DETAILED ACTION
The office action is in response to original application filed on 12-20-24. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application and have been examined.
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 filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b) (3). Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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 1-2, 4 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by US 2017/0063151 to Freitag et al. (“Freitag”).
Regarding claim 1, Freitag teaches a circuit breaker module (fig. 2, electrical circuit breakers 54) for an aircraft power distribution system (fig. 5, 200, [0032], [0038]) comprising: a power input configured to receive power and data (fig. 2 and [0032]) from a power distribution bus (abstract, plurality of power supply lines); a power output configured to supply at least power to a load (57, fig. 2; [0044]); a transceiver configured for signal communication (32, fig. 2) with a primary controller (17) in the aircraft power distribution system by way of the power distribution bus; a circuit breaker comprising a power switch (54 and the switches shown to the left of each 54 in fig. 2) coupled with the power input and the power output and operable between a closed state (para; 0010, plurality of power output interfaces, each configured to be connected to one or more electrical loads and to supply electrical power from one of the first power supply interfaces to the connected electrical loads) wherein the power output is connected to the power input, and an open state wherein the power output is disconnected (para; 0007, each RDC being adapted to supply electrical power to the input/output device through its respective I/O, wherein each RDC includes a switch for isolating the input/output device) from the power input; and a controller (56, fig. 2) communicatively coupled with the circuit breaker and the transceiver; the controller configured to operate the power switch based on a controller signal ([ 0047], the ENMF 55 sends an essential status configuration signal to the linked PADD modules 10) received by the transceiver from the primary controller (fig. 3, 17 and 32 electrically connected).
Regarding claim 2, Freitag teaches the controller is further configured to transmit a signal ([0047]) to the primary controller in the aircraft power distribution system indicative of at least one of a communication frequency or a communication status ([ 0053]).
Regarding claim 4, Freitag teaches the primary controller is configured to receive a first message ([ 0053]) at a first communication frequency ([ 0058]) from the circuit breaker module (fig. 2, electrical circuit breakers 54) .
Regarding claim 17, Freitag teaches the power distribution bus supplies a power along an electrical line (fig. 2, P).
Regarding claim 18, Freitag teaches the primary controller is included in a primary communication module ([ 0053]) and the circuit breaker module is a secondary communication module ([ 0010]).
Regarding claim 19, Freitag teaches the primary communication module comprises a primary transceiver (para; 0054, PADD module 10 may comprise a wireless transceiver 32) configured to receive and transmit data through the power distribution bus (para; 0019).
Regarding claim 20, Freitag teaches the circuit breaker module is included in a plurality of circuit breaker modules (fig. 2, electrical circuit breakers 54) of the aircraft power distribution system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 12, 14 and 16 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 3 indicated as containing allowable subject matter because prior art fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination all of the limitations of claim 3, especially wherein the signal has a signal quality that comprises a bit error ratio, and wherein a need to improve the signal quality is indicated when the bit error ratio is in a range between 10-9 – 1.
Claim 5 indicated as containing allowable subject matter because prior art fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination all of the limitations of claim 5, especially wherein the primary controller is configured to compare a signal quality of the first message with a quality threshold indicative of a need to improve the signal quality.
Claim 12 indicated as containing allowable subject matter because prior art fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination all of the limitations of claim 12, especially wherein the controller is configured to determine when communication has been lost with the primary controller.
Claim 14 indicated as containing allowable subject matter because prior art fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination all of the limitations of claim 14, especially wherein the primary controller is configured to: determine a communication loss between the primary controller and the circuit breaker module; and initiate a change in communication frequency to a predetermined value when the communication loss is determined.
Claim 16 indicated as containing allowable subject matter because prior art fails to teach or suggest, either alone or in combination all of the limitations of claim 16, especially wherein the transceiver and the power switch are integrated into a single solid-state chip such that the circuit breaker module defines a solid-state circuit breaker.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Berkcan et al. US 2004/0024475 A1- system is provided. The power distribution system includes a plurality of circuit breakers, a plurality of node electronic units, and wherein each associated circuit breaker is electrically coupled with each respective node electronic unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ESAYAS G YESHAW whose telephone number is (571)270-1959. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Sat 9AM-7PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Menna Youssef can be reached at 5712703684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ESAYAS G YESHAW/Examiner, Art Unit 2849
/DANIEL C PUENTES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849