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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 07/10/2024.
Claims 1-14 are pending, where claims 1 and 8-9 are independent.
This application claims the priority benefit of the international application no. PCT/JP2023/000367 filed on 11/01/2023 incorporated herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/10/2024, 01/06/2025 and 04/07/2025 have been filed on/after the filing date of the application. The submission is in-compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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 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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okano, et al. USP No. 8266919 B2.
As to claim 1, Okano discloses 1. A relay device provided between a first air-conditioning related apparatus and a second air-conditioning related apparatus (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6),
the first air-conditioning related apparatus and the second air-conditioning related apparatus performing multi-hopping communication via a transmission line, the relay device relaying the multi-hopping communication (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, elements 30, 40 for plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units, power line communication and daisy-chain connection for multi-hopping communication obviously provides performing multi-hopping communication via a transmission line).
Application and the reference Okano are analogous arts from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities and both contain plurality of air conditioning units.
It would be therefore obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention that transmission relay, switching hub and daisy-chain connection are assumed as relay device and multi-hopping communication.
As to the independent claims 8 and 9, the claims recite similar limitations as the independent claim 1 and rejected using same rational as stated above.
As to claim 2, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 1, comprising: a first coupling terminal coupled to a transmission line being coupled to the first air-conditioning related apparatus; and a second coupling terminal coupled to a transmission line being coupled to the second air-conditioning related apparatus, the first coupling terminal and the second coupling terminal being electrically connected (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 3, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 1, comprising: a coupling terminal coupled to both a transmission line being coupled to the first air-conditioning related apparatus, and a transmission line being coupled to the second air-conditioning related apparatus (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 4, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 1, comprising: an electric power supply unit that supplies, based on electric power supplied via the transmission line, electric power to a communication unit that performs processing related to multi-hopping communication (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, electric power supply wires for electric power supply).
As to claim 5, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 1, comprising: an electric power supply unit that supplies, based on electric power supplied from a power source outside the relay device via an electric power supply line, electric power to a communication unit that performs processing related to multi-hopping communication (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, electric power supply, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication using daisy-chain connection for performing multi-hopping communication obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 6, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 1, comprising: a first communication unit that performs multi-hopping communication via the transmission line; and a second communication unit that performs communication via the transmission line at a lower frequency than a frequency at which the first communication unit performs communication (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units at plurality of frequency) using daisy-chain connection for performing multi-hopping communication obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 7, Okano further discloses The relay device according to claim 6, wherein the second communication unit performs communication in order to acquire, from another apparatus, identification information necessary for the multi-hopping communication that the first communication unit performs (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, each at an specified frequency) using daisy-chain connection for performing multi-hopping communication obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 10, Okano further discloses The communication method according to claim 9, wherein the first air-conditioning related apparatus, the second air-conditioning related apparatus, and the relay device receive a signal that another apparatus has transmitted via the transmission line, and transmit the signal to the transmission line when the received signal satisfies a predetermined condition (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, at plurality of frequency) using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 11, Okano further discloses The communication method according to claim 9, wherein the transmission line includes at least two signal lines, and the first air-conditioning related apparatus, the second air-conditioning related apparatus, and the relay device perform communication in conformance with a communication standard for power line communication via the signal lines (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source (includes plurality of lines to supply power)and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, at plurality of frequency) using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 12, Okano further discloses The communication method according to claim 9, wherein the transmission line includes at least three lines that are a power source line, a shared line, and a signal line, and the first air-conditioning related apparatus, the second air-conditioning related apparatus, and the relay device perform communication in conformance with a communication standard for power line communication via the signal line (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source (includes plurality of lines to supply power obviously provides three lines) and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, at plurality of frequency) using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 13, Okano further discloses The communication method according to claim 9, wherein a length of a transmission line coupling the first air-conditioning related apparatus and the relay device is 350 meters or shorter, and a length of a transmission line coupling the second air-conditioning related apparatus and the relay device is 350 meters or shorter (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, at any distance and frequency) using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
As to claim 14, Okano further discloses The communication method according to claim 13, wherein the length of the transmission line coupling the first air-conditioning related apparatus and the relay device is 200 meters or shorter, and the length of the transmission line coupling the second air-conditioning related apparatus and the relay device is 200 meters or shorter (Okano [col 1-8] “transmission relay - switching hub (31) for daisy-chain connecting - air conditioning units (20, 20); and a gateway (32) connected to the switching hub (31) - separating data transmission between the transmission lines (10A, 10B)” [abstract] see Fig. 1-6, plurality of indoor and outdoor AC units are coupled via electric power source and power line communication (obviously includes MODEM to control plurality of units, at any distance and frequency) using daisy-chain connection obvious provides the limitation).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2141.02 VI. PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, i.e., as a whole and 2123.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record:
Kojima, et al. USPGPub No. 2005/0005619 A1 discloses an air conditioning system controls plurality of indoor and outdoor unit using power line for communication as overlapping a signal on power line for supplying power.
Tan, et al. USPGPub No. 2021/0199334 A1 discloses an air-conditioning system uses a power line carrier communication to communicate to control multiple air-conditioner indoor units and multiple air-conditioner outdoor units.
Tanaka, et al. USPGPub No. 2015/0308707 A1 discloses an air-conditioning system includes plurality of air-conditioning devices and a relay device relays communications between air-conditioning devices under different communication protocols.
Mukai, et al. USPGPub No. 20130325191 A1 discloses an air conditioning apparatuses includes plurality of outdoor unit and indoor unit to control and communicate with each other using power line communication.
Tanaka, et al. USPGPub No. 2021/0302047 A1 discloses an air-conditioning system perform communication between a plurality of air-conditioning apparatuses.
Masui, USPGPub No. 2009/0139251 A1 discloses an air-conditioning system controls plurality of indoor units and outdoor units with a centralized control apparatus using power transmission line1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Md Azad whose telephone @(571)272-0553 or email: md.azad@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on (571)272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Md Azad/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119
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