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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 10, 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites “wherein the base portion is used for impedance matching of the plurality of antennas”. It is unclear how the base portion achieves the function as attempts to claim a process without setting forth any steps involved in the process is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See MPEP 2173.05
Regarding claim 16, there is a lack of antecedent basis for “each end of the conductor” and “two ends of the conductor” since the claim does not disclose any ends of the conductor.
The claim also lack antecedent basis for the limitation “the interior surface of the container” since limitations pertaining to a container having an interior surface were not previously disclosed.
The claim further discloses “except with a gap in coverage” in line 7. It is unclear whether this is referring to the gap previously recited in line 5.
Claim 17 is dependent on claim 16 and therefore inherits its deficiencies.
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.
Claim 1, 2, 4-8, 11-14, 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LoVetri et al., "Innovations in Electromagnetic Imaging Technology: The Stored-Grain-Monitoring Case," (IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 33-42, Oct. 2020) in view of Ohmae et al., WO 2022145113
Regarding claim 1, LoVetri teaches a system, comprising: a metal container configured to store a material (Fig. 1; steel grain bin); a measurement system comprising a vector network analyzer (VNA), a switch module (Page 38; “a data acquisition system consisting of a vector network analyzer (VNA) and a radio-frequency switch”), a plurality of cables (Page 38; “contribution of the cables to the magnitudes of the VNA measurements”), the metal container, and a plurality of antennas coupled to an interior wall of the metal container (Page 38; “the magnetic field antennas that were just described and that are mounted on the interior walls”), wherein the switch module is configured to switch signals transmitted to and received from the plurality of antennas via a plurality of channels (Page 38; RF switch), wherein the VNA is configured to measure scattering parameters (S-parameters) of all of the plurality of channels (Page 37; scattered field data received from antennas), and wherein each antenna of the plurality of antennas comprises a shielded half-loop antenna (Fig. 2; shielded half loop antenna); a controller operably coupled to the measurement system and comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that (Page 39; measurement applied to an algorithm/ FEM code inherently using a processor), when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to: receive measurements via the measurement system (Fig. 3; measurements received form antenna); calibrate the received measurements (Page 39; calibration coefficients used to calibrate data); and generate an image of the material using an inversion algorithm based on the calibrated measurements (Fig. 5-6; image of the material in grain bin generated from measurements using CSI inversion algorithm).
LoVetri is silent in a ferrite loaded antenna. Ohmae teaches a ferrite loaded antenna (Fig. 4; ferrite body 21 with antenna base 42 and coil 41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 2, LoVetri teaches a shielded half-loop antenna adjacent to and in contact with the interior wall of the metal container (Fig. 2b, 4; antenna in the steel grain bin). LoVetri is silent in wherein the ferrite loaded, comprises a base portion comprised of ferrite material. Ohmae teaches a ferrite loaded antenna comprises a base portion comprised of ferrite material (Fig. 4; ferrite body 21 with antenna base 42 and coil 41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 4, LoVetri teaches a shielded half-loop antenna further comprises a solid conductor attached at each end of the conductor to the interior wall of the metal container, wherein the solid conductor spans over the base portion, separated from, and elevated above, only a partial region of the base portion by a gap extending between the two ends of the conductor (Fig. 2b; loop of antenna is over a base from feed to stub).
Regarding claim 5, LoVarti teaches wherein the partial region comprises a middle region of a base portion (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 6, LoVetri teaches a shielding material covering the solid conductor except with a gap in coverage centrally located at a portion of the solid conductor that spans over the base portion (Fig. 2b; page 37-38; loop is shielded in fig. 2b vs fig. 2a with a gap at center).
Regarding claim 7, LoVetri teaches a method implemented by an electromagnetic imaging system for imaging a material within a metal container (Fig. 1; steel grain bin), the method comprising: transmitting to, and receiving signals from, a plurality of antennas attached to an interior wall of the metal container (Page 38; Fig. 3; “the magnetic field antennas that were just described and that are mounted on the interior walls”), the signals delivered over a plurality of channels (multiple antenna disclosed, see fig. 4), each of the plurality of antennas comprising a shielded half-loop antenna (Fig. 2; shielded half loop antenna); measuring a plurality of scattering parameters (S-parameters) for all of the plurality of channels (Page 37; scattered field data received from antennas); calibrating the measurements (Page 39; calibration coefficients used to calibrate data); and generating an image of the material using an inversion algorithm based on the calibrated measurements (Fig. 5-6; image of the material in grain bin generated from measurements using CSI inversion algorithm (Fig. 5-6; image of the material in grain bin generated from measurements using CSI inversion algorithm).
LoVetri is silent in a ferrite loaded antenna. Ohmae teaches a ferrite loaded antenna (Fig. 4; ferrite body 21 with antenna base 42 and coil 41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 8, LoVetri teaches a portion adjacent to and in contact with the interior wall of the metal container (Fig. 4) but is silent in a base portion comprising a slab of ferrite material. Ohmae teaches a base portion comprised of ferrite material (Fig. 4; ferrite body 21 with antenna base 42 and coil 41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 11, Lovetri teaches wherein the ferrite loaded, shielded half-loop antenna further comprises a solid conductor attached at each end of the conductor to the interior surface of the container, wherein the solid conductor spans over the base portion, separated from, and elevated above, only a partial region of the base portion by a gap extending between the two ends of the conductor (Fig. 2b; loop of antenna is over a base from feed to stub).
Regarding claim 12, LoVerti teaches wherein the partial region comprises a middle portion of a base portion (Fig. 2a-2b).
Regarding claim 13, Lovetri teaches a shielding material covering the solid conductor except with a gap in coverage centrally located at a portion of the solid conductor that spans over the base portion (Fig. 2b).
Regarding claim 14, LoVetri is silent in improving a signal to noise ratio of an S21 parameter based on the ferrite loading, the improvement over a non-ferrite loaded shield half-loop antenna for the same parameter. Ohmae teaches improving a signal to noise ratio based on the ferrite loading, the improvement over a non-ferrite loaded shield half-loop antenna for the same parameter (¶[0005]; ferrite sheet used as noise filter). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 16, LoVetri teaches discloses an antenna, comprising: a solid conductor attached at each end of the conductor to the interior surface of the container (Fig. 1, 4; steel grain bin container; Fig. 2b; antenna having two ends with loop as the conductor); wherein the solid conductor spans over a base portion, separated from, and elevated above, only a partial region of the base portion by a gap extending between the two ends of the conductor (Fig. 2b; loop of antenna is over a base from feed to stub); and shielding material covering the solid conductor except with a gap in coverage centrally located at a portion of the solid conductor that spans over the base portion (Fig. 2b; page 37-38; loop is shielded in fig. 2b vs fig. 2a with a gap at center).
LoVetri is silent in a base portion comprised of ferrite material. Ohmae teaches a base portion comprised of ferrite material (Fig. 4; ferrite body 21 with antenna base 42 and coil 41). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Ohmae into LoVetri for the benefit of providing a noise shield or noise filter.
Regarding claim 17, LoVetri teaches wherein the partial region comprises a middle region of a base portion (Fig. 2).
Claim(s) 3, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LoVetri et al., "Innovations in Electromagnetic Imaging Technology: The Stored-Grain-Monitoring Case," (IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 33-42, Oct. 2020) in view of Ohmae et al., WO 2022145113 in view of Lovetri et al., WO 2016005909
Regarding claim 3, LoVetri taches wherein the interior wall of the metal container attached to the ferrite loaded, shielded half-loop antenna. Lovetri is silent in the wall constituting a ground plane for the antenna. Lovetri teaches an antenna attached to a ground plane (¶[0095]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Lovetri into Lovetri for the benefit of providing a shield from the electromagnetic fields in the measurement system.
Regarding claim 9, LoVetri taches wherein the interior wall of the metal container attached to the ferrite loaded, shielded half-loop antenna. Lovetri is silent in the wall constituting a ground plane for the antenna. Lovetri teaches an antenna attached to a ground plane (¶[0095]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Lovetri into Lovetri for the benefit of providing a shield from the electromagnetic fields in the measurement system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 15, prior art does not disclose or suggest: “further comprising shifting a resonance frequency lower in frequency based on the ferrite loading, the lowering of the resonance frequency relative to a resonance frequency for a non-ferrite loaded shield half-loop antenna” in combination with all the limitations of claim 7.
Conclusion
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/FEBA POTHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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