DETAILED ACTION
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
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.
Claims 11, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kayano (JP2002034146A), and further in view of Zhen (CN110207784A).
Regarding Claim 11, Kayano teaches a system (Fig. 1) comprising:
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an electrical apparatus (Fig. 1, item 1) comprising:
a housing that defines an interior space (para[0005]; housed in a tank (not shown) );
an active portion in the interior space (para[0005]; a plurality of windings (not shown) are housed in a tank ); and
insulation configured to electrically insulate at least part of the active portion (para [0005]; transformer filled with insulating oil in a tank); and
a monitoring apparatus (para[0004]; transformer load monitoring; [0005]-[0006], fig. 1, computer 12 receive physical quantities via interface 11 with input 1a and interface unit 11c to perform the monitoring operation) configured to:
access one or more desired load parameters related to future operation of the electrical apparatus (para[0011]; the thermal resistance between the ith winding and the cooling medium (insulating oil), and R0 is the thermal resistance between the cooling medium (insulating oil) and the atmosphere and constants of equations (1) to (4) such as resistance loss, stray loss, and no-load loss at rated load, are numerical values or functions obtained from design values, product test results, or measured values during operation; next, in the calculating means 12, the measured load factor, the system voltage detection signal 10a, and the tap position detection signal 5 from the time n times before the calculation time step Δt from the current time T ) ;
predict a hotspot temperature of the insulation based on each of the one or more desired load parameters (para[0006]; temperature change inside the transformer 1 is calculated by a heat equivalent model with a transient response (hereinafter referred to as a mathematical model) of the heat equivalent circuit) and para [0016]; a predetermined time from the current time T (time t = 0) is calculated using equation (13) based on the predicted load [i.e. load forecast], predicted ambient temperature, and predicted values of the operating conditions of the cooler 2 shown in FIG. 2 (step S6) ).
But Kayano does not specifically teach estimate an overload capability of the electrical apparatus based on the predicted hotspot temperature, wherein the overload capability comprises at least one load factor and a time duration during which the electrical apparatus is capable of being operated at the at least one load factor.
However, Zhen suggests estimate an overload capability of the electrical apparatus based on the predicted hotspot temperature, wherein the overload capability comprises at least one load factor and a time duration during which the electrical apparatus is capable of being operated at the at least one load factor (para[0064]; , S401 in [0059]-S403 in [0061], obtaining the current load value of the transformer, and judging whether the current load value is greater than the first predetermined load value, if the current load value is greater than the first predetermined load value, it is determined that the oil level abnormality cause is over-large transformer load and para[0065]; obtaining the current temperature of the external environment, and according to the current external environment temperature and the current load value (factor), calculating the current oil temperature estimation value).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Kaayano by applying the teaching of Zhen to explicitly estimate an overload capability of the electrical apparatus based on the predicted hotspot temperature, wherein the overload capability comprises at least one load factor and a time duration during which the electrical apparatus is capable of being operated at the at least one load factor, for the purpose of ensuring safe and stable operations of transformer (Zhen, para[0021]).
Regarding claim 15, combination of Kaayano and Zhen teaches wherein the electrical apparatus is a transformer (e.g. Kaayano, Fig. 1, para[0004], item 1 is a transformer).
Regarding claim 20, combination of Kaayano and Zhen teaches wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises an input/output interface (e.g. Kaayano, [0005]-[0006], fig. 1, computer 12 receive physical quantities via interface 11 with input 1a and interface unit 11c to perform the monitoring operation), and wherein the monitoring apparatus is further configured to produce a graphical display related to the overload capability on the input/output interface (e.g. Kaayano, [0003], [0005]-[0006], fig. 1, computer 12 with graphical display as shown in fig. 1, and the graphical display of computer 12 display information based on overload capability received via interface 11 so that transformer load monitoring results can be view by a user).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-14 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.
Claims 1-10 and 16-19 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding independent claim 1, the cited and/or searched prior arts either singularly or in combination fail to teaches all the limitations of independent claim 1, in particular the claim limitation of “estimate a predicted amount of life lost for the insulation during one or more future time intervals based on the load forecast; and estimate a remaining service life for the electrical apparatus based on the actual amount of life lost and the predicted amount of life lost”; therefore, independent claim 1 is allowed, as are its dependent claims 2-10.
Regarding independent claim 16, the cited and/or searched prior arts either singularly or in combination fail to teaches all the limitations of independent claim 16, in particular the claim limitation of “estimate a predicted amount of life lost for the insulation during one or more future time intervals based on the load forecast; and estimate a remaining service life for the electrical apparatus based on the actual amount of life lost and the predicted amount of life lost”; therefore, independent claim 16 is allowed, as are its dependent claims 17-19.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Prior Art of Record
The prior art made of record is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sirigineedi et al. (US 2019/0371560) teaches “monitoring the fatigue of the fuse is achieved at least in part by monitoring a fatigue parameter such as fuse element temperature or mechanical strain, and comparing the monitored parameter to known fatigue parameters for a similar fuse element to assess a state of fatigue and remaining service life of the fuse. Fatigue monitoring may also be achieved by monitoring fuse temperature, calculating a strain associated with peak fuse element temperatures in a cyclic current load, computing a fatigue damage component for each peak temperature, and accumulating the fatigue damage components over time to assess a state of fatigue and an associated remaining service life of the fuse” (e.g. [0019], fig. 3).
Hyde et al. (US 2011/0012437) teaches “An electrical power transmission system includes electrical insulators arranged to electrically isolate live power lines. Surface reconditioning units are incorporated or integrated in the insulator structures. A sensor arrangement determines surface conditions of the electrical insulators in use to isolate live power lines. In response, the surface reconditioning units automatically recondition the surfaces of the in-service electrical insulators if appropriate for maintaining the electrical insulators in healthy state” (e.g. abstract, fig. 3).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAIDONG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5815. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached on (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAIDONG ZHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2858 /GIOVANNI ASTACIO-OQUENDO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 12/17/2025
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