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 Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
As to claim 20: Line 2 of the claim recites in part “the measuring circuit” but there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation or in parent claims 17 and 19.
A possible correction could be to instead recite --a measuring circuit-- which is the interpretation taken by the examiner for the purpose of expedient examination.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tschambser et al. US PG-PUB 2021/0131844 A1 (hereafter Tschambser), prior art of record as indicated on the IDS filed 12 January 2024.
As to claim 17: Tschambser discloses a magneto-inductive flow measurement device (fig. 1) for determining a flow-rate-dependent measured variable for a flowable medium (see ¶ 44), comprising:
a device (2) for producing a magnetic field (see ¶ 44), wherein the device for producing the magnetic field includes a coil arrangement (see fig. 1 and ¶ 44);
a device (3) for tapping off a measurement voltage induced in the flowable medium (see ¶ 44), including at least two diametrically arranged measurement electrodes (see fig. 1 and ¶ 44); and
an operating circuit (6) configured to apply an operating signal having operating signal parameters to the coil arrangement (see ¶ 44 regarding the applied voltage); and
a controller circuit (not labeled but there must necessarily be circuitry regarding the voltages disclosed in ¶ 47-53 and depicted in fig. 3-6) configured to control at least one of the operating signal parameters such that a controlled variable does not differ from a predefined setpoint value (see ¶ 47 regarding the applied voltages “U” which differs by settling times depicted in figs. 3-6).
As to claim 19: Tschambser discloses the magneto-inductive flow measurement device according to claim 17,
wherein the operating signal has a voltage curve (see figs. 3-6) that is variable over time and that is divided into time intervals (see figs. 3-6 and ¶ 49, 51, and 53 regarding the time durations indicated in each of said figures),
wherein a sign of the voltage curve alternates in successive time intervals (see figs. 3-6 and ¶ 47 regarding the alternating signs of the voltage), and
wherein the time intervals each having a first time subinterval in which a first voltage that is constant over the first time subinterval is applied to the device for producing the magnetic field (see the time intervals disclosed in ¶ 49).
As to claim 20: Tschambser discloses the magneto-inductive flow measuring device according to claim 19,
wherein a measuring circuit (6; see ¶ 44 - the operating unit also measures coil current as disclosed - also see the above claim objection of the instant claim regarding the limitation “the measuring circuit”) is configured to measure the coil current during the first time subinterval (see ¶ 44), and
wherein the controlled operating signal parameter includes a function that depends on the first voltage or on a square of the first voltage, or is the first voltage or the square of the first voltage (see ¶ 47 regarding the voltages A and M which depend upon the voltage U as disclosed).
References Cited but not Relied Upon
As to references cited but not relied upon:
Fink et al. US PG-PUB 2018/0364081 A1 discloses a magneto-inductive flow measuring device and appears pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Graf US PG-PUB 2015/0316399 A1 discloses a pole shoe for use with a system for magneto inductive flow measurement and appears pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18 and 21-32 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 18: The prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious to the skilled artisan a magneto-inductive flow measurement device wherein the controlled variable depends on a product of the self-induction and (emphasis added) of a square of the coil current, when considered in combination with the other limitations of the instant claim and the limitations of parent claim 17.
In particular, Dabrowski et al. US PG-PUB 2017/0097251 A1 (hereafter Dabrowski), prior art of record as indicated on the IDS filed 12 January 2024, is considered to teach a measuring circuit (6; see ¶ 45) configured to determine a coil current of the coil arrangement (see ¶ 46) and a device that produces a magnetic field with a self-induction (see ¶ 48), but there is no disclosure, teaching, or suggestion therein nor any of the other available prior art regarding a controlled variable (which is compared to a predefined setpoint value as outlined in the limitation of parent claim 17) depends on both a product of the self-induction and of a square of the coil current.
As to claim 21: The prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious to the skilled artisan a magneto-inductive flow measuring device wherein the second voltage that is constant over a second time subinterval is greater than the first voltage and wherein a duration of the second time subinterval is shorter than duration of the first time subinterval, when considered in combination with the other limitations in the instant claim and with the limitations of parent claims 17, 19, and 20.
In particular, while Tschambser teaches that there are subintervals regarding a produced magnetic field (see the time intervals disclosed in, e.g. ¶ 47, 49, and 51), there does not appear to be a teaching, suggestion, or motivation in Tschambser or any of the other cited prior art of record that render obvious the duration of the second time subinterval being shorter than a duration of the first time subinterval when considered with the other limitations of claim 21 and with those of parent claims 17, 19, and 20.
As to claims 22-29: Each of said claims depends ultimately from claim 21 and accordingly each is also 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.
As to claims 30-32: Each of said claims depends ultimately from claim 18 and accordingly each is also 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 JOHN M ROYSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30 E.S.T..
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/JOHN M ROYSTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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