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 § 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 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 –
Claims 1-3, 5-9, 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fornell [US 2024/0337523]
Claim 1. A method for detecting a possible changing of a diaper of a patient in a bed (the infant smart scale weight tracking system combines an changing table and smart scale that automatically weighs a baby each time the baby is laid on a platform of the changing table. The infant smart scale weight tracking system may determine a measured baby weight, diaper weight, as well as track the same over time, see Figs. 1, 2, abstract), comprising one or more bed supports (see Fig. 1), the method comprising the steps of:
providing a device comprising one or more load cells (the load cells of weight sensor 30, see Figs. 1, 2E, para [0050]), and a transmitter (see Fig. 1, para [0004, 0033, 0038]);
placing the device under one of the one or more bed supports (see Figs. 2E, para [0050]);
sensing, by the one or more load cells, of a magnitude of a force exerted on the one or more load cells at each of a plurality of times over a period of time, the magnitude of the force corresponding to an apparent bed weight (the load cells of weight sensors 30 such as the mechanical stress sensors, pressure or vibration over time of the day, see abstract, Fig. 1, 2E, para [0003, 0005, 0016, 0017, 0031, 0034, 0042]);
transmitting, by the transmitter to a server, data sensed by the one or more load cells, the data comprising information corresponding to a magnitude of the force exerted on the one or more load cells at each of the plurality of times (the communication port 22 is wired/wireless transmitting of sensed data information to remote source 60 or server, see Fig. 1, para [0033, 0036, 0038]);
storing, by the server, of the data to generate a record comprising a temporal history of the magnitude of the force exerted on the one or more load cells over the period of time (the remote server 60 performs data storage received from the weight sensors 30 of smart scale 14, see Fig. 1, para [0038, 0044]);
configuring the server to recognize a pattern indicative of the possible changing of the diaper of the patient based, at least in part, on changes in the apparent bed weight (the system is configured to identify a baby positioned on the platform. The correlation may include time of day of a current weight measurement with time of day of prior weight measurements. The correlation may include identification of a timing pattern of urination or bowel movements of a particular baby or time period between diaper changes corresponding to a time period pattern between urination or bowel movements. The analysis may include comparison of a current measured weight of contents of a diaper to previous measured weights of contents of diapers for identified babies. [0018] In any of the above examples or another example, the system is configured to detect diaper changes and weight of diaper and/or contents to aid in tracking of diaper changes and to gain a deeper understanding of digestive functions, urination and bowl movements (see Figs. 1, 2, para [0017, 0018]); and
recording, by the server, a time in the period of time when the temporal history comprises the pattern (see Fig. 1, para [0038, 0041, 0042]).
Claim 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: sensing, by the one or more load cells, of a degree of vibration of the force exerted on the one or more load cells at each of the plurality of times over the period of time, the degree of vibration of the force corresponding to a movement strength (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including the vibration or motion sensors to detect motion/movement of an infant at predetermined time intervals, see Figs. 19-24, para [0016, 0017, 0042, 0045]).
Claim 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of configuring the server to recognize
the pattern indicative of the possible changing of the diaper of the patient is also based, at least in part, on changes in the movement strength (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, see para [0017, 0018]).
Claim 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of configuring the server to recognize
the pattern indicative of the possible changing of the diaper of the patient based, at least in part, on changes in the apparent bed weight comprises using shapelet learning techniques (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including the machine learning of detected patterns, see para [0016, 0042, 0043]).
Claim 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of configuring the server to recognize
the pattern indicative of the possible changing of the diaper of the patient also based, at least in part, on changes in the movement strength, comprises using shapelet learning techniques (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including the machine learning of detected patterns of the weight sensors and/or motion sensors, see para [0016, 0042, 0043]).
Claim 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: determining, by the server, whether the patient is likely in the bed at one of the plurality of times, based, at least in part, on the apparent bed weight (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including weight to the platform/bed 15, see Fig. 2E, para [0004, 0020, 0034, 0046]).
Claim 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: generating, by the server, of an alert if the server determines that the possible changing of the diaper for the patient has not occurred within a pre-set length of time (reads upon the system 10 may determine the weight of the baby during a third stage of the diaper changing process by calculating the mean or average weight measurement collected during the third stage over a period of z seconds and storing that value as representing the weight (preliminary, probable, or final) of the baby with a clean diaper, which indicates of without or no changing the diaper if it is clean, see para [0059]).
Claim 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing, by the server, of the data to generate the record comprising the temporal history of the magnitude of the force
exerted on the one or more load cells over the period of time comprises storing of the data in a database in communications with the server (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including the database communicating with the remote resource 60 or server, see para [0041, 0044]).
Claim 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting, by the transmitter to the server, data sensed by the one or more load cell occurs approximately every second when the magnitude of the force exerted on the one or more load cells has changed within a second pre-set interval of time (the controller 12 may be configured to wake up the smart scale 14 periodically, e.g., a predefined time intervals, such as one or more times a second or every two or three seconds, see para [0045, 0053, 0056, 0062]).
Claim 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing, by the server, of the data to generate the record comprising the temporal history of the magnitude of the force
exerted on the one or more load cells over the period of time further comprises processing, by the server, of the data by applying one or more of the following:
segmentation of the data, interpolation of the data, noise reduction of the data,
normalization of the data, and feature extraction of the data (as cited in respect to claim 1 above, and including processing of data, comparison charts of data, storing and retrieving of data, see para [0038, 0041]).
Claim 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining, by the server whether the possible changing of the diaper of the patient has occurred, is also based, at least in part on whether the changes in the apparent bed weight are above a first
pre-set threshold (The max and min weight values may be set as threshold amounts or percentages of a mean weight during an identified stage or changing event over a duration, overtime. In one example, front end or back end processing may include graphing weight measurements during a changing event and removing min/max spikes to identify weight in each stage (see para [0023, 0053, 0063]).
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fornell [US 2024/0337523] in view of Fornell et al [US 2022/0061766]
Claim 4. Fornell fails to disclose wherein the pattern comprises at least four phases, the at least four phases corresponding to (1) rolling of the patient away to one side; (2) replacing the diaper of the patient; (3) rolling the patient back to another side to fasten the diaper; and (4) rolling the patient back to a resting position.
However, Fornell teaches that the smart scale 14 weight tracking system 10 may be configured to detect diaper changes and weight of diaper and/or contents, to aid in tracking of diaper changes and to gain a deeper understanding of digestive functions, urination and bowl movements. In one embodiment, the smart scale 14 weight tracking system 10 may utilize machine learning or artificial intelligence to detect diaper changes and weight of diaper and/or contents, to aid in tracking of diaper changes and to gain a deeper understanding of digestive functions, urination and bowl movements (see Fig. 2, para [0043]). The smart scale 14 may include a weight sensor to detect weight applied to platform, which may be the same or in addition to weight sensor 30, vibration or motion sensor to detect motion of the platform, capacitance sensor to detect a change in capacitance of the platform or adjacent field, or an optical sensor to detect a change in light and/or motion of an object above the platform operatively coupled to the platform 15 for detection presence on and/or movement of the platform 15 (see Fig. 2, para [0045]).
Fornell et al suggests that the infant sleep device may include a platform 42 for supporting an infant, a base upon which the platform 42 is supported, and one or more weight sensors 2 positioned to measure weight of an infant positioned on the platform (see Fig. 2, abstract, para [0004]).
The analysis module 24 may utilize weight data for movement tracking. For example, rapid, slow, brief, extended, methodical, repetitive, or haphazard weight fluctuations above and below a baseline weight may indicate movement of the infant. Such movement may be related to kicking, rolling, writhing, wiggling, coughing, and/or arm or head movement. Movement(s) may also provide information that may be analyzed to determine restlessness, or lack thereof, and specific movement patterns that may be indicators of medical conditions (see Figs. 1, 3, para [0084]).
The weight sensors 2 are positioned around a perimeter of the platform 42. In some embodiments, additional weight sensors 2 may be used at other perimeter and/or more central locations of the platform 42. For example, weight sensors 2 may be positioned under the platform 42 at an upper right region, an upper left region, a lower right region, and a lower left region. In one embodiment, one or more weight sensors 2 may be positioned at one or more central locations of the platform 42 instead of or in addition to weight sensors 2 positioned along a perimeter of the platform 42. The weight sensors 2 may include load cells, strain gauges, compression sensors, or other weight sensor device configurations (see Fig. 2, para [0105]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the weight sensors are positioned under the platform 42 at an upper right region, an upper left region, a lower right region, and a lower left region for detecting and tracking movement of an infant lying on the bed/platform of Fornell et al to the smart scale and weight tracking system including weight sensors positioned under the bed/platform of Fornell for fully monitoring and tracking any motion, movement and positions of an infant laying on the bed/platform, including rolling, turning to the left, right or on his/her back while changing the diaper.
Claims 10, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fornell [US 2024/0337523] in view of Chatzidakis [US 2019/0183258]
Claim 10. Fornell fails to disclose wherein the step transmitting, by the transmitter to the server, data sensed by the one or more load cells occurs approximately every
five minutes when the magnitude of the force exerted on the one or more load cells has not changed within a first pre-set interval of time.
However, Fornell teaches that the system is configured to process the weight measurement data including graphing the weight measurement data collected during the changing event and removing min and max spikes to identify weight in each stage of the changing event. The max and min weight values may be set as threshold amounts or percentages of a mean weight during an identified stage or changing event over a duration or overtime. In one example, front end or back end processing may include graphing weight measurements during a changing event and removing min/max spikes to identify weight in each stage. In one example, the processing includes identifying similarities in measurements overtime and/or repeated weight measurement values obtained during a stage. (see para [0023, 0053, 0063]).
Chatzidakis suggests that an infant or toddler refers to a child whose weight is below structural limits of the diaper-changing platform system and its individual components that are further described herein. The diaper-changing platform system of the present disclosure may also be applied to children who no longer require diapers for the purposes of transporting such children as long as the weight of such children is within the structural limits or threshold of the diaper-changing platform system as designed and within the ability of a carrier of the diaper-changing platform system (see Fig. 5, para [0102]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the no longer required diapers as long as the child weight is within the limits of the diaper-changing platform system of Chatzidakis to the processing of weight measurement data duration or overtime of Fornell for precisely to determine whether to change the infant’s diaper based on the preset weight limits such as minimum or maximum values during an identified stage or changing event over a duration or overtime, such as unnecessary to change the diaper when it is clean.
Claim 14. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining, by the server whether the possible changing of the diaper of the patient has occurred, is also based, at least in part on whether the changes in the movement strength are above a
second pre-set threshold (as the combination between Fornell and Chatzidakis in respect to claim 10 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from examiner should be directed to primary examiner craft is Van Trieu whose telephone number is (571) 2722972. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Mr. Wang Quan-Zhen can be reached on (571) 272-3114.
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/VAN T TRIEU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
01/14/2026
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