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 .
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.
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 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson [20080127963], further in view of Hollenbeck [5682826].
With respect to claim 1, Thompson discloses: A furnace (10) system comprising: a gas line configured to receive a gas [see FIG 2, paragraph 0012]; a heat exchanger (20) connected to the gas line and comprising a gas valve (18) for restricting flow of the gas and an ignition configured to selectively ignite the gas [paragraph 0010-0011]; a fan (30) configured to induce airflow across the heat exchanger at a first fan setting; a pressure transducer (46, 48) configured to generate a transducer signal indicative of a first pressure value at the heat exchanger; a first pressure switch (42, 44) configured to generate a first switch signal indicative of a second pressure value at the heat exchanger; a controller (54) configured to receive the transducer signal and the first switch signal [paragraph 0013-0016],
Thompson however does not show the calibration as further claimed.
Hollenbeck makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 1, cont’d} wherein the controller (100) is configured to compare the transducer signal to the first switch signal when the fan is at the first fan setting to determine that the pressure transducer is calibrated at the first fan setting [col 18, line 14-31].
With respect to claim 11, Thompson discloses: A method for calibrating a gas furnace system (10), the method comprising: causing, by a controller (54), a fan (30) of the furnace system to operate at a first fan setting to generate a first airflow, the furnace system comprising the fan, a heat exchanger (20) having a gas valve (18) connected to a gas line for restricting a flow of gas, a pressure transducer (46, 48), and a first pressure switch (42, 44), the first airflow directed across the heat exchanger [paragraph 0009]; determining a transducer signal generated by the pressure transducer and indicative of a first pressure value at the heat exchanger at the first fan setting and corresponding to the first airflow; determining a first switch signal generated by the first pressure switch indicative of a second pressure value at the heat exchanger at the first fan setting and corresponding to the first airflow; determining that the first pressure value is the same as the second pressure value [paragraph 0015-0019, see claim 9];
Thompson however does not show the calibration as further claimed.
Hollenbeck makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 1, cont’d} and determining that the pressure transducer is calibrated at the first fan setting based on the first pressure value being the same as the second pressure value [col 18, line 14-31].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Thompson with the teachings of Hollenbeck because Hollenbeck provides a known control taking into account pressure readings to ensure proper performance of an air supply.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 and 12-20 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 claims require modification of a teaching reference, therein showing non-obviousness.
Conclusion
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/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
8/2/2026
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