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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 11, 2026 has been entered.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on March 11, 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of Patent 11592496 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed on: March 11, 2026.
Claims 1-5 and 10-24 are currently pending. Claims 1-3 and 5 have been amended. Claim 9 was previously cancelled. Claims 6-8 are cancelled. Claims 21-24 are new.
Response to Arguments
Double Patenting
Applicant’s arguments, see REMARKS page 7, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-8 and 10-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-8 and 10-20 has been withdrawn.
Rejections raised under 35 U.S.C. §103
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claims 21-24 are objected to because of the following informalities: Each of these claims recite the limitation “The system” in line 1. The claims must maintain consistent naming of limitations used throughout the claims. Claim 1 recites a “high voltage system”, thus the dependent claims should refer back to the system as “the high voltage system”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: This claim recites the limitation “Brillouin Optical Time Doman Analysis (BOTDA)” in line 2. There appears to be a typographical error in the word “Doman” and is meant to be “Domain”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schrammel US2018/0033545 (applicant disclosed art), in view of Hoang et al. US2007/0171958 (called Hoang hereinafter and previously cited) and further in view of Nieva et al. US2017/0131357 (called Nieva hereinafter and newly cited).
Regarding independent claim 1, Schrammel teaches a high voltage system (Fig. 4) comprising: a core (core of transformer 4 is shown in Fig. 4; para [0048]) having:
a bottom plate (Fig. 4; plate 6);
two or more limbs mounted to the bottom plate (Fig. 4; limbs 10 mounted to the plates 6 and 8 through yoke 11); and
a top plate (Fig. 4; plate 8) mounted to the two or more limbs to enclose the core (Fig. 4; para [0048]), wherein at least one of the bottom plate, the top plate and a limb is formed with a sensing component therein (a sensor that detects the respective unidirectional flux to be compensated; para [0048]); and
a winding assembly wound around each respective limb (Fig. 4; windings 12’ and 12’’ associated with each limb 10; para [0048]).
Schrammel fails to teach wherein the sensing component comprises an optical fiber for transmitting an optical signal.
Hoang teaches wherein the sensing component comprises an optical fiber for transmitting an optical signal (Fig. 1; para [0009 and 0023]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure as described by Schrammel with the optical fiber sensing as described by Hoang for the purpose of determining the temperature and the condition of the materials in a transformer so to monitor when maintenance is needed.
Schrammel and Hoang fail to teach operable to detect an operating condition at a plurality of regions of the sensing component.
Nieva teaches wherein the sensing component comprises an optical fiber (Fig. 17; para [0068]) for transmitting an optical signal and operable to detect an operating condition at a plurality of regions of the sensing component (para [0068]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure as described by Schrammel and Hoang with the multiple sensors in optical fiber as described by Nieva for the purpose of monitoring characteristics of a device while having the advantages that an optical fiber provides, such as, immunity to EMI, robustness to corrosive environments and a small form factor (para [0006-0007]).
Regarding claim 21, Schrammel, Hoang and Nieva teach the system of claim 1, Nieva further teaches wherein the operating condition detected at a plurality of regions of the sensing component is at least one operating condition selected from the group consisting of: a temperature change and a strain change (para [0068]; the optical fiber used to determine a temperature).
Claim(s) 22-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schrammel, in view of Hoang, in view of Nieva and further in view of Yamamoto US2008/0193126 (newly cited).
Regarding claim 22, Schrammel, Hoang and Nieva teach the system of claim 21, Nieva further teaches further comprising: - an optical signal processing component (Figs. 5 and 6; interrogation system 42) for: - receiving an input optical signal from an optical source (para [0069]; light source); - transmitting a version of the input optical signal to the sensing component (Figs. 5 and 6; Input light), wherein the version of the input optical signal is defined with a carrier frequency characterized for the sensing component (para [0068]; each sensing point has a specific wavelength); and - receiving a plurality of reflected optical data signals from the sensing component in response to an interaction between the sensing component and the version of the input optical signal (para [0068]; multiple sensing points with their own respective wavelengths are reflected back to the system interrogation system 42); and - a processor for analyzing the plurality of reflected optical data signals to detect one or more operating conditions within the transformer (Fig. 6; microprocessor 54; para [0068]).
Schrammel, Hoang and Nieva fail to teach wherein the version of the input optical signal is defined with a carrier frequency at a Brillouin value characterized for the sensing component.
Yamamoto teaches wherein the version of the input optical signal is defined with a carrier frequency at a Brillouin value characterized for the sensing component (para [0009]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure as described by Schrammel, Hoang and Nieva with the frequencies used in measuring the Brillouin gain as described by Yamamoto for the purpose of allowing multiple temperature measurements to be made on a optical fiber in a small amount of time (para [0009]).
Regarding claim 23, Schrammel, Hoang, Nieva and Yamamoto teach the system of claim 22, Yamamoto further teaches wherein the optical signal processing component is further configured to apply a Brillouin Optical Time Doman Analysis (BOTDA) (para [0109]; BOTDA).
Regarding claim 24, Schrammel, Hoang, Nieva and Yamamoto teach the system of claim 23, Nieva further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to generate a fault detection output based at least on the operating condition (para [0010]; measuring temperature in a device with the temperature showing potential damage to the device), wherein generating the fault detection output comprising determining a fault location (para [0010]; the temperature measurements show a potential fault location within the device).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-20 are indicated as allowable subject matter.
Claims 2-5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, the prior arts of record taken alone or in combination fail to teach or suggest:
“wherein: at least one component selected from the group consisting of: - the at least one of the bottom plate; - the top plate; and - one or more of the limbs, comprises at least one sensing layer within a stack of laminated layers, each sensing layer comprising a spacer layer with the sensing component mounted therein; and an electrical coupling between laminated layers neighboring the sensing layer.”
Claims 3-5 are indicated as allowable subject matter for depending on claim 2.
Regarding independent claim 10, the prior arts of record taken alone or in combination fail to teach or suggest:
“forming a core sensing element by: mounting a sensing component to a spacer layer to form a sensing layer; compressing the sensing layer within a stack of laminated layers; and providing an electrical coupling between laminated layers neighboring the sensing layer; and assembling the core using at least the core sensing element,” when used in combination with all other limitations of claim 10.
Claims 11-20 are indicated as allowable subject matter for depending on claim 10.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhou et al. discloses “Temperature sensor using an optical fiber” (see US2009/0123109)
Lagakos et al. discloses “Fiber optic sensor system for detection of electric currents and other phenomena associated with geomagnetic disturbances” (see US10107839)
Yakymyshyn et al. discloses “Current sensor” (see US2005/0156587)
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/DAVID B FREDERIKSEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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