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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of invention group in the reply filed on 12/18/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on ground that the listed groups involve overlapping subject matter in the same classes and subclasses. Applicant’s argument is found persuasive. The restriction requirement mailed 11/06/2025 is therefore withdrawn.
Pending claims 1-20 are addressed below.
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(s) 9 is/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.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the nozzles" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since the independent claim 1 only requires “a nozzle” in line 5.
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, 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Engelbrecht (US 20170006852) in view of Brooks (US 20190022687).
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 13, Engelbrecht discloses a system (fig. 6) and method (disclosed via operations of the component functions as cited below) for performing rinsing operations on an agricultural sprayer, the system comprising:
a frame (figs. 1-2: vehicle 224 and platform 226 on wheels 228 where solution tank 12 is attached, described in paragraphs 16-17);
a product tank (solution tank 12) supported by the frame (fig. 2) and configured to store a liquid agricultural product (par. 18);
a rinse tank (rinse tank 24) supported by the frame (see figs. 2-3) and configured to store a rinse liquid (water, filled via fresh water line 52; par. 26);
a boom assembly (spray boom 18) supported by the frame (attached at the rear of solution tank; see fig. 2; par. 16), the boom assembly comprising a nozzle (one of the spray nozzles 22) configured to receive and deliver the liquid agricultural product to a field (see fig. 6, par. 16);
a feed conduit (66 68, 70) extending from the product tank (12) and the rinse tank (24) to the boom assembly and configured to convey the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid to the nozzle of the boom assembly;
a recirculation conduit (recirculation device 74, which includes lines 76 and 78) extending from the boom assembly (18) to the product tank (12) and configured to convey the rinse liquid from the boom assembly to the product tank (par. 42: “An example method of cleaning the fluid operation system 10 … an operator may open any of the valves…The second pump 16 can pump fresh water or cleaning solution through the exhaust duct 68 and the associated three-way valves 80 into the lines 70, 76, 78 (branch), 82, 84, 86, 88, 96, 98, 100, 102, 105, and 106”; as can be seen in fig. 6, one flow line extending from the left of valve 80 lead to product tank 12, directly or indirectly; see Engelbrecht’s par. 30: “The three-way valve 80 also couples to a second recirculation line 82 which opens into the solution tank 12”; see annotation below);
a pump (16) arranged between the boom assembly and the product tank and the rinse tank and configured to pump at least one of the liquid agricultural product or the rinse liquid through the feed conduit and configured to pump the rinse liquid through the recirculation conduit (see par. 42 for pumping rinse liquid and par. 21 for pumping spray solution/agricultural product);
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a plurality of valves (at least valve 80, and individual valves in spray nozzle 22, valve 40, and/or valves 90, 92, 94), each valve of the plurality of valves arranged on the feed conduit or the recirculation conduit and configured to regulate a flow of the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid through the feed conduit and the recirculation conduit (see par. 28-33 and 42).
Further regarding claim 1, Engelbrecht discloses a central computer panel that corresponds to the claimed “computing system” for storing and exercising pre-programmed instructions, where operations of the control valves are fully automatic until manually over-ridden (par. 45). Engelbrecht also teaches that any of the valves can be open for flushing or rinsing part of or all of the interconnected paths in the hydraulic system 150 (par. 42).
However, Engelbrecht is silent regarding the specific steps of receiving input to control operation of the valves and activate the pump performed by the computer, including “a computing system configured to: receive an input to initiate a rinse cycle; upon receipt of the input, control an operation of the plurality of valves such that the rinse liquid is permitted to flow through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank; and upon receipt of the input, activate the pump for a duration of time of the rinse cycle such that the rinse liquid is conveyed through the feed conduit to the boom assembly and through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank”.
Nonetheless, Brooks discloses a comparable system with boom 17 and automatic rinse feature (par. 5) using a controller/computing system 6 and/or 153 (controller with microprocessor and PLC; par. 22), wherein Brooks discloses the computing system 6/153 configured to:
receive an input to initiate a rinse cycle (par. 35: “initiated by an operator pressing the physical rinse button 380 or the virtual rinse button 382”; par. 33: “a request to activate the recirculation circuit 295 (FIG. 3) by pressing one of the recirculation buttons 265 when the rinse circuit 290 is activated”; and step 504: “select duration” );
upon receipt of the input, control an operation of the plurality of valves such that the rinse liquid is permitted to flow through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank (par. 38: “the process 400 can continue to step 408 in which the rinse engine 386 can execute the optimal solution by initially adjusting the on-board valve system 175”; par. 27: “to convey either liquid product 50 or rinse liquid 54 toward boom 17 (FIG. 3) or through the recirculation circuit back toward product tank 49”); and
upon receipt of the input, activate the pump for a duration of time (step 504, select duration) of the rinse cycle such that the rinse liquid is conveyed through the feed conduit to the boom assembly and through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank (par. 38: “the process 400 can continue to step 410 in which the rinse engine 386 can control the pump 61 to rinse selected elements of the sprayer 15, such as according to the selections at step 502 (FIG. 5)”; par. 33: “… a request to activate the recirculation circuit 295 (FIG. 3) by pressing one of the recirculation buttons 265 when the rinse circuit 290 is activated. This request would result in rinse liquid 54 being pumped through the recirculation circuit 295 into the product tank 49. This action may be acceptable if the product tank 49 is empty and the purpose of the request is to perform onboard rinsing of the product tank 49”).
Considering the structural components described to perform rinsing taught by Engelbrecht and the available options for automatic rinsing via the disclosed algorithms taught by Brooks, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technical capabilities to utilize a user interface and a computing system programmed for receiving the inputs of the rinse selections and activating the relevant valves and pumps to perform such intended rinsing operations as claimed. No inventive effort would have been required. 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 Engelbrecht to incorporate the teachings of Brooks to provide a computing system configured to: receive an input to initiate a rinse cycle; upon receipt of the input, control an operation of the plurality of valves such that the rinse liquid is permitted to flow through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank; and upon receipt of the input, activate the pump for a duration of time of the rinse cycle such that the rinse liquid is conveyed through the feed conduit to the boom assembly and through the recirculation conduit from the boom assembly to the product tank. Doing so would yield the predictable result of facilitating automatic rinsing with consistent and correct rinse sequences provided for sprayers when rinsing is desired. (See Paragraph 4 of Brooks).
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 1 and 13, the computing system (as modified in view of Brooks) further comprising:
a user interface (operator control interface; see Brooks’ par. 23) configured to receive an input from an operator of the agricultural sprayer associated with the rinse cycle (see Brooks’ par. 23: “The operator control interfaces may include a joystick 155, a VT (virtual terminal) or field computer 160, and monitor 163 with a touchscreen 165 as an HMI (human machine interface).”; see Brooks’ par. 30: “the graphical representations can also define the virtual rinse button 382 (“autorinse”), as well as a virtual rinse setup button 384 (“rinse setup”)”).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 2 and 14, wherein the user interface (as modified in view of Brooks) includes one or more interface elements configured to receive an input from the operator that is indicative of a selected duration of time for the rinse cycle (claim 4 in Brooks: “the user interface includes a selector to allow the user to configure the rinse system for a duration for rinsing”).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 2 and 14, wherein the user interface (as modified in view of Brooks) includes one or more interface elements configured to receive an input from the operator that is indicative of a selected number of rinse cycles to be completed (claim 5 in Brooks: “the user interface includes a selector to allow the user to configure the rinse system for a number of rinse cycles for the rinsing”).
Regarding claim 5, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of claim 2, wherein the user interface (as modified in view of Brooks) is a Human Machine Interface (HMI; par. 23 in Brooks).
Regarding claims 6, 11, and 17, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system and method of respective claims 1, 10 and 13, wherein the computing system is further configured to initiate a control action when the rinse cycle is complete (par. 39 in Brooks: “if the current rinse cycle is complete, the process 400 can continue to decision step 416… If the required number of rinse cycles has not been completed, the process can return to step 408 to begin another rinse cycle in a third loop (“C”). However, if the required number of rinse cycles has been completed, the process can return to step 402 to await a next rinse command”).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 6 and 17, wherein the control action (taught via combination with Brooks) comprises notifying an operator of the agricultural sprayer that the rinse cycle is complete (par. 28: “The visual indication of status can include displaying a currently active one of the product, rinse, recirculation, and air circuits 285, 290, 295, 300 and their included components in the corresponding flow path in a common color that is visually conspicuous, such as being bright and bolder than the others with the inactive product, rinse, recirculation, and air circuits 285, 290, 295, 300 being grayed-out or white/uncolored”, this description indicates the showing completed rinse cycle by displaying visual indication of inactive rinse-related component as grayed-out or uncolored).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 6 and 17, but neither Brooks or Engelbrecht explicitly mentions the control action comprises deactivating the pump.
However, paragraph 39 of Brooks indicates “if the required number of rinse cycles has been completed, the process can return to step 402 to await a next rinse command”. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the control action of deactivating the pump would be common sense when pumping is no longer needed, as in the case of completed rinsing and spraying is not yet needed. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities to program the control action to deactivate the pump in such scenario. No inventive effort would have been required.
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 Engelbrecht to incorporate the teachings of Brooks to provide the control action comprises deactivating the pump when the rinse cycle is complete. Doing so would yield the predictable result of facilitating preservation of the pump or fuel when not needed.
Regarding claims 9, 12, and 20, Engelbrecht, as modified above, discloses the system of respective claims 1, 10 and 13, wherein Engelbrecht discloses the plurality of valves comprises:
a boom assembly valve (See Engelbrecht’s par. 42: “method of cleaning the fluid operation system 10 includes flushing (rinsing) all the hydraulics system 150 or only part of it since all the paths are interconnected and an operator may open any of the valves …the valves in individual spray nozzles 22 can be opened or closed (e.g. through pulse width modulated valves within a nozzle)”) moveable between an open position at which delivery of the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid to the nozzles of the boom assembly is permitted and a closed position at which delivery of the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid to the nozzles of the boom assembly is prevented (via PWM valve within each of the nozzles); and
a recirculation valve (80) moveable between an open position (see annotation below; see Engelbrecht’s par. 30: “The three-way valve 80 also couples to a second recirculation line 82 which opens into the solution tank 12”) at which delivery of the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid to the product tank is permitted and a closed position (See Engelbrecht’s par. 40: “When field spraying is desired without the parallel occurrence of fluid recirculation, valve 80 is closed off in the direction of the recirculation line. Fluid instead travels to line 70 and then to boom 18 and spray nozzles 22”) at which delivery of the liquid agricultural product and the rinse liquid to the product tank is prevented (quoted description above indicates no flow toward the product tank 12 through valve 80 when valve 80 is closed),
wherein the computing system (as modified via teaching of Brooks, the system of Engelbrecht is added with a computing system to receive inputs and to activate relevant valves and pump in response to the inputs) is further configured to:
upon receipt of the input (as modified via teaching of Brooks), initiate closing the boom assembly valve (See Engelbrecht’s par. 42: “An example method of cleaning the fluid operation system 10 includes flushing (rinsing) all the hydraulics system 150 … the valves in individual spray nozzles 22 can be opened or closed (e.g. through pulse width modulated valves within a nozzle).”); and
upon receipt of the input (as modified via teaching of Brooks), initiate opening the recirculation valve (when valve 80 is previously closed, the input can cause the valve 80 to open as shown in annotated figure 6 below; see Engelbrecht’s par. 30).
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Figure 6 of Engelbrecht
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUONGMINH NGUYEN PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-0158. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F.
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/TUONGMINH N PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752