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 .
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 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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
Claims 1-22 are pending as the applicant filed on 10/18/2023.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See MPEP 707.05. Although the prior art discloses several unclaimed, some claimed limitation. The closest Prior Art of record are considered to be defined by:
GU, CN 212723738 U, Date Published: 2021-03-16, CPC Y 02 P 90/02 described an intelligent control system of direct current submerged arc furnace, wherein it comprises: a sensor unit (112) for collecting the plurality of physical data parameter information of the direct current submerged arc furnace in the production process, and converting the collected information into electric signal according to a certain rule; the sensor unit (112) at least comprises a voltage meter for detecting the working state information of the electrode system, a current meter; a weighing module, a limit switch, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a vibration sensor, a position transducer and an electric energy detector; an in-ring remote sub-station (108) for receiving the data information transmitted by the sensor unit (112); the in-loop remote sub-station (108) is connected with the host CPU (101); the main machine CPU (101) and the spare CPU (102) are connected with the device on the factory bus through the first group of Ethernet interface; the spare CPU (102) is connected with the factory bus switch (107); the in-ring remote sub-station (108) is further connected with the factory bus switch (107); the factory bus switch (107) is connected with the outer branch remote sub-station (109); the main machine CPU (101) and the spare CPU (102) are connected with the terminal bus switch (106) through the second group of Ethernet interface; the terminal bus switch (106) is connected with a first operation station PC machine (103); a second operating station PC machine (104) and an edge server (105); the system further comprises a frequency converter (111) and an actuator unit (113); the frequency converter (111) is connected with the spare CPU (102) through the factory bus switch (107); the actuator unit (113) is connected with the ring remote sub-station (108) and the ring outer branch remote sub-station (109).
Shi, CN 215629599 U, Date Published: 2022-01-25, CPC E01F 13/06 described an intelligent gate machine with the function of gate comprising a box body (1), wherein the inner part of the box body (1) is provided with a control module (2), wherein the top part of the box body (1) is provided with an auxiliary module (3), the middle position of the inner part of the box body (1) is provided with a machine core (4), two sides of the top of the machine core (4) are symmetrically provided with a gate the gate side wall of the box body (1) is provided with a protective mechanism (6), two sides of the box body (1) are provided with multiple opposite-type photoelectric sensor (7); the auxiliary module (3) comprises an NFC sensing area (301) set at one side of the top end of the box body (1), one side of the NFC sensing area (301) is provided with a two-dimensional code area (302), the other side of the NFC sensing area (301) is provided with a card inserting port (303), one side of the top end of the box body (1) far away from the card inserting port (303) is provided with a card outlet (304).
Zou, CN 110554315 B, Date Published: 2022-02-01, CPC G01R 31/343 described a motor fault monitoring device of industrial Internet of Things, comprising a dismounting mechanism and a waterproof mechanism; Dismounting mechanism: the dismounting mechanism comprises a mounting plate and a fixing box, the front side of the mounting plate is fixedly provided with a connecting block, the connecting block is provided with a T-shaped chute, the rear side of the fixing box fixedly connected with with a fixing block, the fixing block is connected with a bottom plate through a damping mechanism; and the bottom plate and the fixing block are in sliding connection with the T-shaped sliding groove; waterproof radiating mechanism: the waterproof radiating mechanism comprises an arc-shaped water baffle plate and an air outlet pipe, the bottom side of the arc-shaped water baffle plate is hinged with two supporting columns, the motor fault monitoring device of the industrial Internet of Things is capable of dismounting the motor fault monitoring device, it avoids the limit of the space, it is convenient to maintain, at the same time, It has radiating and waterproof function, avoids the internal temperature is too high or water to cause damage of the internal appliance element, which is convenient for the user to use.
Du, CN 115586061 A, Date Published: 2023-01-10, CPC G01N 1/34 described a soil sample pre-processing device for detecting soil cadmium and method thereof, belonging to the technical field of soil detection. comprising a mounting main body, from left to right sequentially set on the mounting main body upper end electric suction sieving box, a sample improving box and a grinding drying box, a first slide rail set on the lower end of the main body, a moving adjusting box through the first slide rail can slide left and right at the bottom of the mounting main body; removing the plant residue in the soil sample by the electric suction sieving box, avoiding the accuracy of cadmium element detection in the soil in the plant residue, adding modifying agent to the soil sample by the sample improving box, making the cadmium form a single form, then detecting the pertinence, improving the detection precision; performing microwave-assisted digestion to the soil sample by the mobile adjusting box, in a word, using the pre-processing device and method of the invention to measure the cadmium element after processing the sample has high accuracy, the error range is small, it is suitable for large popularization.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to an electrode vibration detection module (EVDM) in operative communication with an electrode electric sensor and electrode actuator of an electric arc furnace (EAF), comprising: define an EVDM queue having a EVDM queue length based upon an EVDM window time and a sampling frequency, wherein the EVDM window time is a predefined time period or a user selected time period over which individual samples of the waveform signals are received and/or ascertained and their root mean square values (RMS values) calculated every sampling period, such as every half cycle of the electrical power system; one or more predefined electrical profiles associated with electrode vibration detection; wherein the one or more sub-modules being configured to produce vibration data for each individual sample defined as being either a respective IAO or a respective non- internal alarm occurrence (NIAO); the computer processor being further configured to accumulate the vibration data for each individual sample from the one or more sub-modules stored in a queue, and trigger an external vibration alarm (EVA) if a minimum percentage of the vibration data is defined as being comprised of respective IAOs appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of a computer processor configured to: (i) receive waveform signals corresponding to voltage values and current values associated with an electrode voltage measured between the electrode and the bottom of the EAF shell (electrode voltage) and the electrical current passing through the electrode are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? the additional elements of ) one or more sub-modules selectable by a user, the one or more sub-modules being configured to trigger an internal alarm occurrence (IAO) associated with electrode vibration detection based on a comparison performed in the computer processor of (i) the individual samples of the RMS values appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 1 not eligible.
Claim 2 related to wherein the EVDM window time may comprise from about 500 milliseconds (ms) to about 5000 ms, and wherein the EVDM window time is a rolling EVDM window time and the EVDM initiates population of a respective new EVDM queue after an electrical profile is changed with vibration data from the one or more sub-modules, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 2 not eligible.
Claim 3 related to wherein the sampling frequency is greater than 10 Hz or is related to the electrical power system frequency, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 3 not eligible.
Claim 4 related to wherein the computer processor is further configured to turn off the EVA if vibration data has a percentage of respective IAOs below a predefined maximum percentage, the predefined maximum percentage being lower than the minimum percentage of the vibration data required to trigger the EVA, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 4 not eligible.
Claim 5 related to wherein a plurality of the one or more sub-modules are selectable at the same or overlapping time period during operation of the EAF, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 5 not eligible.
Claim 6 related to wherein the one or more sub-modules includes a first sub-module configured to detect frequency components inside a defined frequency range having a minimum frequency value and a maximum frequency value of the one or more predefined electrical profiles associated with electrode vibration detection, and wherein the first sub-module is configured to (i) define a set of non-filtered electrical values, such as respective current, voltage, impedance, and/or admittance RMS values, calculated from the waveform signals corresponding to voltage values and current values associated with an electrode voltage measured between the electrode and the bottom of the EAF shell (electrode voltage) and the electrical current passing through the electrode, (ii) define filtered signals for each sample to define a set of filtered electrical values, such as respective filtered current, voltage, impedance, and/or admittance values, from the signals corresponding to voltage values and current values associated with an electrode voltage measured between the electrode and the bottom of the EAF shell (electrode voltage) and the electrical current passing through the electrode that have been filtered through a band pass filter configured to filter out any frequencies outside of the defined frequency range to provide (iii) determining for each sample a respective ratio between one or more respective filtered electrical properties and corresponding one or more non-filtered electrical properties in the computer processor, and (iv) triggering an IAO associated with electrode vibration detection for each respective ratio above a predefined threshold value, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 6 not eligible.
Claim 7 related to wherein the defined frequency range comprises from about 1 to about 10 Hertz (Hz), its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 7 not eligible.
Claim 8 related wherein the non-filtered electrical values and the filtered electrical values are impedance root-mean-square (RMS) and admittance RMS, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 8 not eligible.
Claim 9 related to wherein the EVDM has or is further configured to receive a minimum impedance RMS threshold, and the filtered impedance RMS value must exceed the minimum impedance RMS threshold to allow the EVDM to trigger an IAO, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 9 not eligible.
Claim 10 related wherein the one or more sub-modules includes a second sub- module configured to detect and count the number of open circuit samples and/or the number of short circuit samples based upon the calculated impedance-RMS values for each individual sample; wherein an individual open circuit sample is defined as a having an impedance-RMS above an open circuit threshold that is set by a user, and wherein an individual short circuit sample is defined as a having an impedance-RMS below a short circuit threshold that is set by a user, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 10 not eligible.
Claim 11 related to wherein the second sub-module comprises a second sub-module- queue having a second queue length, the second sub-module configured to accumulate individual samples of the calculated impedance-RMS, discarding the oldest samples to maintain the queue full at the maximum queue length, the second sub-module is further configured to (i) determine the percentage of individual open circuit samples from the second sub-module-queue and the percentage of individual short circuit samples from the second sub-module- queue in the computer processor , (ii) determine if the percentage of individual open circuit samples from the second sub- module-queue exceeds a threshold percentage for open circuit occurrences in the computer processor; and (iii) determine if the percentage of individual short circuit samples from the second sub-module-queue exceeds a threshold percentage for short circuit occurrences in the computer processor, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 11 not eligible.
Claim 12 related to wherein the computer processor is further configured to trigger an IAO associated with electrode vibration detection for each sample having (i) a determined percentage of individual open circuit samples from the second sub-module-queue exceeds a threshold percentage for open circuit occurrences in the computer processor and (ii) a determined percentage of individual short circuit samples from the second sub-module-queue exceeds a threshold percentage for short circuit occurrences in the computer processor, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 12 not eligible.
Claim 13 related to wherein the second queue length is determined in the computer processor based on a sampling time window of the second sub-module, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 13 not eligible.
Claim 14 related to wherein the sampling time window is from 1 to about 8 seconds, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 14 not eligible.
Claim 15 related to , wherein the one or more sub-modules includes a third sub-module configured to detect and count a total number of state changes between a short circuit and an open circuit in the computer processor and wherein the third sub-module is further configured to (i) determine if the current state in the Finite state machine (current state) is the same as "Regulating" state, (ii) determine if the current state is the same as the previous state in the state machine, (iii) increase or decrease the cumulative variable accordingly and (iv) determine if the total number of state changes exceeds a threshold for state changes occurrences in the computer processor, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 15 not eligible.
Claim 16 related to wherein the computer processor is further configured to trigger an IAO associated with electrode vibration detection for each sample having a determined cumulative variable that indicates the number of state changes exceeds the user defined state- change threshold in the computer processor, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 16 not eligible.
Claim 17 related to :(a) providing an electrode vibration detection module (EVDM) in operative communication with the electrode electrical sensors and actuators; (b) receiving waveform signals corresponding to voltage values and current values associated with an electrode voltage measured between the electrode and the bottom of the EAF shell (electrode voltage) and the electrical current passing through the electrode in the computer processor of the EVDM; (c) selecting one or more sub-modules, the one or more sub-modules being configured to trigger an internal alarm occurrence (IAO) associated with electrode vibration detection based on a comparison performed in the computer processor of (i) the individual samples of the RMS values and (ii) one or more predefined electrical profiles associated with electrode vibration detection; wherein the one or more sub-modules being configured to produce vibration data for each individual sample defined as being either a respective IAO or a respective non-internal alarm occurrence (NIAO); and(d) accumulating the vibration data for each individual sample from one or more selected sub-modules discarding the oldest samples to maintain the EVDM queue full at the maximum queue length, and trigger an external vibration alarm (EVA) if a minimum percentage of the vibration data is defined as being comprised of respective IAOs, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 17 not eligible.
Claim 18 related to a furnace body defining an interior portion including a refractory-lined hearth and one or more electrodes extending into the interior portion, the method comprising:(i) detecting vibration of the one or more electrodes; (ii) adjusting a location of the one or more electrodes relative to the refractory-lined hearth by raising the one or more electrodes away from the refractory-lined hearth, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 18 not eligible.
Claim 19 related to wherein the computer processor is configured to initiate the step of adjusting the location of the one or more electrodes relative to the refractory-lined hearth, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 19 not eligible.
Claim 20 related to wherein the computer processor is further configured to vary the rate and/or distance of the one or more electrodes based on the number of heats of the one or more electrodes, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 20 not eligible.
Claim 21 related to wherein the computer processor is configured to initiate the step of adjusting the location of the one or more electrodes relative to the refractory-lined hearth at a first rate and/or first distance when the number of heats of the one or more electrodes is below a user defined heat number threshold, and a second rate and/or second distance when the number of heats of the one or more electrodes is above a user defined heat number threshold; and wherein the first rate is greater than the second rate and the first distance is greater than the second distance, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 21 not eligible.
Claim 22 related to :(i) an electric arc furnace (EAF) including a furnace body defining an interior portion including a refractory-lined hearth and one or more electrodes extending into the interior portion; and (ii) an electrode vibration detection module (EVDM), its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 22 not eligible.
Contact information
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tung Lau whose telephone number is (571)272-2274, email is Tungs.lau@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday-Friday 7:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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, TURNER SHELBY, can be reached on 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll- free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272- 1000.
/TUNG S LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Technology Center 2800
June 2, 2026
Prosecution Insights