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
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 6445869 (Tanner).
Regarding claim 1, Tanner disclose a light transmission component (20), especially for a sensor head or for attachment of a coupling light guide, for transmission of electromagnetic radiation, especially through a wall, comprising:
a feed-through coupling element set up for arrangement in a main body or in a wall opening for input coupling and divergence-free transmission of the electromagnetic radiation through the feed-through coupling element (22, 24), especially through the wall, wherein the feed-through coupling element comprises or consists of a multicore fiber rod (MCR) (fiber bundle 24) and is designed to be tolerant to positional offset such that lateral positional offset between the feed-through coupling element and a light conducting component coupled therewith, such as a coupling light guide, of 10 µm or more (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 2, Tanner disclose a light transmission component (20), especially for a sensor head or for attachment of a coupling light guide for transmission of electromagnetic radiation, especially through a wall, comprising: a feed-through coupling element set up for arrangement in a main body or in a wall opening set up for input coupling and divergence-free transmission of the electromagnetic radiation through the feed-through coupling element (20, 24), especially through the wall, wherein the feed-through coupling element has a numerical aperture of 0.21 or greater (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 3, Tanner disclose a light transmission component (20), especially for a sensor head or for attachment of a coupling light guide for transmission of electromagnetic radiation, especially through a wall, comprising: a main body which is insertable in a fluid-tight manner into a flange receiver in the wall or is releasably connectable thereto in a fluid-tight manner and has a main body thickness in a direction at right angles to the wall (Fig. 1-3), a feed-through coupling element that has been inserted into the main body and comes to rest in a main body opening for input coupling and divergence-free transmission of the optical signal through the wall, wherein the feed-through coupling element has a coupling element length in the direction at right angles to the wall (20, 24), and wherein the main body thickness is identical to the coupling element length, such that the feed-through coupling element inserted into the main body opening does not surpass the main body thickness (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 4, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, further comprising an optical coupling for connection of the feed-through coupling element to a sensor disposed in the sensor head in particular, where the sensor is especially disposed outside a wall, and/or wherein the main body has a flange connection for flanging to a counterpart flange connection disposed in the wall (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 5, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, further comprising a transparent cover, especially comprising or produced from quartz glass or plastic, and/or comprising the transparent cover, wherein the transparent cover has been inserted into the wall opening, and especially concludes flush with the wall opening, and/or comprising the transparent cover, wherein the transparent cover has been inserted into the wall opening by means of pressure vitrification, and/or further comprising a converter element, especially as an organic or ceramic converter (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 6, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element is set up to transmit the electromagnetic radiation into a fluid volume or to introduce it from the fluid volume into the feed- through coupling element, and/or wherein the feed-through coupling element is set up to provide similar optical attenuation for both feed-through directions, wherein the feed-through coupling element is especially of bidirectional design, and/or wherein the feed-through coupling element is in a broadband setup for transmission of electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 7, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the light transmission component is configured to withstand a fluid pressure, especially a fluid pressure of 3 bar or more, and at the same time to ensure integrity, and/or wherein the feed-through coupling element is designed to seal the wall opening in a fluid-tight manner (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 8, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 2, wherein the feed-through coupling element is designed to be tolerant to positional offset such that lateral positional offset between the feed-through coupling element and an optical fiber coupled therewith of 10 pm or more, results in a relative signal loss of 10% or less (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 9, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 2, wherein the feed-through coupling element comprises a flexible individual fiber, a single-core optical fiber rod (SCR) or a multicore fiber rod (MCR) (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 10, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein the flexible individual fiber or one individual fiber of the MCR has a thickness of 40 pm or less (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 11, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein the SCR or MCR has a core constituent comprising optical glass, and/or wherein the SCR or MCR has a cladding constituent (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 12, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein the SCR or MCR has a numerical aperture (NA) of greater than 0.3 (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 13, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein the SCR or MCR has been inserted into and/or bonded to the vessel or pipe flange or the flange has been shrunk onto the latter or has been tightly bonded to the flange or directly to the vessel wall or the pipe flange with a low-melting glass solder (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 14, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein the MCR includes fibers that have been fused to one another in portions or regions, and/or wherein the MCR has a fiber sheet, and/or wherein the MCR has been set up to prevent any capillary effect for the fluid volume (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 15, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element has an end face facing the fluid volume, wherein the end face concludes flush with the wall or the main body, and/or wherein the end face has a coating (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 16, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, further comprising a support element for positioning against the feed-through coupling element, against the main body or against the wall, to brace the feed-through coupling element against shear forces (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 17, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, further comprising a cooling device disposed on the outside of the light transmission component (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 18, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element has a conical enlargement to improve integrity (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 19, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element comprises imaging optics, inserted in the wall opening together with the feed-through coupling element (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 20, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element has a metallized finish on its circumference to establish a direct metallic join connection between feed-through coupling element and wall opening (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 21, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 1, wherein the feed-through coupling element has been inserted into the wall opening by pressure vitrification (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 22, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, further comprising an index-adjusting intermediate piece disposed in the optical coupling or between the feed-through coupling element and a coupling light guide coupled thereto (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 23, Tanner disclose the light transmission component of claim 9, wherein solder glass has been inserted between the feed-through coupling element and an inner face of the opening in the direction at right angles to the wall in order to improve optical quality (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 27, Tanner disclose a wall measurement system comprising a light transmission component, of claim 1, and a detector device (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 28, Tanner disclose a feed-through coupling element for a light transmission component of claim 1 (Fig. 1-3).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANI FOX whose telephone number is (571)272-3513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Makiya can be reached at 571-272-2273. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANI FOX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
