DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 11, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, there is lack of structural relationship between the voltage measuring device, as recited in line 8, with the remaining members of the claim; and “,” should be deleted from the end of line 10.
In claim 11, there is no relationship between the steps claimed in the body of the claim with the preamble of the claim (sensing thermally conductive gas and/or airflow).
In claim 15, “,” should be deleted from the end of line 3.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 10-12, 17, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 4,677,416 to Nishimoto et al [hereinafter Nishimoto].
Referring to claim 1, Nishimoto discloses (figure 1; column 3, lines 34-35; column 4, lines 35-42; column 6, lines 24-29, 38-41, 52-54, 62-66; column 7, lines 17-26; column 8, lines 48-58; column 9, lines 4-11, 25-56) a sensing device comprising:
a substrate (20) column 3, line 34);
a conducting element positioned on the substrate (20), the conducting element comprising first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials arranged such that there is a first junction (26) between the first and second dissimilar materials and a second junction (27) between the first and second dissimilar materials, the conducting element further comprising first and second connection terminals (at the ends) (figure 1; column 4, lines 35-41);
a voltage source (6) (column 6, line 24);
a voltage measuring device (8) (detects power, which includes voltage) (column 6, lines 52-54);
a first switching circuitry (13) for selectively connecting the voltage source to the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element (figure 1; column 6, lines 24-27, 38-40, 62-67; column 7, lines 17-21; column 8, lines 48-58); and
a processor (10) that controls the first switching circuitry (13) to selectively connect the voltage source (6) to the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element to apply a voltage across the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element for a first period of time (column 6, lines 38-42, 62-66; column 7, lines 17-21) and to selectively disconnect the voltage source (6) from to the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element to measure a voltage across the first and second connection terminals over a second period of time (column 8, lines 48-58).
Nishimoto is silent as to the type of voltage being used, thereby not explicitly disclosing that the voltage source is a DC voltage source.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a DC current for the voltage source in Nishimoto in order to provide a desired voltage for the sensing device to determine a dew point, which Nishioto suggests is desirable; and since the particular type of voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice, or design, because the use of the particular voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be the use of known alternate types of voltage sources that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to provide a voltage source for the sensing device as already suggested by Nishimoto.
Referring to claim 2, Nishimoto discloses a device having all of the limitations of claim 2, as stated above with respect to claim 1, and further discloses that the first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials of the conducting element are arranged such that there is a plurality of first junctions (26) between the first and second dissimilar materials and a plurality of second junctions (27) between the first and second dissimilar materials (figure 1).
Referring to claim 7, Nishimoto discloses a device having all of the limitations of claim 7, as stated above with respect to claim 1, and further discloses that the first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials comprise first and second dissimilar conductive materials (metal) (column 4, lines 35-45).
Referring to claim 8, Nishimoto discloses a device having all of the limitations of claim 8, as stated above with respect to claim 1, except for disclosing that the first and second dissimilar materials comprise, respectively, chromel and alumel.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first and second dissimilar materials of Nishimoto comprise, respectively, chromel and alumel in order to provide a desired conductivity for the sensing device; and since the particular type of material used to make the first and the second dissimilar materials is only considered to be the use of “preferred” or “optimum” materials out of a plurality of well-known materials that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide based on the intended use of applicant’s apparatus, i.e., suitability for the intended use of applicant’s apparatus. See In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960), where the courts held that a selection of a material on the basis of suitability for intended use of an apparatus would be entirely obvious.
Referring to claim 10, Nishimoto discloses a device having all of the limitations of claim 10, as stated above with respect to claim 1, except for explicitly disclosing that the DC voltage source comprises one or more batteries.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the DC voltage source of Nishimoto comprise one or more batteries in order to provide portability of the device; and since the use of the particular type of voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice, or design, because the use of the particular voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be the use of known alternate types of voltage sources that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to provide a voltage source as already suggested by Nishimoto.
Referring to claim 11, Nishimoto discloses (figure 1; column 3, lines 34-35; column 4, lines 35-42; column 6, lines 24-29, 38-41, 52-54, 62-66; column 7, lines 17-26; column 8, lines 48-58; column 9, lines 4-11, 25-56) a method of sensing thermally conductive gas and/or air flow (column 10, lines 14-15), the method comprising:
causing, by a processor (10) of a sensing device, a first switching circuitry (13) to selectively connect a voltage source (6) to first and second connection terminals (at the ends) of a conducting element, the conducting element comprising first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials arranged such that there is a first junction (26) between the first and second dissimilar materials and a second junction (27) between the first and second dissimilar materials (figure 1; column 4, lines 35-41);
applying, by the voltage source (6), a voltage across the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element for a first period of time (figure 1; column 6, lines 38-42, 62-66; column 7, lines 17-21);
causing, by the processor (10) of the sensing device, the first switching circuitry (13) to selectively disconnect the voltage source from the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element (column 8, lines 48-58); and
measuring, by a voltage measuring device (8) (detects power, which includes voltage) (column 6, lines 52-54), a voltage across the first and second connection terminals over a second period of time (column 6, lines 52-54).
Referring to claim 12, Nishimoto discloses a method having all of the limitations of claim 12, as stated above with respect to claim 11, and further discloses that the first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials of the conducting element are arranged such that there is a plurality of first junctions (26) between the first and second dissimilar materials and a plurality of second junctions (27) between the first and second dissimilar materials (figure 1).
Referring to claim 17, Nishimoto discloses a method having all of the limitations of claim 17, as stated above with respect to claim 11, and further discloses that the first (24) and second (25) dissimilar materials comprise first and second dissimilar conductive materials (metal) (column 4, lines 35-45).
Referring to claim 18, Nishimoto discloses a method having all of the limitations of claim 18, as stated above with respect to claim 11, except for disclosing that the first and second dissimilar materials comprise, respectively, chromel and alumel.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first and second dissimilar materials of Nishimoto comprise, respectively, chromel and alumel in order to provide a desired conductivity for the sensing device; and since the particular type of material used to make the first and the second dissimilar materials is only considered to be the use of “preferred” or “optimum” materials out of a plurality of well-known materials that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide based on the intended use of applicant’s apparatus, i.e., suitability for the intended use of applicant’s apparatus. See In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960), where the courts held that a selection of a material on the basis of suitability for intended use of an apparatus would be entirely obvious.
Referring to claim 20, Nishimoto discloses a method having all of the limitations of claim 20, as stated above with respect to claim 11, except for explicitly disclosing that the DC voltage source comprises one or more batteries.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the DC voltage source of Nishimoto comprise one or more batteries in order to provide portability of the device; and since the use of the particular type of voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice, or design, because the use of the particular voltage source claimed by the applicant is considered to be the use of known alternate types of voltage sources that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to provide a voltage source as already suggested by Nishimoto.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 9, 13-16, and 19 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, and amended to overcome the objections set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the following in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims:
A sensing device, wherein the substrate comprises a first portion and a second portion that is thinner than the first portion; wherein the plurality of first junctions is positioned on the first portion of the substrate; and wherein the plurality of second junctions is positioned on the second portion of the substrate (claim 3); wherein the first period of time is a time period which
is long enough for the voltage across the first and second connection terminals to reach a steady
state voltage; and wherein the second period of time is a time period which is long enough for
a temperature of the first junction and a temperature of the second junction to decrease by a
measurable amount (claim 4); and wherein the processor causes the DC voltage source to
apply a plurality of different voltages across the first and second connection terminals of the
conducting element, each different voltage applied a first time with a first polarity and a second
time with a second, opposite polarity; wherein the processor causes the voltage measuring
device to measure a voltage across the first and second connection terminals of the conducting
element after each of the plurality of different voltages are applied; and, wherein the processor
detects when an abrupt change occurs in a time constant of the voltage across the first and
second connection terminals and determines a temperature that coincides with the abrupt
change in the time constant of the voltage across the first and second connection terminals, the
temperature being a dewpoint (claim 10).
A method of sensing thermally conductive gas and/or air flow, wherein the plurality of first junctions is positioned on a first portion of a substrate; and wherein the plurality of second junctions is positioned on a second portion of the substrate that is thinner than the first portion (claim 13); wherein the first period of time is a time period which is long enough for the voltage across the first and second connection terminals to reach a steady state voltage; and wherein the second period of time is a time period which is long enough for a temperature of the first junction and a temperature of the second junction to decrease by a measurable amount (claim 14); and the method further comprising applying a plurality of different voltages across the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element, each different voltage applied a first time with a first polarity and a second time with a second, opposite polarity; measuring a voltage across the first and second connection terminals of the conducting element after each of the plurality of different voltages are applied; and detecting an abrupt change in a time constant of the voltage across the first and second connection terminals and determining a temperature that coincides with the abrupt change in the time constant of the voltage across the first and second connection terminals, the temperature being a dewpoint (claim 19).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure by disclosing a similar sensing device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIRELLYS JAGAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2247. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Friday 8-6.
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, Kristina DeHerrera can be reached at 303-297-4237. 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.
/MIRELLYS JAGAN/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
9/4/26
Prosecution Insights