DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 26 January 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments/Amendments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claims 1 and 11 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.
Specifically, the argument added new limitations related to data processing, and argued that the applied references did not teach such features. New references are relied upon herein to teach that the newly added processing features were known in, or obvious in view of, prior art.
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 1-10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites "wherein when a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum signal is greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of a signal of a normal frequency spectrum, the second frequency spectrum signal is defined as an abnormal frequency spectrum signal." However, claim 1 is a device claim, and this limitation is not tied to any element of said device. It is not clear how this language specifically relates to the claimed device. For the purpose of examination, claim 1 has been read as if incorporating the additional comparison and determination limitations of claim 11, and the limitation above further limits the determination. Further, these limitations are all understood to be performed by the data processing element.
Claims 2-10 depend from claim 1 and are indefinite for the same reason.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 112129523 to Song et al. (hereinafter referred to as Song), US 10,819,137 to Khoche et al. (hereinafter referred to as Khoche), and US 7,764,958 to Townsend et al. (hereinafter referred to as Townsend), 11,776,329 to Kraus, US 8,929,022 to Huang et al. (hereinafter referred to as Huang), and US 6,802,221 to Hedeen et al. (hereinafter referred to as Hedeen).
With regards to claim 1, Song teaches a transmission device (see fig. 1), comprising:
a transmission structure (box body 1) having an input end (the left side in fig. 1) and an output end opposing the input end (the right side in fig. 1); and
a sensing element (e.g., vibration sensor 21, 22, etc.) disposed on the input end of the transmission structure (see fig. 1) to sense a plurality of vibration signals of the transmission structure (the sensors detect vibration of the box body 1; abstract).
PNG
media_image1.png
384
477
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Song does not expressly teach the transmission device comprising:
a circuit board disposed on the input end of the transmission structure;
the sensing element disposed on the circuit board; and
a data processing element disposed on the circuit board and communicatively connected to the sensing element to convert the plurality of vibration signals into a first frequency spectrum signal, wherein the data processing element rounds a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal to an integer and then averages amplitudes of frequency repeaters to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal,
wherein when a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum signal is greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of a signal of a normal frequency spectrum, the second frequency spectrum signal is defined as an abnormal frequency spectrum signal.
Khoche teaches (see at least the embodiments of fig. 3, 4, 10) the feature of providing a sensing element (e.g., a vibration sensor 18/142) on a circuit board (common component substrate 24), providing a data processing element (processor 18/42/98) on the circuit board (see fig. 3) and communicatively connected to the sensing element (for transmission to the outside and optionally processing; see fig. 4 and 10, also note col. 15, ll. 25-28).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transmission device of Song such any vibration sensor includes a circuit board, sensing element, and data processing element (as well as a transmission element like an antenna) as in Khoche, and specifically such that the transmission device comprises: a circuit board disposed on the input end of the transmission structure (where Song teaches locating a vibration sensor); a sensing element disposed on the circuit board (i.e., the circuit board includes a vibration sensor); and a data processing element disposed on the circuit board and communicatively connected to the sensing element (i.e., a processor like in Khoche). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make such modification in order to be able to transmit data collected from the sensing element without the use of hard wiring.
Townsend teaches the feature of configuring a data processing element (microprocessor 29n) to convert a plurality of sensed signals into a first frequency spectrum signal, then round a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal to an integer and then average amplitudes of frequency repeaters to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal (microprocessor 29n uses average FFT compression to reduce the amount of data transmitted from a sensor node to a base station; in this compression, first data is subjected to FFT processing (corresponding to conversion into a first frequency spectrum signal), then the frequency data is divided into desired ranges/bins (corresponding to rounding the first frequency range values to an integer), then all values in each respective range/bin are averaged (corresponding to averaging amplitudes of frequency repeaters) to reduce the number of frequency data points (corresponding to obtaining a second frequency spectrum); see col. 6, ll. 32-51).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Song as modified by Khoche such that the data processing element implements the data processing technique of Townsend, and specifically such that the data processing element is configured to convert the plurality of vibration signals into a first frequency spectrum signal, and then round a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal to an integer and average amplitudes of frequency repeaters to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to reduce the amount of data transmitted over the air, save power, and allow for more channels/wireless nodes to transmit simultaneously (Townsend; col. 6, ll. 44-61).
Kraus teaches the feature of establishing a baseline frequency spectrum for a machine or part being monitored, and comparing this baseline, which is established when the machine or part is in a normal state, to a measured frequency spectrum to establish when there has been a frequency shift over time and with this change determine that the machine or part is in an abnormal (i.e., damaged) state (col. 8, l. 14 to col. 10, l. 15). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply such a processing technique to the teachings of Song, Khoche, and Townsend, and specifically to compare the second frequency spectrum signal with a comparison signal (a baseline) to determine whether the transmission structure is abnormal, wherein the comparison signal is a normal frequency spectrum presented by the vibration signals generated by the transmission structure in a normal state. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to track and monitor the transmission structure to determine when wear or damage has occurred as in Kraus (col. 9, ll. 1-5).
In the field of component failure analysis, Huang teaches the feature of counting the number of times spectral frequency components in a signal exceed a given threshold value, and determining there to be component degradation when this count is greater than another threshold value (col. 4, ll. 12-25). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply such a frequency-count technique to the device of Song et al., and similarly count the number of frequencies in the second frequency spectrum signal exceeding a given first threshold, and when this count is greater than a given second threshold relative to a baseline system as per Kraus, define the second frequency spectrum signal an abnormal frequency spectrum signal (i.e., determine this signal to be indicative of wear, damage, or a fault). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to enable determination of wear, damage, or a fault using a simple comparison of numbers, and therefore save on processing resources.
As for the second threshold being greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies in a normal frequency spectrum, this is not expressly taught in the references. Still, 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 Song et al. such that the comparison with a baseline frequency spectrum checks whether a count of frequency peaks is greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies in a normal frequency spectrum, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). In the instant case, the amount by which a measured second frequency spectrum variable is to differ from a baseline before a determination is made is clearly a result effective variable, and one of ordinary skill in the art would carefully consider this difference before settling on any particular value. Too high of a threshold value may miss certain wear/damage/failure modes, and conversely, too low of a threshold value may return false positives. One of ordinary skill in the art would select the appropriate threshold for comparison in a way that balances such factors.
As for the first threshold, in the claim defined as an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum, Hedeen, also in the field of component failure analysis, teaches that it is known to define peaks in a frequency spectrum based on a threshold defined as an average amplitude of a frequency spectrum (col. 4, ll. 12-32). Note that the claim is not limited to any particular technique for calculating an average amplitude. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to similarly adopt a first threshold in the device of Song et al. that is defined as an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum (across a population as per Hedeen), in order to ensure that only relevant peaks in the spectrum are analyzed and thus ensure the efficient use of resources.
With regards to claim 2, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. Song further teaches the transmission structure being a deceleration structure (the gear set of fig. 1 reduces the speed at the input stage and outputs a lower speed at the output stage, as is clear from the discussion of measurement frequencies in at least [0049]).
With regards to claim 3, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 2. Song further teaches the deceleration structure being in a form of a gear set (see the title, [0027], etc.; the depicted transmission device is a gear box).
With regards to claim 4, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. Song further teaches the input end of the transmission structure having an input shaft (the input stage reduction assembly includes an input shaft; [0043]), and the output end of the transmission structure has an output shaft (the output stage reduction assembly includes components such as shafts; [0046]).
With regards to claim 5, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. In the applied combination, the circuit board, the data processing element and the sensing element are integrated into an electronic module (e.g., a discrete wireless sensing unit 12/140 for sensing and transmitting vibrations as per Khoche).
With regards to claim 6, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. Song further teaches the sensing element being an accelerometer (the sensors are "vibration acceleration sensors" in Song; see [0049]) or a temperature sensor.
With regards to claim 7, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. In the applied combination, the data processing element is a microcontroller (described with respect to fig. 4 in col. 7, ll. 64-65 of Khoche).
With regards to claim 8, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 1. As applied, Khoche further teaches a data transmission element (wireless transceiver 20/antenna 36-40) communicatively connected to the data processing element (see fig. 3, 4, 10 of Khoche).
With regards to claim 9, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 8. This combination further teaches the data transmission element being in a form of an antenna (wireless transceiver 20/antenna 36-40 is, in practice if not in name, an antenna).
With regards to claim 10, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the transmission device of claim 8. In the applied combination, the data transmission element is disposed on the circuit board (as per at least fig. 3 and 4 of Khoche), and the circuit board, the data processing element, the sensing element and the data transmission element are integrated into an electronic module (e.g., a discrete wireless sensing unit 12/140 for sensing and transmitting vibrations as per Khoche).
With regards to claim 11, Song teaches a state monitoring method of a transmission structure (box body 1), comprising:
providing a transmission device (see fig. 1) comprising the transmission structure (box body 1) having an input end (the left side in fig. 1) and an output end opposing the input end (the right side in fig. 1), and a sensing element (e.g., vibration sensor 21, 22, etc.) disposed on the input end of the transmission structure (see fig. 1);
sensing a plurality of vibration signals of the transmission structure via the sensing element ([0042], etc.); and
analyzing the vibration signals to determine whether the transmission structure is abnormal (although specific analysis is not discussed; see [0044]).
Song does not expressly teach:
providing a circuit board disposed on the input end of the transmission structure, a sensing element disposed on the circuit board, and a data processing element disposed on the circuit board and communicatively connected to the sensing element;
converting the plurality of vibration signals into a first frequency spectrum signal via the data processing element, wherein a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal is rounded to an integer and then amplitudes of frequency repeaters are averaged via the data processing element to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal; and
comparing the second frequency spectrum signal with a comparison signal to determine whether the transmission structure is abnormal, wherein the comparison signal is a normal frequency spectrum presented by the vibration signals generated by the transmission structure in a normal state,
wherein when a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum signal is greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies exceeding an average amplitude of a signal of a normal frequency spectrum, the second frequency spectrum signal is defined as an abnormal frequency spectrum signal.
Khoche teaches (see at least the embodiments of fig. 3, 4, 10) the feature of providing a sensing element (e.g., a vibration sensor 18/142) on a circuit board (common component substrate 24), providing a data processing element (processor 18/42/98) on the circuit board (see fig. 3) and communicatively connected to the sensing element (for transmission to the outside and optionally processing; see fig. 4 and 10, also note col. 15, ll. 25-28).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the transmission device of Song such any vibration sensor includes a circuit board, sensing element, and data processing element (as well as a transmission element like an antenna) as in Khoche, and specifically such that the transmission device comprises: a circuit board disposed on the input end of the transmission structure (where Song teaches locating a vibration sensor); a sensing element disposed on the circuit board (i.e., the circuit board includes a vibration sensor); and a data processing element disposed on the circuit board and communicatively connected to the sensing element (i.e., a processor like in Khoche). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make such modification in order to be able to transmit data collected from the sensing element without the use of hard wiring.
Townsend teaches the feature of configuring a data processing element (microprocessor 29n) to
convert a plurality of sensed signals into a first frequency spectrum signal, then round a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal to an integer and average amplitudes of frequency repeaters to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal (microprocessor 29n uses average FFT compression to reduce the amount of data transmitted from a sensor node to a base station; in this compression, first data is subjected to FFT processing (corresponding to conversion into a first frequency spectrum signal), then the frequency data is divided into desired ranges/bins (corresponding to rounding the first frequency range values to an integer), then all values in each respective range/bin are averaged (corresponding to averaging amplitudes of frequency repeaters) to reduce the number of frequency data points (corresponding to obtaining a second frequency spectrum); see col. 6, ll. 32-51).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Song as modified by Khoche such that the data processing element implements the data processing technique of Townsend, and specifically such that the data processing element is configured to convert the plurality of vibration signals into a first frequency spectrum signal, and then round a frequency range of the first frequency spectrum signal to an integer and average amplitudes of frequency repeaters to obtain a second frequency spectrum signal. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to reduce the amount of data transmitted over the air, save power, and allow for more channels/wireless nodes to transmit simultaneously (Townsend; col. 6, ll. 44-61).
Kraus teaches the feature of establishing a baseline frequency spectrum for a machine or part being monitored, and comparing this baseline, which is established when the machine or part is in a normal state, to a measured frequency spectrum to establish when there has been a frequency shift over time and with this change determine that the machine or part is in an abnormal (i.e., damaged) state (col. 8, l. 14 to col. 10, l. 15). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply such a processing technique to the teachings of Song, Khoche, and Townsend, and specifically to compare the second frequency spectrum signal with a comparison signal (a baseline) to determine whether the transmission structure is abnormal, wherein the comparison signal is a normal frequency spectrum presented by the vibration signals generated by the transmission structure in a normal state. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to track and monitor the transmission structure to determine when wear or damage has occurred as in Kraus (col. 9, ll. 1-5).
In the field of component failure analysis, Huang teaches the feature of counting the number of times spectral frequency components in a signal exceed a given threshold value, and determining there to be component degradation when this count is greater than another threshold value (col. 4, ll. 12-25). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply such a frequency-count technique to the method of Song et al., and similarly count the number of frequencies in the second frequency spectrum signal exceeding a given first threshold, and when this count is greater than a given second threshold relative to a baseline system as per Kraus, define the second frequency spectrum signal an abnormal frequency spectrum signal (i.e., determine this signal to be indicative of wear, damage, or a fault). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so in order to enable determination of wear, damage, or a fault using a simple comparison of numbers, and therefore save on processing resources.
As for the second threshold being greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies in a normal frequency spectrum, this is not expressly taught in the references. Still, 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 method of Song et al. such that the comparison with a baseline frequency spectrum checks whether a count of frequency peaks is greater than 1.5 times a number of frequencies in a normal frequency spectrum, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). In the instant case, the amount by which a measured second frequency spectrum variable is to differ from a baseline before a determination is made is clearly a result effective variable, and one of ordinary skill in the art would carefully consider this difference before settling on any particular value. Too high of a threshold value may miss certain wear/damage/failure modes, and conversely, too low of a threshold value may return false positives. One of ordinary skill in the art would select the appropriate threshold for comparison in a way that balances such factors.
As for the first threshold, in the claim defined as an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum, Hedeen, also in the field of component failure analysis, teaches that it is known to define peaks in a frequency spectrum based on a threshold defined as an average amplitude of a frequency spectrum (col. 4, ll. 12-32). Note that the claim is not limited to any particular method for calculating an average amplitude. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to similarly adopt a first threshold in the method of Song et al. that is defined as an average amplitude of the second frequency spectrum (across a population as per Hedeen), in order to ensure that only relevant peaks in the spectrum are analyzed and thus ensure the efficient use of resources.
With regards to claim 12, the combination of Song, Khoche, Townsend, Kraus, Huang, and Hedeen teaches the state monitoring method of the transmission structure of claim 11. This combination further teaches the frequency spectrum signal being subtracted from the comparison signal to determine an abnormal cause of the transmission structure (col. 8, ll. 56-62; Kraus).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James Split whose telephone number is (571)270-1524. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 3:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached at (571)272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JS/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/JUDY NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858