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 .
Status of the Application
2. Claim 1-14 have been examined in this application. Claim 15-20 have been restricted and withdrawn from further consideration. This communication is the first action on the merits.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 11/7/24 are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because for Fig. 1, the reference character “First door sensor 121a” has been used to designate both “First door sensor 121a” and “First door sensor 121b”. 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. 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.
Election/Restrictions
4. Based on a telephonic message received from attorney Mark Schroeder (Reg.# 53566) on 9/22/26, an election of claim group (i.e., claim 1-14) was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Case#18940384. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claim 15-20 have withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claim 4, and 11 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-3, 5-10, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Minamida (JP2014157422A).
8. Regarding claim 1, Alexander discloses:
A system for detecting an occupancy of a room, the system comprising: a first door sensor (e.g., A door opening/closing sensor 26 is installed near door 22 to detect when door 22 is opened or closed ) (Para. [0024]) and a second door sensor associated with a door of the room (e.g., Door 22 is equipped with an electric lock 24. The electric lock 24 unlocks when an unlocking signal is input and locks when a locking signal is input. Furthermore, when someone leaves room 20, the electric lock 24 is unlocked.) (Para. [0023]),
the first door sensor being configured to detect an opening operation of the door (e.g., A door opening/closing sensor 26 is installed near door 22 to detect when door 22 is opened or closed. When the door opening/closing sensor 26 detects that the door 22 has opened, it outputs a door open signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has opened. When it detects that the door 22 has closed, it outputs a door closed signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has closed) (Para. [0024]) and the second door sensor being configured to detect a closing and/or locking operation of the door (e.g., The electric lock 24 may also output an unlocking signal to the access control unit 12 when it is unlocked, and a locking signal to the access control unit 12 when it is locked) (Para. [0023], [0024]-[0025]);
and a control unit communicatively connected with the first door sensor and the second door sensor, the control unit comprising one or more processors configured to: receive, from the first door sensor, sensor readings indicative of the opening operation of the door (e.g., When the door opening/closing sensor 26 detects that the door 22 has opened, it outputs a door open signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has opened. When it detects that the door 22 has closed, it outputs a door closed signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has closed. The door open signal may include door open time information indicating the time when door 22 was opened (hereinafter referred to as "door open time"), and the door close signal may include door closed time information indicating the time when door 22 was closed (hereinafter referred to as "door closed time")) (Para. [0024]); determine, based on the sensor readings of the first door sensor, the occupancy status of the room to be a positive status (e.g., The occupancy estimation unit 14 estimates the number of people in room 20 based on the history of people entering room 20 and the history of opening and closing the door 22. For example, the occupancy estimation unit 14 estimates the number of people leaving the room at each opening/closing time based on the door opening time interval at each opening/closing time, and determines the number of people in the room at each opening/closing time based on the number of people leaving and the number of people entering at each opening/closing time.) (Para. [0031]);
receive, from the second door sensor, sensor readings indicative of the closing and/or locking operation of the door determine, based on the sensor readings of the second door sensor, whether the closing and/or locking operation has been performed (e.g., Door 22 is equipped with an electric lock 24. The electric lock 24 unlocks when an unlocking signal is input and locks when a locking signal is input. Furthermore, when someone leaves room 20, the electric lock 24 is unlocked. The electric lock 24 may also output an unlocking signal to the access control unit 12 when it is unlocked, and a locking signal to the access control unit 12 when it is locked) (Para. [0023]);
upon determining that the closing and/or locking operation has been performed, validate the occupancy status of the room to be the positive status (e.g., The occupancy estimation unit 14 estimates the number of people in room 20 based on the history of people entering room 20 and the history of opening and closing the door 22. For example, the occupancy estimation unit 14 estimates the number of people leaving the room at each opening/closing time based on the door opening time interval at each opening/closing time, and determines the number of people in the room at each opening/closing time based on the number of people leaving and the number of people entering at each opening/closing time.) (Para. [0031]);
and upon determining that the closing and/or locking operation has not been performed, trigger a supplemental detection process to detect the occupancy of the room (e.g., Furthermore, the access control unit 12 manages the security status for room 20. When a security operation is performed on room 20, entry into room 20 is prohibited, and when the security operation is deactivated, entry into room 20 is permitted.
Here, we will explain the terms used in the following description (number of people entering, number of people leaving, opening and closing time of door 22, and door opening time interval). The number of people entering is the number of people who entered Room 20, and the number of people leaving is the number of people who left Room 20. The door opening time interval is the time interval from when door 22 is opened until it is closed again, that is, the length of time door 22 is open during one opening and closing cycle
(door open to door closed). The opening and closing points of door 22 refer to the period of one opening and closing of door 22 (from door open to door closed), and in the following explanation, each opening and closing point of door 22 may be simply referred to as "each opening and closing point.") (Para. [0029]-[0030]).
9. Regarding claim 2, Alexander discloses:
The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sensors configured to measure corresponding occupancy parameters, wherein to perform the supplemental detection process, the one or more processors are configured to: receive, from the plurality of sensors, sensor readings indicative of the corresponding occupancy parameters, wherein each of the received sensor readings includes a sequence of measurements, over a predetermined time duration, of the corresponding occupancy parameters; and determine, based on the received sensor readings, one or more of the occupancy status of the room, and a confidence value associated with the determined occupancy status, wherein the occupancy status is indicative of one of a positive status indicating occupancy of the room and a negative status indicating non-occupancy of the room (Refer to Para. [0027]-[0030] for more detail).
10. Regarding claim 3, Alexander discloses:
The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to, in response to determining the occupancy status, trigger a control action associated with the room based on the determined occupancy status, the control action modifying an operation of one or more of a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, a thermostat, and lighting units associated with the room (e.g., In building management systems, it is sometimes necessary to know the number of people occupying each room for the purpose of energy conservation analysis. For example, there are times when it is necessary to know the number of people in a room for purposes such as: (1) identifying areas with relatively high power consumption by dividing power consumption by the number of people in the room and comparing power consumption per person; (2) reducing air conditioning power by calculating the heat load and adjusting the ventilation rate based on the number of people in the room; and (3) estimating the effectiveness of access control lighting (a process that turns on lights only where people are present according to their occupancy status) and using this information in proposals to clients) (Para. [0002]).
11. Regarding claim 5, Alexander discloses:
The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause information related to the occupancy status to be displayed on one or more of a user interface disposed within the room and a user interface associated with a handheld device of a user (e.g., The output unit 16 outputs the number of people in room 20 estimated by the occupancy estimation unit 14. The output unit 16 may be, for example, a display device that shows the number of people in the room, a network interface that transmits information indicating the number of people in the room to an external source, or a printing device) (Para. [0042]).
12. Regarding claim 6, Alexander discloses:
The system of claim 1, wherein the opening operation of the door includes opening of the door from the outside of the room (e.g., For example, the occupancy estimation unit 14 may estimate the number of people entering the room 20 based on the door opening time interval when a person entering the room 20 (outside) is detected and the door 22 is opened) (Para. [0086]) and wherein the closing and/or locking operation of the door comprises one of closing or locking of the door from the inside of the room (e.g., authentication devices are installed on both the entry side (outside) and the exit side (inside) of the room) (Para. [0065]).
13. Regarding claim 7, Alexander discloses:
The system of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is configured to detect an opening operation of door from outside of the room (e.g., A door opening/closing sensor 26 is installed near door 22 to detect when door 22 is opened or closed.
When the door opening/closing sensor 26 detects that the door 22 has opened, it outputs a
door open signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has opened. When it detects that the door 22 has closed, it outputs a door closed signal to the access control unit 12 indicating that the door 22 has closed.) (Para. [0024]), and the second sensor is configured to detect a closing and/or locking operation of the door from inside of the room (e.g., authentication devices are installed on both the entry side (outside) and the exit side (inside) of the room) (Para. [0065]).
14. Regarding claim 8, Claim 8 recites a method that implement the system of claim 1, with substantially the same limitations, respectively. Therefore the rejection applied to claim 1 also applies to claim 8 respectively.
15. Regarding claim 9-10, as to claim 9-10, applicant is directed to the citation for claim 2-3, respectively above.
16. Regarding claim 12-14, as to claim 12-14, applicant is directed to the citation for claim 5-7, respectively above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Masuda (Pub: 2026/0168308) disclose the control unit 48 controls the forward and reverse rotation of the electric motor 66, or more specifically, the rotation amount (rotation angle) and rotational speed of the electric motor 66 (stepper motor) on the basis of detection signals of the human detecting sensor 38, the outdoor non-contact sensor 36A, the indoor non-contact sensor 36B, the door closing sensor 70, and the door opening sensor 72 (Para. [0142]).
Alvarez (Pub: 2020/0164988) disclose a system and method for determining the occupancy of a lavatory without an individual performing a specific task to indicate such occupancy. Moreover, a need exists for a system and method for quickly and efficiently determining an occupancy status of a lavatory (Para. [0005]).
Alexander (Pub: 2011/0181412) disclose methods, systems, and devices for determining occupancy states of a room or collection of rooms. In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present invention, the occupancy state of a room or collection of rooms may be determined by analyzing a combination of a door state and motion activity within the room or rooms (Para. [0007]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIGNESHKUMAR C PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-0698. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth M. Lo can be reached at (571)272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIGNESHKUMAR C PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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