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 .
Priority
1. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for priority based on provisional application filed on 05/24/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/23/2023 and 03/04/20245 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Priest et al US (2018/0249343) and further in view of Beiro et al (U.S. 20200317336).
3. As per claim 1 Priest disclosed an apparatus comprising:
a deployment apparatus releasably attached to a power line measurement device at one or more points [Due to the fact that cell sites 10 are numerous and diversely deployed in the geographic region 300, an ability to fly the UAV 50 at the cell sites 10 and between adjacent cell sites 10 creates an opportunity to fly the UAV 50 across the geographic region 300, for numerous applications] (Paragraph. 0110);
a support frame configured to be selectively and releasably coupled to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) [performing an augmented reality add-in of equipment or structures therein include obtaining data capture of the telecommunications site utilizing a plurality of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)] (Paragraph. 0009); and
at least one attachment line connecting the deployment apparatus to the support frame [In an exemplary embodiment, multiple point cloud data files can be stored in the UAV 50, allowing the UAV 50 to be deployed to perform the method 2100 at a plurality of cell sites 10] (Paragraph. 0180).
However, Priest did not disclose, “wherein the power line measurement device is configured to determine measurement data by measuring a width of a live electrical power line and/or a splice on the electrical power line”.
In the same field of endeavor Beiro disclosed, “Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution for energy companies for taking resistance measurements of high voltage lines using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, often called drones), greatly reducing the manpower, cost, liability, and time to check splices. The methodology can be further expanded to enable other contact live-line work conducted through unmanned systems. Embodiments of the invention can drastically change the way power lines are inspected and maintained (Paragraph. 0026).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing was made to have incorporated Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution for energy companies for taking resistance measurements of high voltage lines using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, often called drones), greatly reducing the manpower, cost, liability, and time to check splices. The methodology can be further expanded to enable other contact live-line work conducted through unmanned systems. Embodiments of the invention can drastically change the way power lines are inspected and maintained as taught by Beiro in the method and system of Priest to make the inspection of the components of the electrical power lines efficient and cost effective.
4. As per claim 2 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a fixed jaw and the movable jaw (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027). Claim 2 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
5. As per claim 3 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the movable jaw of the power line measurement device is configured to grip onto the electrical power line and/or the splice based on a movement upon the electrical power line (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027). Claim 3 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
6. As per claim 4 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a prism that displays the measurement data to be viewed by a camera of the UAV (Priest, Paragraph. 0206).
7. As per claim 5 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a mirror that displays the measurement data to be viewed by a camera of the UAV (Priest, Paragraph. 0206).
8. As per claim 6 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a digital caliper that includes a digital display screen (Priest, Paragraph. 0186).
9. As per claim 7 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the apparatus further comprises one or more corona rings coupled to the power line measurement device (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027). Claim 7 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
10. As per claim 8 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a linear probe coupled to a pair of jaws in an inner vertex formed between the pair of jaws (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027). Claim 8 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
11. As per claim 9 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the at least one attachment line comprises flexible dielectric connection lines (Beiro, Paragraph. 0031). Claim 9 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
12. As per claim 10 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the deployment apparatus comprises: a main bar; a mounting adapter; and a crossbar affixed perpendicularly to the main bar via the mounting adapter (Beiro, Paragraph. 0040). Claim 10 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
13. As per claim 11 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein: the plurality of attachment lines comprises a first, a second, and a third attachment line; the first attachment line is connected to a first end of the crossbar; the second attachment line is connected to a second end of the crossbar; and a third attachment line is connected a back end of the main bar (Beiro, Paragraph. 0040). Claim 11 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
14. As per claim 12 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the power line measurement device comprises a pair of guide rods attached to an attachment bracket (Beiro, Paragraph. 0048). Claim 12 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
15. As per claim 13 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein each guide rod comprises a weight located at a distal end of each guide rod, weighted material within each guide rod, or a combination thereof (Beiro, Paragraph. 0048). Claim 13 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
16. As per claim 14 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the support frame further comprises a plurality of flexible dielectric support lines (Beiro, Paragraph. 0031). Claim 14 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
17. As per claim 15 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein a length of each of the flexible dielectric support lines is based on an electromagnetic field of the electrical power line (Beiro, Paragraph. 0035). Claim 15 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
18. As per claim 16 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein a length of each of the flexible dielectric support lines is adapted to be selected based on a voltage of the electrical power line (Beiro, Paragraph. 0029). Claim 16 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
19. As per claim 17 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the apparatus comprises a nonconductive payload system (NPS) (Beiro, Paragraph. 0035). Claim 17 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
20. As per claim 18 Priest-Beiro disclosed wherein the NPS comprises the upper frame, the lower frame, and the attachment lines. (Beiro, Paragraph. 0049). Claim 18 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
21. As per claim 19 Priest-Beiro disclosed further comprising the UAV (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027). Claim 19 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
20. As per claim 20 Priest-Beiro disclosed a method comprising:
attaching a power line measurement device to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via a deployment apparatus, wherein the power line measurement device comprises guide rods that extend below the power line device [Due to the fact that cell sites 10 are numerous and diversely deployed in the geographic region 300, an ability to fly the UAV 50 at the cell sites 10 and between adjacent cell sites 10 creates an opportunity to fly the UAV 50 across the geographic region 300, for numerous applications] (Priest, Paragraph. 0110), wherein the deployment apparatus is connected to the UAV via a nonconductive payload system (NPS), wherein the power line device is adapted to latch onto an energized electrical power line and/or a splice on the energized electrical power line (Beiro, Paragraph. 0035);
piloting the UAV to a first position adjacent to and at an altitude that is higher than an energized electrical power line and/or a splice on the energized electrical power line upon which it is desired to measure a width of the electrical the power line at a measurement location (Beiro, Paragraph. 0026);
piloting the UAV to a second position from the first position based on determining that at least a portion of the guide rods is approximately abutting at or substantially near the desired measurement location for the power line device, wherein the at least the portion of the guide rods is close to a distal end of the guide rods and is below the power line measurement device (Beiro, Paragraph. 0048);
reducing the altitude of the UAV to lower a measurement area of the power line measurement device onto the energized electrical power line and/or the splice such that the power line measurement device is latched onto the energized electrical power line and/or the splice (Beiro, Paragraph. 0027); and
obtaining, by an electronic device, measurement data from the power line measurement device (Priest, Paragraph. 0133).
Conclusion
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examiner should be directed to Adnan Mirza whose telephone number is (571)-272-3885.
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/ADNAN M MIRZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667