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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the momentary load variable" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Although “a momentary load variable” is disclosed in claim 5, claim 6 does not depend on claim 5.
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 1-4, 7, 9, and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Steinhausen (WO 2019242876 A1; see machine translation).
With regards to claim 1, Steinhausen discloses a method for monitoring a wear state of a gas path control device of an energy conversion device having a gas path (abstract), the method comprising the steps of:
detecting, in a time-dependent (“X-axis”) manner, an actuator position (“valve position”) of an actuator that is for adjusting an actuating element of the gas path control device ([0020]);
determining at least one wear state parameter based on the actuator position which is detected in a time-dependent manner ([0020-0021]); and
determining the wear state by way of the at least one wear state parameter ([0027- 0040]).
With regards to claim 2, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein, as the at least one wear state parameter, at least one state parameter is determined that is selected from a group consisting of: a bearing state parameter of a bearing arrangement; and a gearing state parameter of a gearing of the actuator (“mechanical wear in the gearbox (gears) of the valve”, [0020]).
With regards to claim 3, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the bearing arrangement is a radial bearing arrangement of the gas path control device (it is noted that the claim is directed to a non-rejected group of the parent claim 2. Since claim 2 is rejected in the alternate group, the limitation of the instant claim does not further distinguish the alternate group. Thus, Steinhausen is considered to teach the claimed invention).
With regards to claim 4, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one wear state parameter is compared with a predetermined wear state parameter threshold value, resulting in a comparison, wherein the wear state is determined based on the comparison ([0027, 0083]).
With regards to claim 7, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein at least one gearing state parameter of a gearing of the actuator is determined as the at least one wear state parameter, in that a regulating interval of the actuator is divided into a plurality of partial regulating intervals ([0040]), wherein a momentary partial regulating interval of the actuator is detected as the actuator position in the time-dependent manner ([0040]), wherein at least one of a frequency distribution and an absolute frequency of a plurality of wear-critical events is determined as the at least one gearing state parameter, wherein the plurality of wear-critical events are selected from a group consisting of: a wear-critical partial regulating interval by way of the actuator ([0054]); and a wear-critical partial regulating interval change ([0081]).
With regards to claim 9, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the actuator position is detected by the actuator (“relative position is communicated by the valve using electrical voltage”; [0020]).
With regards to claim 10, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the wear state is determined at least one of (i) locally in a control device (“engine control unit”) of the energy conversion device that includes the gas path control device ([0020]) and (ii) remotely from the energy conversion device.
With regards to claim 11, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 10, wherein the wear state is determined remotely from the energy conversion device, in a remote computing device (it is noted that the claim is directed to the (ii) group of the parent claim 10. Since claim 10 is rejected in the alternate group, group (i), the limitation of the instant claim does not further distinguish the alternate group. Thus, Steinhausen is considered to teach the claimed invention)..
With regards to claim 12, Steinhausen discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein the wear state is determined remotely from the energy conversion device, in a provider or in a data cloud (it is noted that the claim is directed to the (ii) group of the parent claim 10. Since claim 10 is rejected in the alternate group, group (i), the limitation of the instant claim does not further distinguish the alternate group. Thus, Steinhausen is considered to teach the claimed invention).
With regards to claim 13, Steinhausen discloses a control device for an energy conversion device having a gas path having a gas path control device ([0001, 0007]), the control device comprising:
the control device (engine control unit), which is configured for carrying out a method for monitoring a wear state of the gas path control device of the energy conversion device having the gas path ([0020]), the method including the steps of:
detecting, in a time-dependent (“X-axis”) manner, an actuator position (“valve position”) of an actuator that is for adjusting an actuating element of the gas path control device ([0020]);
determining at least one wear state parameter based on the actuator position which is detected in a time-dependent manner ([0020-0021]); and
determining the wear state by way of the at least one wear state parameter ([0027- 0040]).
With regards to claim 14, Steinhausen discloses an energy conversion device (internal combustion engine, [0001]), comprising:
a gas path having a gas path control device ([0007]); and
the control device (engine control unit), which is configured for carrying out a method for monitoring a wear state of the gas path control device of the energy conversion device having the gas path ([0020]), the method including the steps of:
detecting, in a time-dependent (“X-axis”) manner, an actuator position (“valve position”) of an actuator that is for adjusting an actuating element of the gas path control device ([0020]);
determining at least one wear state parameter based on the actuator position which is detected in a time-dependent manner ([0020-0021]); and
determining the wear state by way of the at least one wear state parameter ([0027- 0040]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 8 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:
The prior arts on record fail to anticipate and/or suggest the combination of the claimed invention. Specifically, the prior arts fail to teach, inter alia, the limitations of “wherein, as the at least one wear state parameter, a bearing state parameter of a bearing arrangement of the gas path control device is determined, in that a momentary load variable of the gas path control device is determined based on the actuator position that is detected in a time-dependent manner, wherein the momentary load variable is temporally integrated, from which a load integral is obtained as the bearing state parameter” as required by claim 5 and “wherein the momentary load variable is determined as a product of a temporal derivative of the actuator position, with a resistivity” as required by claim 8. The closest prior art on record, Steinhausen (see above), teaches the invention of claim 1. However, the calculation and prediction for wear of the actuator is performed via a different method (see [0027-0040]). The calculation does not take into account the momentary load variable for wear determination as required by the claims. Thus, Steinhausen does not teach the claimed invention.
Conclusion
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/QXN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/STEPHEN D MEIER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights