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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 for Application No. CN 202311770284.8 filed on 12/20/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01//29/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
The following claims are objected to for informalities, lack of antecedent support, or for redundancies. The Examiner recommends the following changes:
Claim 2, line 4, replace “, , the” with “, the”
Claim 12, line 4, replace “, , the” with “, the”
Appropriate correction is respectfully requested.
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 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Although the claims are directed to a system comprising various means (platform), all of the means (platform) could reasonably be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of the instant specification (at least paragraphs [0018] and FIG. 1), to be software, such that the device comprising various means is software, per se. Computer programs claimed as computer listings per se, i.e., the descriptions or expressions of the programs, are not physical “things.” They are neither computer components nor statutory processes, as they are not “acts” being performed. Such claimed computer programs do not define any structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and other claimed elements of a computer which permit the computer program’s functionality to be realized. In contrast, a claimed non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program is a computer element which defines structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and the rest of the computer which permit the computer program’s functionality to be realized, and is thus statutory. See Lowry, 32 F.3d at 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d at 1035.
Claims 1-20 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.
(Step 2A, Prong One) Independent claim 1 recites the limitations, “determining noise change features of the at least one monitoring position based on the noise data; and determining target operating parameters of the gas field station based on the noise change features, the target operating parameters including a target gas flow rate of a gas pipeline in the gas field station.”
Under their broadest reasonable interpretation and based on the description provided in the published Specification, such as paragraphs [0057]-[0106], for instance, the determining limitations, as claimed, are processes that entails purely mathematical relationships, mathematical formulas or equations, and mathematical calculations.
Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
(Step 2A, Prong Two) This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim recites the additional limitation, “obtaining noise data of a gas field station through a sound sensor, the sound sensor being arranged at least one monitoring position of the gas field station, and any one monitoring position having a corresponding monitoring period.”
The additional limitation of obtaining is an insignificant extra-solution activity under MPEP 2106.05(g), without imposing meaningful limits. The additional limitation amounts to necessary data gathering. (i.e., all uses of the recited judicial exception require such data gathering or data output). Accordingly, the additional limitation recited in the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
In view of the foregoing, the additional limitations are not sufficient to demonstrate integration of a judicial exception into a practical application.
(Step 2B) The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
The additional limitation of obtaining function represents a function that is recognized as well-understood, routine, and conventional, for instance, as demonstrated in GIUNTA et al. (US 2015/0300907 A1) paragraph [0069]-[0071] (“The method for the continuous remote monitoring of the integrity of a pressurized pipeline 104 and properties of the fluids transported, such as natural gas, crude oil, water, petroliferous products, etc., preferably able to be used with long-distance gas pipelines and oil pipelines, comprises the following phases: installing, along the pipeline, a plurality of measurement stations 103 connected to vibroacoustic sensors 101 suitable for simultaneously and continuously measuring elastic signals propagating in the walls of the pipeline, and acoustic signals propagating in said transported fluid; synchronising said signals x(t), with absolute time reference (eg. Global Positioning System), measured from said different measurement stations 103”), Day (US 2011/0037598 A1) paragraph [0016] (“In some embodiments, with reference again to FIG. 1, an acoustic sensor may be placed at an inlet 120 of the flow meter 104, at the prover 106, and at the back end of the measurement unit 114. Other combinations and numbers of sensors are also contemplated by the present disclosure. For example, with reference to FIG. 2, a schematic representation of a measurement station 10 includes a pipe 15 receiving a fluid flow 11 from the container 112. The fluid may flow through a prover 20 having sensors 16, 18, then to the flow meter 12 and finally out through the flow control valves 30, 32 to, for example, a refinery. The meter 12 communicates with a computer 26 via line 14. Audible devices may be placed at various locations in the system 10 according to the principles described herein. For example, a microphone 36 is located adjacent the flow control valves 30, 32 and couples to the computer 26 via line 34. Other microphones 38, 40 are located at other locations in the system 10 wherein it is determined that upsets, pressure losses and flow state changes will occur, each microphone communicating with the computer 26 via lines 42, 44, respectively.”), and Lapinski et al. (US 2005/0086012 A1) paragraph [0006] (“A general property of fluids (whether compressible or incompressible) flowing through pipes or similar conduits is that they produce acoustic waves, i.e., sound or vibration. The sound produced by the flow of natural gas or other energy commodity can be characterized by its amplitude and frequency. In this regard, the amplitude and frequency are generally directly related to the velocity of the fluid through the conduit, and thus the flow rate of the fluid. Therefore, a sound transducer or similar sensor can be positioned to detect the acoustic waves emanating from a particular conduit caused by fluid flow through that conduit, and by recording and analyzing the acoustic waves, the flow rate through the conduit can be estimated. In this regard, the flow rate is commonly expressed as a volumetric flow rate, i.e., characterized as the volume of fluid passing by a designated point over a predetermined time period.”).
Therefore, the additional claimed features do not amount to significantly more and the claim is not patent eligible.
Claim 10 recites similar limitations as claim 1, and accordingly, claim 10 is not patent eligible for similar reasons as discussed above regarding claim 1.
The recitations of claims 2-9 and 12-19 simply add more detail to or are cumulative to the abstract idea of claims 1 and 10, respectively.
Claim 11 does not recite any additional abstract ideas. Claim 6 recites the additional elements of a “smart gas pipeline network safety management sub-platform” and a “smart gas data center” that are configured to carry out the additional and abstract idea limitations, but recited so generically that they represent no more than mere instructions “to apply” the judicial exceptions on or using generic electronic or computer hardware or software platforms. Implementing an abstract idea on generic electronic or computer hardware or software platforms as tools to perform an abstract idea is not indicative of integration into a practical application. see MPEP 2106.05(f). The additional elements do not amount to significantly more and the claim is not patent eligible.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record, separately or in combination, as described in the prosecution history, teach some aspects of the current claimed invention..
Lander et al. (US 5,974,862) teaches a plurality of acoustic sensors applied to a pipeline to sense a combination of signals from a leak. The sensed data is digitized at each of remote processors connected to each of the sensors, encoded and digitally transmitted to a computerized base station. Measurement of the actual propagation distance is made to provide precise measurement of the distance traveled by an acoustic leak signal between sensors through the pipeline.
Day (US 2011/0037598 A1) teaches audibly detecting a fluid flow state change in a flow meter pipeline. The flow state change may be identified as an upset in the normal flow state. The upset may be corrected to improve the accuracy of the flow meter. A system includes acoustic sensors mounted in the flow meter pipeline, and a computer to collect audible data from the acoustic sensors and compare the audible data to a baseline to detect an upset in the normal fluid flow state, as described in at least paragraph [0021] (“Acoustic and sonic data gathered from in and around a flow meter measurement station is used to adjust flow meter measurements in real time. Though normal operation of a station will produce noise related to flow state changes and pressure loss, the embodiments described herein are primarily adapted for identifying "upsets" relative to the ideal or baseline noise range of the station, and correcting them. Thus, in some embodiments, particular noise characteristics of the station are not as significant as the upsets from the ideal or baseline flow, and the location of such upsets. In addition to the those previously described, pressure losses and upsets that occur outside of the ideal or baseline conditions may include those associated with stripping out a storage tanker, or from changing flow of one product to another, such as from kerosene to gasoline. Further, the flow state upset may indicate deterioration of a component coupled to the flow meter.”), and paragraph [0024] (“Upon detection of an upset, the computer, processor or HMI will alert the operator of the upset occurrence and its location. In some embodiments, control is then exerted over the measurement station or further parts of the delivery system to correct the upset. For example, back pressure control valves, such as those on the meter or the prover, are adjusted to add backpressure to stabilize the pressure loss related to the upset. In some embodiments, a storage tanker is on one side of the measurement station while a refinery is on the other side, and devices related to these components can also be adjusted to correct upsets.”)
GIUNTA et al. (US 2015/0300907 A1) teaches continuous remote monitoring of integrity of pressurized pipelines and properties of fluids transported using installing plural measurement stations along the pipeline, connected to vibroacoustic sensors configured to simultaneously and continuously measure elastic signals propagating in walls of the pipeline, and acoustic signals propagating in the transported fluid; synchronizing the signals measured from different measurement stations, with absolute time reference; continuously transmitting the measured and synchronized signals to a central unit configured to process them in a multichannel mode; calculating, by the central unit, plural transfer functions that can define vibroacoustic propagation in sections of pipeline between consecutive measurement stations; filtering relevant acoustic and elastic signals from the different measurement stations subtracting the contribution relating to the passive sources; creating an equivalent descriptive model of the system including the fluid transported, pipeline and external medium surrounding the pipeline, using the transfer functions, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. Active sources of vibroacoustic signals include factors, as described in at least paragraphs [0034]-[0037] (“In general, the following can be considered examples of active sources of vibroacoustic signals: impacts, intrusions, withdrawals, leaks; variation of the flow or turbulence, the transit of a pig (pipeline inspection gauge) inside the pipeline.”)
Lapinski et al. (US 2005/0086012 A1) teaches monitoring fluid flow, such as fluid flow through pipelines or similar conduits for delivering natural gas, crude oil, and other similar liquid or gas energy commodities, relies on the measurement of acoustic waves generated by the fluid, thus allowing for monitoring of the flow rate without direct access to the fluid. Furthermore, the method and system allows for estimation of the operational dynamics of components or facilities of the production, transportation, storage, and distribution systems for the energy commodities.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-5069. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/MICHAEL W CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116