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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2023058832 A (Kamiyama).
Regarding claim 1: Kamiyama teaches a temperature detector (temperature measuring device (Abstract)) connected to a resistance measurement device (resistance temperature detector (RTD) 10) and transferring resistance information changed depending on a change in temperature (“converter 2 calculates a resistance value of the RTD 10”, Abstract; “An RTD is a sensor that measures temperature using the property that the electrical resistance value of a metal or metal oxide changes with temperature change”, Background Art), the temperature detector comprising: a metal conduit (temperature sensor 1); a temperature detecting device inserted into the metal conduit (RTD 10) and including a first lead wire and a second lead wire respectively connected to a plurality of output terminals (lead wires 11 and 13; terminals T1, T2); and a first wire and a second wire (wires 3, 4), one side of which is connected to the resistance measurement device and the other side of which is connected to the temperature detecting device, so that the resistance measurement device supplies current to the temperature detecting device, wherein the first wire and the second wire are twisted and connected to the first lead wire and the second lead wire, respectively (Fig. 1: 3 and 4 connected to 11 and 13).
While Kamiyama is silent regarding the material of temperature sensor 1, it is clear that it must be thermally conductive in order to measure a temperature (thus, a thermally insulating material would be against the intended design and use of their invention). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that metal is a common and unsurprising material to use to complete this objective. Therefore, this limitation is considered to be at least suggested by the prior art Kamiyama.
Regarding claim 2: Kamiyama teaches the temperature detector of claim 1 (see above), further comprising: a third wire connected to the first lead wire, wherein the third wire is connected to the first lead wire in a twisted and bent state with the first wire (Fig. 1: 12).
Regarding claim 3: Kamiyama teaches the temperature detector of claim 1 (see above), but does not teach that it further comprises: a fourth wire connected to the second lead wire, wherein the fourth wire is connected to the second lead wire in a twisted and bent state with the second wire.
However, duplicating a part taught by the prior art (the third wire connected to the first lead wire, and here a fourth wire to connect to the second lead wire) does not require an inventive step. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would be motivated to take such precautions in order to more effectively manage current within the circuit.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuitry of Kamiyama with an additional wire.
Regarding claim 8: Kamiyama teaches the temperature detector of claim 1 (see above), wherein the metal conduit includes an insulator therein, wherein the insulator is a metal oxide (“An RTD is a sensor that measures temperature using the property that the electrical resistance value of a metal or metal oxide changes with temperature change”, Background Art).
While Kamiyama does not specifically teach the use of Magnesium Oxide, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been able to apply the teachings of Kamiyama to the situation at hand and through routine experimentation arrive at the most appropriate metal oxide.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 4: Kamiyama teaches the temperature detector of claim 1 (see above), but does not teach further comprising: epoxy filling a space between an inner wall of the metal conduit and the temperature detecting device.
In fact, the Examiner has not found any relevant prior art that cures the deficiencies of Kamiyama and teaches the use of epoxy in the space between a metal conduit and a temperature detecting device.
Therefore, this limitation is novel over the prior art.
Regarding claim 5: Kamiyama teaches the temperature detector of claim 1 (see above).
It may be argued that Kamiyama or another reference listed below teaches the use of a pipe-like structure as a mount for the metal conduit, but there is no relevant teaching regarding a concentric pipe. Additionally, a ferrule is merely a method of securing wires, and can be rejected as such, and therefore is not considered to be the novel limitation. Finally, while various references may teach and/or suggest the use of an insulator, none teach nor suggest epoxy as an option, let alone in this specific application as inside a concentric pipe.
Therefore, this limitation is novel over the prior art.
Regarding claims 6-7: These are dependent upon claim 5, and therefore would be allowable for the same reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO 2023140542 A1 teaches a thermoelectric element provided such that one side thereof can be brought into contact with an object to be measured; and a resistance temperature detector disposed at the other side of the thermoelectric element and including a substrate and a heating wire.
EP 3783324 A1 teaches a temperature calibration device converting a thermoelectromotive force such that a thin-film thermocouple element can be connected to a temperature display device for a multi-purpose bulk thermocouple element and a temperature measurement device.
JP 2020106385 A teaches a temperature sensor and a method for manufacturing the temperature sensor which can significantly reduce escape of heat from a sensor body and can measure the heat generation of a small target object or a small heat generation of a small target object sensitively and accurately.
DE 102017104434 B3 teaches an apparatus and a method for determining a temperature or a temperature-dependent value that can be used for determining the temperature, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor and a combination sensor.
JP 2018054351 A teaches a temperature measurement system in which an increase in wiring costs and a system scale are suppressed while maintaining the accuracy of temperature measurement.
JP 2013210356 A teaches a temperature measurement device capable of accurately measuring the temperature of a temperature measuring target even in the case of a temperature measuring target of a very small area having a small heat capacity.
JP 2012168105 A teaches a four wire temperature measuring resistor input circuit which, in spite of having a simple structure, can accurately measure the temperature, also has a disconnection detection function, and is highly accurate without having errors due to the ambient environment and secular change and then without having errors due to disconnection detection.
US 6937087 B2 teaches a comparator circuit of a temperature sensor includes an output node and a variable current node.
US 20020154030 A1 teaches a sensor element is secured in a housing by a sealing packing, for example, and has a measurement area and a lead wire area. At least one lead wire having a first electric resistance with a positive temperature coefficient to a measurement device arranged in the measurement area is provided in the lead wire area of the sensor element.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIA FITZPATRICK whose telephone number is (703)756-5783. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-4pm.
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/JULIA FITZPATRICK/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/LAURA MARTIN SWEENEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
