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 § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 3961318 to Pilz, supplied by applicant (translation supplied by examiner).
1. A method for carrying out a safety check of a modular safety controller having a plurality of electronics modules in which safety functions for safe operation of at least one machine which is connected to the modular safety controller are implemented (paragraph 0019; figure 1), the method comprising:
S1) establishing a communication link between the modular safety controller and a test device having a human-machine interface (figure 1);
S2) providing a configuration data set that is processed by the test device and has information about the electronics modules and about the safety functions of the modular safety controller, which are implemented by the electronics modules (paragraph 22);
S3) generating a test data set with a plurality of specified user instructions, which are to be executed sequentially for testing the safety functions of the electronics modules (paragraph 24);
S4) visualizing a user instruction that is one of the user instructions, executing the user instruction and confirming execution of the user instruction (paragraph 24);
S5) recording and confirming at least one machine intervention resulting from the execution of the user instruction (paragraph 24-30);
S6) repeating S4) and S5) for others of the user instructions until the execution of all of the user instructions and all resulting machine interventions have been confirmed (paragraph 37); and
S7) automatically generating a digital test report from confirmations of the executed user instructions and the resulting machine interventions, and storing the digital test report together with a unique identification code of the modular safety controller in a non-volatile storage device (paragraph 36).
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user instructions are visualized by a display device of the human-machine interface (paragraph 2).
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the execution of the user instructions and the resulting machine interventions are confirmed by a user through inputs into an input device of the human-machine interface (paragraph 11-15, 24,26, 30, 33-34, 36-37).
4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the user instructions comprise setting potentiometer settings of the electronics modules and/or reading preset potentiometer settings of the electronics modules and/or activating at least one signal generator of the machine (paragraph 31).
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one machine intervention resulting from the execution of the user instruction in S4) is recorded and confirmed by the user (paragraph 11-15, 24,26, 30, 33-34, 36-37).
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one machine intervention resulting from the execution of the user instruction in S4) is recorded and confirmed by the modular safety controller (paragraph 32).
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the test data set is generated in an automated manner from the configuration data set by the test device (paragraph 22-24).
8. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the communication link between the modular safety controller and the test device is initiated by scanning an optoelectronically readable code which is attached to the modular safety controller, by a camera of the test device (paragraph 19, 32).
9. The method of claim 1, wherein a replacement verification is carried out when replacing one of the electronics modules (paragraph 11-15, 24,26, 30, 33-34, 36-37).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN P SHECHTMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3754. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00pm, M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Kraig can be reached at 571-272-8660. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Sean Shechtman/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
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