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 12/09/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to amendments and remarks filed on 01/16/2026. Claims 1-2 and 5-15 are currently pending and examined below. Claims 3-4 are cancelled. Claim 1 is amended. Applicant's amendment necessitated new grounds of rejection therefore claims 1-2 and 5-15 are rejected. This action is NON-Final.
Response to Arguments
Applicant presents the following arguments regarding the previous office action:
The processing apparatus of Bertucci is not arranged on the attachment as recited in amended claim 1.
There is no teaching to use the attachment to control the movement of the tractor
The Applicant’s arguments A and B, with respect to the claims have been fully considered and are moot in light of new grounds for rejection below.
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 1-2, 5, and 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bertucci et al (US20200029490A1) in view of Stanhope (US20190059199A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bertucci discloses, the signal generation device is adapted to generate the steering commands for the drive vehicle to correct relative positions between plant rows and soil cultivating tools; (0007, detect a crop row based on the current point cloud data; match the detected crop row with a crop row represented in the map; determine an estimate of a current location of the vehicle based on a current position in relation to the detected crop row; and control one or more of the actuators to cause the vehicle to move from the current location of the vehicle to a target location) … (0050, in some implementations, the implement 120 (e.g., controlled via a 3-point hitch) may be rigidly attached to the vehicle) … (0045, some implementations may control movement of a vehicle (e.g., a tractor, a truck, or an all-terrain vehicle) and operation of an implement (e.g., a boom sprayer, a spreader, a harvester, a row crop cultivator, an auger, a plow, a tiller, a backhoe, a forklift, or a mower)); wherein the signal generation device is adapted to generate the steering commands for the drive vehicle to correct relative positions between plant rows and spreading elements (0007, detect a crop row based on the current point cloud data; match the detected crop row with a crop row represented in the map; determine an estimate of a current location of the vehicle based on a current position in relation to the detected crop row; and control one or more of the actuators to cause the vehicle to move from the current location of the vehicle to a target location) … (0050, in some implementations, the implement 120 (e.g., controlled via a 3-point hitch) may be rigidly attached to the vehicle) … (0045, some implementations may control movement of a vehicle (e.g., a tractor, a truck, or an all-terrain vehicle) and operation of an implement (e.g., a boom sprayer, a spreader, a harvester, a row crop cultivator, an auger, a plow, a tiller, a backhoe, a forklift, or a mower)).
Additionally, Stanhope who is in the same field of endeavor of implement guidance and monitoring discloses an agricultural attachment for cultivating row crops (0004, an agricultural implement includes a frame, one or more row units coupled to the frame (e.g. planter row unit or sprayer nozzles)), comprising a row-detection device arranged on the attachment and adapted to detect, during a cultivation process, locations and/or courses of rows of plants on farmland (0004, one or more imaging devices coupled to the frame … Processing the captured images includes determining a location of an implement line aligned with a first row unit of the one or more row units, determining a location of a center line of one or more strips of a plurality of strips of the field, determining a location of a tracking line with respect to the center line of the strips, wherein the plurality of strips are separated by a plurality of rows of untilled land, and determining whether the implement line and the desired tracking line are aligned with one another), a signal generating device arranged on the attachment (0028, in such an embodiment, the control system 102 may be disposed on the work vehicle, on the implement, or both), and adapted to generate steering commands for a drive vehicle to which the attachment is attached, in accordance with the locations and/or courses of the rows of plants detected by the row-detection device (0037, the images may be processed to determine the locations of one or more tracking lines of one or more strips relative to the position of one or more row units of the implement. If the implement is not aligned with the strips of the field, the control system may steer the work vehicle and/or the implement into alignment with the strips, or an indication may be displayed to the user), one of a: plurality of soil cultivating tools spaced apart transversely to the direction of travel, (0017, the work vehicle 12 is configured to tow the agricultural implement 14 in a direction of travel 24. For reference, a forward direction should be understood to be in the direction of travel), or a plurality of spreading elements spaced apart transversely to the direction of travel, (0017, additionally, the agricultural implement 14 may be any suitable implement, such as a ground-engaging implement (e.g., a soil conditioner, a tillage implement, a fertilizer application implement, a planter, a seeder, etc.) or non-ground engaging (e.g., a sprayer, spreader, or applicator)) … (0029, the implement 14 may be a planter, a tillage tool, or some other implement. The implement includes row units 32, each separated by a distance 202, which may or may not be the same as the distance 200 between center lines 30).
One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the given invention would have been motivated to combine Bertucci and Stanhope. This would allow for sensors and control devices to both be directly on the implement, which allows for the system to control the tractor based on the actual position of the working tools relative to the crop rows, not just the tractors position.
Additional justification for combining Bertucci with Stanhope not only comes from the state of the art but from Bertucci (Bertucci, 0048, a processing apparatus 130 that is configured to control the vehicle 110 and the implement 120; sensors 140 connected to the vehicle 110 and/or the implement).
Furthermore, MPEP 2144.04 recognizes that the rearrangement of parts can support obviousness, and cases such as In re Japiske and In re Kuhle show that changing the position of a known part is obvious where the change does not materially alter the operation and amount to a matter of placement or design choice. The choice of arranging the imaging and controller devices from the tractor body to the implement would have been an obvious placement choice because the underlying function remains the same.
Regarding claim 2, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, a communication device which is adapted to exchange data bidirectionally with a control unit of the drive vehicle (Bertucci, 0161, Lines 1-6, a vehicle may be enabled to communicate with central locations to send and receive updates and store information. While in the field communications may include but are not limited to cellular, WiFi, or other RF links. These links can be ganged together in parallel or series to maintain connectivity. For example, communication links can be used for real time communication or for occasional updates), wherein the steering commands for the drive vehicle generated by the signal generation device can be transmitted to the drive vehicle via the communication device (Bertucci, 0166, Lines 1-8, communication architecture of a vehicle control system's hardware components. For example, externally mounted sensors including the Lidar, IMU, RGB Camera, and GPS antennas may be connected via Ethernet and/or hardwired to a processing apparatus (e.g., a core computer). Signals from these sensors may be processed via software algorithms which then instruct the controllers to actuate the steering wheel/pedals/implement controls/e-stop system and relay data to and from the remote interface).
Regarding claim 5, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, the signal generation device is adapted to generate speed setting commands for the drive vehicle (Bertucci, 0151, Lines 8-13, the tractor control system 1200 includes a system controller 1210 that issues control signals to an orientation controller 1220 configured to control orientation of a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 110), a speed controller 1230 configured to control speed of the vehicle, and an implement controller 1240 configured to control operation of an implement (e.g., the implement 120); and provides user feedback 1250).
Regarding claim 8, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, a rotation rate sensor adapted to detect a change in alignment of the attachment relative to the longitudinal direction of the plant rows, wherein the row-detection device is adapted to detect the locations and/or courses of plant rows on the farmland taking into account the change in alignment of the attachment detected by the rotation rate sensor (Bertucci, 0178, Lines 13-19, a sensor data acquisition system 1950 that includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 1952. For example, the sensor data acquisition system 1950 may output a yaw estimate for the vehicle to the tree-row rejoining module 1940. For example, the end-of-row detection module 1920 may be configured to determine turn events (e.g., a left turn or a right turn) when a turn at the end of a crop row may enable entry of a next row by the vehicle) …(Bertucci, 0114, Lines 10-16, a crop row from the map data that maximizes the cross-correlation may be identified as the detected crop row and used for georeferencing the detected crop row. In some implementations, N candidate states (e.g., position and orientation or pose) for the vehicle with a mounted implement (e.g., a tractor with a mounted boom sprayer) are selected and an expected point cloud data for each candidate state is determined based on the map data).
Regarding claim 9, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, an inclination sensor which is adapted to detect an inclination of the attachment relative to a horizontal plane, the ground of the farmland (Bertucci, 0050, Lines 22-27, the implement 120, (e.g., a boom sprayer) may be actively leveled in real-time based on the tilt angle of the vehicle 110 (e.g., a tractor), which may be controlled with a closed loop system which includes sensing from the one or more motion sensors 142 (e.g., an IMU or other level sensing device) and the uses onboard actuators to level the implement 120) … (Bertucci, 0062, Lines 1-5, a geographic area (e.g., a farm, a mine, a warehouse, a construction site, or another worksite) may be mapped and the resulting map may be used to control motion of a vehicle and/or operation of an implement connected to the vehicle to perform an operation at a subset of locations in the geographic area), a leaf canopy, and/or a crop top (Bertucci, 0175, Lines 6-10, in agriculture, and specifically in old growth orchards and vineyards with significant canopy cover, GPS guidance solutions may not be adequate for precision operations as an RTK fix is occluded by the leaves and branches overhead of the robot. This diagram shows an alternative approach to path planning in a GPS-denied orchard environment, and extends to row finding and following in vineyards, row crops, and other rowed or laned environments), wherein the signal generation device is adapted to generate the steering commands for the drive vehicle also as a function of the inclination of the attachment detected by the inclination sensor (Bertucci, 0057, Lines 6-9, the actuators 150 may include mechanical devices that move parts of the manual control interface 112 of the vehicle 110 (e.g., turn a steering wheel, pull a pedal, pull a lever, push a joystick, and/or depress a button).
Regarding claim 10, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, the row-detection device comprises one or more cameras, one or more sensors and/or one or more sensing devices for row detection (Bertucci, 0057, Lines 6-9, the second aspect may include one or more image sensors connected to the vehicle; and actuators configured to control operation of an implement, wherein the implement is connected to the vehicle) … (Bertucci, 0006, the processing apparatus may be configured to: detect a crop row based on the current point cloud data) … (Bertucci, 0064, Lines 1-4, a map representation is a high-resolution three-dimensional point cloud map. This map format may have a sub-centimeter level resolution. It may be created using fusion of data from multiple sensors (e.g., including LiDAR and camera).
Regarding claim 11, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, an agricultural machine assembly, comprising an agricultural attachment; and a drive vehicle on which the attachment is mounted; wherein the agricultural attachment is configured according to claim 1, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, the drive vehicle is adapted to automatically perform a steering operation based on steering commands from the attachment (Bertucci, 0151, Lines 2-13, the tractor control system 1200 may enable a vehicle (e.g., a tractor) to automatically move in the world and execute tasks. This may involve actively controlling an orientation and speed of the vehicle as well as manipulating one or more implements (e.g., farm implements). Additionally, the vehicle may be configured to provide feedback to operators and other people working in the area as well as other vehicles. The tractor control system 1200 includes a system controller 1210 that issues control signals to an orientation controller 1220 configured to control orientation of a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 110), a speed controller 1230 configured to control speed of the vehicle, and an implement controller 1240 configured to control operation of an implement (e.g., the implement 120)).
Regarding claim 12, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, a method for cultivating row crops by means of the agricultural machine assembly of claim 11, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, detecting locations and/or courses of plant rows on a farmland during a cultivation process by means of a row-detection device of an agricultural attachment of the agricultural machine assembly (Bertucci, 0045, Lines 1-5, described herein are systems and processes for automated control of vehicles in agricultural and industrial environments. Some implementations may control movement of a vehicle (e.g., a tractor, a truck, or an all-terrain vehicle) and operation of an implement (e.g., a boom sprayer, a spreader, a harvester, a row crop cultivator) … (Bertucci, 0006, in the first aspect, the processing apparatus may be configured to: detect a crop row based on the current point cloud data; match the detected crop row with a crop row represented in the map; and determine the estimate of the current location of the vehicle based on a current position in relation to the detected crop row); generating steering commands for a drive vehicle of the machine assembly, on which the attachment is mounted, as a function of the locations and/or courses of plant rows detected by the row-detection device by means of a signal generation device of the attachment (Bertucci, 0151, Lines 2-5, the tractor control system 1200 may enable a vehicle (e.g., a tractor) to automatically move in the world and execute tasks. This may involve actively controlling an orientation and speed of the vehicle as well as manipulating one or more implements (e.g., farm implements)); transmitting steering commands generated by the signal generation device to a control unit of the drive vehicle (Bertucci, 0166, Lines 5-8, signals from these sensors may be processed via software algorithms which then instruct the controllers to actuate the steering wheel/pedals/implement controls/e-stop system and relay data to and from the remote interface); and automatic execution of a steering operation by the drive vehicle based on the transmitted steering commands of the attachment (Bertucci, 0151, Lines 2-13, the tractor control system 1200 may enable a vehicle (e.g., a tractor) to automatically move in the world and execute tasks. This may involve actively controlling an orientation and speed of the vehicle as well as manipulating one or more implements (e.g., farm implements). Additionally, the vehicle may be configured to provide feedback to operators and other people working in the area as well as other vehicles. The tractor control system 1200 includes a system controller 1210 that issues control signals to an orientation controller 1220 configured to control orientation of a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 110), a speed controller 1230 configured to control speed of the vehicle, and an implement controller 1240 configured to control operation of an implement (e.g., the implement 120)).
Regarding claim 13, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the method of claim 12, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, generating speed setting commands for the drive vehicle by means of the signal generation device of the attachment (Bertucci, 0151, Lines 8-13, the tractor control system 1200 includes a system controller 1210 that issues control signals to an orientation controller 1220 configured to control orientation of a vehicle (e.g., the vehicle 110), a speed controller 1230 configured to control speed of the vehicle, and an implement controller 1240 configured to control operation of an implement (e.g., the implement 120); and provides user feedback 1250); wherein generating said speed setting commands is performed as a function of locations and/or courses of plant rows detected by said row-detection device (Dima, for example, it may control the speed of a harvesting machine in dependence upon the stock density ahead of the harvesting machine, may steer the harvesting machine along a crop edge or a swath or to guide a hoe along a row, or to ascertain a specific characteristic of the field that is to be processed and to control the actuator in dependence upon the characteristic such as when the ground is being processed may control the speed in dependence upon the smoothness of the ground prior to or after the processing or may optimize the distribution of straw in the sense of an even distribution over the cutting width).
Regarding claim 14, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the method of claim 13, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, evaluating the result of the cultivation of the row crops during a cultivation process with regard to at least one cultivation criterion dependent on the driving speed by means of an evaluation device of the attachment; wherein the generation of the speed setting commands for the drive vehicle is a function of the result of the cultivation of the row crops evaluated by the evaluation device (Dima, the sensors may be a part of the vehicle (for example, a harvesting attachment, in particular in the form of a cutting system or maize picker and the crop that is moving therein or a ground processing device), in particular in order to monitor the function of the part that is observed (including a mounting device) of the vehicle or to sense a characteristic of the field prior to or after processing and to control an actuator based on the characteristic) … (Dima, the actuator 50 is controlled in dependence upon the signal of the sensors 32, 34 in order to control the advancing speed of the harvesting machine 10 in dependence upon the stock density or to steer the harvesting attachment 24 along a crop edge).
Regarding claim 15, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the method of claim 12, as discussed supra. Additionally, Bertucci discloses, detecting a change in alignment of the attachment relative to the longitudinal direction of the plant rows by means of a rotation rate sensor of the attachment, wherein detecting the locations and/or courses of plant rows on the farmland is performed taking into account the change in alignment of the attachment detected by the rotation rate sensor (Bertucci, 0178, Lines 13-19, a sensor data acquisition system 1950 that includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 1952. For example, the sensor data acquisition system 1950 may output a yaw estimate for the vehicle to the tree-row rejoining module 1940. For example, the end-of-row detection module 1920 may be configured to determine turn events (e.g., a left turn or a right turn) when a turn at the end of a crop row may enable entry of a next row by the vehicle) …(Bertucci, 0114, Lines 10-16, a crop row from the map data that maximizes the cross-correlation may be identified as the detected crop row and used for georeferencing the detected crop row. In some implementations, N candidate states (e.g., position and orientation or pose) for the vehicle with a mounted implement (e.g., a tractor with a mounted boom sprayer) are selected and an expected point cloud data for each candidate state is determined based on the map data).
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bertucci et al (US20200029490A1), in view of Stanhope (US20190059199A1), further in view of Dima et al (US11703880B2).
Regarding claim 6, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 5 as discussed supra. Furthermore, Dima who is in the same field of endeavor of sensor guidance for agricultural vehicles discloses, the signal generation device being adapted to generate speed adjustment commands for the drive vehicle as a function of the locations and/or courses of plant rows detected by the row-detection device (Dima, for example, it may control the speed of a harvesting machine in dependence upon the stock density ahead of the harvesting machine, may steer the harvesting machine along a crop edge or a swath or to guide a hoe along a row, or to ascertain a specific characteristic of the field that is to be processed and to control the actuator in dependence upon the characteristic such as when the ground is being processed may control the speed in dependence upon the smoothness of the ground prior to or after the processing or may optimize the distribution of straw in the sense of an even distribution over the cutting width).
One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the given invention
would have been motivated to combine the combination of Bertucci and Stanhope with Dima. This would allow for better farming outcomes as sensors would be able to analyze the state of soil to determine the speed at which the vehicle should travel. For example, loosely packed soil being traveled upon slowly to not negatively contribute to cultivating outcomes.
Justification for combining the combination of Bertucci and Stanhope with Dima not only comes from the state of the art but from Bertucci (Bertucci, 0194, 3-7, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures).
Regarding claim 7, Bertucci and Stanhope disclose, the agricultural attachment of claim 5 as discussed supra. Furthermore, Dima discloses, an evaluation device which is adapted to evaluate the result of the cultivation of the row crops during a cultivation process with regard to at least one cultivation criterion which is dependent on the driving speed, wherein the signal generation device is adapted to generate the speed setting commands for the drive vehicle as a function of the result of the processing of the row crops evaluated by the evaluation device (Dima, the sensors may be a part of the vehicle (for example, a harvesting attachment, in particular in the form of a cutting system or maize picker and the crop that is moving therein or a ground processing device), in particular in order to monitor the function of the part that is observed (including a mounting device) of the vehicle or to sense a characteristic of the field prior to or after processing and to control an actuator based on the characteristic) … (Dima, the actuator 50 is controlled in dependence upon the signal of the sensors 32, 34 in order to control the advancing speed of the harvesting machine 10 in dependence upon the stock density or to steer the harvesting attachment 24 along a crop edge). The reasoning and justification for combining these disclosures is the same as stated in claim 6.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bertucci and Stanhope with Dima. This would allow for better farming outcomes as sensors would be able to analyze the state of soil to determine the speed at which the vehicle should travel.
Conclusion
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/S.E.D./
Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665