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 .
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 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO 1449.These IDS has been considered.
Examiner’s Note
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages, paragraph and figures may apply. Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed 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 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 of this title, 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) 1-2, 6, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 20090129721 A1) (hereinafter Chen) in view of BOERHOUT (US 20200240820 A1) (herein after BOERHOUT).
As of claim 1, Chen discloses a system for simultaneously detecting the presence of a target gas [¶0012] [see abstract] comprising:
a tunable fiber ring laser in electronic and optical communication with a gas detection sensor [¶0068] [FIGS. 2A and 2B, a sensing light 70 is directed through and propagates through core 35. Sensing light 70 may be, for example, 1300 to 1700 nm light generated by a diode laser, such as a swept tunable laser, or a broadband source. Although the term sensing light is used herein for illustrative purposes, it will be appreciated that sensing light 70 may also be a signal propagating light used in, for example, a fiber optic communication system…¶0052][]
[Note: while each unit configured to perform as claimed may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function, because apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does].
Chen discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “a vibration sensor”.
However, BOERHOUT from the same field of endeavor discloses a vibration sensor [120] [fig. 1, ¶0028].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of Chen such that the vibration sensor; as taught by BOERHOUT, for the advantages such as: in order to obtain an optimum measurement.
As of claim 2, Chen discloses the system wherein the vibration sensor comprises a length of multimode fiber extending between a first end and a second end, wherein the first and second ends of said multimode fiber are spliced to single-mode fiber [¶0053-0054].
As of claim 6, Chen discloses the system wherein the gas detecting sensor is configured to detect the presence of a target gas [¶0012, 0057].
As of claim 8, Chen discloses the system wherein the target gas is a gas selected from the group consisting of CO2, CO, CH4, H2, water vapor, natural gas, syngas, and combinations thereof [¶0012, 0057].
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. in view of BOERHOUT and further in view of HEIL et al. (WO 2015/137999 A1) (herein after HEIL).
As of claim 3, Chen when modified by BOERHOUT discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system of claim 1 wherein the vibration sensor is configured to detect vibration having a frequency between approximately 10 Hz and approximately 400 kHz”.
However, HEIL from the same field of endeavor discloses a vibration sensor is configured to detect vibration having a frequency between approximately 10 Hz and approximately 400 kHz [the sensors 4722, 4724 may be embodied as ultra-high frequency RF sensors (e.g., in the range of about 900 MHz), while in other embodiments, high frequency RF sensors (e.g., in the range of about 13.56 MHz) or low frequency RF sensors (e.g., in the range of about 125 KHz) RF sensors may be used ¶00153].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of Chen when modified by BOERHOUT such that the vibration sensor is configured to detect vibration having the frequency between approximately 10 Hz and approximately 400 kHz; as taught by HEIL, for the advantages such as: to analyze the sensor's output to determine whether a moisture event has occurred.
Claim(s) 4-5, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. in view of BOERHOUT and further in view of Sun et al. (US 20190317130 A1) (herein after Sun).
As of claims 4-5 and 7, Chen when modified by BOERHOUT discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system wherein the gas detection sensor comprises a length of coreless fiber coated with a gas sensing material.
The system wherein the gas sensing material comprises tetraethoxysi lane.
The system wherein the gas detecting sensor is configured to detect a target gas present in concentrations between approximately 0.5% by volume and approximately 100% by volume surrounding the gas sensor”.
However, Sun from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the gas detection sensor comprises a length of coreless fiber coated with a gas sensing material ¶00102-0103];
wherein the gas sensing material comprises tetraethoxysi lane [¶0135];
the gas detecting sensor is configured to detect a target gas present in concentrations between approximately 0.5% by volume and approximately 100% by volume surrounding the gas sensor [¶0110;0112].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of Chen when modified by BOERHOUT such that wherein the gas detection sensor comprises the length of coreless fiber coated with the gas sensing material; the gas sensing material comprises tetraethoxysi lane; the gas detecting sensor is configured to detect the target gas present in concentrations between approximately 0.5% by volume and approximately 100% by volume surrounding the gas sensor; as taught by Sun, for the advantages such as: minimizes a footprint and cost of chemical sensors compatible with electrical asset insulation oil monitoring, thus ultimately allowing a deployment on a broader range of power assets.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. in view of BOERHOUT and further in view of SCHADE et al. (DE 102012217479 B3) (herein after SCHADE).
As of claims 9-10, Chen when modified by BOERHOUT discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system of claim 1 wherein the system is configured to detect the presence of a target gas and vibration simultaneously.
The system of claim 9 wherein the system is configured to detect the presence of a target gas and vibration continuously”.
However, SCHADE from the same field of endeavor discloses a system is configured to detect the presence of a target gas and vibration simultaneously [three reference gas volumes 12a . 12b and 12c realized, which allow the simultaneous detection of three target gases in the sample gas. This is for each reference gas volume 12 an associated resonance body 2a . 2 B and 2c available to the photoacoustic signal in the respective reference gas volume 12 demonstrated. In the reference gas volume 12 is in microresonator 20 arranged, which amplifies the photoacoustic signal and in the direction of the resonator 2 passes…page 3]; wherein the system is configured to detect the presence of a target gas and vibration continuously [three reference gas volumes 12a . 12b and 12c realized, which allow the simultaneous detection of three target gases in the sample gas. This is for each reference gas volume 12 an associated resonance body 2a . 2 B and 2c available to the photoacoustic signal in the respective reference gas volume 12 demonstrated. In the reference gas volume 12 is in microresonator 20 arranged, which amplifies the photoacoustic signal and in the direction of the resonator 2 passes…page 3].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of Chen when modified by BOERHOUT such that to detect the presence of the target gas and vibration simultaneously; to detect the presence of the target gas and vibration continuously; as taught by SCHADE, for the advantages such as: determining a concentration of a target gas in a sample gas, which offers low sensitivity, good sensitivity, increased selectivity and high accuracy.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. in view of BOERHOUT and further in view of PEI et al. (CN 112838466 B) (herein after PEI).
As of claim 3, Chen when modified by BOERHOUT discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “the system wherein the tunable fiber ring laser comprises a first loop of fiber placing a laser in optical communication with a second loop of fiber, wherein said second loop of fiber is positioned along the length of the fiber making up the first loop of fiber, wherein the second loop of fiber has a first end and second end, wherein the first end of the second loop of fiber is fixed in place, and wherein the second end the second loop of fiber is positioned on a translation stage”.
However, PEI from the same field of endeavor discloses a tunable fiber ring laser comprises a first loop of fiber placing a laser in optical communication with a second loop of fiber [The invention discloses a switchable and tunable multi-wavelength fiber laser, which is shown in figure 1. The laser comprises a pumping laser 1, a wavelength division multiplexer 2, a gain fiber 3, an isolator 4, a fiber interferometer 10, a fiber filter 6 and a second optical coupler 9, wherein a fiber laser resonant cavity is formed among the devices in a fiber coupling mode…page 7], wherein said second loop of fiber is positioned along the length of the fiber making up the first loop of fiber, wherein the second loop of fiber has a first end and second end, wherein the first end of the second loop of fiber is fixed in place [a switchable and tunable multi-wavelength fiber laser includes a pump laser, a wavelength division multiplexer, a gain fiber, an isolator, a fiber interferometer, a fiber filter and a second optical coupler. And the devices form a fiber laser resonant cavity in a fiber coupling mode. The pump laser is connected with the gain optical fiber through the wavelength division multiplexer, and the output end of the gain optical fiber is sequentially connected with the isolator, the optical fiber interferometer, the optical fiber filter and the second optical coupler. The output end of the pump laser is connected with the input end of the wavelength division multiplexer…page 3], and wherein the second end the second loop of fiber is positioned on a translation stage [page 7].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of Chen when modified by BOERHOUT such that the tunable fiber ring laser comprises the first loop of fiber placing the laser in optical communication with the second loop of fiber, wherein said second loop of fiber is positioned along the length of the fiber making up the first loop of fiber, wherein the second loop of fiber has the first end and second end, wherein the first end of the second loop of fiber is fixed in place, and wherein the second end the second loop of fiber is positioned on the translation stage; as taught by PEI, for the advantages such as: wavelength quantity and position, high stability, low cost, good robustness, good repeatability, easiness in implementation.
Conclusion
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MD M. RAHMAN
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2886
/MD M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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