DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-9 are currently pending and have been examined in this application. This NON-FINAL communication is the first action on the merits.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application filed in PCT JP 2022001712 on 01/07/2022 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
The claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
[Claim 1, ln. 7] Typographical error, “comprising an integrated circuit (IC) tag”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Specification Objections
The claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
[Pg, 2, ln. 26] Typographical error, “includes an integrated circuit (IC) tag”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wallace (US 20110024269) in view of Hwang (US 20080061972).
Regarding Claims 1, 5, Wallace teaches the following limitations:
A device for detecting a longitudinal tear in a conveyor belt, the device comprising: (Wallace – [0003] The main belt material generally is a moderately flexible elastomeric or rubber-like material, and the belt is typically reinforced by a plurality of longitudinally extending metal cables or cords, which are positioned within the belt and extend along the length thereof. [0013] Embodiments of the invention further provide for a method of monitoring the moving conveyor belt. In these embodiments, the conveyor belt has a plurality of embedded reinforcing cords and a plurality of identification tags. The conveyor belt system may be of the type having a tag reader for detecting and identifying the presence of an identification tag from among the plurality of identification tags passing by the tag reader and a belt monitoring system to detect a plurality of splices… Data from the scanned cords is analyzed to identify a damage event of at least one cord from among the plurality of cords in the conveyor belt, and, in response to identifying the damage event, a location of the damage event is determined based on the acquired belt location.)
(Claim 5) A method for detecting a longitudinal tear in a conveyor belt (Wallace – [0003], [0013])
an embedded body embedded in the conveyor belt; (Wallace – [0015] The conveyor belt has a plurality of embedded reinforcing cords and a plurality of identification tags. [0045] The identification tags 170, 172 may be incorporated into the belt construction, for example placed between the pulley layer 16 and the carcass 20. In other embodiments, the identification tags may be placed between other layers or incorporated into a specific layer of the belt 12.)
a detector configured to wirelessly communicate with the embedded body without contacting the conveyor belt; and (Wallace – [0047] Some RFID tags have a passive configuration, which has no internal power supply. Instead, a minute electrical current induced in the antenna by the incoming radio frequency signal generated by the reader 174 provides just enough power for the integrated circuit in the tag 170, 172 to power up and perform an action, such as store data such as that discloses above, transmit a response, or both. Most passive tags signal by backscattering the carrier wave from the reader 174.)
a calculation unit connected to the detector; (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0045] the tag reader 174 may be connected to the data collection device 28 along with the sensor 26, and the identification data may then be sent from the data collection device 28 to the computer 100.)
the embedded body comprising an IC tag that is passive and a detection element connected to the IC tag, extending in a width direction of the conveyor belt outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit, and having a linear shape, and (Wallace – [0015], [0047] Wallace does not explicitly teach a “loop circuit, and having a linear shape”.)
a transmission radio wave being emitted from the detector toward the IC tag, presence or absence of energization of the loop circuit being determined by the calculation unit by using information transmitted from the IC tag to the detector via a return radio wave emitted from the IC tag in response to the transmission radio wave, and (Wallace – [0015], [0047] Wallace does not explicitly teach a “presence or absence of energization of the loop circuit”.)
in accordance with this determination result, presence or absence of generation of a longitudinal tear in the conveyor belt in a range where the loop circuit is embedded being detected. (Wallace – [0015], [0047])
Wallace does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Hwang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
loop circuit, and having a linear shape… presence or absence of energization of the loop circuit (Hwang – [Fig. 2] linear shape [0025] The RFID chip 12 generates a conductive code when the conducting circuit loop 15 is in the closed state)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the integrated circuits of Wallace with the conducting circuit loop of Hwang in order to generate a conductive code (Hwang – [0025]).
Regarding Claim 2, Wallace does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Hwang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the detection element is conductive rubber, conductive paste, or a metal wire.
(Hwang – [0038] In addition, the conducting circuit loop 15 may be arranged inside the substrate, and the conducting circuit loop 15 may be made of pliable metal materials such as aluminum, copper or transparent conducting glue.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the integrated circuits of Wallace with the conductive material of Hwang in order to generate a conductive and pliable circuit loop (Hwang – [0038]).
Regarding Claims 3, 7 Wallace further teaches:
wherein a plurality of the loop circuits that are independent is connected to the IC tag, and the loop circuits that are independent are each embedded at intervals in a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt. (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0003], [0013])
Wallace does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Hwang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
loop circuit (Hwang – [0025])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the integrated circuits of Wallace with the conducting circuit loop of Hwang in order to generate a conductive code (Hwang – [0025]).
Regarding Claims 4, 8-9, Wallace further teaches:
wherein a core layer of the conveyor belt is made up of a large number of steel cords disposed side by side in the width direction, and (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0003], [0013], [0031] steel cords)
an embedding direction of the IC tag is set to a specific direction in which an intensity of the return radio wave received by the detector is higher than a predetermined threshold value. (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0003], [0013], [0047], [0050] After logging the event, or if no growth was determined ("No" branch of decision block 224), the damage event is compared to a threshold. If the damage event exceeds the threshold value ("Yes" branch of decision block 228), an alarm may be provided (block 230). An operator of the belt system may be notified of the event and may additionally be supplied with recommended actions (block 232) depending on the severity of the damage event.)
Regarding Claims 6, Wallace further teaches:
a core layer of the conveyor belt being made up of a large number of steel cords side by side in the width direction, the method comprising: (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0003], [0013], [0031])
grasping in advance a relationship between an embedding direction of the IC tag and an intensity of the return radio wave received by the detector; (Wallace – [0003], [0013], [0031])
specifying the embedding direction in which the intensity of the return radio wave received by the detector is higher than a predetermined threshold value; and embedding the IC tag in the conveyor belt in the embedding direction specified. (Wallace – [Fig. 5], [0003], [0013], [0047], [0050])
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure or directed to the state of art is listed on the enclosed PTO-892.
The following is a brief description for relevant prior art that was cited but not applied:
Campanari (US 20240327131) describes method for detecting the state of wear and/or defects of a conveyor system.
Hou (US 20240327131) describes a conveyor belt monitoring system includes an imaging device which sequentially images a longitudinal predetermined range of a conveyor belt in running from above the conveyor belt.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON JAMES HENSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/BRANDON JAMES HENSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/RESHA DESAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648