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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/18/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) in view of Xie et al (US20120154594).
Regarding claim 1, Alshamrani teaches a method of inspecting a blade of a wind turbine (para. [0034], Specifically, targets of the inspection include, for example, an office building, a residential building, a school, a hospital, a facility, a factory, or any special purpose structure such as a bridge, a wind turbine, an electrical tower, an oil/gas rig, and the like), the method comprising:
detecting a defect in a first area on one of an interior surface or an exterior surface of a wind turbine blade (claim 1, receive inspection data collected by the drone during the visual inspection of the exterior of the building, extract a location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected from the inspection data collected by the drone);
determining a second area on the other of the interior surface or the exterior surface corresponding to the first area (claim 1, send the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected to the robot to carry out an exterior inspection at the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected or an interior inspection at a corresponding interior location of the building); and
displaying an image comprising the first area and the second area (para. [0050], The user interface 202 also receives results of data processing from the data processing module 206 and presents the results to a user; para. [0059], At step S318, the data collected by the robot 103 for exterior inspection or the data collected by the robot 103 for indoor inspection are received via the network 105 and sent to the data processing module 206 of the inspection operation controller 101. At step 322, a result of the data analysis process is output to a user via the user interface 202. The results are interpreted to include the location where damage exists, which would be the first and second areas), wherein:
the second area is correlated to the first area based on an exterior signal produced by an analysis of the exterior surface of the wind turbine blade and an interior signal produced by an analysis of the interior surface of the wind turbine blade (claim 1, receive inspection data collected by the drone during the visual inspection of the exterior of the building, extract a location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected from the inspection data collected by the drone, send the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected to the robot to carry out an exterior inspection at the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected or an interior inspection at a corresponding interior location of the building, receive inspection data collected by the robot during the exterior and/or interior inspection. It would be obvious to perform analysis to determine the damage location and generate a corresponding signal).
Alshamrani fails to teach wherein the first area and the second area are displayed side-by-side or overlaid on one another in the image.
However Xie teaches wherein a first area and a second area are displayed side-by-side or overlaid on one another in the image (para. [0044]-[0045]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Xie into the method of Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Xie and Alshamrani would be to allow defects in a device under inspection to be more readily identified (para. [0044] of Xie).
Regarding claim 8, Alshamrani teaches a system for inspecting a structure (para. [0034], Specifically, targets of the inspection include, for example, an office building, a residential building, a school, a hospital, a facility, a factory, or any special purpose structure such as a bridge, a wind turbine, an electrical tower, an oil/gas rig, and the like), the system comprising:
an external sensing device comprising an external sensor configured to analyze an exterior of the structure (claim 1, receive inspection data collected by the drone during the visual inspection of the exterior of the building, extract a location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected from the inspection data collected by the drone) and produce an external data signal (claim 1, send an exterior inspection objective to the drone to instruct the drone to carry out a visual inspection of the exterior of the building and/or inspect an exterior environment of the building);
an internal sensing device comprising an internal sensor configured to analyze an interior of the structure (claim 1, send the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected to the robot to carry out an exterior inspection at the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected or an interior inspection at a corresponding interior location of the building) and produce an internal data signal (claim 1, receive inspection data collected by the robot during the exterior and/or interior inspection); and
a display configured to display an image (para. [0050], The user interface 202 also receives results of data processing from the data processing module 206 and presents the results to a user; para. [0059], At step S318, the data collected by the robot 103 for exterior inspection or the data collected by the robot 103 for indoor inspection are received via the network 105 and sent to the data processing module 206 of the inspection operation controller 101. At step 322, a result of the data analysis process is output to a user via the user interface 202. The results are interpreted to include the location where damage exists, which would be the first and second areas), wherein
the second area being correlated to the first area based at least in part on the internal data signal (claim 1, receive inspection data collected by the drone during the visual inspection of the exterior of the building, extract a location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected from the inspection data collected by the drone, send the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected to the robot to carry out an exterior inspection at the location where damage and/or an environmental anomaly is suspected or an interior inspection at a corresponding interior location of the building, receive inspection data collected by the robot during the exterior and/or interior inspection. It would be obvious to perform analysis to determine the damage location and generate a corresponding signal).
Alshamrani fails to teach wherein the image comprises a first area of the structure generated from the external data signal and a second area of the structure generated from the internal data signal.
However Xie teaches an image comprising a first area and a second area (para. [0044]-[0045]). It would be obvious to apply the first and second areas obtained by Alshamrani to the image of Xie.
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Xie into the method of Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Xie and Alshamrani would be to allow defects in a device under inspection to be more readily identified (para. [0044] of Xie).
Regarding claim 11, the modified system of Alshamrani teaches a system wherein the image comprises the first area and the second area displayed side-by-side on the display (para. [0044] of Xie).
Regarding claim 12, the modifies system of Alshamrani teaches a system wherein the image comprises one of the first area or the second area at least partially overlaid over the other of the first area or the second area displayed on the display (para. [0045] of Xie).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Newman (US20170011503).
Regarding claim 2, the modified method of Alshamrani fails to teach a method wherein the second area is determined based at least in part on known dimensions of the wind turbine blade.
However Newman teaches wherein a second area is determined (para. [0071], The location of the defect with respect to a known datum such as the blade root end can then be measured) based at least in part on known dimensions of a wind turbine blade (para. [0070], Here the diameter of the blade root end, known to be 6.2 feet, is defined).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with Newman as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Newman into the method of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, Newman and Alshamrani would be to provide a fast, cost effective nondestructive inspection system and method for wind turbine blades to detect latent and propagating damage (para. [0013] of Newman).
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Hofer et al (US20160319980).
Regarding claim 3, the modified method of Alshamrani teaches a method wherein:
the exterior signal is produced by an exterior sensor (claim 1 of Alshamrani, send an exterior inspection objective to the drone to instruct the drone to carry out a visual inspection of the exterior of the building and/or inspect an exterior environment of the building); and
the interior signal is produced by an interior sensor (claim 1 of Alshamrani, receive inspection data collected by the robot during the exterior and/or interior inspection).
The modified method of Alshamrani fails to teach wherein the exterior signal tracks a position of the interior sensor relative to the wind turbine blade.
However Hofer teaches wherein an exterior signal tracks a position of the interior sensor relative to a pipeline (para. [0053], using the thereby determined data to monitor the pig's use and/or to position the pig at at least one target position within the pipeline; para. [0057], thereby provides a method of positioning the pig at any desired target position within the pipeline. It would be obvious to apply the steps to the interior of the wind turbine blade of Alshamrani).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with Hofer as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Hofer into the method of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, Hofer and Alshamrani would be to permit precision positioning (para. [0040] of Hofer).
Regarding claim 4, the modified method of Alshamrani teaches a method wherein the position of the interior sensor is tracked (para. [0053] of Hofer) by analyzing the exterior surface (para. [0057]) of the wind turbine blade (para. [0034] of Alshamrani).
Regarding claim 5, the modified method of Alshamrani teaches a method wherein the position of the interior sensor is tracked (para. [0053] of Hofer) by transmitting signals between the exterior sensor and the interior sensor (claim 1 of Alshamrani).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Danielsen (US20110227342).
Regarding claim 7, the modified method of Alshamrani fails to teach a method further comprising rotating the wind turbine blade around a longitudinal axis of the wind turbine blade.
However Danielsen teaches rotating a wind turbine blade around a longitudinal axis of a wind turbine blade (abstract).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with Danielsen as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Danielsen into the method of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, Danielsen and Alshamrani would be to make repeated and accurate calibration of a rotor blade pitch angle according to the tip chord possible (para. [0005] of Danielsen).
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Oetiker et al (US20210310962).
Regarding claim 9, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a system wherein the second area is correlated to the first area based at least in part on interior dimensions of the structure detected by the internal sensor.
However Oetiker teaches wherein a second area is correlated to a first area (para. [0080], [0082]) based at least in part on interior dimensions of a structure detected by an internal sensor (para. [0068], [0072]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with Oetiker as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of Oetiker into the system of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, Oetiker and Alshamrani would be to improve localization (para. [0014] of Oetiker).
Regarding claim 10, the modified system of Alshamrani teaches a system wherein the interior dimensions of the structure are detected by the internal sensor based on distances to surfaces of the structure (para. [0068], [0072] of Oetiker).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of George et al (US20110267428).
Regarding claim 13, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a system wherein the image comprises:
a 3D view of the structure; and
the first area and the second area projected on the 3D view of the structure.
However George teaches an image comprising a 3D view of a structure (para. [0003]-[0004], three-dimensional model of the component; para. [0047]); and
areas projected on the 3D view of the structure (para. [0003]-[0004], map the two-dimensional image onto a three-dimensional model of the component; para. [0047]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with George as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of George into the system of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, George and Alshamrani would be to readily identify temperature variations across the surface of the turbine component (para. [0015] of George).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Lin et al (US20200166019).
Regarding claim 14, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a system wherein at least one of the first area or the second area comprises a plurality of images stitched together.
However Lin teaches wherein at least one of the first area or the second area comprises a plurality of images stitched together (para. [0010], [0015]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Xie with Lin as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of Lin into the system of Alshamrani and Xie. The motivation to combine Xie, Lin and Alshamrani would be to facilitate accurate localization of defects on the wind turbine blade, and facilitate localizing the defects during maintenance of the wind turbine blade (para. [0043] of Lin).
Claim(s) 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167) in view of Oetiker et al (US20210310962) and Xie et al (US20120154594).
Regarding claim 15, Alshamrani teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for assessment of a structure, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:
receive an external data stream (para. [0039], [0046]) corresponding to an external inspection a structure (para. [0041], [0046], [0059]);
receive an internal data stream (para. [0058]) corresponding to an internal inspection of the structure (para. [0042], [0047]);
wherein:
a first area in an internal image corresponds to a second area in an external image (para. [0048],[0050]).
Alshamrani fails to teach detecting an internal feature of the structure based at least in part on the internal data stream;
determining a position in the internal data stream relative to the structure based on the internal feature; and
wherein the first area and the second area are determined based at least in part on the position determined in the internal data stream.
However Oetiker teaches detecting an internal feature of the structure based at least in part on the internal data stream (para. [0055]-[0056]); and
determining a position in the internal data stream relative to the structure based on the internal feature (para. [0072], [0075], [0077]);
wherein the first area and the second area are determined based at least in part on the position determined in the internal data stream (para. [0077], [0082]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Alshamrani and Oetiker as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of Oetiker into the system of Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Oetiker and Alshamrani would be to improve localization (para. [0014] of Oetiker).
Modified Alshamrani fails to teach simultaneously displaying an external image of the structure based on the external data stream and an internal image of the structure based on the internal display stream.
However Xie teaches simultaneously displaying an external image of the structure based on the external data stream and an internal image of the structure based on the internal display stream (para. [0019]-[0020], [0044]-[0045]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of modified Alshamrani and Xie as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the steps of Xie into the method of modified Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Xie and modified Alshamrani would be to allow defects in a device under inspection to be more readily identified (para. [0044] of Xie).
Regarding claim 16, the modified system of Alshamrani teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium wherein:
the internal feature is an internal dimension of the structure (para. [0055] of Oetiker); and
the position in the internal data stream is determined (para. [0075]-[0076] of Oetiker) based at least in part on comparison of the internal dimension to a known or calculated dimension of the structure (para. [0061], [0072]-[0074 of Oetiker).
Regarding claim 17, the modified system of Alshamrani teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium wherein the internal feature comprises a distance between an internal sensor of an internal sensing device and a surface of the structure (para. [0072], [0079] of Oetiker).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167), Oetiker et al (US20210310962) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Wan et al (US20130194567).
Regarding claim 18, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a non-transitory computer-readable medium wherein the position in the internal data stream is determined based at least in part on a determined deflection or curvature of the structure.
However Wan teaches wherein a position in an internal data stream is determined based at least in part on a determined deflection or curvature of a structure (para. [0041], [0047]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of modified Alshamrani and Wan as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of Wan into the system of modified Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Wan and modified Alshamrani would be to ensure stable and safe operation of the wind turbine (para. [0048] of Wan).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167), Oetiker et al (US20210310962) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of Diwinsky et al (US20170167953).
Regarding claim 19, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a non-transitory computer-readable medium wherein the internal image comprises images from a plurality of cavities of the structure.
However Diwinsky teaches wherein an internal image comprises images from a plurality of cavities of a structure (para. [0017]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of modified Alshamrani and Diwinsky as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of Diwinsky into the system of modified Alshamrani. The motivation to combine Diwinsky and modified Alshamrani would be to allow annular row of blades located within each compressor stage and/or turbine stage to be visually inspected simultaneously (para. [0017] of Diwinsky).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshamrani et al (US20200019167), Oetiker et al (US20210310962) and Xie et al (US20120154594) in view of George et al (US20110267428).
Regarding claim 20, the modified system of Alshamrani fails to teach a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the code further comprises instructions executable by the processor to:
generate a 3D image of the structure based on the external data stream and the internal data stream; and
project the first area and the second area on the 3D image of the structure.
However George teaches generating a 3D image of the structure based on an external data stream and an internal data stream (para. [0003]-[0004], [0047]); and
projecting the first area and the second area on the 3D image of the structure (para. [0003]-[0004]).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of modified Alshamrani and George as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate the features of George into the system of modified Alshamrani. The motivation to combine George and modified Alshamrani would be to readily identify temperature variations across the surface of the turbine component (para. [0015] of George).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
Related Art
Peters et al (US20200319119) – see para. [0012], [0019], [0029]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEON VIET Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1185. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 11AM-7PM.
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/LEON VIET Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2663
