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 25 March 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-10 and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terre et al., US PG-Pub 2017/0208260, hereinafter Terre, in view of Szabo et al., US PG-Pub 2015/0172545, hereinafter Szabo.
Regarding Claim 1, Terre teaches a rescue guidance system (host device 102), comprising:
a thermal imager (infrared sensors 132) mountable on a wearer (user 1203) of a self-contained breathing apparatus pack (self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) 1300) and capturing thermal image data of an area at least partially surrounded by the wearer ([0160]-[0161], “infrared imaging modules 1204 may be configured to capture, process, and/or otherwise manage thermal images (e.g., images including thermal radiation data) of external environment 1230”) including;
a display unit (display 197) configured for mounting within a face shield (shield 1202; Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions) associated with the self-contained breathing apparatus in a field of view of the wearer ([0167], “Projector 1206 may be positioned so as to selectively project user-viewable thermal images onto an inner surface of shield 1202”), the display unit including a plurality of light elements (projector 1208) configured as directional indicators relative to the wearer ([0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”); and
a controller (processor 1208) receiving the image data ([0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204”) and determining a location of a person within the thermal image data and correlating the location of the person within the thermal image data to an approximate location of the person relative to the wearer ([0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204, and to process the thermal images to generate user-viewable thermal images (e.g., thermograms) of external environment 1230.”) and illuminating a selected one of the plurality of directional indicators approximately corresponding with a direction of the location of the person relative the wearer ([0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”).
However, Terre does not explicitly teach the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements.
Szabo teaches the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements (Szabo: [0181], “display 197 may be implemented with an electronic display screen such as a . . . light-emitting-diode (LED)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the LEDs taught by Szabo into the device taught by Terre in order to provide images to the user (Szabo: [0181]), thereby providing a higher quality display device.
Regarding Claim 2, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED light elements are configured as the directional indicators by being arranged in an array with respective ones of the LED light elements corresponding to respective directions relative to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 4, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1, wherein:
the display unit further includes an LED light element configured as a detection indicator (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18 and 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]); and
the controller is further configured to determine a presence of a person within the thermal image data and to illuminate the detection indicator responsive to detecting a person within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 5, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to:
detect multiple people within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]);
determine a number of the multiple people within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]); and
illuminate the detection indicator according to a pattern of activations and deactivations indicating the number of the multiple people detected within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 6, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1, further including a communication module (Szabo: communications module 2122) coupled with the controller (Szabo: Fig. 17, and corresponding descriptions; [0210]) and configured to communicate with an external communication module associated with another wearer (Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]), wherein:
the controller is further configured to determine a location of the another wearer relative to the wearer and to cause illumination of a selected one of the directional indicators approximately corresponding with the location of the another wearer relative to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22 and 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]).
Regarding Claim 7, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1, wherein the display unit is mounted in a housing (Terre: mask frame 1301) configured to fit along a lower edge of the face shield adjacent a portion of a respirator unit of a mask (Terre: [0176]) that includes the face shield and the respirator with the respirator positioned below the face shield (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the display unit is mounted to the frame on a lower edge of the face shield and adjacent to the respirator unit).
Regarding Claim 8, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1, wherein the display unit is a projector (Terre: projector 1208) configured to project an image including at least an illuminated one of the plurality of LED light elements onto the face shield in a location visible to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 9, Terre teaches a self-contained breathing apparatus (self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) 1300), comprising:
a mask (mask frame 1301) including a face shield (shield 1202) positionable over at least the eyes of a wearer (user 1203; Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0176], “SCBA 1300 may be implemented as a face mask”);
a pack configured for mounting an air tank to the body of the wearer (Figs. 13A-14B; [0176], “SCBA 1300 may be implemented to attach to a portable air supply (e.g., one or more high-pressure air tanks) and may further include an inhalation connection (e.g., a mouthpiece or orinasal cover and a hose connector) to the air supply. . . . SCBA 1300 may be configured for underwater use as a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA)”); and
a rescue guidance system ([0184]), including:
a thermal imager (infrared sensors 132) mountable on the harness and capturing thermal image data of an area at least partially surrounded by the wearer ([0160]-[0161], “infrared imaging modules 1204 may be configured to capture, process, and/or otherwise manage thermal images (e.g., images including thermal radiation data) of external environment 1230”);
a display unit (display 197) configured for mounting within the mask adjacent the face shield (Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions), the display unit including a plurality of light elements (projector 1208) configured as directional indicators relative to the wearer ([0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”); and
a controller (processor 1208) receiving the image data ([0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204”) and determining a location of a person within the thermal image data and correlating the location of the person within the thermal image data to an approximate location of the person relative to the wearer ([0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204, and to process the thermal images to generate user-viewable thermal images (e.g., thermograms) of external environment 1230.”) and illuminating a selected one of the plurality of directional indicators approximately corresponding with a direction of the location of the person relative the wearer ([0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”).
However, Terre does not explicitly teach the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements.
Szabo teaches the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements (Szabo: [0181], “display 197 may be implemented with an electronic display screen such as a . . . light-emitting-diode (LED)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the LEDs taught by Szabo into the device taught by Terre in order to provide images to the user (Szabo: [0181]), thereby providing a higher quality display device.
Regarding Claim 10, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of LED light elements are configured as the directional indicators by being arranged in an array with respective ones of the LED light elements corresponding to respective directions relative to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 12, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9, wherein:
the display unit further includes an LED light element configured as a detection indicator (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18 and 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]); and
the controller is further configured to determine a presence of a person within the thermal image data and to illuminate the detection indicator responsive to detecting a person within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 13, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to:
detect multiple people within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]);
determine a number of the multiple people within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]); and
illuminate the detection indicator according to a pattern of activations and deactivations indicating the number of the multiple people detected within the thermal image data (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 14, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9, further including a communication module (Szabo: communications module 2122) coupled with the controller (Szabo: Fig. 17, and corresponding descriptions; [0210]) and configured to communicate with an external communication module associated with another wearer (Szabo: Figs. 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]), wherein:
the controller is further configured to determine a location of the another wearer relative to the wearer and to cause illumination of a selected one of the directional indicators approximately corresponding with the location of the another wearer relative to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22 and 17-18, and corresponding descriptions; [0211]).
Regarding Claim 15, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the display unit is mounted in a housing (Terre: mask frame 1301) configured to fit along a lower edge of the face shield in a field of view of the wearer and adjacent a portion of a respirator unit of the mask positioned below the face shield (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the display unit is mounted to the frame on a lower edge of the face shield and adjacent to the respirator unit).
Regarding Claim 16, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the display unit is a projector (Terre: projector 1208) configured to project an image including at least an illuminated one of the plurality of LED light elements onto the face shield in a location visible to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 17, Terre teaches a mask ([0176], “SCBA 1300 may be implemented as a face mask”) useable in a self contained breathing apparatus system (self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) 1300), comprising:
a face shield (shield 1202) positionable over at least the eyes of a wearer (user 1203; Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0176], “SCBA 1300 may be implemented as a face mask”);
a respirator unit ([0176]) positioned below the face shield (Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the respirator unit is below a portion of the face shield) and connectable with an air tank (Figs. 13A-14B; [0176], “SCBA 1300 may be implemented to attach to a portable air supply (e.g., one or more high-pressure air tanks) and may further include an inhalation connection (e.g., a mouthpiece or orinasal cover and a hose connector) to the air supply”); and
a display unit (display 197) configured for mounting within the mask adjacent the face shield (Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions), the display unit including a plurality of light elements (projector 1208) configured as directional indicators relative to the wearer ([0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”).
However, Terre does not explicitly teach the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements.
Szabo teaches the display unit including a plurality of LED light elements (Szabo: [0181], “display 197 may be implemented with an electronic display screen such as a . . . light-emitting-diode (LED)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the LEDs taught by Szabo into the device taught by Terre in order to provide images to the user (Szabo: [0181]), thereby providing a higher quality display device.
Regarding Claim 18, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the mask of claim 17, wherein the display unit is mounted in a housing (Terre: mask frame 1301) configured to fit along a lower edge of the face shield adjacent a portion of a respirator unit (Terre: [0176]) in a field of view of the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the display unit is mounted to the frame on a lower edge of the face shield and adjacent to the respirator unit).
Regarding Claim 19, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the mask of claim 17, wherein the display unit is a projector (Terre: projector 1208) configured to project an image including at least an illuminated one of the plurality of LED light elements onto the face shield in a location visible to the wearer (Terre: Figs. 13A-14B, and corresponding descriptions; [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”; Szabo: Figs. 20A-22, and corresponding descriptions).
Regarding Claim 20, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the mask of claim 17, wherein the display unit is usable in a rescue guidance system further including:
a thermal imager (Terre: infrared sensors 132) capturing thermal image data of an area at least partially surrounded by the wearer including (Terre: [0160]-[0161], “infrared imaging modules 1204 may be configured to capture, process, and/or otherwise manage thermal images (e.g., images including thermal radiation data) of external environment 1230”); and
a controller (Terre: processor 1208) connected with the thermal imager and the display unit, receiving the image data (Terre: [0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204”) and determining a location of a person within the thermal image data, correlating the location of the person within the thermal image data to an approximate location of the person relative to the wearer (Terre: [0165], “Processor 1208 may be configured to receive one or more thermal images captured by infrared imaging module 1204, and to process the thermal images to generate user-viewable thermal images (e.g., thermograms) of external environment 1230.”), and illuminating a selected one of the plurality of directional indicators approximately corresponding with a direction of the location of the person relative the wearer (Terre: [0184], “SCBA 1300 advantageously allows user 1203 (e.g., firefighters, emergency personnel, divers, or anyone wearing SCBA 1300 for protection from an external environment) to comfortably view a user-viewable thermal image 1340 that helps user 1203 to recognize much more about an external environment (e.g., see through smoke, water or in darkness, discern victims or other objects, detect the base of fire, detect the temperature of objects, detect invisible gas leaks, or other phenomena) than what can be seen through the naked eye”).
Claims 3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terre, as modified by Szabo, as applied to claim 1 or 9 above, and further in view of Landis et al., US PG-Pub 2024/0184507, hereinafter Landis.
Regarding Claim 3, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the rescue guidance system of claim 1. However, Terre, as modified by Szabo, does not explicitly teach wherein the controller is further configured to illuminate the selected one of the direction indicators according to a pattern of activations and deactivations approximately indicating a distance of the person relative to the wearer.
Landis teaches wherein the controller is further configured to illuminate the selected one of the direction indicators according to a pattern of activations and deactivations approximately indicating a distance of the person relative to the wearer (Landis: Figs 4A-4B and 8-10, and corresponding descriptions; [0074], [0079] and [0096]-[0099]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the distance determinations taught by Landis into the device taught by Terre, as modified by Szabo, in order to provide a critical message about the user’s whereabouts to the user (Landis: [0079]), thereby allowing for increased user safety and hazardous environment avoidance for the user.
Regarding Claim 11, Terre, as modified by Szabo, teaches the self-contained breathing apparatus of claim 9. However, Terre, as modified by Szabo, does not explicitly teach wherein the controller is further configured to illuminate the selected one of the direction indicators according to a pattern of activations and deactivations approximately indicating a distance of the person relative to the wearer.
Landis teaches wherein the controller is further configured to illuminate the selected one of the direction indicators according to a pattern of activations and deactivations approximately indicating a distance of the person relative to the wearer (Landis: Figs 4A-4B and 8-10, and corresponding descriptions; [0074], [0079] and [0096]-[0099]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the distance determinations taught by Landis into the device taught by Terre, as modified by Szabo, in order to provide a critical message about the user’s whereabouts to the user (Landis: [0079]), thereby allowing for increased user safety and hazardous environment avoidance for the user.
Conclusion
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STEPHEN T. REED
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2627
/Stephen T. Reed/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
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