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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 3-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species B and C, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 8/5/26.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “intended to” does not positively recite the limitations that follow. For purposes of examination and as best understood by the examiner, the term “intended to” will be interpreted as “configured to”. Further, claim 1 states “whether they are rigid, flexible, on land, at deep sea” with respect to the metal material ducts. This limitation is considered nonfunctional descriptive material which is not owed patentable weight. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1: The term pig is in parentheses, “equipment which moves inside ducts (Pig) having instrumentation on board”. However, it is unclear whether or not the term in parentheses is required by the claim. As best understood by the examiner, the equipment is a Pig. Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding claim 2: Claim 2 states “a rigid pig (PR), more suitable for ducts having constant diameter and slight curvatures,”. The term “more suitable” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “more suitable” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. As best understood by the examiner, the limitation “more suitable for ducts having constant diameter and slight curvatures” has no patentable significance. For purposes of examination, this limitation will not be given patentable weight.
Claim 2 states the quantity of sensors “may comprise at least 4 sensors for about 2.54 cm (1 inch) of inner circumference of the inner diameter of the duct”. It is unclear whether or not the limitation following “may comprise” is required by the claim. For purposes of examination, the limitation “may comprise at least 4 sensors for about 2.54 cm (1 inch) of inner circumference of the inner diameter of the duct” will not be required by claim 2.
Claim 2 states “each sensor or group of sensors is attached at the end of each arm of the crown, is encapsulated in an abrasion-resistant shoe caused by the inner wall of the duct (D) with which it makes contact”. It is unclear what it means for the shoe to be caused by the inner wall of the duct. For purposes of examination, the phrase will be interpreted as “the abrasion caused by the inner wall of the duct (D) with which it makes contact”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant-cited Dubov et al. (WO2021194394, translation provided by examiner).
Claim 1: Dubov discloses EQUIPMENT FOR THE INTERNAL INSPECTION OF DUCT INTEGRITY BY MEANS OF MAGNETIC MEMORY OF METAL comprising equipment which moves inside ducts (Pig) (device of Fig. 1) characterized by instrumentation onboard (electronics unit 11), which is intended to detect, locate and measure structural anomalies and stress concentration zones in metal material ducts (middle pg. 5: the measuring module is configured to measure the strength of the intrinsic magnetic fields created in the pipe metal), whether they are rigid, flexible, on land, at deep sea by non-destructive testing of high resolution Metal Magnetic Memory (MMM) (Title: Device for diagnosing pipelines using method of magnetic metal memory (mmm)), as well as an odometer positioning system (accelerometer 17: The accelerometer 17 is a monolithic microcircuit of a three-axis MEMS accelerometer (microelectromechanical system), allowing to determine the location of the fluxgate sensors 6 in space during the rotation of the housing 1 and to record the acceleration of the device. Pg. 7).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubov in view of applicant-cited Short et al. (US20110095752) further in view of Milouchev et al. (US20200211733).
Claim 2: Dubov teaches the device of claim 1. Dubov teaches a rigid pig (PR), more suitable for ducts having constant diameter and slight curvatures, it has a cylindrical, rigid and metallic body (housing 1, Figs. 1, 6) to which are connected to each of its ends a first elastic cuff 3 and a second elastic cuff 3 (Fig. 1, 6), sized for a given duct diameter (pg. 5: The closest to the claimed one is a device for pipeline diagnostics, comprising a housing transporting a housing module with elastic cuffs made with a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the pipe.) for centering and promoting the generation of pressure differential needed to move the pig along the duct by means of the pumped fluid itself (Elastic cuffs are used to center the body of the transported module relative to the axis of the controlled pipe, and also act as a "sail" that takes on the pressure of the transported medium (gas or other product) and propels the entire in-line diagnostic projectiles along the pipe. Pg. 5), characterized by comprising:
an electronics module (electronic unit 11, Fig. 1, 2), installed inside the housing 1 (a single electronic unit 11 on a separate board equipped with a power source for all electronic equipment and installed inside the housing 1. Pg. 7), comprised of a solid-state memory, is intended to collect and store data and records (ROM 15, The data processed by the processor 14 from the fluxgate sensors 6 (amplified and digitized) and from the accelerometer 17 are sent from the second output of the processor 14 to the ROM 15 for storage. pg. 7);
a battery module (power supply as part of the electronics unit 11, end pg. 4), installed inside the housing 1 and electrically connected to the electronics module (electronics unit 11) is intended to feed with electrical power all the system (end pg. 4, Fig. 2); the accelerometer (odometer) is electrically connected to the battery (power source of the electronic unit 11, see Fig. 2);
a crown (measuring module 5), firmly attached to the body (housing 1) between the elastic cuffs 3; a plurality of magnetic sensors (fluxgate sensors 6) MMM; magnetic sensor(s) performs the three-axis X, Y, Z reading referring to the detection of the components of the Normal and Tangential SMFL field of the duct (D) (The measuring module 5 is configured to measure the strength of its own magnetic fields by means of fluxgate sensors 6 of the normal and tangential components of the magnetic field strength. Pg. 4 and 6) and transmits the reading data to the electronics module (the sensors transmit, via multi-channel converter 7 which is part of the electronics unit 11. Pg. 7).
Dubov fails to teach a first polyurethane cup (C1) and a second polyurethane cup (C2); a pressure capsule (2), which can be selected from: machined into the body (1) and rigidly attached to the body (1); wherein the crown has a plurality of radially expandable arms (51) and having a size capable of touching the inner wall of the duct (D); where the quantity of sensors (6) depends on the diameter of the duct (D), may comprise at least 4 sensors for about 2.54 cm (1 inch) of inner circumference of the inner diameter of the duct (D), each sensor (6) or group of sensors is attached at the end of each arm (51) of the crown (5), is encapsulated in an abrasion-resistant shoe caused by the inner wall of the duct (D) with which it makes contact, performs the three-axis X, Y, Z reading referring to the detection of the components of the Normal and Tangential SMFL field of the duct (D) and transmits the reading data to the electronics module (3) by encapsulated cabling (CE) having pressure connectors (CP); a contact odometer (7) is formed by two diametrically opposed sets attached to the end of the body (1) behind the cup (C2) where each set comprises a rod (71) with a wheel (72) at the outer end, having elastic tensioning, by spring (73) or similar device to maintain its contact with the internal walls of the duct (D); it is electronically connected to the electronics module (3) and electrically to the battery module (4), it serves to record the displacement of the rigid pig (PR) along the duct (D) and the position of an anomaly detected by the magnetic sensors MMM (6).
However, Short teaches a pig (Fig. 6) including a first polyurethane cup (resilient cup 12) and a second polyurethane cup (resilient cup 12, Fig. 6); a pressure capsule (pressure vessel 38, Figs. 5, 6), which can be selected from:
machined into the body and rigidly attached to the body (the pressure vessel 38 is part of the body 10a, Fig. 6);
a crown (finger assembly 120, Fig. 6), wherein the crown has a plurality of radially expandable arms (fingers 120; Fig. 6) and having a size capable of touching the inner wall of the duct (inner surface 28 of the pipeline, Fig. 3);
where the quantity of sensors depends on the diameter of the duct ([0032] a total of 25 fingers for a 10 inch pipeline, increasing proportionately up to 110 fingers for a 42 inch pipeline, and so on for greater diameters. In general terms, it is preferred to use as great a number of detectors as can be accommodated for maximum resolution.), may comprise at least 4 sensors for about 2.54 cm (1 inch) of inner circumference of the inner diameter of the duct (D), each sensor (sensor assembly including hall effect sensor 24 and permanent magnet 26) or group of sensors is attached at the end of each arm ([0048]) of the crown (assembly 120), is encapsulated in an abrasion-resistant shoe caused by the inner wall of the duct (D) with which it makes contact ([0048] The magnet 26 and pcb 60 may suitably be encapsulated in resin, for example epoxy or polyurethane. The magnet 26 is in portion 120c, which makes contact with the wall.),
the sensor(s) transmits the reading data to the electronics module by cabling having pressure connectors ([0039] [T]he memory 36 and associated control and power supply circuits are contained with a pressure vessel 38 (FIG. 5) forming part of the pig body 10, and the sensor signals are multiplexed to the memory 36 by multiplexers 44 contained within a pair of multiplexer boxes 40 secured to the pressure vessel 38. The multiplexer boxes 40 are provided with cable glands 42, one per sensor and are potted with epoxy resin once the cables have been connected, and are connected to the memory 36 via single entries underlying the boxes 40. This arrangement reduces the access requirements to the pressure vessel.)
a contact odometer (odometer assembly comprising wheels 18) is formed by two diametrically opposed sets (arm 16 and wheel 18; [0031] could be two to four sets) attached to the end of the body (body 10) behind the cup (see Fig. 6) where each set comprises a rod (arm 16) with a wheel (wheel 18) at the outer end, having elastic tensioning, by spring (springs 50, Fig. 6) or similar device to maintain its contact with the internal walls of the duct ([0031-0032, 0045]); it is electronically connected to the electronics module ([0038] typically the outputs of the various sensors 24 are supplied to a memory 36 within the pig, together with odometer readings, such that the condition of the pipeline can be analyzed after the pig traverse by downloading the memory 36.); it serves to record the displacement of the rigid pig (PR) along the duct (D) and the position of an anomaly detected by the magnetic sensors MMM ([0038] typically the outputs of the various sensors 24 are supplied to a memory 36 within the pig, together with odometer readings, such that the condition of the pipeline can be analyzed after the pig traverse by downloading the memory 36.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the device of Short with the teaching of Dubov in order to position the sensors as close as possible to the pipeline wall and thereby improve sensitivity and accuracy ([0036] Short).
Dubov in view of Short fails to teach the use of encapsulated cabling.
However, Milouchev teaches the use of encapsulated cabling (TECs) for power and signal transmission [0011].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use encapsulated tubing, as taught by Milouchev, in order to use cables suitable for harsh environments and high temperatures (Milouchev [0012]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN MORELLO whose telephone number is (313)446-6583. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-4.
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/JEAN F MORELLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 8/18/26
/KRISTINA M DEHERRERA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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