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.
Claims 7-8 are 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 7 recites “wherein the encoder comprises a plurality of electrical pins to which the thermostat is electrically coupled when engaged with the subbase and each of the plurality of pins is associate with a diodes to allow a sine wave signal on a 24VAC power line to be used to encode the plurality of electrical pins with the information.” The terminology “a diodes” seems to conflict with “pins” limitation. It is unclear whether “the sign wave of the 24VAC power line” is coupled to the thermostat based on the claim language. The “to be used” language is intended use. Claim 8 incorporates the language of claim 7 and is rejected on a similar rationale.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ribbich et al., US 20170146260 A1 (hereafter referred to as Ribbich).
Claim 1, Ribbich teaches a heating and/or cooling equipment (HVAC) control system (p. 2, “The present disclosure relates generally to thermostats and more particularly to the improved control of a building or space's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system through the use of a multi-function, multi-touch, thermostat.”), comprising:
a subbase (p. 96, “Modular thermostat 600 is shown to include several modular boards 1925. … each modular board 1925 provides additional capabilities and/or functionality to modular thermostat 600.”);
a thermostat releasably engageable with the subbase (p. 100, “A number of receiving slots 74 included within modular thermostat 600 may come in various shapes and of various dimensions in order to suit application needs.” And p. 73, “modular thermostat 600 may include display 802, motherboard 818, networking board 820 including memory, occupancy detection board 822 including memory, humidity board 824 including memory, NFC board 826 including memory, temperature board 828 including memory”); and
an encoder physically associated with the subbase (p. 101, “Motherboard 818 includes an equipment model 1922, stored in memory 1930.”), the encoder providing to the thermostat when coupled to the subbase information that uniquely identifies the thermostat to a centralized HVAC system (p. 116, “Modular board 1925 may first become communicable with motherboard 818 [of the thermostat 600] when modular board 1925 is plugged into motherboard 818, when modular thermostat 600 is turned on, when modular thermostat 600 is in a discovery mode …” And p. 116, “In step 2020, modular board 1925 transmits a signal (e.g., announcement, etc.) which is received by modular board recognizer 1920.” “The signal transmitted by modular board 1925 to modular board recognizer 1920 includes, for example, an identification (e.g., unique identification, identification number, name, etc.) for that modular board 1925, a type (… temperature board, … ”) provided to control HVAC related functionalities in each of a plurality of rooms in a building (p. 66, “Modular thermostat 600 may interact with HVAC equipment 414 to adjust the temperature, and/or other parameters, of the room as instructed by the occupant.”). Ribbich does not specifically teach the modular thermostat and the temperature board together. However, Ribbich teaches that any combination of modular boards with the modular thermostat is an obvious variation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine modular boards from Ribbich because using a combination of modular boards is an obvious variations described (p. 43, “The modular thermostat is intended to be used with any combination of the listed modular boards or any other modular board to provide additional functionality.”).
Claim 9, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, wherein the encoder comprises a near field communication device physically coupled to the subbase (p. 151, “In some embodiments, modular thermostat 600 includes an NFC board 826. NFC board 826 enables modular thermostat 600 to communicate via NFC.” “Modular thermostat 600 may receive identifying information through NFC. This information may include preferred settings for modular thermostat 600.”) and readable by the thermostat (p. 85, “Hardware interface 808 may be disposed on any side, portion, or location on modular thermostat 600.” “For example, a new communication connection could simply be added into the hardware interface 808 in order to provide compatibility of modular thermostat 600 with the new communications connection.”).
Claim 10, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, wherein the information comprises a room number within the building (p. 114, “Occupancy detection board 822 may perform the thermostat functions of determining an occupancy in a target location (e.g., room, building, zone, etc.) …” The location information corresponds to a room.).
Claim 11, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, wherein the information comprises service set identifier (SSID) (p. 87, “Modular thermostat 600 is shown to include device 3304.” And p. 88, “Device 3304 may contain communications electronics which allow modular thermostat 600 to communicate over Wi-Fi, expanding the network of devices and applications with which modular thermostat 600 can interact.” See also p. 99, “motherboard 818 may configure user interface 406 to include network information (e.g., network name, network speed, etc.) if modular thermostat 600 includes networking board 820.” For wireless networks the name of network is equivalent to a SSID.).
Claim(s) 2-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ribbich as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Schueler et al., US 20180286213 A1 (hereafter referred to as Schueler).
Claim 2, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, as cited above. Ribbich does not specifically teach wherein the encoder comprises a plurality of electrical pins to which the thermostat is electrically coupled when engaged with the subbase. However, in the same field of endeavor, Schueler teaches the encoder comprises a plurality of electrical pins to which the thermostat is electrically coupled when engaged with the subbase (Pins on one side are used to connect the DIP switch to the printed circuit board. See p. 67, “When dip switches are used, the housing of the wireless signaling device is usually provided with a movable lid, to simplify access.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ribbich to incorporate an encoder comprising a plurality of pins from Schueler for the programming from Ribbich to easy provide situational identification without needing tools to reconfigure software.
Claim 3, Ribbich-Schueler teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 2, wherein the information comprises a location within the building (Ribbich, p. 116, “modular board recognizer 1920 reconfigures the equipment model 1922 (e.g., changes the variable defined by equipment model 1922, etc.) via process 2000.” “For example, modular board 1925 may be connected to (e.g., plugged into, etc.) receiving bay 836 or directly connected to motherboard 818.” And p. 132, “Equipment model 1922 can include a collection of point objects that provide information about modular thermostat 600 (e.g., location of modular thermostat 600, network address of modular thermostat 600, model number of modular thermostat 600, etc.) and store present values of variables or parameters used by modular thermostat 600 as attributes of equipment model 1922.”).
Claim 4, Ribbich-Schueler teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 2, wherein the plurality of switches are located on a first side of the subbase and wherein the plurality of pins are located on a second side of the subbase opposite to the first side (Schueler, p. 64-65, “the adjustable room type is defined by means of dip switches. The room type can, for example, be encoded by 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or more than 6 bits, and the value of each bit can, for example, be set by a position of one of the dip switches.”).
Claim 5, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, as cited above. Ribbich does not specifically teach wherein the encoder comprises a plurality of electrical pins to which the thermostat is electrically coupled when engaged with the subbase and each of the plurality of pins is provided with a resistance level to encode the plurality of electrical pins with the information. However, in the same field of endeavor, Schueler teaches the encoder comprises a plurality of electrical pins to which the thermostat is electrically coupled when engaged with the subbase and each of the plurality of pins is provided with a resistance level to encode the plurality of electrical pins with the information (p. 64-66, “…[T]he adjustable room type is defined by means of dip switches. The room type can, for example, be encoded by 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or more than 6 bits, and the value of each bit can, for example, be set by a position of one of the dip switches. The dip switches can, for example, be used together with one or more resistors …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ribbich to incorporate an encoder comprising a plurality of pins from Schueler for the programming from Ribbich to easy provide situational identification without needing tools to reconfigure software.
Claim 6, Ribbich Schueler teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 5, wherein the information comprises a location within the building (Ribbich, p. 132, “Equipment model 1922 can include a collection of point objects that provide information about modular thermostat 600 (e.g., location of modular thermostat 600, network address of modular thermostat 600, model number of modular thermostat 600, etc.) and store present values of variables or parameters used by modular thermostat 600 as attributes of equipment model 1922.”).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ribbich as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gottschalk et al., US 20150327010 A1.
Claim 12, Ribbich teaches the HVAC control system as recited in claim 1, as cited above. Ribbich does not specifically teach wherein the information comprises a media access control (MAC) address. However, in the same field of endeavor, Gottschalk teaches the information comprises a media access control (MAC) address (p. 48, “wireless emitters/receivers 15 may be integrated with BMS devices within building 10 (e.g., thermostats, lighting sensors, zone controllers).” And p. 50, “Emitter identifiers may include, for example, a universally unique identifier (UUID) such as a MAC address…”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ribbich to incorporate MAC address information from Gottschalk for the thermostat information in Ribbich to ensure that the information is unique to the thermostat and thereby prevent duplications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Allison et al., US 20200213263 A1, teaches physical locations may be identified and encoded using localized identifiers, such as an enumeration of room numbers. The assignment of a MAC address 208 to a particular locator device 210 may involve receiving an instance of the physical property (e.g., querying an onboard, peripheral, or remote temperature sensor to detect a temperature).
Gillette et al., US 10955162 B2, teaches the operator interface 112 may provide for selection and display of a location 182, selection and display of a set-point temperature 184, selection and display of a mode 186, and display of an actual temperature 188. Data indicative of the location and the associated set-point temperature may be saved in the memory 122 for later recall.
Fang, US 20210216091 A1, teaches the programmable device 44 transmits the beacon signal 62 which includes a personal location device identification identifying the programmable device 44. The beacon signal 62 is received by the thermostat 12 which transmits the broadcast signal 64 including the personal location device identification, a thermostat identification identifying the thermostat 12
Roosili et al., US 20190020495 A1, teaches each room contains room automation equipment. This can be a simple single device, such as a thermostat. The server executes iterative determination of the room locations by generating an address translation table correlating iteratively determined room locations with logical addresses of the electronic devices of the one or more of the electronic device clusters.
Nelson, US 9939824 B2, teaches the home screen 72 may be considered as having two or more regions. For example, home screen 72 may include a first region 88 and a second region 90. The first region 88 may display a thermostat identifier 92 identifying the thermostat from which the information is currently displayed and, in some cases, the building location of the thermostat.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICE L WINDER whose telephone number is (571)272-3935. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
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/Patrice L Winder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453