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 .
Application Status
Claims 1-11 are pending and have been examined in this application.
This communication is the first action on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
As of the date of this action, no information disclosure statement has been filed on behalf of this case.
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(s) 1, 3-5, 9, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (CN 117918263 A) to Deng in view of (WO 2006127110 A1) to McKinney.
In regards to claim 1, Deng teaches a climate-controlled animal kennel, comprising: an enclosed housing structure (Deng; 101) comprising a base, a plurality of sidewalls extending upwardly from the base, and a top cover that together define an interior chamber sized to contain an animal (Deng; see sidewalls, base, and top cover of 101 to create an enclosure); an access opening formed in one or more of the sidewalls of the housing structure (Deng; openings created around 201, 202, 2), and sized and shaped to permit ingress and egress of the animal (Deng; the opening sized for doors 201, 202, 2 allow for an animal to enter or exit); a closure operably mounted on the enclosed housing structure, the closure being movable between an open position and a closed position, and wherein the closure substantially seals the access opening when in the closed position (Deng; any of doors 201, 202, 2 which have an open and closed configuration to allow access and when closed seals the access opening by covering it; see also where the second door 201 is an inserting plate and can be inserted into the U shaped groove to lock and isolate the internal pet cabin from the exterior, being bigger than the third door 202 and when closed does not allow the use of the third door); a kennel control system for controlling temperature within the interior chamber of the enclosed housing structure (Deng; management device 8 which comprises a temperature adjusting device and a ventilating device); an HVAC unit operably mounted to the housing structure and configured to regulate the temperature within the interior chamber responsive to the kennel control system (Deng; there being a temperature and ventilating device; including an air conditioner which passes warm or cold air into the pet cabin which is a type of HVAC system); an airflow opening in the enclosed housing structure that enables airflow from the HVAC unit into the enclosed housing structure (Deng; “the air outlet of the air conditioner passes through the clapboard through the pipeline, the cold and warm air is blown into the front cabin”; there being an opening for air to flow from the HVAC into the enclosure 101); a filter that covers the airflow opening (Deng; “the filtering device … is set between the temperature adjusting device or air change device and the pet cabin 101” thereby covering the airflow opening).
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Deng fails to explicitly teach a power management system operably coupled to the HVAC unit.
McKinney teaches a power management system operably coupled to the HVAC unit (McKinney; battery 31 and AC to DC power inverters connected to thermoregulatory unit 22 [0033]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Deng such that it explicitly has a power management system operably coupled to the HVAC such as taught by McKinney. The motivation for doing so would be to provide a source of power that can be controlled.
In regards to claim 3, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, wherein the power management system comprises an inverter and a battery (McKinney; battery 31 and AC to DC power inverter [0033].
In regards to claim 4, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, further comprising a set of feet extending downwardly from the base to support the kennel above ground level (Deng; feet with wheels 6).
In regards to claim 5, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 4, wherein at least one of the feet includes a wheel, and wherein the kennel further comprises a handle to enable rolling movement of the kennel (Deng; feet with wheels 6; handle such as handle 7 which when pushed against or moved side-to-side, it would enable rolling movement of the kennel).
In regards to claim 9, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, wherein the kennel control system is configured to wirelessly receive remote instructions from a mobile application (Deng; abstract “all the devices can be controlled on the mobile phone network”).
In regards to claim 11, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, further comprising a camera positioned to monitor the interior chamber (Deng; camera 10 monitoring the interior and the pet), and a wireless communication interface configured to transmit a video feed to a remote device (Deng; to a mobile application, see Abstract, and “bidirectional communication monitoring camera 10, which can be convenient for the host to remotely observe pet cabin state” therefore configured to transmit video feed from the camera to a remote mobile device).
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Claim(s) 2, 7-8, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (CN 117918263 A) to Deng as modified by (WO 2006127110 A1) to McKinney as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of (US 20180064060 A1) to Romney.
In regards to claim 2, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, but Deng fails to explicitly teach it further comprising a temperature sensor operably mounted in the enclosed housing structure to detect a temperature in the interior chamber, wherein the HVAC unit is configured to operate based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.
Romney teaches a temperature sensor operably mounted in the enclosed housing structure to detect a temperature in the interior chamber (Romney; sensing module which can sense temperature from the enclosure or surrounding environment; such as 532, see claim 6), wherein the HVAC unit is configured to operate based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor (Romney; [0081] climate control module 226, 530 work together to maintain safe and comfortable environment by monitoring temperature, see claim 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Deng as modified by McKinney such that it has a temperature sensor which sends feedback to the HVAC unit to allow it to operate based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor in order to keep the interior temperature at a desired range or level.
In regards to claim 7, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, but fail to teach wherein the closure covering the access opening includes a sound-insulated door.
Romney teaches wherein the closure covering the access opening includes a sound-insulated door (Romney; [0042] door 101 comprises soundproofing material).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Deng such that it uses a sound-insulating material on the door and enclosure such as taught by Romney. The motivation for doing so would be to create an enclosure that dampens sounds when an animal is contained within the enclosure.
In regards to claim 8, Deng as modified by McKinney and Romney teach the kennel of claim 7, wherein the sound-insulated door includes an openable hatch configured to allow external viewing into the interior chamber (Deng; has a door 201, 202, 2 which is a door-in-door, therefore one of the smaller doors can be opened within the larger door as a hatch to allow external viewing into the interior of the container) (Romney; teaching the soundproofed door [0042]).
In regards to claim 10, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, but fail to teach wherein the housing structure is formed of or lined with insulating material to improve thermal control and/or minimize sound.
Romney teaches wherein the housing structure is formed of or lined with insulating material to improve thermal control and/or minimize sound (Romney; [0011] the enclosure having soundproofing material to minimize sound; soundproofing material such as the rigid foam/flexible foam would also improve thermal control).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Deng such that it uses a sound-insulating material on the enclosure such as taught by Romney. The motivation for doing so would be to create an enclosure that dampens sounds when an animal is contained within the enclosure.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (CN 117918263 A) to Deng as modified by (WO 2006127110 A1) to McKinney as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of (KR 20220055178 A) to Kim.
In regards to claim 6, Deng as modified by McKinney teach the kennel of claim 1, but fail to teach further comprising an environmental monitoring system configured to detect temperature and carbon dioxide levels within the interior chamber, and to trigger an alarm in the event that the temperature or the carbon dioxide levels move out of predetermined ranges of acceptable temperatures or carbon dioxide levels.
Kim teaches an environmental monitoring system configured to detect temperature and carbon dioxide levels within the interior chamber (Kim; measuring units, such as indoor temperature measuring unit 11, oxygen concentration measuring unit 13 and carbon dioxide concentration measuring unit 14), and to trigger an alarm in the event that the temperature or the carbon dioxide levels move out of predetermined ranges of acceptable temperatures or carbon dioxide levels (Kim; “can be recognized as an emergency when the carbon dioxide concentration falls sharply, and an alarm can be sent to a specific terminal through the central control unit 17”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Deng as modified by McKinney such that it monitors temperature and carbon dioxide levels within the interior chamber, and is configured to send an alert when it detects the carbon dioxide level moving out of a predetermined range such as taught by Kim. The motivation for doing so would be such that during a configuration of the enclosure where the animal is kept inside to be moved or transported, the user can be alerted to a dangerous situation for the animal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 120113612 A to Chen teaches an animal enclosure which detects temperature and carbon dioxide and adjusts the levels in response, as well as teaches an alarm which can be set with a condition for triggering where the alarm is triggered based on the data being monitored exceeding a threshold value.
US 20120085291 A1 to Conger teaches an animal enclosure and HVAC system with wheels and handles for moving the device, the enclosures having sensors for temperature and carbon dioxide.
CN 118923541 A to La teaches a HVAC system on an animal enclosure to adjust for a consistent temperature.
CN 117281051 A to Zhou teaches an animal enclosure and HVAC system with a temperature sensor and a sensor for measuring gas concentration.
US 20230217886 A1 to Kirkpatrick teaches an enclosed litterbox with with ventilation system.
US 20200060219 A1 to Levin teaches an inverter connected to a fan system.
CN 107691247 A to Liu teaches a heating cooling and ventilation system.
US 9743636 B1 to Casebolt teaches an alert being generated when a temperature threshold is exceeded.
US 5738040 A to Simmons teaches a door with a viewing window.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATELYN T TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-0023. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 8-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KIMBERLY BERONA can be reached at (571) 272-6909. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KATELYN T TRUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3647