DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on October 9, 2024, has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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 § 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) 21-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammerl (US 20210039694) in view of Hann “Incremental Train Control System” IEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, hereinafter, Hann.
Hammerl discloses a carborne controller to be installed in a powering unit coupled to a train and comprised of a positioning system interface, as part of the positive train control system, a wireless receiver, in the form of radio communication between the components of figures 1 and 2, configured to receive communication based train control (CBTC) radio messages including physical signal aspects and virtual positive train control (PTC) signal aspects. The system is further comprised of a control module (CBTC) storing a PTC mode, wherein the control module, through operation of
a processor, is configured to localize the powering unit utilizing the positioning system interface and receive the physical signal aspects and the virtual PTC signal aspects by way of the wireless radio receiver. The Positive Train Control component enforces an automatic positive train stop (PTS) at a restrictive physical signal.
The control module is configured to activate the PTC mode in response to a
localized front-end of the train and is configured to enforce permanent speed restrictions.
Hammerl discloses the controller system as described above. However, Hammerl does not specifically show the controller to operate and communicate with a virtual signal located ahead of the train. Hann discloses in the article that virtual signaling capabilities may cooperate and overlay the system with the physical signaling. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the virtual signaling component, like that of Hann, to a system like that of Hammerl with the expected result of providing both physical and virtual signaling so as to provide more information to insure the safety of the railway system in a cost effective manner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 30-40 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
September 1, 2026
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