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 .
Last office action is further extended to add a rejection (see below) because new art has been found.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jenks et al (US 2018/0311519 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Jenks discloses a damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising: a fuse link sensor [208,206,304] configured to couple to a damper 202 and comprising a first contact [top contact of 208 for 304, fig. 7] and a second contact [bottom contact of 208 for 206, fig. 7], wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to transition between an engaged configuration [i.e. contact are engaged “open configuration” because Damper is open, see ¶0003] in which the first contact is electrically coupled to the second contact and a disengaged configuration [i.e. contacts disengaged “close configuration” because Damper is closed, see ¶0003] in which the first contact is electrically decoupled from the second contact; and a remote controller 400 comprising control circuitry configured to electrically couple [not shown, implicit to “a missing link condition” test, see fig. 8-10] to the first contact and the second contact and to determine an operational status of a fuse link of the damper based on an electrical continuity [implicit to “a missing link condition” test, see fig. 8-10 as described] between the first contact and the second contact.
Regarding claim 2, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0010 ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry 400 is configured to: transmit a test signal to the first contact; determine that the fuse link is intact in response to receiving the test signal via the second contact; and determine that the fuse link is ruptured in response to determining that the test signal is not received via the second contact [¶0005].
Regarding claim 3, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 2, wherein the remote controller is a portable device configured to electrically couple to the fuse link via a harness, wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the test signal to the first contact via the harness and to receive the test signal via the second contact via the harness.
Regarding claim 4, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 2, wherein the remote controller comprises a battery electrically coupled to the control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate the test signal with electrical power received from the battery [battery of “remote inspection tool 400 may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet)” ¶0035].
Regarding claim 5, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: transmit a control signal to an actuator of the damper to adjust a position of the actuator; receive a return signal from the actuator indicative of the position of the actuator; and determine the position of the actuator based on the return signal [implicit to fig. 8-11 data].
Regarding claim 6, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 5, wherein the remote controller 400 comprises a user interface configured to display an indication indicative of the position of the actuator [mobile phone 400 has a display].
Regarding claim 9, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 1, wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to couple to a linkage 216 of the damper 202, wherein the fuse link sensor is configured to transition from the engaged configuration to the disengaged configuration in response to movement of the linkage induced by a biasing mechanism of the damper upon rupture of the fuse link [¶0037].
Regarding claim 18, as stated above at rejection of claim 1, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 discloses a damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising: a fuse link sensor configured to transition from an engaged configuration to a disengaged configuration upon rupture [fail failure ¶0031, ¶0037] of a fuse link of a damper; a communication port [port on 200 for sensor 208 for 400, not shown] electrically coupled to the fuse link sensor and configured to couple to a support structure [structure to support 400, not shown] ; and a remote controller 400 configured to electrically couple to the fuse link sensor via the communication port, wherein the remote controller comprises control circuitry configured to determine a connection state of the fuse link based on feedback from the fuse link sensor [implicit to “a missing link condition” test, see fig. 8-10 as described].
Regarding claim 19, as stated above at rejection of claim 2, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 discloses the damper inspection system of claim 18, wherein the fuse link sensor comprises a first contact and a second contact configured to be in electrical communication with one another in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor and to be electrically disconnected from one another in the disengaged configuration of the fuse link sensor, wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit a test signal to the first contact to determine an electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact, and wherein the feedback comprise the electrical continuity.
Regarding claim 20, as stated above at rejection of claim 1, Jenks at ¶0015, ¶0033, ¶0049 and fig. 8-11 discloses damper inspection system of claim 18, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: receive additional feedback from an actuator of the damper via the communication port; indicate a degree of opening of the damper via a user interface of the remote controller based on the additional feedback [see Rotation of Damper in the disclosure and Damper position (% Travel) 830 at fig. 8].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 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: No prior art has been found that meets the limitations of claim 7 calling for a damper inspection system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising: wherein the fuse link sensor comprises: a first body portion comprising a conductive bridge; and a second body portion comprising the first contact and the second contact, wherein the first body portion is configured to engage with the second body portion in the engaged configuration of the fuse link sensor to establish the electrical continuity between the first contact and the second contact via the conductive bridge, and wherein the first body portion is configured to disengage from the second body portion in the disengaged configuration of the fuse link sensor to separate the conductive bridge from the first contact and the second contact and disrupt the electrical continuity, as further defined. Dependent claim 8 is also allowed.
Conclusion
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/PARESH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
September 19, 2026
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