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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Drawings
Color photographs and color drawings are not accepted in utility applications unless a petition filed under 37 CFR 1.84(a)(2) is granted. Any such petition must be accompanied by the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h), one set of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or three sets of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if not submitted via the via USPTO patent electronic filing system, and, unless already present, an amendment to include the following language as the first paragraph of the brief description of the drawings section of the specification:
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied. See 37 CFR 1.84(b)(2).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "70" and "68" have both been used to designate “fluid coupler” of Fig. 2 (i.e., “fluid coupler 70” in paragraph [0033] page 9 and “fluid coupler 68” in paragraph [0034] at page 10 of the specification as filed, note that Fig. 2 does not include reference character 70 as well). 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. 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.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "90" and "80" have both been used to designate “conduit carriage” (i.e., in paragraph [0037] of the specification as filed). 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. 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.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “60” has been used to designate both “drone” (paragraph [0039] as filed) and “fluid application system” (paragraph [0033] as filed). 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. 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 - 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 6, 10 – 17, 19, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 213623895 U to Wang, Kun et al. (hereinafter “Wang”) in view of U.S. Patent No. 10,195,629 B1 to Dahlstrom (hereinafter “Dahlstrom”).
Note: machine translated document of Wang is attached to this office action for easier reference.
Regarding Claim 1, Wang teaches a system for managing curing of concrete (see abstract at page 1, see also page 2, lines 1 – 32 describing the invention providing a multifunctional ultra-high small concrete structure maintenance device which aids in maintaining and improving quality of the concrete structure), comprising:
at least one source of moisture (see water storage tank 11, Figs. 1, 2, see page 3, lines 1 – 4), a curing aid, and/or another chemical in proximity to the concrete (see page 3, lines 20 – 23 describing moving “the water storage tank 11 to the construction field near the ultra-high small concrete structure”, hence reading on the invention as claimed);
at least one application drone (see unmanned machine or unmanned aerial vehicle 7, Figs. 1, 3, see page 3, lines 1 – 13) positionable over different locations of the concrete without contacting the concrete (see page 3, lines 20 – 23 which describes usage of the device including moving the water storage tank 11 near the concrete structure and “then under the control of the control table 8 the large power rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 7 takeoff and flight to the ultra-high small concrete structure”, hence reading on the invention as claimed); and
at least one conduit (see water supply hose 2, Fig. 1) including a first end in communication with the at least one source (see arrangement at Fig. 1 illustrating a first end, i.e., bottom end, in communication with the tank 11) and a second end carried by the at least one application drone (see arrangement at Fig. 1 illustrating a second end, i.e., top end, in communication with the unmanned aerial vehicle 7, see also description at page 3, lines 1 - 16).
Even though Wang teaches a system comprising unmanned aerial vehicle for managing curing or maintaining of concrete structure as described above, Wang is silent regarding the system as being an autonomous system.
Dahlstrom, in the field of systems comprising an unmanned self-propelled vehicle for inspecting materials including concrete as described at Col. 18, lines 21 – 28, teaches that it is known to use an autonomous system (see Col. 5, lines 5 – 11, which states “The term “robotic device” and/or the plural form of this term are used throughout herein to refer to any machine comprising electrical and/or mechanical components that is capable of performing a task via manual instructions, autonomously, or semi-autonomously; such as, by way of example and not limitation, a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), robot, UAS's (including “small UAS's”), and the like”, see also Col. 5, lines 36 – 42).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the autonomous UAV system of Dahlstrom into Wang, in order to improve the efficiency, safety and quality of the system since autonomous systems can operate independently with minimal human input. See also additional advantages of the autonomous system at Col. 1, lines 44 – 48 of Dahlstrom.
Regarding Claim 12, Wang teaches a method for curing concrete (see abstract at page 1, see also page 2, lines 1 – 32 describing the invention providing a multifunctional ultra-high small concrete structure maintenance device which aids in maintaining and improving quality of the concrete structure), comprising:
deploying an application drone (see unmanned machine or unmanned aerial vehicle 7, Figs. 1, 3, see page 3, lines 1 – 13) above a particular location of the different locations (see Fig. 1, see page 3, lines 18 – 33 which describes usage of the device including moving the water storage tank 11 near the concrete structure and “then under the control of the control table 8 the large power rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 7 takeoff and flight to the ultra-high small concrete structure”, hence reading on the invention as claimed); and
with the application drone, applying moisture, a curing aid, or another chemical to the particular location (see page 3, lines 20 – 33 which states “then under the control of the control table 8 the large power rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 7 takeoff and flight to the ultra-high small concrete structure; then opening the pressurizing water pump 9, thereby the water in the movable water storage tank 11 through the water supply hose 2 to the three-fork rotary nozzle 5, then through the three-fork rotary nozzle 5 to set the injection pressure is sprayed downwards, the water is on the surface of the ultra-high small concrete structure”, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Even though Wang teaches the method as described above, Wang does not explicitly teach monitoring a condition of the concrete at different locations and also does not explicitly teach the deploying and the applying steps being based on the monitoring.
Dahlstrom, in the field of systems comprising an unmanned self-propelled vehicle for inspecting materials including concrete as described at Col. 18, lines 21 – 28, teaches that it is known to monitor a condition of the concrete at different locations (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to monitor condition of the concrete of Dahlstrom into Wang, in order to improve efficiency of the system. See also additional advantages at Col. 1, line 44 – Col. 2, line 2 of Dahlstrom.
Regarding Claim 2, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein the at least one application drone selectively applies the moisture, the curing aid, and/or the other chemical to an area of a surface of the concrete based on a moisture content of the concrete (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”, see also page 3, lines 20 – 33 of Wang describing applying or spraying water downwards on the surface of the concrete structure, see combination in claim 1 above, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Regarding Claims 3 and 20, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches further comprising:
at least one support drone positionable over different locations of the concrete without contacting the concrete to carry and prevent the at least one conduit from contacting the concrete (see the support structure of the unmanned aerial vehicle 7 at Figs. 1, 2 of Wang which supports the drone/UAV 7 and positionable without contacting the concrete under test, see also Col. 8, lines 43 – 65 of Dahlstrom describing one or more mini robotic devices 134a, 134b, 134c similar to robotic device 114 which may be located at various intervals along the UCAT apparatus 116 in order to support its weight, move it around, manipulate it or attach it to a structure for weight support and stabilization, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Regarding Claims 4 and 15, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches further comprising: at least one sensing drone positionable over different locations of the concrete without contacting the concrete (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”, therefore the robotic device including sensors, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Regarding Claims 5 and 16, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein the at least one sensing drone to determine the moisture content of the concrete at the different locations (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”, therefore the sensors do analyze/determine the moisture content of the concrete as claimed, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Even though Dahlstrom teaches sensing of moisture content of concrete using the sensors as described above, Wang in view of Dahlstrom is silent regarding the one sensing drone that employs “ground penetrating radar” to determine the moisture content. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a sensor that employs ground penetrating radar, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960). The modification allows for a faster, safer and more consistent mapping of structures under test.
Regarding Claim 6, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein the at least one sensing drone includes a processor that (see Figs. 1A, 1B, 6, 7 of Dahlstrom which includes processors for operating the robotic devices), based upon the moisture content of a particular location of the concrete, causes the at least one application drone to apply the moisture, the curing aid, or the other chemical from the at least one source to an area of the concrete around the particular location (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”, therefore the sensors do analyze/determine the moisture content of the concrete as claimed, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Regarding Claim 10, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches comprising a plurality of sources of the moisture, the curing aid, and/or the other chemical (see for instance plurality of sources such as reservoir 110 and one or more supplemental devices 112 for use with an aerial vehicle 214 of Dahlstrom, see description at Col. 22, lines 3 – 60 of Dahlstrom).
Regarding Claim 11, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein the at least one conduit selectively communicates with the plurality of sources (see for instance cords 118c, 118d that connect the reservoir 110 and/or the supplemental device 112 with the sources as illustrated at Figs. 1a – 1c of Dahlstrom).
Regarding Claim 13, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein monitoring the condition comprises monitoring a water content and/or a humidity of the concrete at the different locations (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”).
Regarding Claim 14, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein monitoring the condition comprises monitoring the concrete at the different locations (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply).
Even though Wang in view of Dahlstrom teaches monitoring moisture content of the concrete as described above, Wang in view of Dahlstrom does not explicitly teach monitoring a strain of the concrete. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use sensors that monitor the strain of the concrete, since it is known in the art that a variety of sensors can be employed to monitor variety of conditions of concrete structures including that of strain as claimed. The modification allows for monitoring data on structural deformation which enables safer designs.
Regarding Claim 17, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein monitoring the condition of the concrete with the sensing drone comprises monitoring the condition of the concrete (see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply).
Even though Wang in view of Dahlstrom teaches monitoring conditions of the concrete as described above, Wang in view of Dahlstrom does not explicitly teach monitoring the condition of the concrete while the concrete remains in a plastic state. However, Wang in view of Dahlstrom teaches in general monitoring of the concrete as described at Col. 18, lines 21 – 45, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to monitor the condition of the concrete while the concrete remains in a plastic state as claimed, since Dahlstrom is capable of monitoring concrete structure without any limitation of the actual state of the concrete structure. Thus, depending on user’s desired time, one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to conduct the monitoring step as needed including while the concrete remains in a plastic state.
18. The method of claim 12, wherein monitoring the condition of the concrete comprises monitoring the condition of the concrete with a plurality of sensors at different locations in a surface of the concrete.
Regarding Claim 19, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches wherein deploying the application drone comprises deploying the application drone to a location above a surface of the concrete (see Fig. 1, see page 3, lines 18 – 33 of Wang which describes usage of the device including moving the water storage tank 11 near the concrete structure and “then under the control of the control table 8 the large power rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 7 takeoff and flight to the ultra-high small concrete structure”, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Even though Wang teaches deploying the unmanned aerial vehicle as described above, Wang in view of Dahlstrom is silent regarding deploying to a location within about 18 inches. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to deploy the application drone to a location within about 18 inches above a surface of the concrete, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955).
Claim(s) 7 – 9, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Dahlstrom and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0238820 A1 to Ghods et al. (hereinafter “Ghods”).
Regarding Claims 7 and 18, Wang in view of Dahlstrom as modified above teaches the claimed invention except for further comprising: a plurality of sensors at different locations of the concrete.
Ghods, in the field of assessment of construction materials such as concrete (see abstract), teaches a plurality of sensors at different locations of the concrete (see paragraphs [0233] – [0236] describing embedded sensors referring to “Smart Concrete” which refers to concrete with the embedded sensors within or in contact with the concrete, see Figs. 19 – 22).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a plurality of sensors at different locations of the concrete of Ghods into Wang in view of Dahlstrom, in order to provide rapid assessment including full life cycle assessment of concrete. The modification further provides rapid in-situ curing and maturity measurement data hence enhancing reliability of the concrete material.
Regarding Claim 8, Wang in view of Dahlstrom in view of Ghods as modified above teaches wherein the plurality of sensors comprise a plurality of dielectric probes used to determine a dielectric constant and a water content of the concrete at the different locations (see paragraph [0335] of Ghods describing “It may be noted that dielectric constant of the construction material as described and discussed with respect to embodiments of the invention is dependent upon the water content as water has a high dielectric constant of 81 versus the other components of construction materials such as concrete, gypsum etc. The dielectric content for dry concrete is approximately 2-4 when measured using microwave/RF propagation. Accordingly, this allows for measurement data relating to the pore solution conductivity and moisture/water content to be obtained where measurements are performed below approximately 10 GHz versus those performed above this frequency” and further describes “additional data relating to pore solution conductivity, moisture/water content and pore size can be determined from the loss measured in conjunction with a microwave/RF based dielectric constant measurement”, hence it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the sensors comprising dielectric probes since Ghods does take dielectric measurement as described above).
Regarding Claim 9, Wang in view of Dahlstrom in view of Ghods as modified above teaches further comprising:
a central control unit (see controller 8, Figs. 1, 2 of Wang and/or see Col. 5, lines 29 – 54 describing processors and controllers that communicate with the robotic device 114 and apparatuses 116 and/or see Figs. 19 – 22 and paragraphs [0236] – [0238], [0402] of Ghods describing processors used to implement the method as described above) that communicates with:
the plurality of sensors to receive data therefrom (see modification above, see paragraphs [0233] – [0236] and Figs. 19 – 22 of Ghods); and
the at least one application drone to control a location of the at least one application drone over the concrete and an operation performed by the at least one application drone while over the concrete (see unmanned machine or unmanned aerial vehicle 7, Figs. 1, 3, see page 3, lines 1 – 13 of Wang and see page 3, lines 20 – 23 of Wang which describes usage of the device including moving the water storage tank 11 near the concrete structure and “then under the control of the control table 8 the large power rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 7 takeoff and flight to the ultra-high small concrete structure”, and/or see Col. 18, lines 21 – 45 of Dahlstrom which describes sensors on the robotic devices which analyzes moisture content of concrete to determine material to apply and states “Sensors on robotic device 114 or the UCAT apparatus 116A, 116B or 1160 may analyze factors such as moisture content and the thickness of concrete, as well as the depth and condition of the reinforcement to determine material to apply (paint, polymer, fiberglass, epoxy, liquid metal, liquid or spray concrete, etc.), type of application (spray, glob on [apply a lump of a semiliquid substance], roll or brush on, etc.), volume of material to use, etc.”, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form accompanying this office action which includes the following relevant prior arts:
Ghods et al. (U.S. 2017/0284996 A1) teaches embedded wireless monitoring sensors that are embedded in concrete material to monitor conditions of the concrete.
Zhang, Xin-sheng et al. (CN 108673722 A) teaches a concrete surface curing agent spraying flyer, a remote control system and a spraying system that utilizes multi-nozzle capable of spraying a plurality of concrete surface.
Chung Ha IK et al. (KR 2022002037 A) teaches a method for construction, excavation, pavement, vibration, spraying using a drone, a device a spraying device.
Zollinger (U.S. 2022/0334096 A1) teaches monitoring of concrete curing.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARRIT EYASSU whose telephone number is (571)270-1403. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 9:00AM - 6:00PM.
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/MARRIT EYASSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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