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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 27 November 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following:
Figure 1: Numbers, letters, and reference characters must be at least .32 cm (1/8 inch) in height. See 37 C.F.R. 1.84(p)(3).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description:
Reference numeral “613” does not appear within Figure 6, as suggested by the disclosure in paragraph [0062], lines 2 and 4.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
Reference numeral “554”, as shown in Figure 5, does not appear within the written specification.
Reference numeral “713”, as shown in Figure 6, does not appear within the written specification.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided (see lines 2 and 5 using the term “said’).
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph [0003], line 2: The third occurrence of the term “sensor” should be corrected to read – relay --.
Paragraph [0047], lines 1 and 5: Each occurrence of the abbreviation “FIG.” should be corrected to read either – FIGS. – or – FIGs. – as both Figures 4 and 5 are being referenced.
Paragraph [0056], line 6: Reference numeral – 554 – should be inserted after the term “device.”
Paragraph [0062], lines 2 and 4: Should reference numeral “613” be corrected to read – 713 --, which is shown in the figure?
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-7 and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Re claim 1, claim line 1: The term – configured – should be inserted prior to the term “for” to positively claim the functionality/intended use of the sensor relay.
Re claim 2, claim line 1: The article – the – should be inserted prior to the term “plurality.”
Re claim 3, claim line 1: The article – the – should be inserted prior to the term “plurality.”
Re claim 14, claim line 1: The term – wherein – should be inserted after the first occurrence of the “comma.”
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.
Claims 1-7 are 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.
Re claim 1, claim lines 4 and 6: Which “sensor leads” are being referenced here? Two distinct sensor leads are claimed within claim 1.
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 –
(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.
Claims 1, 6-10, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Ersavas disclose a sensor relay for a flow sensor installed in an irrigation system (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) communicates with a sensor (S1-S16), such as a flow sensor (paragraphs [0024] and [0037]) installed in an irrigation system (paragraphs [0067-0068) and Figures 1-2), the sensor relay comprising:
sensor leads configured to be communicatively coupled to sensor leads of said flow sensor (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) is communicatively coupled to the sensors (S1-S16) (flow sensor - paragraph [0024] and [0037]) by receiving all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]), wherein the sensor leads are configured to connect to a plurality of different flow sensors (a plurality of different sensors (S1-S16), such as water flow sensors/meters, may be used throughout the irrigation system – paragraphs ([0024] and [0037] and Figures 1-2);
memory in communication with the sensor leads, the memory configured to store measurements from said flow sensor (data collected from other sensors (S1-S16), including flow sensors, and transferred from node (24) is stored in buffer memory to protect losses against communication failures and shortages – paragraph [0081]); and
a wireless transmitter configured to transmit the measurements to a remote computing device (wireless sensor network (12) includes the main gateway (24) used to transmit the measurements from the sensors (S1-S16) wirelessly to a central computer server (14) and to further end users via the Internet (22) – paragraphs [0066-0075]) and Figures 1 and 3-4).
With respect to the limitations of claims 6-7, Ersavas further discloses a power source configured to power the sensor leads, the memory, and the wireless transmitter, whereby a solar cell configured to provide power to the power source (wireless sensor network (12) includes a plurality of sensor nodes (S1-S16) having sensing, processing, and communication capabilities can be battery operated and solar powered – paragraph [0067]).
With respect to the limitations of claim 8, Ersavas discloses a method for monitoring a flow sensor installed in an irrigation system, the method comprising:
at a sensor relay, receiving a signal from the flow sensor, the sensor relay communicatively coupled to sensor leads of the flow sensor, wherein the sensor leads are configured to connect to a plurality of different flow sensors (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) is communicatively coupled to the sensors (S1-S16) (flow sensor - paragraph [0024] and [0037]) by receiving all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]);
storing the signal on memory at the sensor relay (data collected from other sensors (S1-S16), including flow sensors, and transferred from node (24) is stored in buffer memory to protect losses against communication failures and shortages – paragraph [0081]); and
wirelessly transmitting the signal to a remote computing device (wireless sensor network (12) includes the main gateway (24) used to transmit the measurements from the sensors (S1-S16) wirelessly to a central computer server (14) and to further end users via the Internet (22) – paragraphs [0066-0075]) and Figures 1 and 3-4).
With respect to the limitation of claim 9, Ersavas further disclose installing the sensor relay to the flow sensor by coupling the sensor leads of the flow sensor to relay leads of the sensor relay (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) is communicatively coupled to the sensors (S1-S16) (flow sensor - paragraph [0024] and [0037]) by receiving all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]).
With respect to the limitation of claim 10, Ersavas further discloses that the flow sensor is a first flow sensor and further comprising: disconnecting the sensor relay from the first flow sensor; and connecting the sensor relay to a second flow sensor (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) is communicatively coupled to the sensors (S1-S16) (flow sensor - paragraph [0024] and [0037]) by receiving all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]); and disconnecting sensors by allowing sensors to sleep after passing data).
With respect to the limitation of claim 15, Ersavas further discloses that wirelessly transmitting the signal includes wirelessly transmitting the signal when the signal exceeds a threshold signal (transmitting a signal exceeds some unknown threshold to allow for transmitting).
With respect to the limitation of claim 16, Ersavas further discloses transitioning from a hibernation mode to a transmission mode when the signal exceeds a threshold signal (nodes of the wireless sensor network (12) can operate in sleep mode, wake up if a signal with data addressed to the node is received, process the data or forward the data to another node and then go back to sleep – paragraph [0058], lines 1-8).
With respect to the limitation of claim 17, Ersavas further discloses wirelessly transmitting the signal includes wirelessly transmitting the signal while in the transmission mode (data gathered by the sensor nodes is wirelessly transmitted when the node is in transmission mode).
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 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas).
With respect to the limitation of claim 18, Ersavas further discloses that the system can collect actual irrigation information so as to compare what is scheduled versus what is actually applied. This allows the system to detect problems or leaks in the irrigation system, for example, in the pipes or valves. Ersavas fails to disclose that the valve is upstream of the flow sensor; however, the Examiner argues that the location of the valve with respect to the sensor is a orientations that would be within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art such that one of ordinary skill in the art would know where flow sensors should be placed with to the valving structure to accurately detect leaks in the irrigation system.
Claims 2-3 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas) in view of US 5,633,809 (Wissenbach et al.).
With respect to the limitations of claims 2-3 and 11-12, Ersavas discloses all of the limitations of the base claims including that the sensors may include a plurality of flow sensors including a first flow sensor and second flow sensor; but fails to expressly disclose that the first flow sensor is a different model than the second flow sensor and/or that the first flow sensor is a different type than the second flow sensor.
Wissenbach et al. disclose a multi-function flow monitoring apparatus capable of measuring fluid flow related variables of fluid in a channel on the basis of signals from any one or more of a plurality of different types of flow sensors (abstract). Additionally, it is the position of the Examiner that utilizing different models of the same flow sensor would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in light using different types of flow sensors because if the invention can coordinate different technologies to work together, utilizing different models using the same technology would only require routine skill in the art. Modifying Ersavas to utilize different types of flow sensors would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention as a means of eliminating the expense and inconvenience associated with having to employ a number of different flow meters which each support only a single type of flow sensor (col. 4, lines 61-64).
Claims 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas) in view of CN 110100708 (Xu et al.).
With respect to the limitations of claims 4 and 14, Ersavas discloses all of the limitations of base claims 1 and 8; but fails to disclose that the wireless transmitter is a long range (LoRa) protocol wireless transmitter.
Xu et al. discloses a water saving irrigation system using the LoRa communication protocol to send information from sensors to an irrigation controller. Modifying Ersavas to utilize LoRa would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a protocol that allows for long distance transmission of information about different irrigation zones.
Claims 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas) in view of US 2017/0286772 (Workman et al.).
With respect to the limitations of claims 5 and 13, Ersavas discloses all of the limitations of base claims 1 and 8; but fails to disclose that the memory includes cache memory and/or clearing the memory cache after wirelessly transmitting the signal.
Workman et al. disclose a horticultural monitoring system utilizing sensors connected to a horticultural monitor. The monitor sends sensor data to a local bean, which receives the data and sends the data to cloud resources to process the data. The processing of the data is performed by a processor (1010) that utilizes cache memory (1012) (paragraph [0094] and Figure 10a). Modifying Ersavas to utilize cache memory would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention because cache memory is a smaller and faster memory used for storing data and used more frequently from the main memory. As to the limitation of erasing the data after transmission of said data, the Examiner argues that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize this feature as being common with cache memory as a cache memory is used for temporary storage of data and the memory is much smaller, which would fill up more quickly that the main memory if not cleared frequently.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2011/0035059 (Ersavas) in view of US 5,633,809 (Wissenbach et al.), US 2016/0037736 (Rainone et al.), and CN 110100708 (Xu et al.).
With respect to the limitations of claim 20, Ersavas discloses a method for monitoring a flow sensor installed in an irrigation system, the method comprising:
installing a sensor relay to the flow sensor by connecting sensor leads of the flow sensor to relay leads of the sensor relay (wireless sensor network (12) comprises a main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) communicatively coupled to a plurality of sensors (S1-S16), such as a flow sensor (paragraph [0024] and [0037]), by receiving all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]), wherein the sensor leads are configured to connect to a plurality of flow sensors (sensors can be flow sensors), wherein the sensor relay is powered by an independent power source (wireless sensor network (12) includes the plurality of sensor nodes (S1-S16) having sensing, processing, and communication capabilities can be battery operated and solar powered – paragraph [0067]);
receiving a plurality of signals from the flow sensor (main gateway/base communication (root/sink) node (24) communicatively coupled to the sensors (S1-S16) receives all data from the sensors – paragraphs [0064] and [0068]);
transitioning from a hibernation mode to a transmission mode (nodes of the wireless sensor network (12) can operate in sleep mode, wake up if a signal with data addressed to the node is received, process the data or forward the data to another node and then go back to sleep – paragraph [0058], lines 1-8);
storing the plurality of signals on memory at the sensor relay (data collected from other sensors (S1-S16), including flow sensors, and transferred from node (24) is stored in buffer memory to protect losses against communication failures and shortages – paragraph [0081]); and
while in the transmission mode, wirelessly transmitting the plurality of signals to a remote computing device (wireless sensor network (12) includes the main gateway (24) used to transmit the measurements from the sensors (S1-S16) wirelessly to a central computer server (14) and to further end users via the Internet (22) – paragraphs [0066-0075]) and Figures 1 and 3-4). Ersavas fail to disclose that the plurality of flow sensors are different flow sensors; the plurality of signals are associated with a rotational rate of a paddle of the flow sensor; and using a long range (LoRa) protocol.
Wissenbach et al. disclose a multi-function flow monitoring apparatus capable of measuring fluid flow related variables of fluid in a channel on the basis of signals from any one or more of a plurality of different types of flow sensors (abstract). Modifying Ersavas to utilize different types of flow sensors would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention as a means of eliminating the expense and inconvenience associated with having to employ a number of different flow meters which each support only a single type of flow sensor (col. 4, lines 61-64). The combination of Ersavas in view of Wissenbach et al. fails to disclose that the flow sensor utilizes a paddle.
Rainone et al. disclose a water flow management system utilizing a plurality of sensors (142) to monitor the conditions in an irrigation system and an interrupt controller (120) to receive control signals from an irrigation controller (110/114) and data from sensors disposed within the irrigation system (abstract). The plurality of sensors (142, 144, 146) may include flow sensors (paragraph [0020], lines 1-9), including those that utilize a paddle as a sensor component (322) (paragraph [0058]). Modifying the combination to use a flow sensor comprising a paddle would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention because a flow sensor using a paddle is a well-known flow sensor that would be well within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art. The combination of Ersavas, Wissenbach et al. and Rainone et al. fails to expressly disclose using the LoRa protocol to transfer data.
Xu et al. discloses a water saving irrigation system using the LoRa communication protocol to send information from sensors to an irrigation controller. Modifying the combination to utilize LoRa would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a protocol that allows for long distance transmission of information about different irrigation zones.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Prior art was not relied upon to reject claim 19 because the prior art of record fails to teach and/or make obvious storing the signal includes storing the plurality of signals having the signal below the threshold signal, and wherein wirelessly transmitting the signal includes wirelessly transmitting the plurality of signals when at least one of the plurality of signals exceeds the threshold signal in combination with all of the limitations of the base claim and all intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The prior art disclose various systems for monitoring irrigation systems utilizing flow sensors, relay systems, and irrigation controllers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL SEAN LARKIN whose telephone number is 571-272-2198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura Sweeney can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL S LARKIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
