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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 5, 9, 11, 12, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vine et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2021/0108916; hereinafter referred to as Vine).
With respect to claim 5, Vine discloses and illustrates an apparatus for monitoring a fault of a pipe (see Fig. 8 and 9), the apparatus comprising: a processor (at least one processor and memory, see at least paragraph [0024]); and a memory configured to store instructions executed by the processor ( at least one processor and memory, see at least paragraph [0024]), wherein the processor generates an ultrasonic guided signal in a pipe (see at least paragraph [0009]) through piezoelectric transducers (see at least paragraph [0009]), disposed on a circumferential outer surface of the pipe (see at least paragraph [0019], see also Fig. 9 which shows transducers 12 on the outer surface of the pipe) which is a target of which a fault is to be monitored (see at least paragraph [0102] ), and monitors a fault of the pipe through signal processing (see at least paragraph [0094]) for performing correlation analysis (see at least paragraph [0014]; cross-correlation) and noise removal on a reflected signal (see at least paragraph [0014]; the de-noised frequency domain signal), also, see at least paragraph [0094] which teaches that the waves used in the measurements are reflected) generated by the ultrasonic guided signal being reflected at an arbitrary point of the pipe (see at least paragraph [0094]; also see at least Fig. 8 and 9; the Examiner interprets an arbitrary reflection point as a point in the pipe that a wave is reflecting from a defect).
With respect to claim 9, Vine discloses and illustrates an apparatus for monitoring a fault of a pipe (see Fig. 8 and 9), the apparatus comprising: a plurality of piezoelectric transducers (see at least paragraph [0009]) disposed on a circumferential outer surface of a pipe which is a target of which a fault is to be monitored (see at least paragraph [0019], see also Fig. 9 which shows transducers 12 on the outer surface of the pipe); and a processor ( at least one processor and memory, see at least paragraph [0024]) configured to generate an ultrasonic guided signal in the pipe through the piezoelectric transducers disposed on the circumferential outer surface of the pipe which is the target of which the fault is to be monitored (see at least paragraph [0019], see also Fig. 9 which shows transducers 12 on the outer surface of the pipe) and monitor a fault of the pipe through signal processing (see at least paragraph [0094]) for performing correlation analysis (see at least paragraph [0014]) and noise removal on a reflected signal (see at least paragraph [0014]), also, see at least paragraph [0094] which teaches that the waves used in the measurements are reflected) generated by the ultrasonic guided signal being reflected at an arbitrary point of the pipe (see at least paragraph [0094]; also see at least Fig. 8 and 9; the Examiner interprets an arbitrary reflection point as a point in the pipe that a wave is reflecting from a defect).
With respect to claim 11, the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the ultrasonic guided signal and the reflected signal are chirp signals (see at least paragraph [0074] and paragraph [0096]) having multiple center frequencies (see at least paragraph [0104] that teaches the use of multiple center frequencies), and when the number of the piezoelectric transducers disposed on the circumferential outer surface of the pipe is defined as n (see at least paragraph [0019], see also Fig. 9 which shows transducers 12 on the outer surface of the pipe), an entire frequency band of the ultrasonic guided signal is designed to be limited by n (see at least paragraph [0006]).
With respect to claim 12, the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor converts a domain of the reflected signal into a time-frequency domain (see at least paragraph [0009]) and analyzes a correlation between a first projection function in which the reflected signal is projected on a frequency domain (see at least paragraph [0010]) and a second projection function in which the reflected signal is projected on a time domain in the time-frequency domain (see at least paragraph [0010]).
With respect to claim 15, the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor generates an ultrasonic guided signal in a torsional mode (T-mode) (see at least paragraph [0006]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 6, as amended, requires the processor performs the correlation analysis by converting a domain of the reflected signal into a time-frequency domain. Claims 7 and 13 both require a noise parameter indicating a noise component reflected on the reflected signal based on an angle between the reflected signal and a reference axis in the time-frequency domain, which is not disclosed in the prior art. Claim 10 requires a placement profile defined based on a margin rate defined as a parameter that indicates a density of the piezoelectric transducers disposed on the circumferential outer surface of the pipe, which is not disclosed in the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODNEY T FRANK whose telephone number is (571)272-2193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at (571) 272-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RODNEY T. FRANK
Examiner
Art Unit 2855
/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
October 13, 2026
