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 .
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 1-4, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ansari et al., "Investigation of Distributed Moisture and Temperature Measurements in Transformers Using Fiber Optics Sensors," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY (34)4:1776-1784, ISSN: 0885- 8977, August 1, 2019, 10 pages, hereinafter Ansari in view of CN 203643330, hereinafter CN.
With respect to Claim 1, Ansari discloses a method, comprising:
providing a fiber optic-based sensing element inside a transformer at a first location adjacent to an insulator wrapped around a winding of the transformer [see fig 1 and first two paragraphs of page 1777; “Fiber optic based sensors …integrated into the winding structure of a transformer” and from para 5 “moisture measurement”];
transmitting light through the fiber optic-based sensing element; sensing optical signals based on light reflected by a grating sensor defined along a length of the fiber optic-based sensing element at the first location, the grating sensor including a first Fiber Bragg Grating [see page 1778, under working principle]; and
determining a moisture parameter of the insulator [see page 1778 “coated with a suitable polymer to absorb surrounding moistures and to characterize with respect to moisture and temperature levels.”, the coating is the insulator].
Ansari does not disclose a second Fiber Brag Grating sensor positioned within the transformer and hermetically isolated from moisture in the insulator nor that the moisture parameter is determined by comparing a current spectral response of the reflected optical signals with a reference spectral response obtained from a second fiber Bragg grating, such that a change in spectral response indicates a change in moisture content of the insulator while the transformer remain in service.
CN discloses humidity sensing for transformers [para 2] that uses a first Fiber optic [4] with Bragg grating 7, exposed to humidity via holes [3] connected to a second reference Fiber optic [11] hermetically sealed from humidity [by having no holes for humidity to enter]. Para 12 indicates that the sensed wavelengths through the fibers determines humidity accurately by having the second grating only responsive to temperature.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to add to Ansari a second Fiber Brag Grating sensor positioned within the transformer and hermetically isolated from moisture in the insulator and that the moisture parameter is determined by comparing a current spectral response of the reflected optical signals with a reference spectral response obtained from a second fiber Bragg grating, such that a change in spectral response indicates a change in moisture content of the insulator while the transformer remain in service for the benefit of more accurately determining humidity.
With respect to Claim 2, Ansari discloses that the insulator includes cellulose paper [see page 1778, section C “water content of transformer insulation paper].
With respect to Claim 3, Ansari discloses providing the fiber optic-based sensing element inside the transformer at the first location adjacent to the insulator includes: positioning the grating sensor either in immediate proximity to or in direct contact with the insulator wrapped around the winding of the transformer. Clear from fig 1, also see page 1778 “absorbs moisture and puts pressure on the bragg grating”.
With respect to Claim 4, Ansari discloses that moisture absorbed in the insulator changes a physical parameter of the insulator at the first location, and wherein a change in the current spectral response of the optical signals is indicative of the moisture parameter of the insulator at the location. See page 1778 “absorb moisture and put pressure”. The pressure is the physical parameter. “As the bragg wavelength shift was found to be linearly dependent on moisture”. And “reflected bragg grating wavelength” the wavelength shift is the spectral response.
With respect to Claim 6, CN disclose that the reference spectral response is obtained at a first point in time and wherein the current spectral response is obtained at a second point in time after the first point in time. Para 11 and 12 show that the responses are tracked over time and compared to the reference signal.
With respect to Claim 7, Ansari discloses that determining the moisture parameter of the insulator wrapped around the winding at the first location further includes: determining the moisture parameter of the insulator based on a known relationship between moisture content in the insulator and changes in the spectral response of the optical signals. See Ansari page 1778 “As the bragg wavelength shift was found to be linearly dependent on moisture”.
Response to Arguments
The applicant submitted no arguments because the examiner agreed in an interview that the proposed claim amendments would overcome the previous rejection.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX T DEVITO whose telephone number is (571)270-7551. The examiner can normally be reached 12pm- 8 pm EST M-S.
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/ALEX T DEVITO/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855