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 .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant's Communication received on August 28, 2025 for application number 19/312,319. This Office hereby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and Claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 28, 2025 was submitted in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Priority
4. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2024-173438 filed on October 02, 2024.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-5 are pending in this application.
Claims 3 and 5 are objected as allowable subject matter.
Claims 1-5 are rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5 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, provided all 35 USC 112(b) issues are solved.
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 3 and 5 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, the term “an engine” in the limitation “…wherein the controller is employed in an engine that includes a first shut-off valve provided in the fuel passage and a second shut-off valve disposed closer to the fuel injection valve in the fuel passage than the first shut-off valve is, and the processing circuitry is configured to execute a control to open the second shut-off valve when a first standby time has elapsed after starting the operation of the starter motor, and after the elapse of the first standby time, open the first shut-off valve when a second standby time has elapsed…” renders the claim undefined because said term have antecedent basis issues within the claim.
Regarding claim 5, the term “an engine” in the limitation “…wherein the controller is employed in an engine that includes a first shut-off valve provided in the fuel passage and a second shut-off valve disposed closer to the fuel injection valve in the fuel passage than the first shut-off valve is, and the processing circuitry is configured to execute a control to open the second shut-off valve when the voltage of the battery exceeds a first value, and open the first shut-off valve when the voltage of the battery exceeds a second value, the second value being higher than the first value…” renders the claim undefined because said term have antecedent basis issues within the claim.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (TAKEMURA – WO 2014/091679 A1).
Regarding claim 1, TAKEMURA discloses:
An engine controller (control unit 80: Fig. 1) for controlling an engine (engine 10: Fig. 1) including a shut-off valve (shut-off valve 45: Figs. 1 and 4) provided in a fuel passage (high-pressure pipe portion 41a and low-pressure pipe portion 41b: Fig. 1) connecting a fuel tank (gas tank 42: Fig. 1) to a fuel injection valve (first injection valve 21: Fig. 1), a starter motor (starter 91: Fig. 4 and “In addition, the control unit 80 includes information indicating that starter driving (cranking) is being performed when the engine is started by driving the starter 91, and the elapsed time from the start of driving the starter 91 (cranking start)”) used to start the engine (engine 10: Fig. 1), and a battery (battery 93: Fig. 4) for supplying electric power to the shut-off valve (shut-off valve 45: Figs. 1 and 4) and the starter motor (starter 91: Fig. 4), the engine controller (control unit 80: Fig. 1) comprising:
processing circuitry (CPU 81, a ROM 82, a RAM 83, a backup RAM 84, an interface 85, and a bidirectional bus 86: Fig. 1) configured to execute an operation control of the starter motor (starter 91: Fig. 4) and an opening-closing control of the shut-off valve (shut-off valve 45: Figs. 1 and 4),
wherein, the processing circuitry (CPU 81, a ROM 82, a RAM 83, a backup RAM 84, an interface 85, and a bidirectional bus 86: Fig. 1) is configured to execute a control for opening the shut-off valve (shut-off valve 45: Figs. 1 and 4) when a predetermined valve opening condition is satisfied after a start of operation of the starter motor (starter 91: Fig. 4) {“A control signal is input from the control unit 80 to the ignition device 20a, the tank main stop valve 44, and the shutoff valve 45, and the ignition device 20a applies a high voltage according to the control signal from the control unit 80. Outputs and produces sparks in the spark plug. Further, the tank main stop valve 44 and the shutoff valve 45 are switched from the closed state to the open state in response to a control signal from the control unit 80. In addition, the control unit 80 includes information indicating that starter driving (cranking) is being performed when the engine is started by driving the starter 91, and the elapsed time from the start of driving the starter 91 (cranking start). Information indicating the start completion of the engine 10 is input as start information”: [0032]}.
Regarding claim 2, TAKEMURA disclose the engine controller according to claim 1, and further on TAKEMURA also discloses:
wherein the valve opening condition is that a predetermined standby time has elapsed since the operation of the starter motor (starter 91: Fig. 4) is started {“In addition, the control unit 80 includes information indicating that starter driving (cranking) is being performed when the engine is started by driving the starter 91, and the elapsed time from the start of driving the starter 91 (cranking start). Information indicating the start completion of the engine 10 is input as start information”: [0043]}.
Regarding claim 4, TAKEMURA disclose the engine controller according to claim 1, and further on TAKEMURA also discloses:
wherein the valve opening condition is that a voltage of the battery (battery 93: Fig. 4) exceeds a predetermined value {“In step S34, it is determined whether or not the battery voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined determination value K2. This determination value K2 is a threshold value for determining whether or not power supply for normally driving both the starter 91 and the shutoff valve 45 is possible even in a state where the regulator upstream pressure ≧ K1, in other words, for example, it is a threshold value for determining that the battery voltage has not dropped excessively” and “Now, at timing t1, a start request using gas fuel occurs. In this example, it is assumed that the regulator upstream pressure is equal to or higher than the determination value K1 at the timing t1. Further, it is assumed that the battery voltage is smaller than the determination value K2 and the injection pressure is larger than the determination value K3. In this case, cranking by the starter 91 is started in response to the start request, but the tank main stop valve 44 and the shutoff valve 45 are maintained in the closed state. At timing t1, the battery voltage temporarily decreases as the starter is driven. After timing t1, the engine speed increases due to cranking” and “When the start request occurs (timing t1), if the battery voltage is equal to or higher than the determination value K2 or the injection pressure is equal to or lower than the determination value K3, the starter driving and the opening drive of the shut-off valve 45 are performed at the timing t1. Then, the tank main stop valve 44 is driven to open at a timing delayed from the opening of the shutoff valve 45”: [0032-0067]}.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571)272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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