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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the line quality is poor resulting in missing lines and line sections (e.g. in Fig. 7 L2 is missing entirely; L3 is missing in Figs. 8 & 10; L6 is missing in Fig. 9, please check all Figs. for further missing lines).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-16 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 1 is indefinite (see MPEP 2173.05(p)(II)) for reciting an apparatus (i.e. an energy recovery system) and the method steps of using the apparatus (i.e. a mobile device held by a user; and a controller communicatively connected to the mobile device and configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal of the mobile device).
Claim 1 recites “an engine configured to provide the flow of oil to the cylinder” in lines 4-5, which renders the claim indefinite because a “main pump”, not the “engine”, is “configured to provide the flow of oil to the cylinder”.
Claims 2-16 are rejected due to their dependence from Claim 1.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al (US 20220364327 A1) in view of Sano et al (US 20210010229 A1).
Ahn et al disclose an energy recovery system (e.g. Fig. 2) for mobile-linked construction machinery, which is installed in a construction machine (e.g. Fig. 1) that comprises a cylinder (e.g. 313) comprising a rod raised and lowered by means of a flow of oil, a large chamber (e.g. 313a), and a small chamber (e.g. 313b) formed on the large chamber, an engine (e.g. 401/403) configured to provide the flow of oil to the cylinder, and a boom driven up/down by the cylinder by means of the flow of oil, the energy recovery system comprising: a main control valve (e.g. MCV 409) connected to the cylinder to selectively control the flow of oil provided to the cylinder; a hydraulic motor assembly (e.g. 523, 525) connected to the engine to provide the engine with a rotational force generated by means of the flow of oil; an accumulator assembly (e.g. 508) connected to the cylinder to accumulate oil introduced from the cylinder and discharge the accumulated oil to the cylinder and the engine; at least one oil tank (e.g. 101) configured to store oil introduced thereinto or to discharge the stored oil therefrom; and a controller (e.g. 107) configured to control an operation of the construction machine. Ahn et al do not explicitly teach a mobile device held by a user; or a controller communicatively connected to the mobile device and configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal of the mobile device.
Sano et al disclose a construction machine (e.g. Fig. 1, 100) further including a mobile device held by a user (e.g. Fig. 11, 200); and a controller (e.g. 30) communicatively connected to the mobile device and configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal of the mobile device (e.g. Para. [0224]-[0226]).
Ahn et al and Sano et al all seek to provide a construction machine, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the energy recovery system of Ahn et al to have a mobile device held by a user; or a controller communicatively connected to the mobile device and configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal of the mobile device, as taught by Sano et al, for the purpose of enabling remote control of the construction machine operation.
Regarding Claims 2-3, Ahn et al, as modified, further teach the main control valve comprises a spool (e.g. as shown in Fig. 2) operated to allow oil to flow toward the large chamber or the small chamber in the cylinder, a main valve line (e.g. connecting pump 403 to MCV 409) through which oil flows to the main control valve, a boom-up valve line (e.g. schematically represented as line downstream of 117 from pump 115) connected to the spool and in which a boom-up valve (e.g. 117) is placed, the boom-up valve being opened so that oil flows to the large chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved up, and a boom-down valve line (e.g. schematically represented as line downstream of 117 from pump 115) connected to the spool and in which a boom-down valve (e.g. 117) is placed, the boom-down valve being opened so that oil flows to the small chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved down; and the hydraulic motor assembly comprises a hydraulic motor (e.g. 525) configured to generate a rotational force by means of oil introduced thereinto and connected at its rotary shaft to a shaft (e.g. 405) of the engine to provide the rotational force to the shaft of the engine, and at least one pipe (e.g. 523 downstream from 525) connecting the hydraulic motor and the oil tank and through which oil is introduced and discharged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-16 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LESLIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4819. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8 am - 4-30pm.
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, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at (571)272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL LESLIE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
February 20, 2026