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 .
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (CN 213658137 U).
Considering claim 7, Xu discloses a device for detecting residual stress induced by cold expansion (Cx) (Cx stress) at a hole in a structure, comprising:
- an acoustic block 10 (Figure 1A; [0020]);
- a first transducer pair 31 or 32 mounted in or on the acoustic block 10, operable to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves into the structure in a pitch-catch configuration along a first path parallel to a tangent of the hole (Figures 1A-1B; [0020-23]);
- wherein the first path is a first distance from the hole where Cx stress will be present if the material has undergone Cx (Figures 1A-1B);
- a second transducer pair 33 or 34 mounted in or on the acoustic block 10, operable to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves into the structure in a pitch-catch configuration along a second path parallel to the tangent of the hole (Figures 1A-1B; [0020-23]);
- wherein the second path is a second distance from the hole where Cx stress will be not be present if the material has undergone Cx (Figures 1A-1B; [0023], second path is spaced differently than first path);
- wherein the first transducer pair and the second transducer pair are arranged such that their incident angle into the structure provides longitudinal critically refracted waves (LCR) within the structure when placed on a surface of the structure and activated with ultrasonic waves ([0026], longitudinal wave emitted at critical angle and refractive angle is 90º).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Considering claim 1, the prior art made of record fails to disclose, suggest or otherwise render obvious the subject matter of a method for detecting residual stress induced by cold expansion at a hole in a structure having the steps of using a first transducer pair and second transducer pair to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves into the structure in a pitch-catch configuration along a first and a second path each parallel to the same tangent of the hole, wherein the first path is a first distance from the hole where cold expansion stress will be present if the material has undergone cold expansion, wherein the second path is a second distance from the hole where cold expansion stress will have little or no presence if the material has undergone cold expansion, wherein the first transducer pair and the second transducer pair are arranged such that their incident angle into the structure provides longitudinal critically refracted waves within the structure; generating longitudinal critically refracted waves waves within the structure along the first path and the second path, measuring the time-of-flight of the LCR waves along the first path and the second path, comparing the time-of-flight measurements along the first path and the second path, thereby obtaining a time-of-flight difference, and using acoustoelasticity calculations to determine if cold expansion stress is present at the hole.
Claim 8 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claim 8, the prior art made of record fails to disclose, suggest or otherwise render obvious the subject matter of an alignment pin mounted in the acoustic block for placement into the hole, in combination with the claim limitations of claim 7.
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.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhao et al. and Luo et al. each disclose the general concept of ultrasonic pitch-catch transmission with LCR waves through a sample.
Dixon discloses ultrasonic pitch-catch transmission from a single transmitter to plural, angularly offset, receivers with LCR waves.
Xu et al. discloses a plurality of ultrasonic pitch-catch transmission pairs forming paths that are colinear.
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/JONATHAN M DUNLAP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 January 24, 2026