DETAILED ACTION
This detailed action is in response to the application filed on 11/11/2024, and any subsequent filings.
Notations “C_”, “L_” and “Pr_” are used to mean “column_”, “line_” and “paragraph_”.
Claims 1-9 are pending.
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 Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 3 lacks a period at the end of the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 refers to a “receiving” step. It is unclear if this “receiving” is the same or distinct from the “receiving” in Claim 1, upon which Claim 9 depends.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication US20160122201A1 (‘Gilmore’) in view of U.S. Publication US20020104787A1 (‘Murayama’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method.
Regarding Claims 1-3 and 6-9¸ Gilmore teaches a method of automatically controlling coagulation of contaminants in a fluid stream ([0028]) that is treated through a coagulation tank, a flocculation tank, and a sedimentation tank ([0028-0029]), the method comprising:
receiving, by a controller (Fig. 1, [0026], control computer 120), a set of measurement signals from each of a plurality of sensors ([0026]), the plurality of sensors including:
a turbidity meter (Fig. 1, [0026], turbidity detector 134) configured to measure turbidity of the fluid stream at a position upstream of the coagulation tank (Fig. 1, [0028], coagulation process 140b),
a first spectrophotometer (Fig. 1, [0026], instrument 122) configured to measure an absorbance of light at one or more predetermined wavelengths by the fluid stream at a position upstream of the coagulation tank (Fig. 1),
a pH meter (Fig. 1, [0026], pH sensor 130) configured to measure a pH of the fluid stream at a position upstream of the coagulation tank (Fig. 1),
a temperature probe (Fig. 1, [0026], temperature sensor 136) configured to measure a temperature of the fluid stream at a position upstream of the coagulation tank (Fig. 1),
a second spectrophotometer (Fig. 1, [0029], instrument 124 may be positioned downstream of sedimentation process) configured to measure an absorbance of light at one or more predetermined wavelengths by the fluid stream at a position downstream of the sedimentation tank ([0029]).
Gilmore does not teach a trihalomethane (THM) sensor configured to measure a THM level in the fluid stream at a position downstream of the sedimentation tank; and suggests
determining, by the controller, based at least on the set of measurement signals from the plurality of sensors, a coagulant dose to be administered to the fluid stream in the coagulation tank to obtain a contaminant level below a predetermined threshold value; and
causing, by the controller, the determined coagulant dose to be administered to the fluid stream at the coagulation tank (absorbance and fluorescence spectra for monitoring and control of one or more treatment processes to avoid overdosing of coagulant when DBP potential is low, [0011]).
Murayama also relates to a method of automatically controlling coagulation of contaminants in a fluid stream that is treated through a coagulation tank and a sedimentation tank (abstract), including
a trihalomethane (THM) sensor (Fig. 1A, [0045], fluorescence analyzer 11b) configured to measure a THM level in the fluid stream at a position downstream of the sedimentation tank (Fig. 1A, [0044], coagulation-sedimentation equipment 2); and
determining, by the controller (abstract, control system), based at least on the set of measurement signals from the plurality of sensors (Fig. 1A, [0044]), a coagulant dose to be administered to the fluid stream in the coagulation tank ([0022] and [0044]) to obtain a contaminant level below a predetermined threshold value ([0015] and [0022]); and
causing, by the controller, the determined coagulant dose to be administered to the fluid stream at the coagulation tank ([0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the trihalomethane (THM) sensor of Murayama and the method of Gilmore because those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the types, numbers and locations of instruments, sensors, detectors, etc may vary by particular application and implementation (Gilmore, [0026]). It would have been obvious to combine the determining and causing steps of Murayama and the method of Gilmore and Murayama to avoid overdosing coagulant when disinfection byproduct (DBP) potential is low (Gilmore, [0011] and Murayama, [0022]).
Additional Disclosures Included:
Claim 2: the determining, by the controller, of the coagulant dose to be administered includes multiplying each of the measurement signals by a respective parameter coefficient (Gilmore, [0087]) (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the determining of Gilmore and Murayama to include multiplying each of the measurement signals by a respective parameter coefficient, as demonstrated by Gilmore, because the coagulant dose depends on the measured values of the fluorescence analyzers (Murayama, [0015] and [0022])).
Claim 3: each respective parameter coefficient is set based at least on historical data collected from the plurality of sensors (Gilmore, [0058-0059] and [0087]).
Claim 6: the fluid stream is further treated via filtration downstream of the sedimentation tank (Gilmore, Fig. 1, [0030], filtration process 150), the position for measuring by the second spectrophotometer is downstream of the filtration of the fluid stream (Gilmore, Fig. 1, [0030], instrument 126).
Claim 7: the fluid stream is further treated via disinfectant (Gilmore, Fig. 1, [0028], disinfection process 160) downstream of the sedimentation tank, the position for measuring the THM level by the THM sensor is downstream of the disinfection of the fluid stream (Gilmore, Fig. 1, [0030], instrument 126).
Claim 8: estimating, by the controller, an amount of total organic carbon (TOC) based at least on the set of measurement signals from the first spectrophotometer and the second spectrophotometer (Gilmore, [0038], a water treatment parameter such as TOC is determined or evaluated from absorbance and fluorescence spectral data using one or more instruments/detectors).
Claim 9: receiving, by the controller, a set of measurement signals from each of: a fluid flow meter (Murayama, Fig. 1A, [0036], flowmeter 6) configured to measure incoming flow of the fluid stream at a position upstream of the coagulation tank, and
at least one dosing flow meter (Murayama, Fig. 1A, [0044], coagulant injection rate calculating apparatus 30a) configured to measure incoming flow of coagulant between the coagulation tank and at least one dosing pump (Murayama, Fig. 1A, [0044], coagulant injector 2a) providing the coagulant to the coagulation tank,
wherein the determining, by the controller, of the coagulant dose (Murayama, Fig. 1A, [0044], coagulant injection amount control apparatus 30b) to be administered is further based on the set of measurement signals from the fluid flow meter and the at least one dosing flow meter (Murayama, Fig. 1A, [0044], based on flow rate and coagulant injection rate) (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the receiving of the combination of Gilmore and Murayama to be based on a set of measurement signals from each of a fluid flow meter and at least one dosing flow meter, as demonstrated by Murayama, because both Gilmore and Murayama involve reducing trihalomethane formation potential (Murayama, [0022] and Gilmore, [0054]).
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication US20160122201A1 (‘Gilmore’) and U.S. Publication US20020104787A1 (‘Murayama’) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication US20220298034A1 (‘McLeod’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method.
Regarding Claims 4-5, the combination of Gilmore and Murayama teaches the method of Claim 1, except that the determining, by the controller, of the coagulant dose to be administered includes comparison with an ideal dosing curve.
McLeod also relates to a method of automatically controlling coagulation of contaminants in a fluid stream that is treated through a coagulation tank, a flocculation tank, and a sedimentation tank (abstract), including that the determining, by the controller, of the coagulant dose to be administered includes comparison with an ideal dosing curve ([0066], lookup table).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the determining of the combination of Gilmore and Murayama to include comparison with an ideal dosing curve, as demonstrated by McLeod, because both Gilmore and McLeod involve reducing coagulant use for reasons of cost (McLeod, [0062] and Gilmore, [0011] and [0089]).
Additional Disclosures Included:
Claim 5: the ideal dosing curve is based on a statistical regression analysis using at least historical data collected from the plurality of sensors (McLeod, [0066]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN whose telephone number is (703)756-4613. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.
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/BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1779
/Bobby Ramdhanie/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1779
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