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 January 10, 2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the feature, “a third phase discharge path”, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
For examining purposes, this feature at issue will be examined as best understood.
Claim Interpretation
According to MPEP 2112.02: Process Claims, it is noted that “Under the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device” (emphasis added). It is also noted in that same MPEP section that “The Federal Circuit upheld the Board’s finding that "Donley inherently performs the function disclosed in the method claims on appeal when that device is used in ‘normal and usual operation’" and found that a prima facie case of anticipation was made out” (emphasis added). Id. at 138, 801 F.2d at 1326. It was up to applicant to prove that Donley's structure would not perform the claimed method when placed in ambient light.).”
With regard to claims 14-20, these claims present a method for detecting electric leakage and a vehicle according to the device for detecting electric leakage of claims 1-13. Therefore, the argument made against claims 1-13 also applies, mutatis mutandis, to claims 14-20. In addition, it is clearly seen that claims 1-13 are apparatus claims which present an apparatus inherently performing the function disclosed in the method claims 14-20, respectively.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fujii et al. (JP H0643196 A).
Fujii et al. teaches an insulation monitor system for monitoring the insulation of electric lines comprising:
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With regard to claims 1, 14 and 15, a device for detecting electric leakage (FIG. 1), comprising: a detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5) connected to a first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and a second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10), the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) configured to connect to a power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) and transmit electricity outputted from the power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) when the power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) discharges electricity, and the detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5) configured to establish a detection loop (FIG. 1, loop (“transformer 1” – “R-phase of the electric path 10” – “voltage detection unit 4” – “A / D conversion device 7” – “current detecting section 3” – “grounding wire 2”), and/or loop (“transformer 1” – “S-phase of the electric path 10” – “voltage detection unit 5” – “A / D conversion device 7” – “current detecting section 3” – “grounding wire 2”)) for the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) when the power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) discharges electricity, a sampling assembly (FIG. 1, A / D conversion device 7) connected to the detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5), and configured to collect, from the detection loop (FIG. 1, loop (“transformer 1” – “R-phase of the electric path 10” – “voltage detection unit 4” – “A / D conversion device 7” – “current detecting section 3” – “grounding wire 2”), and/or loop (“transformer 1” – “S-phase of the electric path 10” – “voltage detection unit 5” – “A / D conversion device 7” – “current detecting section 3” – “grounding wire 2”)), a first detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 4) of the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and a second detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 5) of the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10), and a signal processing circuit (FIG. 1, arithmetic processing unit 8) connected to the sampling assembly (FIG. 1, A / D conversion device 7), and configured to receive the first detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 4) and the second detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 5) from the sampling assembly (FIG. 1, A / D conversion device 7), and determine whether the power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) has electric leakage according to the first detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 4) and the second detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 5) (For more details, please read: Abstract; and paragraphs: [0010], [0011] and [0014]-[0021]).
With regard to claims 2 and 16, the detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5) comprises a first detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 4) and a second detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 5), and the first detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 4) is connected between the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and a low-voltage ground (FIG. 1, ground); and the second detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 5) is connected between the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and the low-voltage ground (FIG. 1, ground); and the sampling assembly (FIG. 1, A / D conversion device 7) is configured to collect the first detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 4) from the first detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 4) and collect the second detected voltage (FIG. 1, voltage detection of the voltage detection unit 5) from the second detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 5) (For more details, please read: Abstract; and paragraphs: [0010], [0011] and [0014]-[0021]).
With regard to claim 7, the detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5) is further connected to a third phase discharge path (FIG. 1, T-phase of the electric path 10), and the power supply (FIG. 1, transformer 1) outputs, respectively through the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10), the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, S-phase of the electric path 10), and the third phase discharge path (FIG. 1, T-phase of the electric path 10), currents with a same amplitude, a same frequency, and a same phase difference (For more details, please read: Abstract; and paragraphs: [0010], [0011] and [0014]-[0021]).
With regard to claim 8, the detection assembly (FIG. 1, current detecting section 3, voltage detection units 4 and 5) comprises a first detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 4) and a second detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 5), the first detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 4) is connected between the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and a device ground (FIG. 1, ground), and is connected to the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) by the device ground (FIG. 1, ground), and the second detection circuit (FIG. 1, voltage detection unit 5) is connected between the second phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) and the device ground (FIG. 1, ground), and is connected to the first phase discharge path (FIG. 1, R-phase of the electric path 10) through the device ground (FIG. 1, ground) (For more details, please read: Abstract; and paragraphs: [0010], [0011] and [0014]-[0021]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 9-13 and 17-20 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. Applicants’ attention is invited to the followings whose inventions disclose similar devices.
Park et al. (US 5,824,883 A) teaches a system which senses and displays information on whether a battery is leaking to the inner bottom of a battery pack.
Ham (US 2022/0203838 A1) teaches an electric leakage detection apparatus for detection of electric leakage between a battery and a chassis.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-2170. The examiner can normally be reached MON-THURS (7:00 AM - 5:00 PM).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LEE E. RODAK can be reached at 571-270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2858
/HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
Prosecution Insights