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) 1-2 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vancho (US 2020/0003918).
Regarding claim 1, Vancho discloses method for generating an alert for potential structural damage from an earthquake, implemented using a system that is connected to a seismograph, and an external alert device that is disposed at a target structure, the method comprising:
a) in response to receipt of a first-arrival seismic wave dataset, which is
related to a first-arrival seismic wave of the earthquake, from the seismograph (paragraph 20, p. 35), implementing a signal processing procedure to process the first-arrival seismic wave dataset (p. 45-p.46), and to calculate an estimated seismic wave parameter set that includes a spectral acceleration (p. 35, p. 47, p. 53);
b) calculating, based on the estimated seismic wave parameter set and a
basic structural parameter set that is associated with the target structure 220, a ductility
value (p. 63), the basic structural parameter set including a geographical location of the
target structure (p. 36, p. 37, p. 62), a structural ultimate base shear coefficient (p. 39, p. 45), and an initially hypothetical structural fundamental oscillation period (p. 37); and
c) in a case where the ductility value is larger than a predetermined
threshold (p. 63), generating and transmitting an alert control signal to the external alert
device (S349, p. 43, p. 63), so as to control the external alert device to output an alert for potential structural damage of the target structure based on the alert control signal (figure 3, p. 39, p. 42, p. 63).
Regarding claim 2, Vancho discloses the earthquake including a second-arrival
seismic wave that arrives later than the first-arrival seismic wave, wherein step c)
is implemented at one or both of a first time instance that is between arrival of the
first-arrival seismic wave and arrival of the second-arrival seismic wave, and a second time instance that is after the arrival of the second-arrival seismic wave (p. 45-p. 46).
Regarding claim 8, Vancho a system for generating an alert for potential structural damage from an earthquake, the system being connected to a seismograph, and an external alert device that is disposed at a target structure, the system comprising:
a communication unit (figure 4) that communicates with the external alert device (p. 39, p. 42, p. 63) and that receives a first-arrival seismic wave dataset, which is related to a first-arrival seismic wave of the earthquake, from the seismograph (p. 20, p. 35);
a data storage unit (p. 41, p. 84) that stores a basic structural parameter set that is associated with the target structure, the basic structural parameter set including a
geographical location of the target structure (p. 36, p. 37, p. 62), a structural ultimate base shear coefficient (p. 39, p. 45), and an initially hypothetical structural fundamental oscillation period (p. 37); and
a processing unit (figure 4, p. 39, p. 41) that is connected to the communication unit and the data storage unit (figure 4), and that is programmed to
implement a signal processing procedure to process the first-arrival seismic wave dataset (p. 45, p.46),
calculate an estimated seismic wave parameter set (p. 63) including a spectral
acceleration (p. 35, p. 47, p. 53),
calculate, based on the estimated seismic wave parameter set and the
basic structural parameter set, a ductility value (p. 63), and
in a case where the ductility value is larger than a predetermined threshold (p. 63), generate and transmit an alert control signal to the external alert device (S349, p. 42, p. 63), so as to control the external alert device to output an alert for potential structural damage of the target structure based on the alert control signal (figure 3, p. 39, p. 42, p. 63).
Regarding claim 9, Vancho discloses the earthquake including a second-arrival
seismic wave that arrives later than the first-arrival seismic wave, wherein the processing unit is programmed to transmit the alert control signal at one or both of
a first time instance that is between arrival of the first-arrival seismic wave and
arrival of the second-arrival seismic wave, and a second time instance that is after
the arrival of the second-arrival seismic wave (p. 45, p. 46).
Regarding claim 15, Vancho discloses a non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by a processing unit of a computer device, cause the processing unit to execute the steps of the method as claimed in claim 1 (p. 41).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 and 10-14 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Febonio, Amir, Thompson, and Wani disclose seismic event detection systems.
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/ANH V LA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
ANH V. LA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2685
Al
January 6, 2026