Appeal No. 1996-3356
Application No. 08/235,668
a whole do encompass this subject matter. Independent claim 1 recites “reading in the
sensor output signals and determining the individual components periodically at intervals
of one read-in period or one determination period being equal to or a multiple of the output
period of the actuating variable.” While it appears that appellants intended this limitation
to reference that multiple determination periods are used at the same time for different
individual components, the use of alternative language allows all of the periods to be the
same. This is taught by Hartford. Hartford also teaches at column 312 that the read-in
period also varies with or depends on the engine speed. Therefore, Hartford teaches
sampling all of the components at the same frequency and that the frequency may vary.
With respect to the limitation “adjusting the determination period of each individual
component to be dependent on the read-in periods of the sensor output signals involved in
each individual component,” we find that Hartford does not teach or fairly suggest
adjusting the determination period of each individual component to be dependent on the
read-in periods of the sensor output signals involved in each individual component. While
Hartford discloses the change of frequency of the read-in period as the engine speed
increases, we find no teaching that the adjusting of the determination period would be
made for each individual component based upon the read-in periods of the sensor output
signals involved in each individual component rather than the engine speed. Therefore,
Hartford teaches the use of each individual component for the sensor output at that time
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