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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 line 7, “the neutral conductor” should be --a neutral conductor--. Similar correction is required in claims 14-15.
Claim 2 line 1, “The device” should be –The SEHM--. Similar corrections are required in claims 3-13.
Claim 2 line 2, “the surge protectors” should be – the plurality of surge protectors--.
Claim 12 line 2, “a mobile user device including an energy monitoring application” should be -- the mobile user device including the energy monitoring application--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2, 4 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Polychronakis (US 20230223749 A1), and further in view of Wetter (M. Wetter, G. Finis, C. Sander and S. Joerres, "Smart IoT Monitoring System for Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)," 2019 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL), Hong Kong, China, 2019, pp. 1-5).
Regarding claim 1, Polychronakis teaches a smart powerline event and health monitoring device (SEHM) ([0001], monitoring the status and/or performance of surge protective devices) structured to be disposed in a power distribution system ([0060], three power lines L1, L2, and L3 corresponding to three-phase electrical power signals, respectively, and a neutral line N) for a building structure located in a utility system ([0002], deliver power to residences and commercial and institutional facilities), the SEHM comprising:
a surge protection device (SPD) (e.g. varistors 120-1, 120-2, 120-3, fig.3) connected to the line conductors (i.e. power line L1, fig.3) and the neutral conductor (i.e. neutral line N, fig.3) and structured to shunt electrical energy from a voltage surge to the neutral conductor ([0065], intended purpose of shunting current);
a controller (i.e. control module 115, fig.3); and
a communication module (e.g. module comprising communication network 100, fig.1) connected to the controller ([0056], comprises one or more SPDs 110a, 110b, and 110c that are coupled to an SPD management system 130 by way of a network 120), the communication module being communicatively coupled to a cloud ([0057], networked or cloud-based monitoring of the SPDs).
Polychronakis does not teach, a voltage measurement device connected to line conductors and structured to measure changes in line voltages and frequencies;
The controller connected to the voltage measurement device and the SPD and structured to receive the measured changes from the voltage measurement device; and
a mobile user device having an energy monitoring application installed therein, the communication module being structured to receive the data including the measured changes from the controller and transmit the data to the cloud.
Wetter teaches in a similar field of endeavor of smart IoT monitoring system for surge protective devices, a voltage measurement device (page 3, Surge voltages can also be measured by the applied sensors) connected to line conductors and structured to measure changes in line voltages and frequencies (page 3, four sensors are mounted on the active wires L1, L2, L3 and N);
a controller (page 3, printed circuit board) connected to the voltage measurement device and the SPD and structured to receive the measured changes from the voltage measurement device (e.g. printed circuit board within 3 is connected to 1 and 3, fig.3); and
a mobile user device (page 4, a new device) having an energy monitoring application installed therein (e.g. Status information of a registered surge protective device, available in the proficloud, fig.4), a communication module (e.g. IoT monitoring system 2, fig.3) being structured to receive the data including the measured changes from the controller and transmit the data to the cloud (page 4, The measured data of surge voltages and surge currents is transferred as raw data into the internet) (page 4, system will transfer the measuring data of any occurring event into the cloud for permanent storage).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the a voltage measurement device connected to line conductors and structured to measure changes in line voltages and frequencies; The controller connected to the voltage measurement device and the SPD and structured to receive the measured changes from the voltage measurement device; and a mobile user device having an energy monitoring application installed therein, the communication module being structured to receive the data including the measured changes from the controller and transmit the data to the cloud in Polychronakis, as taught by Wetter, as it provides the advantage of predictable maintenance requirements and maintenance work can be planned much more efficiently.
Regarding claim 2, Polychronakis and Wetter teach the device of claim 1, wherein the SPD includes a plurality of surge protectors (Polychronakis, e.g. varistors 120-1, 120-2, 120-3, fig.3) and an SPD status indicator (Polychronakis, [0064], an alarm) connected to the surge protectors, the line conductors and the neutral conductor (Polychronakis, e.g. connection of 115 to L1, L2, L3, N, 120-1, 120-2, 120-3, 142 and 144, fig.3), the SPD status indicator being structured to indicate SPD status for a corresponding powerline (Polychronakis, [0064], configured to generate an alarm indicative of a specific one of the varistors 120-1, 120-2, and 120-3 having reached the end of its lifespan or is near the end of its lifespan).
Regarding claim 4, Polychronakis and Wetter teach the SEHM of claim 1, wherein the data include the measured changes (Wetter, page 4, The measured data of surge voltages and surge currents is transferred as raw data into the internet), device IDs (Wetter, page 4, description and the location of the SPD), user information or geolocation information associated with the building structure (Wetter, page 4, The arrester type and the position of each sensor at the arrester is mandatory required data).
Regarding claim 12, Polychronakis and Wetter teach the SEHM of claim 1, wherein the controller is further structured to directly transmit a notification to the mobile user device including the energy monitoring application (Wetter, page 4, Additionally the operator can set personal settings to be informed about certain events by email or other communication channels), the mobile user device being communicatively coupled to the cloud (Wetter, page 4, The measuring system provides a safe and stable data connection to a cloud platform) (Wetter, page 4, the user can download all data at any time), the notification including the data, a recommended action and automatic actions taken by the SEHM (Wetter, page 4, Knowing the expected residual lifetime of a SPD opens a new dimension in preventive maintenance work).
Regarding claim 13, Polychronakis and Wetter teach the SEHM of claim 12, wherein the SPD includes an SPD indicator (Polychronakis, [0074], control circuit assembly 540 corresponding to the control module 115 (FIG. 3)) (Polychronakis, [0086], [0086] The electrical circuit assembly 540 (FIG. 12) includes an indicator light 544 (e.g., LED)) structured to indicate SPD status (Polychronakis, [0086], The indicator light 544 may be used to indicate a condition of the SPD assembly 500) and a plurality of metal oxide varistors (MOVs) (Polychronakis, [], he varistors 120-1, 120-2, and 120-3 may be metal oxide varistors (MOVs)) each connected in series with respective thermal fuse elements (Polychronakis, [0128], Each line L1, L2, L3 may be provided with a main circuit breaker or fuse) connected to the SPD indicator, the line conductors and the neutral conductor (Polychronakis, e.g. connection shown in fig.3), and wherein the controller is further structured to directly transmit the notification to the mobile user device (Wetter, page 4, Additionally the operator can set personal settings to be informed about certain events by email or other communication channels), the notification including the SPD status and a recommended action based at least in part on the SPD status (Wetter, page 4, Knowing the expected residual lifetime of a SPD opens a new dimension in preventive maintenance work).
Regarding claim 14, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-11 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 15-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, Polychronakis (US 20230223749 A1) and Wetter (M. Wetter, G. Finis, C. Sander and S. Joerres, "Smart IoT Monitoring System for Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)," 2019 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL), Hong Kong, China, 2019, pp. 1-5) teach 3 the SEHM of claim 2.
Polychronakis and Wetter do not teach, wherein the SPD status indicator comprises a plurality of LEDs each connected to corresponding line conductors and wherein when an LED is lit, the corresponding powerline is healthy and the respective SPD is active, and wherein when the LED is turned OFF, the corresponding powerline is not healthy and the respective SPD is inactive or lost.
Prior art Yang (US 10004123 B1), Bedo (US 20220159808) and Gerlach (US 20100014205) have been found to be the closest prior art.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “wherein the SPD status indicator comprises a plurality of LEDs each connected to corresponding line conductors and wherein when an LED is lit, the corresponding powerline is healthy and the respective SPD is active, and wherein when the LED is turned OFF, the corresponding powerline is not healthy and the respective SPD is inactive or lost.”
Regarding claim 5, Polychronakis (US 20230223749 A1) and Wetter (M. Wetter, G. Finis, C. Sander and S. Joerres, "Smart IoT Monitoring System for Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)," 2019 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL), Hong Kong, China, 2019, pp. 1-5) teach the SEHM of claim 1.
Polychronakis and Wetter do not teach, wherein the cloud includes or communicatively coupled to a database structured to store the data and historical data including past powerline events, powerline related anomalies or activity logs associated with the SEHM.
Prior art Gundel (US 20210373063), Menzel (US 20220319299) and Bickel (US 20200011909) are considered to be the closest prior art.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “wherein the cloud includes or communicatively coupled to a database structured to store the data and historical data including past powerline events, powerline related anomalies or activity logs associated with the SEHM.”
Regarding claim 6, Polychronakis (US 20230223749 A1) and Wetter (M. Wetter, G. Finis, C. Sander and S. Joerres, "Smart IoT Monitoring System for Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)," 2019 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL), Hong Kong, China, 2019, pp. 1-5) teach the SEHM of claim 1, wherein the cloud is structured to receive the data, analyze the data (Wetter, page 4, There are nearly infinite ways for using and evaluating the collected measurement data), determine that a powerline event or anomaly has occurred or is about to occur (Wetter, page 4, allow the calculation of the State of Health (SoH) of the arrester based on the accumulated physical stress in every single protective path), and transmit a notification to the mobile user device in response to the determination in a wireless connection (Wetter, page 4, the operator can set personal settings to be informed about certain events by email or other communication channels).
Polychronakis and Wetter do not teach, based at least in part on historical data including past powerline events, powerline related anomalies or activity logs.
Prior art Gundel (US20210373063), Menzel (US20220319299) and Bickel (US20200011909) are considered to be the closest prior art.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “based at least in part on historical data including past powerline events, powerline related anomalies or activity logs”.
Claims 7-11 are indicated allowable, as they depend on allowable claim 6.
Regarding claim 15, Polychronakis (US 20230223749 A1) and Wetter (M. Wetter, G. Finis, C. Sander and S. Joerres, "Smart IoT Monitoring System for Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)," 2019 11th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning (APL), Hong Kong, China, 2019, pp. 1-5) substantially teach the limitations, as stated above for claim 1. Polychronakis and Wetter do not teach, analyzing, by the cloud, the data based at least in part on the historical data.
Prior art Gundel (US20210373063), Menzel (US20220319299) and Bickel (US20200011909) are considered to be the closest prior art.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “analyzing, by the cloud, the data based at least in part on the historical data”.
Claims 16-20 are allowed, as they depend on allowed claim 15.
Conclusion
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/SREEYA SREEVATSA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 11/06/2025