DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claims 1-9 are pending.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
4. The drawings are objected to because Figures 1 and 9 appear to be illegible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - Nonstatutory Double Patenting
5. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
6. Claim 1 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of copending Application No. 18/724,582 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
The following table summarizes the correspondence between limitations of claim 1 of Application No. 18/724,582 and the limitations of claim 1 of the present application.
Claim 1 of Application No. 18/724,582
Claim 1 of Present Application
A partial discharge monitoring method comprising:
a signal measurement step of measuring signals of a high-voltage power device and obtaining pulse waveforms of the signals;
a signal separation step of extracting feature dots from the pulse waveforms and generating two-dimensional feature dot data using the feature dots;
a signal clustering step, which includes a first feature dot data clustering process in which feature dot points corresponding to the feature dots on the two-dimensional feature dot data are clustered according to density and classified into feature dot data clusters,
a second feature dot data cluster process in which feature dot points corresponding to the feature dots on the two-dimensional feature dot data are clustered according to a distance between the feature dot points and classified into feature dot data clusters, and
a process of obtaining phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; and
a partial discharge determination step diagnosing the signals by recognizing patterns of the PRPD data and determining whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred on the basis of the diagnosis result.
A partial discharge monitoring method comprising:
a signal measurement step of measuring signals of a high-voltage power device and obtaining pulse waveforms of the signals;
a signal separation step of extracting feature dots from the pulse waveforms and generating two-dimensional feature dot data using the feature dots;
a signal clustering step of clustering feature dot points corresponding to the feature dots on the two-dimensional feature dot data according to density to classify the feature dot points as feature dot data clusters, and
obtaining phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; and
a partial discharge determination step diagnosing the signals by recognizing patterns of the PRPD data and determining whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred on the basis of the diagnosis result.
Therefore, the method of claim 1 of Application No. 18/724,582 teaches the method of claim 1 of the present application.
7. Claim 3 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 2 of copending Application No. 18/724,582 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim 2 of Application No. 18/724,582 is directed to the partial discharge monitoring method of claim 1, wherein, in the first feature dot data clustering process, the feature dot points are clustered on the basis of density corresponding to the number of feature dot points present within a preset radius with respect to a specific feature dot point on the two-dimensional feature dot data obtained in the signal separation step. Therefore, the method of claim 2 of Application No. 18/724,582 teaches the method of claim 3 of the present application.
8. Claim 5 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 7 of copending Application No. 18/724,582 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
The following table summarizes the correspondence between limitations of claim 7 of Application No. 18/724,582 and the limitations of claim 5 of the present application.
Claim 7 of Application No. 18/724,582
Claim 5 of Present Application
A partial discharge monitoring system comprising:
a signal detection unit provided with a sensor to detect signals of a power device;
a local unit configured to transmit the signals detected by the signal detection unit through a communication network; and
a main unit configured to apply a machine learning algorithm to extract feature dots from the signals transmitted through the local unit, generate feature dot points corresponding to the extracted feature dots, and classify the feature dot points into feature dot data clusters according to density and distance, respectively, to determine whether a partial discharge has occurred.
A partial discharge monitoring system comprising:
a signal detection unit provided with a sensor to detect signals of a power device;
a local unit configured to transmit the signals detected by the signal detection unit
through a communication network; and
a main unit configured to apply a machine learning algorithm to extract feature dots from the signals transmitted through the local unit, generate feature dot points corresponding to the extracted feature dots, and classify the feature dot points into feature dot data clusters according to density to determine whether a partial discharge has occurred.
Therefore, the system of claim 7 of Application No. 18/724,582 teaches the system of claim 5 of the present application.
9. Claim 6 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 8 of copending Application No. 18/724,582 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim 8 of Application No. 18/724,582 is directed to the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 7, wherein the main unit includes: a signal separation unit configured to extract feature dots from pulse waveforms of the signals transmitted through the local unit, and generate two-dimensional feature dot data using the feature dots; a signal clustering unit, which includes a first feature dot data clustering unit configured to cluster feature dot points according to density on the two-dimensional feature dot data generated by the signal separation unit, and classify the feature dot points into feature dot data clusters, a second feature dot data clustering unit configured to cluster feature dot points according to a distance between the feature dot points on the two-dimensional feature dot data and classify the feature dot points into feature dot data clusters, and a PRPD generation unit configured to generate PRPD data for the feature dot data clusters; and a partial discharge determination unit configured to recognize patterns of the PRPD data generated by the signal clustering unit to diagnose the signals and determine whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred based on the diagnosis. Therefore, the system of claim 8 of Application No. 18/724,582 teaches the system of claim 6 of the present application.
10. Claim 8 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 9 of copending Application No. 18/724,582 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim 9 of Application No. 18/724,582 is directed to the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 8, wherein the first feature dot data clustering unit clusters feature dot points on the two-dimensional feature dot data obtained from the signal separation unit on the basis of density corresponding to the number of feature dot points present within a preset radius with respect to a specific feature dot point. Therefore, the system of claim 9 of Application No. 18/724,582 teaches the system of claim 8 of the present application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
11. 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.
12. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Younsi et al. (US 2008/0088314 – hereinafter “Younsi”).
Per claim 5, Younsi teaches a partial discharge monitoring system comprising:
a signal detection unit provided with a sensor to detect signals of a power device (A coupler 112 of a partial discharge sensor 110 is configured to receive high frequency pulses transmitted through a bus 116 coupled to a machine 118 (Fig. 1; ¶14-16));
a local unit configured to transmit the signals detected by the signal detection unit through a communication network (A signal conditioning module 114 is configured to transmit signals from the coupler 112 to a data analysis and diagnostics module 102 (Fig. 1; ¶19)); and
a main unit configured to apply a machine learning algorithm to extract feature dots from the signals transmitted through the local unit, generate feature dot points corresponding to the extracted feature dots, and classify the feature dot points into feature dot data clusters according to density to determine whether a partial discharge has occurred (A data analysis and diagnostics module 102 is configured to extract information from the pulses to create a T-W classification map. Each pixel in the T-W classification map represents a time-length (T) and a bandwidth (W) of a pulse. A clustering algorithm is used to build a certain number of clusters based on the T-W classification map. By examining the T-W classification map, the pulses can be identified as being a noise pulse or as internal, surface, or corona discharges (Fig. 4; ¶23-25)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
13. 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.
14. Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious in view of Younsi and Guo et al. (US 2022/0147777 – hereinafter “Guo”).
Per claim 1, Younsi teaches a partial discharge monitoring method comprising:
a signal measurement step of measuring signals of a high-voltage power device and obtaining pulse waveforms of the signals (A coupler 112 of a partial discharge sensor 110 is configured to receive high frequency pulses transmitted through a bus 116 coupled to a machine 118 (Fig. 1; ¶14-16));
a signal separation step of extracting feature dots from the pulse waveforms and generating two-dimensional feature dot data using the feature dots (Information is extracted from the pulses to create a T-W classification map. Each pixel in the T-W classification map represents a time-length (T) and a bandwidth (W) of a pulse (Fig. 4; ¶23-24));
a signal clustering step of clustering feature dot points corresponding to the feature dots on the two-dimensional feature dot data according to density to classify the feature dot points as feature dot data clusters (A clustering algorithm is used to build a certain number of clusters based on the T-W classification map (Fig. 4; ¶24)), and
a partial discharge determination step diagnosing the signals by recognizing patterns of the feature dot data clusters and determining whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred on the basis of the diagnosis result (By examining the T-W classification map, the pulses can be identified as being a noise pulse or as internal, surface, or corona discharges (Fig. 4; ¶25)).
However, Younsi does not explicitly teach the method comprising obtaining phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; and a partial discharge determination step diagnosing the signals by recognizing patterns of the PRPD data and determining whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred on the basis of the diagnosis result.
In contrast, Guo teaches a method for processing partial discharge signals wherein a clustering algorithm is applied to a plurality of generated features including a feature generated from a time domain for each digital signal captured by a high frequency current transformer (HFCT) and features generated from a frequency domain for each digital signal to produce a number of clusters. For each cluster, a phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) chart is created to show the amplitude of each discharge event plotted against phase angle (Fig. 2; ¶39-47)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Younsi such that the method comprises: obtaining phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; and diagnosing the signals by recognizing patterns of the PRPD data and determining whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred on the basis of the diagnosis result. One of ordinary skill would make such a modification for the purpose of visualizing clusters that differentiate between partial discharge signals and noise signals (Guo; ¶47).
Per claim 2, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring method of claim 1, wherein the feature dots include shape parameters (The time-lengths of the pulses are calculated (Fig. 4; ¶24)) of pulses and bandwidths (The bandwidths of the pulses are calculated (Fig. 4; ¶24)) of the pulses into which the pulse waveforms are converted in a frequency domain.
Per claim 3, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring method of claim 1, wherein, in the signal clustering step, the feature dot points are clustered on the basis of density corresponding to the number of feature dot points present within a preset radius with respect to a specific feature dot point on the two-dimensional feature dot data obtained in the signal separation step (The clusters are built through a clustering algorithm that determines cluster boundaries using, for example, a centroid of a cluster shape (Fig. 4; ¶24)).
Per claim 4, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring method of claim 1, wherein, in the partial discharge determination step, the diagnosed signal is diagnosed as a normal signal when the diagnosed signal is a corona discharge signal or a noise signal, and the diagnosed signal is diagnosed as a partial discharge signal when the diagnosed signal is an internal discharge signal or a surface discharge signal to determine that a partial discharge has occurred due to a defect in the power device (By examining the T-W classification map, the pulses can be identified as being a noise pulse or as internal, surface, or corona discharges (Fig. 4; ¶25)).
Per claim 6, Younsi teaches the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the main unit includes: a signal separation unit configured to extract feature dots from pulse waveforms of the signals transmitted through the local unit, and generate two-dimensional feature dot data using the feature dots; a signal clustering unit configured to cluster feature dot points on the two-dimensional feature dot data generated by the signal separation unit according to density to classify the feature dot points as feature dot data clusters (Information is extracted from the pulses to create a T-W classification map. Each pixel in the T-W classification map represents a time-length (T) and a bandwidth (W) of a pulse. A clustering algorithm is used to build a certain number of clusters based on the T-W classification map (Fig. 4; ¶23-24)).
However, Younsi does not explicitly teach the system wherein the signal clustering unit is configured to generate a phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; wherein the system comprises a partial discharge determination unit configured to recognize patterns of the PRPD data generated by the signal clustering unit to diagnose the signals and determine whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred based on the diagnosis.
In contrast, Guo teaches a method for processing partial discharge signals wherein a clustering algorithm is applied to a plurality of generated features including a feature generated from a time domain for each digital signal captured by a high frequency current transformer (HFCT) and features generated from a frequency domain for each digital signal to produce a number of clusters. For each cluster, a phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) chart is created to show the amplitude of each discharge event plotted against phase angle (Fig. 2; ¶39-47)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Younsi such that the signal clustering unit is configured to generate a phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) data for the feature dot data clusters; wherein the system comprises a partial discharge determination unit configured to recognize patterns of the PRPD data generated by the signal clustering unit to diagnose the signals and determine whether a partial discharge of the power device has occurred based on the diagnosis. One of ordinary skill would make such a modification for the purpose of visualizing clusters that differentiate between partial discharge signals and noise signals (Guo; ¶47).
Per claim 7, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the feature dots include shape parameters (The time-lengths of the pulses are calculated (Fig. 4; ¶24)) of pulses and bandwidths (The bandwidths of the pulses are calculated (Fig. 4; ¶24)) of the pulses into which the pulse waveforms are converted in a frequency domain.
Per claim 8, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the signal clustering unit clusters feature dot points on the two-dimensional feature dot data obtained from the signal separation unit on the basis of density corresponding to the number of feature dot points present within a preset radius with respect to a specific feature dot point (The clusters are built through a clustering algorithm that determines cluster boundaries using, for example, a centroid of a cluster shape (Fig. 4; ¶24)).
Per claim 9, Younsi in view of Guo teaches the partial discharge monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the partial discharge determination unit compares the PRPD data patterns and pulse waveforms of the signal clustering unit to learning data stored in a machine learning algorithm to diagnose the signal as one of a corona discharge signal, a noise signal, an internal discharge signal, and a surface discharge signal (By examining the T-W classification map, the pulses can be identified as being a noise pulse or as internal, surface, or corona discharges (Fig. 4; ¶25)).
Conclusion
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAS A. SANGHERA whose telephone number is (571)272-4787. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, alt. Fri, 8-5 EST.
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/JAS A SANGHERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852