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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 27, 2026 has been entered.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-2, 6 and 8-12 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 12-14,16-20 of copending Application No. 18/431,633 (Lee et al.). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all of the claimed limitations and features in the Instant application are claimed in the Lee et al. copending application. Instant application claim 1 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 13 along with the claimed concept of claim 12; instant application claim 2 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 14; instant application claim 6 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 20; instant application claim 8 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 16; instant application claim 9 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 17 along with the claimed concept of claim 12; instant application claim 10 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 18; instant application claim 11 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 19; claim 12 corresponds to Lee et al. copending application claim 20. Therefore, the claims in the Instant application are not patentably distinct from the claims and teaching in the Lee et al. copending Application.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0105957 (Robinson et al.).
With regards to claim 1, Robinson et al. discloses a system for determining a health indication of a mechanical component comprising, as illustrated in Figures 1-12, an acoustic detection system 100 (e.g. a system; paragraph [0034]; Figure 1) comprising a vibration-generating object 120 (e.g. vehicle like an aircraft; paragraph [0034]); a kinetic-energy harvester 204 (e.g. energy harvesting power supply storage; paragraph [0043]) embedded within a first location (e.g. left side location in Figure 2) of the vibration-generating object, configured to convert vibrations, at the first location of the vibration-generating object when the vibration-generating object is generating vibrations, into electrical power, and configured to wirelessly (e.g. as indicated in paragraphs [0059] and [0060], an energy scavenging integrated circuits 402 is provided to supply the electrical power from the kinetic-energy harvester devices 406 to the sensors 202 (e.g. as observed in Figure 4 indicating “supply to sensors and controllers”) such that the energy scavenging integrated circuits 402 are heavily focused on wireless applications where the energy scavenging integrated circuits are designed highly efficient microchips designed to collect, extract, convert, and manage small amounts of energy from ambient sources (such as RF, light, heat, or vibration) to enable battery-free or maintenance-free electronic devices like IoT sensors wherein the energy scavenging integrated circuits are essential components in, or in direct support of, wireless systems in several ways. For example, in RF energy harvesting, which is often referred to as "rectennas" (rectifying antennas), the energy scavenging integrated circuits capture radio waves from Wi-Fi, cellular, or RFID sources and convert them into DC power to drive sensors or IoT devices wirelessly by removing the need for wires for both data transmission and power supply) transmit the electrical power (e.g. paragraphs [0059],[0060],[0025],[0030]) via electromagnetic induction (e.g. the kinetic energy harvester 204,802,902 includes a magnet and coils where the magnet moves along the coils where electric current flows inside the wire to create an electromagnetic induction; paragraphs [0063],[0071],[0074]; Figures 6A-6C,8,9); an acoustic sensor 202J,202H (e.g. microphone; paragraphs [0056],[0057]) embedded within a second location (e.g. bottom side location in Figure 2) of the vibration-generating object, which is separate from the first location; the acoustic sensor is configured to: wirelessly receive the electrical power directly (e.g. paragraph [0060] indicates the harvested energy 204,402,404 supplied to the plurality of sensors 202; observed in Figures 2,4) from the kinetic-energy harvester (e.g. paragraphs [0059],[0060],[0030],[0035]; Figures 2,4); detect acoustic signals proximate to the second location of the vibration-generating object using the electrical power (e.g. paragraphs [0056],[0057]; Figures 2,4); convert detected acoustic signals into acoustic data (e.g. paragraphs [0056],[0057],[0059],[0060]; Figures 2,4). (See, paragraphs [0023] to [0097]).
With regard to claim 2, Robinson et al. further discloses a controller 142,160 (e.g. microcontroller or computing system; paragraphs [0025],[0035],[0042],[0050]) on the vibration-generating object configured to receive the acoustic data transmitted from the acoustic sensor and process the acoustic data to determine a current status at the second location of the vibration-generating object (e.g. health indicator of mechanical components; paragraphs [0035] to [0037]).
With regards to claim 3, Robinson et al. further discloses the kinetic-energy harvester 204,602,802,902 (e.g. energy harvester; Figures 2,4,6A-6C,8-9) comprises a magnet array 606A-606C,804,904,1004 (e.g. paragraphs [0063],[0069]-[0072]) comprising a plurality of magnets arranged with alternating polarity and an interface between adjacent ones of the plurality of magnets where each magnet of the plurality of magnets forming a portion of a coil-facing surface of the magnet array (e.g. observed in Figures 6A-6C,8-9); a coil array 608,806,906 (e.g. coils; paragraphs [0063]-[0064],[0069]-[0072]) comprising at least one conductive coil where the coil array is offset from the magnet array in a first direction such that an air-gap is defined between the coil-facing surface of the magnet array and the coil array, and in a second direction parallel to the first direction the at least one conductive coil is aligned with the interface between corresponding adjacent ones of the plurality of magnets (e.g. observed in Figures 6A-6C,8-9); a cantilever beam spring 808,908 (e.g. bellow spring or beam; paragraphs [0069]-[0072]; Figures 8-9) coupling with the magnet array to the coil array and configured to enable movement of the coil array, relative to the magnet array, about a vibration plane that is perpendicular to the first direction (e.g. observed in Figures 8-9).
With regards to claim 4, Robinson et al. further discloses the magnet array 606A-606C,804,904,1004 of the kinetic-energy harvester is fixed, relative to the vibration-generating object 110,120, such that the magnet array does not move relative to the vibration-generating object (e.g. observed in Figures 8-10).
With regards to claim 5, Robinson et al. further discloses the acoustic sensor 202J comprises a MEMS-based acoustic sensor (e.g. MEMS; paragraph [0057]).
With regards to claim 6, Robinson et al. further discloses a plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters 140; a plurality of acoustic sensors 202H,202J; each one of the plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters corresponds to exactly one of the plurality of acoustic sensors such that the electrical power generated by each one of the plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters is wirelessly transmitted to a corresponding one of the plurality of acoustic sensors (e.g. paragraphs [0038], [0039],[0043],[0044],[0048],[0056]-[0060]; Figures 1-4).
With regards to claim 7, Robinson et al. further discloses a plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters 140; a plurality of acoustic sensors 202H,202J; at least one of the plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters corresponds to at least two of the plurality of acoustic sensors such that the electrical power generated by each one of the plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters is wirelessly transmitted to the at least two of the plurality of acoustic sensors (e.g. paragraphs [0038],[0039], [0043],[0044],[0048],[0056]-[0060]; Figures 1-4).
With regards to claim 8, Robinson et al. further discloses the vibration-generating object 120 is an aircraft (e.g. aircraft; paragraph [0034]); the acoustic sensor is configured to detect acoustic signals to the aircraft for at least one of a lightning strike, a bird strike, a hail strike, a crack, a misalignment, a loose part, or a broken part.
With regards to claim 9, Robinson et al. discloses a system for determining a health indication of a mechanical component comprising, as illustrated in Figures 1-12, a method of detecting acoustic signals from a vibration-generating object comprising harvesting electrical power from vibrations within a first location (e.g. left side location in Figure 2) of a vibration- generating object 120 (e.g. vehicle like an aircraft; paragraph [0034]) using a kinetic-energy harvester 204 (e.g. energy harvesting power supply storage; paragraph [0043]) embedded within the first location of the vibration-generating object such that the kinetic-energy harvester configured to convert the vibrations into electrical power (e.g. paragraphs [0059],[0060], [0025],[0030]); wirelessly (e.g. as indicated in paragraphs [0059] and [0060], an energy scavenging integrated circuits 402 is provided to supply the electrical power from the kinetic-energy harvester devices 406 to the sensors 202 (e.g. as observed in Figure 4 indicating “supply to sensors and controllers”) such that the energy scavenging integrated circuits 402 are heavily focused on wireless applications where the energy scavenging integrated circuits are designed highly efficient microchips designed to collect, extract, convert, and manage small amounts of energy from ambient sources (such as RF, light, heat, or vibration) to enable battery-free or maintenance-free electronic devices like IoT sensors wherein the energy scavenging integrated circuits are essential components in, or in direct support of, wireless systems in several ways. For example, in RF energy harvesting, which is often referred to as "rectennas" (rectifying antennas), the energy scavenging integrated circuits capture radio waves from Wi-Fi, cellular, or RFID sources and convert them into DC power to drive sensors or IoT devices wirelessly by removing the need for wires for both data transmission and power supply) transmitting, via electromagnetic induction (e.g. the kinetic energy harvester 204,802,902 includes a magnet and coils where the magnet moves along the coils where electric current flows inside the wire to create an electromagnetic induction; paragraphs [0063],[0071],[0074]; Figures 6A-6C,8,9), the electrical power generated by the kinetic-energy harvester to an acoustic sensor 202J,202H (e.g. microphone; paragraphs [0056],[0057]) embedded within a second location (e.g. bottom side location in Figure 2) of the vibration-generating object, separate from the first location, to power the acoustic sensor (e.g. paragraphs [0059],[0060],[0030],[0035]; Figures 2,4); detecting acoustic signals proximate to the second location of the vibration-generating object via the acoustic sensor, and processing the acoustic signals into acoustic data (e.g. paragraphs [0056],[0057],[0059],[0060]; Figures 2,4). (See, paragraphs [0023] to [0097]).
With regards to claim 10, Robinson et al. further discloses wirelessly transmitting the acoustic data from the acoustic sensor to a controller 142 (e.g. microcontroller; paragraphs [0025],[0035],[0042],[0050]) on the vibration-generating object such that the controller configured to process the acoustic data to processed acoustic data determine a current status of the vibration-generating object at the second location (e.g. health indicator of mechanical components; paragraphs [0035] to [0037]).
With regards to claim 11, Robinson et al. further discloses transmitting the processed acoustic data from the controller 142 to a second controller 160 (e.g. computing unit system; paragraphs [0034]-[0037]), remote from the vibration-generating object 120, such that the second controller configured to analyze the processed acoustic data (e.g. observed in Figure 1).
With regards to claim 12, Robinson et al. further discloses the step of harvesting electrical power from vibrations within a first location of a vibration-generating object using a kinetic-energy harvester further comprises harvesting electrical power from vibrations within a plurality of first locations of the vibration-generating object using a plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters each one embedded within a corresponding one of the plurality of first locations; the step of wirelessly transmitting the electrical power generated by the kinetic-energy harvester to an acoustic sensor embedded within a second location further comprises wirelessly transmitting the electrical power generated by each one of the plurality of kinetic-energy harvesters to at least one of a plurality of acoustic sensors embedded within a corresponding one of a plurality of second locations; forming a phased array using the processed acoustic data from each one of the plurality of acoustic sensors to provide referencing for making predictive and prescriptive decisions about the vibration-generation object. (See, paragraphs [0043],[0044],[0048],[0056], [0057],[0068]-[0072]; Figures 1-4,6A-6C,8-10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14, 16 and 19-20 are allowable over the prior arts of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior arts of record, do not teach or suggest, alone or in combination, the specific limitations of a kinetic-energy harvester comprising a coil array; a cantilever beam spring; a magnet array comprising a plurality of magnets arranged with alternating polarity and a contact interface between laterally adjacent ones of the plurality of magnets such that each magnet of the plurality of magnets forming a portion of a coil-facing surface of the magnet array; the plurality of magnets of the magnet array form an at least four-by-four grid of magnets where laterally adjacent magnets of the at least four-by-four grid of magnets have opposite polarity and diagonally adjacent magnets of the at least four-by-four grid of magnets have the same polarity; at least one conductive coil is a planar coil that comprises multiple rings and is coiled in a coil-array plane co-planar with or parallel to the vibration plane such that each ring of the multiple rings lies in the coil-array plane and an entirety of the at least one conductive coil is on only one side of the plurality of magnets of the magnet array, in combination with the remaining claim elements in claim 13.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection and/or 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.
Conclusion
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/HELEN C KWOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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