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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Corbin (US 20180273060 A1) and Gilbert (US 20040173033 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Corbin discloses a system for diagnosis of bending of railway rails [Paragraph [0002] – “Railroads are typically constructed to include a pair of elongated, substantially parallel rails, which are coupled to a plurality of laterally extending ties. The ties are disposed on a ballast bed of hard particulate material such as granite. Over time, normal operations on the railroad may cause the rails to deviate from a desired geometric orientation.”Paragraph [0014] – “In another example, a track measurement system includes a plurality of wheels, a frame, an inertial measurement unit, and a processor. The inertial measurement unit is coupled to the frame and includes at least one sensor. The processor is configured to obtain a first measurement from the sensor at a first location, to obtain a second measurement from the sensor at a second location, and to determine a first difference between the first and second measurements.”], comprising:
a frame configured for installation on a railway vehicle [See Fig. 4 and Paragraph [0030] – “an inertial measurement unit 10 is coupled to a frame member 12 of a rail vehicle that travels along rails 14. The frame member 12 may also be referred to as a beam.”Paragraph [0066] – “Referring to FIG. 4, a track maintenance vehicle 40 may include a first inertial measurement unit 10 disposed at a first beam 12 proximal a forward end of the track maintenance vehicle 40.”The beams are connected to supports that descend from a horizontal top, all of this structure amounting to a frame which IMUs 10 are connected.] at a wheel of the railway vehicle [Fig. 4, either of wheels 42],
a first distance sensor and a second distance sensor installed on said frame and arranged so as to be on opposite sides of the wheel of the railway vehicle [See Fig. 4 and Paragraph [0066] – “Referring to FIG. 4, a track maintenance vehicle 40 may include a first inertial measurement unit 10 disposed at a first beam 12 proximal a forward end of the track maintenance vehicle 40. A second inertial measurement unit 10 may be disposed at a second beam 12 proximal a rear end of the track maintenance vehicle 40. The first inertial measurement unit 10 may be disposed a distance A from a first axle of the track maintenance vehicle 40. The second inertial measurement unit 10 may be disposed a distance C from a second axle of the track maintenance vehicle 40.”], each of said first distance sensor and second distance sensor being configured to detect, respectively, a first distance and a second distance between said frame and a top of a rail [See Fig. 4 and Paragraph [0030] – “The inertial measurement unit 10 may include a beam roll gyro 22, a beam pitch gyro 24, a yaw gyro 26, a longitudinal inclinometer 32, a lateral inclinometer 34, and a vertical accelerometer 36. … A distance measuring device, such as a laser distance measuring device or Gocator, may also be included to provide a non-contact reference to the gauge and surface points of the rail 14.”See Fig. 1 and Paragraphs [0038]-[0048] – “The frame member 12 supports measurements that relate its position relative to each rail 14 and to an inertial reference. These are shown in FIG. 1 as follows: … δL Offset to surface of the left rail. δR Offset to surface of the right rail.”].
Corbin fails to disclose a third distance sensor installed on said frame and configured to detect a third distance of said frame with respect to a journal box associated to the wheel of the railway vehicle.
However, Gilbert discloses the use of such a sensor [See Fig. 1 and Paragraph [0017] – “The instrumentation package 16 includes a lateral accelerometer 36 and a linear displacement transducer 38 at one side of the bogie 24. The accelerometer 36 is attached to the frame 25 above the axle box 30, and the displacement transducer 38 is connected to the frame 25 and linked to the restraint plate 33 so as to measure any lateral displacement of the axle box 30 relative to the frame 25.”]. It would have been obvious to include such a sensor in order to better assess the track condition through consideration of displacement between the frame and track during vehicle travel [Paragraph [0016] of Gilbert – “At each end the axle 29 locates in a bearing in an axle box 30, the axle box 30 being connected by rubber springs 32 to the frame 25 so that the axle 29 and the axle box 30 can undergo limited movement relative to the frame 25.”].
Regarding Claim 2, the combination would disclose at least one further sensor [Fig. 4 of Corbin, the two IMUs 10. Paragraph [0030] of Corbin – “vertical accelerometer 36”] configured to determine, on a basis of said first distance, second distance and third distance [Per use of the displacement sensors of Corbin and Gilbert], a spatial trajectory of said frame relative to the top of said rail [See Fig. 5A and Paragraph [0068] of Corbin – “Referring to FIG. 5, determining a double finite difference will be described. FIG. 5A illustrates a gyro path 46, a beam 12 having a length NX, and a inertial measurement unit 10 disposed (or virtually disposed) proximal a center of the beam 12. First finite differences 48 and 50 may be calculated, for example as discussed with respect to FIG. 2. The first finite difference 48 may be calculated at a first sample location and a second finite difference 49 may be calculated at a second sample location. The difference between the two measurements is scaled by T to provide the second finite difference 49. Similarly, a second finite difference 51 may be calculated as a first finite difference one sample distance from the first finite difference 50, and a difference between the two first finite difference measurements is scaled by T to provide the second finite difference 51.”Paragraph [0070] of Corbin – “The double finite differences may be applied in several ways. … Each of the individual integrations may be tied together by using a common debiaser. This technique was successfully applied to an 8′ twist to provide cross level variations. It performed extraordinary well when compared to cross level variations determined by processing the difference between two vertical accelerations.”].
Regarding Claim 3, Corbin discloses that said at least one further sensor comprises at least one inertial sensor installed on said frame [Fig. 4 of Corbin, the two IMUs 10. Paragraph [0030] of Corbin – “vertical accelerometer 36”].
Regarding Claim 4, Corbin discloses that said at least one inertial sensor comprises a first accelerometer installed on said frame and a second accelerometer, each of said first accelerometer and second accelerometer being accelerometers configured to detect a vertical acceleration [Fig. 4 of Corbin, the two IMUs 10. Paragraph [0030] of Corbin – “vertical accelerometer 36”].
Regarding Claim 5, Corbin discloses that said first accelerometer is installed on said frame in correspondence of said first distance sensor, and wherein said second accelerometer is installed on said frame in correspondence of said second distance sensor [Fig. 4 of Corbin, the two IMUs 10. Paragraph [0030] of Corbin – “vertical accelerometer 36” included for each IMU].
Regarding Claim 6, Corbin discloses that said at least one inertial sensor comprises an inertial platform installed on said frame [Fig. 4 of Corbin, the two Inertial Measurement Units 10.].
Regarding Claim 7, Corbin discloses a locating unit configured for spatial referencing of the distance detected by at least one of said first, second and third distance sensors [Paragraph [0055] – “The track measurement system may also include a wheel-driven tachometer. The wheel-driven tachometer may be provided by a wheel 42 of a track measurement vehicle 40 (see, for example, FIGS. 3-5). The wheel-driven tachometer may also be provided by a separate wheel that is operably coupled to the wheel 42 or rail 14. The wheel-driven tachometer may register track position.”].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 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.
Claim 8 recites the following limitations that are not disclosed or obvious in light of the prior art hereby made of record:
determining a figure having vertices at said first, second and third points,
determining values of a first angle defined between a side of said figure joining the first point and the second point and a side of the figure joining the first point and the third point, and of a second angle defined between the side of said figure joining the first point and the second point and a side of the figure joining the second point and the third point,
determining a fourth distance value between said third point and the side of said figure joining the first point and the second point, and
comparing the values of said first angle, second angle and fourth distance value with respective threshold values.
Claims 9 and 10 are objected to based on their dependence from Claim 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20180143017 A1 (See Fig. 6 and associated text) – VERSINE TROLLEY-TYPE EQUIPMENT FOR INSPECTING TRACK IRREGULARITY
US 4173073 A (See Fig. 6a and associated text) – Track Displacement Detecting And Measuring System
US 20060144129 A1 – Method And Apparatus For Noncontact Relative Rail Displacement, Track Modulus And Stiffness Measurement By A Moving Rail Vehicle
US 20180321135 A1 – MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
US 20150247782 A1 – LOAD MEASUREMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS, RAILCAR PROVIDED WITH LOAD MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, AND LOAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
US 20110166827 A1 – VERTICAL TRACK MODULUS TRENDING
US 20170029001 A1 – METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETERMINE STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF A RAILWAY TRACK
US 20230365170 A1 – METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A TARGET PROFILE OF THE TRACK TO CORRECT THE GEOMETRY
US 20170080960 A1 – Rail Track Geometry Measurement
US 20080228436 A1 – MEASUREMENT OF VERTICAL TRACT MODULUS USING SPACE CURVES
US 6415522 B1 – Vehicle For Measuring The Geometric Condition Of A Railway Track
Chen et al., A Railway Track Geometry Measuring Trolley System Based on Aided INS, MDPI, 2018
Li et al., An FBG Displacement Sensor in Deformation Monitoring of Subway Floating Slab, IEEE, 2.1.2021
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KYLE ROBERT QUIGLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4879. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST.
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/KYLE R QUIGLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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