprising: a main input port configured to receive a main pressure; a reference input port configured to receive a reference pressure; an oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule configured to output a differential pressure signal responsive to the main pressure received at the main input port and the reference pressure received at the reference input port, and a common error signal responsive to a common stimulus acting on the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule.
Kurtz, nor the prior art discloses an oil-filled compensating capsule in communication with the main input port or a differential compensating capsule, and wherein both a first side and a second side of the differential compensating capsule are in communication with the reference input port.
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 1-3 & 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurtz (US 4695817: “Kurtz”) in view of Ned (US 20210048363: “Ned”).
Claim 1. Kurtz discloses a compensated oil-filled differential pressure transducer assembly (Figure 4)[Abstract], comprising: a main input port (32) configured to receive a main pressure (32 measured positive pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15]; a reference input port (38) configured to receive a reference pressure (38 ambient negative pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15]; an oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule (34) configured to output a differential pressure signal (Fig. 1: V across +sig and -sig) responsive to the main pressure received at the main input port (32) and the reference pressure (38 ambient negative pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15] received at the reference input port (38)[Col. 6 lines 34-42: It will be noticed that each resistor in the circuit diagrams of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 have an arrow associated with it. This arrow points upwards to indicate a bridge arm which increases with increasing pressure applied to the port associated with a particular resistive element. The arrow points downwards to indicate a resistor which decreases in resistance when pressure is applied to its associated port. The circuits as shown provide a correct differential output for the completed instrument]. Kurtz does not explicitly disclose:
a common error signal responsive to a common stimulus acting on the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule; an oil-filled compensating capsule configured to output a compensation signal responsive to the common stimulus; a compensation output circuit in communication with the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled compensating capsule, the compensation output circuit configured to output a compensated pressure output signal based on a difference between the differential pressure signal and the common error signal of the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule.
Ned teaches a common error signal (Fig. 5: 508) responsive to a common stimulus [0005: the common error stimulus comprising one or more of vibration, acceleration, and temperature; an oil-filled compensating capsule attached to the housing adjacent to the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and isolated from the input port] acting on an oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502); an oil-filled compensating capsule (504) configured to output a compensation signal (512) responsive to the common stimulus [0005]; a compensation output circuit (Fig. 5b)[0043] in communication with the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) and the oil-filled compensating capsule (504), the compensation output circuit (Fig. 5b) configured to output a compensated pressure output signal (508) based on a difference between the pressure signal and the common error signal (508) of the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) and the compensation signal (512) of the oil-filled compensating capsule (504)[0005: and a compensation circuit in communication with the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled compensating capsule, the compensation circuit configured to output a compensated pressure output signal based on a difference between the pressure and common error signal of the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule system because adjusting a pressure sensor’s signal (e.g. direct or differential) to eliminate common error signal phenomena from the pressure reading improves the performance of a pressure transducer [Ned 0002].
Claim 2. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled compensating capsule (34) is a differential compensating capsule [Col. 9 lines 9-13: This invention seeks to provide a simple, reliable and economic structure which can be employed to practically utilize the circuits of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in a differential transducer].
Claim 3. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the oil-filled compensating capsule is isolated from the main input port and the reference input port.
Ned teaches the oil-filled compensating capsule (504) is isolated from the main input port (e.g. Fig. 4: 410)[0005: an oil-filled compensating capsule attached to the housing adjacent to the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and isolated from the input port, wherein the oil-filled compensating capsule is configured to output a compensation signal responsive to the common error stimulus].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add Ned’s separated from the main input port, oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule system because adjusting a pressure sensor’s signal (e.g. direct or differential) to eliminate a separately determined common error signal phenomena from the pressure reading improves the performance of a pressure transducer [Ned 0002].
Claim 6. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled compensating capsule (40) is in communication with the reference input port (38)[Col. 10 lines 9-15: The aperture 38 communicates with an internal hollow 39 which interfaces via a second metal isolation diaphragm 65 with a second transducer structure 40].
Claim 8. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled compensating capsule are attached to a housing in a side-by-side arrangement.
Ned teaches the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (fig. 3: 302) and the oil-filled compensating capsule (304) are attached to a housing (306) in a side-by-side arrangement (Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s vertically adjacent, to a pressure sensing capsule, oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule system because the horizontal adjacency of the separated differential pressure and compensating capsules is a space efficient arrangement in a vertically confining space.
.
Claim 9. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule (fig. 4: 402) and the oil-filled compensating capsule (404) are attached to a housing (406) in a vertically stacked arrangement (Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s vertically adjacent to a pressure sensing capsule, oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule system because the vertical adjacency of the separated differential pressure and compensating capsules is a space efficient arrangement in a horizontally confining space.
Claim 10. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule (Fig. 4). Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule the oil-filled compensating capsule include equal volumes of oil and are attached to a housing in a same orientation.
Ned teaches the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) the oil-filled compensating capsule (504) include equal volumes of oil and are attached to a housing in a same orientation [0037: preferable to have the volume of oil in the oil chamber 412 of the sensing capsule 402 to be the same as the volume of oil in the oil chamber 414 of the compensating capsule 404] & [0029].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing with matching oil volumes in the capsules because the matched oil capsule volumes of the differential pressure and compensating capsules improves the determination of common error with identical comparative volumes undergoing the same error phenomenon [Ned 0029 & 0037].
Claim 11. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule includes one of deflectable membrane diaphragms [Col. 4 lines 25-45] Wheatstone bridges [Col. 4 lines 25-45] comprising piezoresistors [Col. 11: lines 20-30]; oil-filled cavities (34 & 40); and protective diaphragms in communication with the oil-filled cavities [Col. 2 lines 45-65]. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled compensating capsule each include one or more: deflectable membrane diaphragms Wheatstone bridges comprising piezoresistors; oil-filled cavities; and protective diaphragms in communication with the oil-filled cavities.
Ned teaches the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) and the oil-filled compensating capsule (504) each include one or more: deflectable membrane diaphragms Wheatstone bridges comprising piezoresistors; oil-filled cavities; and protective diaphragms in communication with the oil-filled cavities [0059: In accordance with certain example implementations of the disclosed technology, the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled compensating capsule can each include one or more equivalent deflectable membrane diaphragms, Wheatstone bridges comprising piezoresistors, evacuated and sealed oil-filled cavities, and/or protective diaphragms in communication with the oil-filled cavities].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing with the capsules having supporting deflectable membrane diaphragms, Wheatstone bridges comprising piezoresistors, evacuated and sealed oil-filled cavities, and/or protective diaphragms because the supporting elements improve maintainability of the system with protective and reliable elements [Ned 0037].
Claim 12. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the compensation output circuit includes one or more passive interconnects configured to output the difference between the differential pressure signal and the common error signal of the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule, and wherein the compensation output circuit is configured to bias one or more of a first transducer of the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule and a second transducer of the oil-filled compensating capsule to reduce the difference between the common error signal and the compensation signal.
Ned teaches the compensation output circuit (Fig. 5a) includes one or more passive interconnects (Wheatstone circuits providing signals 510 & 512) configured to output the difference between the pressure signal (510) and the common error signal (512) of the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) and the compensation signal of the oil-filled compensating capsule (504), and wherein the compensation output circuit (Fig. 5a) is configured to bias (Fig. 5a vbias) one or more of a first transducer (502 Wheatstone circuit) of the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (502) and a second transducer (502 Wheatstone circuit) of the oil-filled compensating capsule (504) to reduce the difference between the common error signal (510) and the compensation signal (512)[0042].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing with matching oil volumes in the capsules because the matched oil capsule volumes of the differential pressure and compensating capsules improves the determination of common error with identical comparative volumes undergoing the same error phenomenon [Ned 0037].
Claim 13. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the compensation output circuit includes: one or more active electronic components configured to output the compensated pressure output signal based on a subtraction of the compensation signal measured by the oil-filled compensating capsule from the differential pressure signal and the common error signal measured by the oil-filled differential pressure sensing capsule.
Ned teaches the compensation output circuit (Fig. 5b) includes: one or more active electronic components (514, 516 & 518) configured to output the compensated pressure output signal based on a subtraction of the compensation signal (516) measured by the oil-filled compensating capsule (512) from the pressure signal (514) and the common error signal (508) measured by the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule (510) [0042-0043].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing with matching oil volumes in the capsules because the matched oil capsule volumes of the differential pressure and compensating capsules improves the determination of common error with identical comparative volumes undergoing the same error phenomenon [Ned 0037].
Claim 14. Dependent on the assembly of claim 13. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the compensation output circuit comprises two voltage-follower input buffers and a differential amplifier in communication with the two voltage-follower input buffers.
Ned teaches the compensation output circuit (Fig. 5b) comprises two voltage-follower input buffers (514 & 516) and a differential amplifier (518) in communication with the two voltage-follower input buffers (514 & 516)[0043].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit with active voltage conditioning and amplification to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing because an active compensation output circuit maintains signal integrity and provides isolation in the circuit in a dynamic error inducing environment [Ned 0037].
Claim 15. Dependent on the assembly of claim 1. Kurtz, as modified, does not explicitly disclose:
the common stimulus comprises one or more of vibration, acceleration, and temperature.
Ned teaches the common stimulus comprises one or more of vibration, acceleration, and temperature [0055: the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule may be configured to output a pressure signal and a common error signal respectively responsive to pressure received at the input port and a common error stimulus acting on the transducer assembly. The common error stimulus can include one or more of vibration, acceleration, and temperature. The assembly can also include an oil-filled compensating capsule attached to the housing adjacent to the oil-filled pressure sensing capsule and isolated from the input port] & [0032].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ned’s oil-filled compensating capsule and common error compensation circuit to Kurtz’s, as modified, oil-filled differential pressure sensing because removing signal errors induced by vibration, acceleration and temperature improves signal accuracy [Ned 0037].
Claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurtz (US 4695817: “Kurtz”) in view of Wagner (US 20180058963: “Wagner”).
Claim 16. Kurtz discloses a compensated oil-filled differential pressure transducer assembly (Fig. 4) [Abstract], comprising: a main input port (32) configured to receive a main pressure (32 measured positive pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15]; a reference input port (38) configured to receive a reference pressure (38 measured negative pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15]; an oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (34) configured to output a main pressure signal (32 measured positive pressure) [Col. 10: lines 1-15]; responsive to the main pressure received at the main input port (73) [Col. 6 lines 34-42: It will be noticed that each resistor in the circuit diagrams of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 have an arrow associated with it. This arrow points upwards to indicate a bridge arm which increases with increasing pressure applied to the port associated with a particular resistive element. The arrow points downwards to indicate a resistor which decreases in resistance when pressure is applied to its associated port. The circuits as shown provide a correct differential output for the completed instrument]. Kurtz does not explicitly disclose:
a first common error signal responsive to a common stimulus acting on the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule, the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule comprising a main pressure sensing element in communication with the main input port; and an oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule mounted in a same orientation as the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule, the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule configured to output a reference pressure signal responsive to the reference pressure received at the reference input port and a second common error signal responsive to the common stimulus acting on the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule, the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule comprising a reference pressure sensing element in communication with the reference input port.
Wagner teaches a first common error signal (Fig. 4: 420)[0049-0051] responsive to a common stimulus [0041: die assembly 340 is configured to measure the differential pressure between P1 and P2, and die assembly 370 is configured to measure the common mode error
experienced by die 370. In an embodiment, die assembly 370 is constructed substantially similarly to die assembly 340 in size, support structure, and die materials, shape, and mounting materials, so that die assembly 370 experiences common mode error substantially similar
or identical to the common mode error experienced by die assembly 340] acting on the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (Fig. 3a: 340 D1), the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (340) comprising a main pressure sensing element (365) in communication with the main input port (310); and an oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (370) mounted in a same orientation as the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (340)(Fig.3a side by side 340 & 370), the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (370) configured to output a reference pressure signal (395) responsive to the reference pressure received at the reference input port (325) and a second common error signal (46) responsive to the common stimulus acting on the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (370), the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (370) comprising a reference pressure sensing element (395) in communication with the reference input port (325)[0045].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Wagner’s common error signal processing acting on the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule and the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule pressure measurements with Kurtz’s oil-filled differential pressure and reference pressure measuring capsules because the removing phenomena common across both sensing capsules improves the pressure measurement accuracy [Wagner 0037].
Claim 17. Dependent on the assembly of claim 16. Kurtz further discloses a compensation circuit (Fig. 1) configured to output a compensated pressure output signal based on a difference between the main pressure signal (Positive input pressure) and the reference pressure signal (negative pressure input) [Col. 7 lines 30-42: FIG. 1 will produce an output voltage which will be corrected according to the pressure applied to the negative port. Hence as one can see from the mathematics, by proper selection of the resistor magnitude and the sensitivity of the resistors, one will now obtain an output voltage from the bridge circuit of FIG. 1 which is as always referenced to the ambient pressure. It is noted that arranging the circuit and relative sensitivities of the two arrays as indicated is very advantageous].
Claim 18. Dependent on the assembly of claim 17. Kurtz further discloses the compensation circuit (Fig. 1) is configured to bias [FIG. 1, the bridge 10 has a biasing source designated +EXC and -EXC respectively for plus and minus voltage bias applied between the sides of the bridge and designated as +V AND -V] one or more of the main pressure sensing element (Fig. 1 positive circuit R1-4) and the reference pressure sensing element (Fig. 1 negative circuit R5-6) [Col. 7 lines 30-42: FIG. 1 will produce an output voltage which will be corrected according to the pressure applied to the negative port. Hence as one can see from the mathematics, by proper selection of the resistor magnitude and the sensitivity of the resistors, one will now obtain an output voltage from the bridge circuit of FIG. 1 which is as always referenced to the ambient pressure. It is noted that arranging the circuit and relative sensitivities of the two arrays as indicated is very advantageous]. .
Claim 19. Dependent on the assembly of claim 16. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (34) and the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (40) each comprise a sealable oil-filling tube (36 & 63) configured for filling and sealing an oil cavity [Col. 10 lines 16-30: The transducer structure 40 is also associated with a tube 63 to allow the internal cavity associated with the transducer structure to be filled with oil as for transducer 34].
Claim 20. Dependent on the assembly of claim 16. Kurtz further discloses the oil-filled main pressure sensing capsule (34) and the oil-filled reference pressure sensing capsule (40) are configured substantially equivalent (60 identical transducer housings) to each other [Col.9 lines 58-67: There is shown a tube 36. This tube is brazed or glass-to-metal sealed to the header 66 and enables one to fill the internal cavity 60 associated with the transducer with silicon oil or some other pressure transmitting fluid. After filling the cavity 60 with oil, the tube 36 is sealed off, by soldering, welding or other means, and thus the entire transducer structure 34 is surrounded by a pressure transmitting fluid. The oil filled cavity 60 has one end terminated in the isolation diaphragm 46 and the other end closed by the transistor header structure 61].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Monica S Young whose telephone number is (303)297-4785. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 08:30-05:30 MST.
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/MONICA S YOUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855