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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakai (US 4,934,924) in view of Neely et. al (US 2014/0236460 A1).
With respect to claim 1 Nakai discloses a method of starting a burner device [reference character 98], wherein a mixture of combustion air and a fuel is burnt in the burner device, wherein a burning process of the burner device is started by a glow element [reference character 122], and the method comprising: measuring a temperature of the combustion air [via air temperature sensor 136 in Fig. 7].
Nakai does not disclose determining a set value of the heating energy of the glow element as a function of the measured temperature.
Neely discloses a methodology for glow plug operation having “…a control unit comprising a microprocessor configured and arranged to determine glow plug supply power to be applied from the power source to the at least one glow plug based on input from stored vehicle data and from a plurality of engine sensors, wherein the input includes data of engine operating parameters including fresh air intake mass airflow, intake manifold total mass airflow, intake manifold temperature, coolant temperature, glow plug temperature and total fuel injection quantity” [see Abstract], providing a mathematical relationship for determining the required glow plug power in paragraphs [0020 and 0047]. Neely discloses that accounting for secondary factors such as intake air temperature when determining glow plug power allows for preventing temperature excursions above and below the theoretical temperature of the glow plug based on its resistance [paragraph 0009] in order allow for cleaner combustion and longer glow plug life.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the method taught by Nakai by determining a set value of the heating energy of the glow plug element, as taught by Neely because accounting for secondary factors such as intake air temperature when determining glow plug power allows for preventing temperature excursions above and below the theoretical temperature of the glow plug based on its resistance [paragraph 0009 of Neely].
With respect to claim 3 Nakai discloses that the method further comprising: monitoring, in the burner device whether a flame is present [see reference character 140], determining a delay time [see reference character 157], and operating the glow element during the delay time after a time at which the presence of a flame has been determined1.
With respect to claim 4 the combination of Nakai and Neeley disclose switching the glow element on at the beginning of the starting process and operating at a rated power [see reference characters 154 and 122 in Fig. 7], purging a path [reference character 34] passing the combustion air in the burner device with combustion air at the beginning of the starting process [reference character 38], and measuring the temperature of the combustion air after the purging of the path [note that in combination with Neeley the control unit would continuously monitor the air temperature and adjust the glow plug power according to the relationships shown in paragraphs 0020 and 0047].
With respect to claim 6 the combination of Nakai and Neely discloses a heating device for heating air and/or heating a liquid, comprising: a burner device [reference character 98] which generates thermal energy by the combustion of a fuel-air mixture, a heat exchanger [reference character 46] which transfers the thermal energy generated by the burner device to the air and/or liquid [column 4 lines 24-32], and a control device [reference character 131], wherein the burner device includes a glow element [reference character 122], a combustion air fan [reference character 38], a fuel pump [reference character 32], and a temperature sensor [reference character 136] for measuring the temperature of the combustion air, and wherein the control device is configured so as to perform the method according to claim 1 [see rejection for claim 1].
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakai (US 4,934,924) in view of Neely et. al (US 2014/0236460 A1) in view of Ballard et. al (US 4,891,004).
With respect to claim 5 Nakai and Neely does not disclose that determining a stabilization time, and starting a regulation of the burner device only after the stabilization time has elapsed after switching off of the glow element.
Ballard discloses a furnace control system where the system determines a stabilization time [reference character 104], and starting a regulation of the burner device only after the stabilization time has elapsed after switching off of the glow element [see Fig. 2A].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the method taught by Nakai and Neely by providing a stabilization time, as taught by Ballard, in order to allow the heat exchangers to warm up prior to full operation [column 4 lines 55-68 of Ballard].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
1 “The time delay 157 allows for slow ignition with thick fuels without flooding” [column 8 lines 50-51] indicating that the delay allows for flame stabilization prior to turning off the igniter at step 154.