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 § 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 9 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sullivan et al. (US. 2019/0017879 A1 – hereafter “Sullivan”).
As per claim 9, Sullivan discloses a knitted textile (knitted textiles as a suitable flexing support, see para [0016]), comprising:
at least one integrated thermocouple sensor (temperature sensing structure 300, 400 comprising temperature sensing junctions 408 formed at intersections of first and second conductive materials 402, 404, see paras. [0010], [0017], [0022]).
Regarding claim 10, Sullivan discloses the knitted textile of claim 9, wherein the knitted textile comprises a plurality of integrated thermocouple sensors (plurality of individually readable temperature sensing junctions formed as a matrix across the support, see paras. [0013] – [0014], [0022]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 11 – 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sullivan in view of Plissonnier et al. (US 2009/0025774 A1 – hereafter “Plissonnier”).
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites “The knitted textile of claim 9, wherein the textile comprises a warp knitted mesh.” Sullivan fails to explicitly teach the textile comprises a warp knitted mesh.
Plissonnier teaches a thermoelectric textile structure produced by knitting, wherein the assembly is produced directly by means of a loom or knitting machine, including a Raschel warp knitting machine, Raschel warp knitting producing a warp knitted mesh structure (see para. [0095], [0103], [0106]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify Sullivan in view of Plissonnier to construct the knitted textile as a warp knitted mesh in order to implement Sullivan’s generically disclosed knitted textile using a known knit construction taught as suitable for textiles incorporating thermoelectric elements, yielding predictable results.
Regarding claim 12, the claim recites “The knitted textile of claim 11, wherein the at least one integrated thermocouple sensor is comprised of one or more conductive yarns that are incorporated into the textile via weft insertion.”
Sullivan fails to teach the conductive yarns are incorporated into the textile via weft insertion.
Plissonnier teaches incorporating elongated thermoelectric elements into a knitted textile structure via weft insertion warp knitting, wherein a plurality of thermoelement fibrils are placed into the textile using a Rachel Tramer mode knitting machine, the Rachel Tramer mode being a warp knitting mode in which functional yarns are laid into the warp knit structure as inserted weft (see paras. [0090], [0102] – [0103]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify Sullivan in view of Plissonnier to incorporate the conductive yarns into the textile via weft insertion in order to position the conductive yarns within the warp knitted textile using a known incorporation technique for functional yarns while preserving the mechanical integrity of the textile structure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13 – 15 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.
Claims 1 – 8, 16, 24, and 29 – 31 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Independent claim 1 is allowable because the prior art of record, alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest a reference junction formed by the first and second electrically conductive yarns at a location remote from the thermal sensing junction, both junctions arising from the stiches forming the defined sensing stitch pattern of a knitted textile.
Sullivan et al. (US. 2019/0017879 A1 – hereafter “Sullivan”), the closest prior art, discloses first and second electrically conductive yarns (402, 404) of different materials forming thermal sensing junctions (408) in a knitted textile (see paras. [0016], [0018], [0022]), with voltages read at each junction (see para. [0025]). However, Sullivan discloses only a matrix of individually readable sensing junctions read against a common ground (see para. [0017]), and does not disclose a reference junction.
Park (WO 2015/182923 A1 – hereafter “Park”) discloses hot and cold junctions of dissimilar metal yarns, but the junctions are formed by a three-dimensional orthogonal woven structure, and Park does not disclose knitting or stitches.
Plissonnier et al. (US 2009/0025774 A1 – hereafter “Plissonnier”) discloses a knitted thermoelectric textile with hot and cold junctions (see para. [0055]), but the junctions are thin films deposited on a substrate (see paras. [0051], [0053]), not junctions formed by conductive yarns, whose textile fibers are dielectric (see para. [0025]).
It would have not been obvious to modify Sullivan to include the claimed reference junction, as the reference junctions of Park and Plissonnier rely on woven binder-yarn architecture and deposited thin films, respectively, and neither suggests forming a reference junction from the conductive yarns of a knitted stitch pattern.
Independent claims 16 and 24 are allowable for the same reasons, further reciting weft and warp knitted textiles, respectively.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Manuel Castellon whose telephone number is (571)272-4575. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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, John Breene can be reached at 571-272-4107. 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.
/MANUEL SALVADOR CASTELLON JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
Prosecution Insights