DETAILED ACTION
The office action is in response to original application filed on 5-13-26. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application and have been examined.
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 filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b) (3). Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) as being unpatentable over US 2023/0336034 to Ward et al. (“Ward”) in view of US 11,742,703 to Sakita et al. (“Sakita”).
Regarding claim 1, Ward discloses a foreign object detection method (see figure 1, figure 10, para. 0009, 0058, 0095, 0109-0110) comprising: acquiring a transmission current value (para; 0123, POD controller 1214 also sets the voltage and current delivered by the power supply 1201 during an impedance measurement using the digital datalink 1215 and para; 0121, Test current levels may also be varied up to -10% of the nominal power transfer current (e.g., under 10 AMPS for a 100 AMP WPT system)) of a wireless power transmitter (fig. 12); calculating a magnitude of a magnetic field (para; 0055, impedance detection system used herein is based on measuring techniques used in eddy current Nondestructive Testing (NDT). NDT relies on the concept described in Faraday's Law of Induction in which a time varying (alternating) magnetic field induces eddy currents on a coupled conductive object) based on the acquired transmission current value (para; 0123, POD controller 1214 also sets the voltage and current delivered by the power supply 1201 during an impedance measurement using the digital datalink 1215 and para; 0121, Test current levels may also be varied up to -10% of the nominal power transfer current (e.g., under 10 AMPS for a 100 AMP WPT system)); formed between the wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver, (para; 0011, observing the area surrounding the charging position of the GTA using the at least one camera may include monitoring the area surrounding the charging position when the WPT station is in use for people, animals) based on the calculated magnitude of the magnetic field (para; 0160, impedance measurements, when a vehicle is not present and the GTA is inactive, is kept below a threshold (which varies according to individual coil assembly size, ferrite placement, number of windings) so as to prevent excessive generation of magnetic flux above the regulated amount); acquiring an image and determining whether a foreign object is present in the image (fig. 10, foreign object 1004 has been detected by the close in imaging system in the surface of the GTS 1001); generating information about the foreign object when it is determined that the foreign object is present in the image (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))); and based on the information about the foreign object (para; 0011, Observing the area surrounding the charging position of the GTA using the at least one camera may include monitoring the area surrounding the charging position when the WPT station is not in use for people, animals, or vehicles that could interfere with charging by the WPT station).
But, Ward does not disclose setting a three-dimensional monitoring area so as to be variable corresponding to a charging area and determining whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area,
However, Sakita discloses setting a three-dimensional monitoring area so as to be variable corresponding to a charging area and determining whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area (Cols. 19-20),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ward by adding three-dimensional monitoring (XYZ) coordinate axes as part of its configuration as taught by Sakita, in order to monitoring process, the foreign substance can be detected in a monitoring process using the imaging device before the next wireless power transmission is started.
Regarding claim 2, Ward discloses stopping transmission power of the wireless power transmitter upon determining that the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area (para; 0118, Use of the wide-area imaging system would ensure that the immediate area was clear prior to coil energization. The wide-area observation system would also trigger immediate de-energization of the GTA (s) if a person, animal, or vehicle approached the GTS under examination).
Regarding claim 3, Ward discloses all the claim limitation as set forth in the rejection of claims above.
But, Ward does not disclose the setting of the three-dimensional monitoring area comprises setting or updating the monitoring area using three-dimensional spatial variables based on a shape of a coil of the wireless power transmitter and the magnitude of the magnetic field.
However, Sakita disclose the setting of the monitoring area comprises setting or updating the monitoring area using three-dimensional spatial variables based on a shape of a coil (Col. 16, lines 10-13, In FIG. 7, XYZ coordinate axes similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are shown; so that the state of the wireless power transmission device 11 and wireless power reception device 12, can be easily monitored before the start of power transmission and a monitoring process can be, performed without interfering with an operation of the device cross-section of the power transmission coil) of the wireless power transmitter and the magnitude of the magnetic field.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ward by adding three-dimensional monitoring (XYZ) coordinate axes as part of its configuration as taught by Sakita, in order to monitoring process, the foreign substance can be detected in a monitoring process using the imaging device before the next wireless power transmission is started.
Regarding claim 4, Ward discloses the information about the foreign object comprises an angle (709) between a centerline of a camera (fig. 8, 807) capturing an area including the three-dimensional monitoring area (figs. 7-8) and a center point of a virtual foreign object projected onto a reference plane (810), and a distance between the camera ([0097]) and the foreign object (para; 0104, nearer the boundary, the higher the priority), and the determining of whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area is based on the angle and the distance (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object).
Regarding claim 5, Ward discloses the determining of whether the foreign object is present in the image comprises: comparing corresponding pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) between the acquired image and a pre-stored image without any foreign object (Para; 0156, The resultant foreground image may be stored in the database 1604 for future use in the analysis step 1607); detecting a number of pixels among the compared pixels that have different values (para; 0148; The multiple images are averaged on a pixel ( or block of pixels) basis. Since areas outside the GTA are irrelevant to close-in operation, such areas will be filtered out before processing, reducing processing load. Information in database 1504 may be used to determine the areas of interest from the prior identified pixels of interest)); and determining that the foreign object is present in the image when the number of detected pixels is greater than or equal to a predetermined number of pixels (para; 0149, Pixel subtraction at step 1506 may be used to compare the image, now consisting of two or more combined images, with a prior image (also comprised of several averaged images) showing the area of observation without a foreign object; Use previous image compare to present images by pixel map the can decide FOD present or not).
Regarding claim 6, Ward discloses the camera is a distortion-free lens (para; 0004, Digital cameras use solid-state sensors (e.g., CCD (charge-coupled device) or, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)) to capture light collected through a lens and to convert the captured light into electronic image data. The digital image contains a certain number of pixels, with each pixel being mapped onto a planar grid. Each pixel has its own tonal value that determines the image's hue or color), and the generating of the information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))) comprises: calculating a distance ([0097]) between the camera and an actual foreign object based on a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane, a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) of the actual foreign object, and a distance ([0097]) between the camera and the reference plane; and calculating the angle between the centerline of the camera and the center point of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane, based on a field of view of the camera ([0104], The first camera 802 has a field of view 803 that observes an area 809 on the pavement 810. Within the observed area 809, an invisible boundary 811 has been set around the GTS 804) and a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) in a reference direction of the image.
Regarding claim 7, Ward discloses the generating of the information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))) comprises: inputting the image containing the foreign object into an artificial neural network to obtain a type of the foreign object; and determining a value of a pre-measured actual length corresponding to f the obtained type of the foreign object (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing) as the number of pixels of the actual foreign object using a value of a pre-measured actual length for each type (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing).
Regarding claim 8, Ward discloses the camera includes is a distorted lens (para; 0004, Digital cameras use solid-state sensors (e.g., CCD (charge-coupled device) or, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)) to capture light collected through a lens and to convert the captured light into electronic image data. The digital image contains a certain number of pixels, with each pixel being mapped onto a planar grid. Each pixel has its own tonal value that determines the image's hue or color), and the generating of the information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))) comprises: calculating the distance between the camera and the foreign object using an interpolation method based on a distance between the camera ([0097]) and the reference plane and a pre-measured length (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing) of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane for each type of foreign object (fig. 10, 1004).
Regarding claim 9, Ward discloses a lens of the camera (para; 0004, Digital cameras use solid-state sensors (e.g., CCD (charge-coupled device) or, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)) to capture light collected through a lens and to convert the captured light into electronic image data. The digital image contains a certain number of pixels, with each pixel being mapped onto a planar grid. Each pixel has its own tonal value that determines the image's hue or color), the three-dimensional monitoring area, and the reference plane are positioned in a straight line, and the wireless power transmitter is spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the reference plane.
Regarding claim 10, Ward discloses generating a foreign object detection alarm upon determining that the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area (para; 0011, observing the area surrounding the charging position of the GTA using the at least one camera may include monitoring the area surrounding the charging position when the WPT station is in use for people, animals).
Regarding claim 11, Ward discloses a foreign object detection apparatus (see figure 1, figure 10, para. 0009, 0058, 0095, 0109-0110) comprising: a processor (para; 0163, software may be executed on a digital signal processor, ASIC, microprocessor, or other type of processor operating on a computer system, such as a personal computer, server, or other computer system, turning such computer system into a specifically programmed machine) configured to acquire a transmission current value (para; 0123, POD controller 1214 also sets the voltage and current delivered by the power supply 1201 during an impedance measurement using the digital datalink 1215 and para; 0121, Test current levels may also be varied up to -10% of the nominal power transfer current (e.g., under 10 AMPS for a 100 AMP WPT system)) of a wireless power transmitter (fig. 12), calculate a magnitude of a magnetic field (para; 0055, impedance detection system used herein is based on measuring techniques used in eddy current Nondestructive Testing (NDT). NDT relies on the concept described in Faraday's Law of Induction in which a time varying (alternating) magnetic field induces eddy currents on a coupled conductive object) based on the acquired transmission current value (para; 0123, POD controller 1214 also sets the voltage and current delivered by the power supply 1201 during an impedance measurement using the digital datalink 1215 and para; 0121, Test current levels may also be varied up to -10% of the nominal power transfer current (e.g., under 10 AMPS for a 100 AMP WPT system)), so as to be variable corresponding to a charging area formed between the wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver (para; 0011, observing the area surrounding the charging position of the GTA using the at least one camera may include monitoring the area surrounding the charging position when the WPT station is in use for people, animals) according to the calculated magnitude of the magnetic field (para; 0160, impedance measurements, when a vehicle is not present and the GTA is inactive, is kept below a threshold (which varies according to individual coil assembly size, ferrite placement, number of windings) so as to prevent excessive generation of magnetic flux above the regulated amount), and determine whether a foreign object is present in the image (fig. 10, foreign object 1004 has been detected by the close in imaging system in the surface of the GTS 1001), generate information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))) when it is determined that the foreign object is present in the image (fig. 10, foreign object 1004 has been detected by the close in imaging system in the surface of the GTS 1001), and the information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s)).
But, Ward does not disclose set a three-dimensional monitoring area determine whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area based on acquire an image including the three-dimensional monitoring area,
However, Sakita discloses set a three-dimensional monitoring area determine whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area based on acquire an image including the three-dimensional monitoring area (Cols. 19-20),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ward by adding three-dimensional monitoring (XYZ) coordinate axes as part of its configuration as taught by Sakita, in order to monitoring process, the foreign substance can be detected in a monitoring process using the imaging device before the next wireless power transmission is started.
Regarding claim 12, Ward discloses transmission power of the wireless power transmitter is cut off upon determining that the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area (para; 0026, station controller may perform at least one of disabling the GTA in response to an alert from the FOD controller, reset local directional signals to the GTA, inform the reservation system that the GTA is off-line when a foreign object detection on the GTA is confirmed, and call for local maintenance or remote maintenance of the GTA).
Regarding claim 13, Ward discloses all the claim limitation as set forth in the rejection of claims above.
But, Ward does not disclose the processor sets or updates the monitoring area by defining the monitoring area as a three-dimensional spatial variable based on a shape of a coil.
However, Sakita discloses the processor sets or updates the three-dimensional monitoring area by defining the three-dimensional monitoring area as a three-dimensional spatial variable based on a shape of a coil (Col. 16, lines 10-13, In FIG. 7, XYZ coordinate axes similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are shown; so that the state of the wireless power transmission device 11 and wireless power reception device 12, can be easily monitored before the start of power transmission and a monitoring process can be, performed without interfering with an operation of the device cross-section of the power transmission coil).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ward by adding three-dimensional monitoring (XYZ) coordinate axes as part of its configuration as taught by Sakita, in order to monitoring process, the foreign substance can be detected in a monitoring process using the imaging device before the next wireless power transmission is started.
Regarding claim 14, Ward discloses a camera, wherein the image is captured by the camera, and the information about the foreign object (para; 0147, Information from database 1504 may be used in the centering step 1503 to compare the incoming imagery to prior, known good imagery (i.e., without foreign object(s))) comprises an angle between a centerline of the camera ([0012]) that captures an area including the three-dimensional monitoring area ([0104], The first camera 802 has a field of view 803 that observes an area 809 on the pavement 810. Within the observed area 809, an invisible boundary 811 has been set around the GTS 804) and a center point (figs. 7-8) of a virtual foreign object projected onto a reference plane and the distance between the camera and the foreign object, and the processor (para; 0163, software may be executed on a digital signal processor, ASIC, microprocessor, or other type of processor operating on a computer system, such as a personal computer, server, or other computer system, turning such computer system into a specifically programmed machine) determines whether the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area based on the angle and the distance (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object).
Regarding claim 15, Ward discloses when determining whether the foreign object is present in the image (fig. 10, foreign object 1004 has been detected by the close in imaging system in the surface of the GTS 1001), the processor compares corresponding pixels between the acquired image and a pre-stored image (Para; 0156, The resultant foreground image may be stored in the database 1604 for future use in the analysis step 1607) without any foreign object, detects a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) among the compared pixels that have different values (para; 0148; The multiple images are averaged on a pixel ( or block of pixels) basis. Since areas outside the GTA are irrelevant to close-in operation, such areas will be filtered out before processing, reducing processing load. Information in database 1504 may be used to determine the areas of interest from the prior identified pixels of interest)), and determines that the foreign object is present in the image when the number of detected pixels is greater than or equal to a predetermined number of pixels (para; 0149, Pixel subtraction at step 1506 may be used to compare the image, now consisting of two or more combined images, with a prior image (also comprised of several averaged images) showing the area of observation without a foreign object; Use previous image compare to present images by pixel map the can decide FOD present or not).
Regarding claim 16, Ward discloses the camera is a distortion-free lens (para; 0004, Digital cameras use solid-state sensors (e.g., CCD (charge-coupled device) or, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)), and the processor calculates a distance between the camera ([0097]) and an actual foreign object (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object) based on a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) between the acquired image and a pre-stored image without any foreign object (Para; 0156, The resultant foreground image may be stored in the database 1604 for future use in the analysis step 1607), a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) of the actual foreign object, and a distance between the camera ([0097]) and the reference plane (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object), and calculates the angle between the centerline of the camera and the center point of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane, based on the a field of view of the camera ([0104], The first camera 802 has a field of view 803 that observes an area 809 on the pavement 810. Within the observed area 809, an invisible boundary 811 has been set around the GTS 804) and a number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) in a reference direction of the image (para; 0096, determined by the elevation (height above pavement level) 704, the angle of inclination 709, and the optical characteristics of the lens 706).
Regarding claim 17, Ward discloses an artificial neural network, wherein the processor inputs the image containing the foreign object into the artificial neural network to obtain a type of the foreign object, and determines a value of a pre-measured actual length corresponding to the obtained foreign object (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing) as the number of pixels (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) of the actual foreign object using a value of a pre-measured actual length for each type (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing).
Regarding claim 18, Ward discloses the camera includes a distorted lens (para; 0110, The optical system relies on very small numbers of pixels (down to a single pixel) for foreign object detection) between the acquired image and a pre-stored image without any foreign object (Para; 0156, The resultant foreground image may be stored in the database 1604 for future use in the analysis step 1607), and the processor calculates the distance between the camera and the foreign object using an interpolation method based on a distance between the camera ([0097]) and the reference plane (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object) and a pre-measured length (para; 0087, A mathematical check of the lengths of the detected edges and parallel ness can be used to verify successful edge detection prior to shifting of the captured image in imaging processing) of the virtual foreign object projected onto the reference plane for each type of foreign object (fig. 10, 1004).
Regarding claim 19, Ward discloses a lens of the camera (para; 0004, Digital cameras use solid-state sensors (e.g., CCD (charge-coupled device) or, CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)) to capture light collected through a lens and to convert the captured light into electronic image data. The digital image contains a certain number of pixels, with each pixel being mapped onto a planar grid. Each pixel has its own tonal value that determines the image's hue or color), the three-dimensional monitoring area, and the reference plane are positioned in a straight line, and the wireless power transmitter is spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the reference plane (para; 0012, analyzing images from the at least one camera may include receiving image data based on recent or edited images or representative models of at least one of the charging position or the area surrounding the charging position and comparing the recent or edited images or representative models to images captured while observing the charging position or the areas surrounding the charging position to identify image differences indicative of a foreign object).
Regarding claim 20, Ward discloses the processor generates a foreign object detection alarm upon determining that the foreign object is included in the three-dimensional monitoring area (para; 0011, initiating the failsafe operation to at least one of reduce or remove power from the WPT station, signal a driver or occupant of the vehicle, or set visual or audio alarms to alert the at least one person, animal, or vehicle).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 5-13-26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant stated that “Ward does not disclose a configuration in which a monitoring area is set or updated based on a magnetic field or a transmission current. Ward does not disclose any technical concept in which the monitoring
area dynamically changes based on a transmission current or a magnetic field.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Because the new rejected amended claims above Sakita, discloses a wireless power transmission system 1, the coordinate axes XYZ which are three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate axes, and FIG. 7, XYZ coordinate axes similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are shown monitoring the foreign substance detection with device 13, the control unit 114 may control the power transmission unit 112 on the basis of a signal received from the foreign substance detection device 13. The foreign substance an influence of a magnetic force on the power transmission coil and the power reception coil. so that the state of the wireless power transmission device 11 can be easily monitored before the start of power transmission and a monitoring process can be, performed without interfering with an operation of the device.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ESAYAS G YESHAW whose telephone number is (571)270-1959. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Sat 9AM-7PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Menna Youssef can be reached at 5712703684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ESAYAS G YESHAW/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/Menatoallah Youssef/SPE, Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights