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
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)(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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Givens et al. (US PAT 8,477,027), hereinafter Givens.
With respect to claim 1, Givens discloses a system, comprising: an electric field source (See [150] in figure 1 of Givens); and a controller (See the processor disclosed in Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens) configured to: detect a trigger event associated with initiating a self-test of an electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); cause, based on the trigger event, the electric field source to create a target electric field at a specific location sensed by the electric field sensing device (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); receive measurement data indicating a measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), detected by the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), of the target electric field (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); determine, based on the target electric field strength and the measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), whether the electric field sensing device passes the self-test or does not pass the self-test (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); and provide an indication of a result of the self-test (See Col. 12, lines 35-54 of Givens).
With respect to claim 2, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: determine that the electric field sensing device: passes the self-test (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens) based on at least one of: the measured electric field strength meeting or exceeding a minimum threshold value, or the measured electric field strength being within a predetermined range of electric field strength values related to the target electric field (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 in view of the abstract of Givens), or does not pass the self-test based on at least one of: the measured electric field strength not meeting or exceeding the minimum threshold value, or the measured electric field strength not being within the predetermined range of values related to the target electric field.
With respect to claim 3, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the target electric field strength is created based on at least one of: a predetermined voltage range, or a predetermined distance between the electric field sensing device and the electric field source (See the abstract in view of Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens and further in view of Col. 4, lines 15-22 of Givens).
With respect to claim 4, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the target electric field is based on a scaled voltage representing a minimum voltage threshold (See Col. 5, lines 41-50 of Givens) and a scaled distance representing a minimum clearance distance corresponding to the minimum voltage threshold (See Col. 7, lines 54-63).
With respect to claim 5, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the self-test of the electric field sensing device target electric field is a first self-test of the electric field sensing device, of multiple self-tests of the electric field sensing device, performed during a time period, and wherein the controller is configured to: generate a report indicating results of the multiple self-tests during the time period (See Col. 14, line 48-Col. 15, line 8 of Givens).
With respect to claim 6, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the electric field source and the controller (See the processor disclosed in Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens) are integrated into the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens) enabling the electric field sensing device to have a self-test functionality (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens).
With respect to claim 7, Givens discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the electric field sensing device is coupled to a machine (See Col. 4, lines 23-33 of Givens).
With respect to claim 8, Givens discloses a method for automated self-testing of electric field sensing devices (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), the method comprising: detecting, by a controller (See the processor disclosed in Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens), a trigger event associated with initiating a self-test of an electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); causing, by the controller and based on the trigger event, an electric field source to create a target electric field at a specific location sensed by the electric field sensing device (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); receiving, by the controller, measurement data indicating a measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), detected by the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), of the target electric field (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); determining, by the controller and based on the target electric field strength and the measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), whether the electric field sensing device passes the self-test or does not pass the self-test (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); and providing, by the controller, an indication of whether the electric field sensing device passes the self-test or does not pass the self-test (See Col. 12, lines 35-54 of Givens).
With respect to claim 9, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the indication is an alarm indication based on the electric field sensing device not passing the self-test (See the abstract of Givens).
With respect to claim 10, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the electric field sensing device is mounted on a machine (See Col. 4, lines 23-33 of Givens), and wherein the method further comprises: preventing an operation of the machine from being performed based on the electric field sensing device not passing the self-test (See Col. 12, lines 12-34 of Givens).
With respect to claim 11, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the target electric field strength is created based on at least one of: a predetermined voltage range, or a predetermined distance between the electric field sensing device and the electric field source (See the abstract in view of Col. 19, lines 54-60 of Givens).
With respect to claim 12, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the target electric field is based on a scaled voltage representing a minimum voltage threshold and a scaled distance representing a minimum clearance distance corresponding to the minimum voltage threshold (See the abstract in view of Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens and further in view of Col. 4, lines 15-22 and Col. 19, lines 54-60 of Givens).
With respect to claim 13, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the electric field source and the controller (See the processor disclosed in Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens) are integrated into the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens) enabling the electric field sensing device to have a self-test functionality (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens).
With respect to claim 14, Givens discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising: causing, by the controller, a report to be generated indicating results of multiple self-tests during a time period (See Col. 14, line 48-Col. 15, line 8 of Givens).
With respect to claim 15, Givens discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions (See Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens), the set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a controller of an automated self-testing system (See Col. 8, lines 41-51 in view of Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), cause the controller to: detect a trigger event associated with initiating a self-test of an electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); cause, based on the trigger event, an electric field source to create a target electric field at a specific location sensed by the electric field sensing device (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); receive measurement data indicating a measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), detected by the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), of the target electric field (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); determine and based on the target electric field strength and the measured electric field strength (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), whether the electric field sensing device passes the self-test or does not pass the self-test (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens); and provide an indication of whether the electric field sensing device passes the self-test or does not pass the self-test (See Col. 12, lines 35-54 of Givens).
With respect to claim 16, Givens discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more instructions (See Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens), when executed by the one or more processors of the controller of the automated self-testing system (See Col. 8, lines 41-51 in view of Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens), cause the controller to: determine that the electric field sensing device: passes the self-test (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens) based on at least one of: the measured electric field strength meeting or exceeding a minimum threshold value, or the measured electric field strength being within a predetermined range of electric field strength values related to the target electric field (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 in view of the abstract of Givens), or does not pass the self-test based on at least one of: the measured electric field strength not meeting or exceeding the minimum threshold value, or the measured electric field strength not being within the predetermined range of values related to the target electric field.
With respect to claim 17, Givens discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the target electric field strength is created based on at least one of: a predetermined voltage range, or a predetermined distance between the electric field sensing device and the electric field source (See the abstract in view of Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens and further in view of Col. 4, lines 15-22 of Givens).
With respect to claim 18, Givens discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the target electric field is based on a scaled voltage representing a minimum voltage threshold (See Col. 5, lines 41-50 of Givens) and a scaled distance representing a minimum clearance distance corresponding to the minimum voltage threshold (See Col. 7, lines 54-63).
With respect to claim 19, Givens discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the self-test of the electric field sensing device target electric field is a first self-test of the electric field sensing device, of multiple self-tests of the electric field sensing device, performed during a time period, and wherein the controller is configured to: generate a report indicating results of the multiple self-tests during the time period (See Col. 14, line 48-Col. 15, line 8 of Givens).
With respect to claim 20, Givens discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the electric field source and the controller (See the processor disclosed in Col. 8, lines 41-51 of Givens) are integrated into the electric field sensing device (See the wireless sensor disclosed in Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens) enabling the electric field sensing device to have a self-test functionality (See Col. 14, lines 12-23 of Givens).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PUB 2019/0324065 discloses a method and apparatus for discrimination of sources in stray voltage detection.
US PUB 2019/0113557 discloses an electric field component detection device and method, and space electric field detection system.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR whose telephone number is (571)270-5814. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (flex schedule).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571-272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858