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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 02/26/2026 is being entered. Claims 1-4, 6, 8-13, and 15 are amended. Claims 7 and 16 are canceled. Claims 1-6 and 8-15 are pending, and rejected as detailed below. This action is final as necessitated by amendment.
Drawing Objections
Amendments to drawings 1 and 3-5 are entered. Therefore the drawing objections have been withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Amendment to claims 2, 4, 6, 8-11, 13, and 15 are entered. Therefore the claim objection for claims 2, 4, 6, 8-11, 13, and 15 have been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. §102/103
Applicant argues that independent claim 1 have been amended, and the prior art references in the previous office action fail to disclose, teach or suggest the elements of claim 1, as amended herein.
Applicant’s arguments, as amended herein, with respect to the rejections of claims 1 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and persuasive. Even though Xing teaches about how the laser alignment is able to measure the 3D positioning of the tassel and able to calculate the optimal tassel extraction position (Xing; S5.1-S5.4), Xing does not specifically mention about the specific claimed dimensions of S1, S2, S3, angle of AOB. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection for claims 1 under 35 U.S.C. §103 are made in view of previously applied reference Xing, and further in view of newly found reference Redden (US 11445665 B2). In particular, the amendments to claims 1 and 8 are addressed in the instant office action.
Applicant argues that claim 9 have been amended, and the prior art references in the previous office action fail to disclose, teach or suggest the elements of claim 9, as amended herein.
Applicant’s arguments, as amended herein, with respect to the rejections of claims 9 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been fully considered and persuasive. Even though Xing teaches about how the laser alignment is able to measure the 3D positioning of the tassel and able to calculate the optimal tassel extraction position (Xing; S5.1-S5.4), Xing does not specifically mention about the specific claimed dimensions of S1, S2, S3, angle of AOB. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection for claims 9 under 35 U.S.C. §103 are made in view of previously applied reference Xing, and further in view of WANG and ZHANG. In particular, the amendments to claims 1 and 8 are addressed in the instant office action.
Applicant argues that the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claims 2-4, 6, 11-13 and 14 as being allegedly unpatentable over Xing in view of Chavasse, the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claims 5 and 14 as being allegedly unpatentable over Xing in view of Chavasse, and further in view of Gallegos, the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claims 7 and 16 as being allegedly unpatentable over Xing in view of Chavasse, and further in view of Yu, the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claim 9 as being allegedly unpatentable over Xing in view of Wang, and the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claim 9 as being allegedly unpatentable over Xing in view of Zhang be withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, as amended herein, with respect to the rejections of dependent of the independent claims 1 and 8 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been fully considered and not persuasive. More specifically, independent claim 1 and 8 are reject based on the combination of reference Xing and Redden. In particular, dependent claims of the independent claims 1 and 8 are addressed in the instant office action.
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), and further in view of SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1) and Redden (US 11445665 B2).
Regarding claim 1, XING teaches (Currently Amended) A corn detasseling inspection robot, comprising (XING, page 1, para. 2; “The invention relates to the technical field of intelligent agriculture, specifically to a target three-dimensional position obtaining method of corn emasculine operation.”):
a control terminal (XING, page 3, para. 14; “a centralized control unit”), a moving device and a detasseling device (XING, page 3, para. 10; “the device platform can be mounted on the unmanned mobile platform, and the corn field of corn plant according to the preset route and direction to move.”);
wherein, the detasseling device is provided on the moving device (XING, page 3, para. 10; “the device platform can be mounted on the unmanned mobile platform, and the corn field of corn plant according to the preset route and direction to move.”);
the control terminal comprises a detection module, a detasseling control module and a tassel recognition module which are electrically connected to one another (XING, page 3, para. 14; “the centralized control unit is used for fully and automatically controlling the operation process of the whole corn emasculine operation device through the computer processor; the walking drive unit is used for driving the unmanned mobile platform to move in the corn field according to the preset program by the walking drive; the position judging unit is used for collecting the picture of the corn plant, processing and identifying the picture to obtain the two-dimensional position of the corn stamen, and accurately judging the three-dimensional position of the corn stamen by the signal fed back by the laser to the tube; the operation executing unit is used for judging the two-dimensional position of the corn stamen according to the photo, the controller controls the executing mechanism to accurately perform the emasculine operation;”);
the detasseling control module is electrically connected with the moving device (XING, page 3, para. 14; “the centralized control unit is used for fully and automatically controlling the operation process of the whole corn emasculine operation device through the computer processor; the walking drive unit is used for driving the unmanned mobile platform to move in the corn field according to the preset program by the walking drive;”) and the detasseling device (XING, page 4, para. 1; “the controller controls the executing mechanism to accurately perform the emasculine operation;”);
the detection module is configured for acquiring an image of a corn plant (XING, page 5, para. 11; “S1, the image collecting device sequentially photographing the target object;”) during the moving device moves in a cornfield area to be performed corn detasseling (XING, page 5, para. 17; “S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”);
the tassel recognition module is configured for judging whether there is a corn tassel on the corn plant based on the image of the corn plant (XING, page 5, para. 19-page 6, para. 3; “S2.1, the image identification module receives a photo with object; S2.2, the image recognition module performs the dimension reduction and noise reduction process to the picture image; S2.3, the image recognition module processes the gray scale of the picture image; S2.4, the image identification module performs binarization processing to the photo image;”), and determining a position of a root of the corn tassel (XING, page 6, para. 4-6; “S2.5, using AI image identification technology to identify the position of the corn stamen in the image; S2.6, using a fixed window to slide in any direction near the corn stamen image, identifying the position of the corn stamen by detecting the corner point, and determining the area of the corn stamen in the image by the position of several corner points; S2.7, taking the coordinate of the central point of the position area of the corn stamen in the image as the two-dimensional position of the target object.”) based on a value of a distance H from a point O (XING, page 6, para. 5; “S5.2, in the control program of the controller of the suction executing mechanism, taking the length value of the corn stamen as the preset parameter of the executing mechanism to move downwards;”) where the corn tassel and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel are intersected to a detasseling point of the corn tassel in the case where there is the corn plant on the corn plant;
wherein the distance H is acquired by acquiring a position of the point 0, the position of a central point A of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the left side of the corn tassel and a position of a central point B of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the right side of the corn tassel; generating a distance S1 between the central point A and the point 0, a distance S2 between the central point B and the point 0, a distance S3 between the central point A and the central point B, and an angle 6 of an angle AOB; and inputting values of S1, S2, S3 and 6 into a detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, 0)=H by means of the tassel recognition module; and
the detasseling control module is configured for controlling the moving device and using the detasseling device to perform detasseling based on the position of the root (XING, page 5, para. 16-17; “S6, the suction executing mechanism starts executing the suction action, clamping the target and extracting, finishing a complete corn emasculine work; S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”).
XING does not explicitly teach where the corn tassel and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel are intersected to a detasseling point of the corn tassel in the case where there is the corn plant on the corn plant;
wherein the distance H is acquired by acquiring a position of the point 0, the position of a central point A of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the left side of the corn tassel and a position of a central point B of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the right side of the corn tassel; generating a distance S1 between the central point A and the point 0, a distance S2 between the central point B and the point 0, a distance S3 between the central point A and the central point B, and an angle 6 of an angle AOB; and inputting values of S1, S2, S3 and 6 into a detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, 0)=H by means of the tassel recognition module; and
However, SCHLOESSER, in the same field of endeavor (SCHLOESSER, Field of the Invention; “The present invention relates to a system and method for automatically mechanically detasseling seed corn and managing data acquired during detasseling related to the seed corn and the detasseling operations.”) teaches where the corn tassel and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel are intersected to a detasseling point of the corn tassel in the case where there is the corn plant on the corn plant (SCHLOESSER, Description of the Prior Art; “the tassels of the select corn plants are removed to leave the female flower. Therefore, pollen from a different variety must be used to cross-pollinate the female plants. While the tassel is still rolled up in top leaves of the corn plant, the corn is detasseled in which the tassel is removed from the plant.”);
wherein the distance H is acquired by acquiring a position of the point 0, the position of a central point A of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the left side of the corn tassel and a position of a central point B of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the right side of the corn tassel; generating a distance S1 between the central point A and the point 0, a distance S2 between the central point B and the point 0, a distance S3 between the central point A and the central point B, and an angle 6 of an angle AOB; and inputting values of S1, S2, S3 and 6 into a detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, 0)=H by means of the tassel recognition module; and
XING and SCHLOESSER are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the interested point of the XING with the teaching of SCHLOESSER. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize the leaf loss of the corn plant that is critical for maximizing crop yield (SCHLOESSER, Description of the Prior Art)
The combination of XING and SCHLOESSER does not explicitly teach wherein the distance H is acquired by acquiring a position of the point 0, the position of a central point A of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the left side of the corn tassel and a position of a central point B of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the right side of the corn tassel; generating a distance S1 between the central point A and the point 0, a distance S2 between the central point B and the point 0, a distance S3 between the central point A and the central point B, and an angle 6 of an angle AOB; and inputting values of S1, S2, S3 and 6 into a detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, 0)=H by means of the tassel recognition module; and
However, Redden, in the same field of endeavor (Redden, TECHNICAL FIELD; “This invention relates generally to the agricultural field, and more specifically to a new and useful automated system and method of plant measurement and selection in the agricultural field.”) teaches wherein the distance H is acquired by acquiring a position of the point 0, the position of a central point A of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the left side of the corn tassel and a position of a central point B of a curved surface of one of the leaves on the right side of the corn tassel; generating a distance S1 between the central point A and the point 0, a distance S2 between the central point B and the point 0, a distance S3 between the central point A and the central point B, and an angle Ɵ of an angle AOB; and inputting values of S1, S2, S3 and 6 into a detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, Ɵ)=H by means of the tassel recognition module (Redden, col. 28, lines 27-48; “In a fourth example, the method includes generating a 3-D model of a plant feature (e.g., the tassels of the corn silk). Generating the model of the plant feature can include identifying a set of pixels (continuous, adjacent, or any other suitable pixel) indicative of the fruit, and fitting a set of curves (e.g., a set of splines) to the feature. For example, a set of curves can be fit to at least a subset of corn ear tassels. Parameters of the set of curves can be extracted and used to determine feature parameters. For example, the tassel color, volume (e.g., determined from the spatial distribution of the curves), uniformity, length (e.g., determined from the curve lengths), curvature (e.g., determined from the curve curvature), or any other suitable tassel geometry parameter can be extracted from the set of curves. The curves can be further used as a reference point to identify secondary plant features adjacent the first plant feature, or can be referenced against the parameters of the secondary plant features to extract morphological information. For example, the method can include determining the lean of the corn ear tassels (e.g., as determined by the curvature of the respective curves) relative to the angle of the adjacent corn ear leaves (e.g., as determined using a method described above).”, wherein it is inherent that the Redden is able to determine dimensions S1, S2, S3, Ɵ thus referring to the plant features such as tassel, first leaf (left), and the second leaf (right)) and (Redden, col. 26, lines 27-33; “Examples of morphological parameter values for the plant feature can include the stem straightness, the leaf curl, the leaf area, the leaf height, the angle of the leaf junction with the stem, the leaf position on the plant or within a geographical volume, fruit geometry, fruit positioning relative to the stem, corn silk density, or any other suitable morphological parameter.”) and (Redden, col. 27, lines 39-45; “Examples of leaf parameters include the leaf roll, leaf curvature relative to the main vein or another leaf feature, the angle of the leaf relative to the stalk, leaf height change between the leaf-stem junction and the leaf curvature apex, leaf position and/or orientation relative to the stem or geographic location, or any other suitable leaf parameter.”); and
The combination of XING, SCHLOESSER, and Redden are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the detasseling point for the corn tassel of the XING with the teaching of Redden. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to precisely identify morphological information of the corn plant so that the root of the tassel can be cut off without damaging the rest of the corn plant.
Regarding claim 8, XING teaches (Currently amended) A method for performing detasseling by using the corn detasseling inspection robot as claimed in claim 1 (XING, page 1, para. 2; “The invention relates to the technical field of intelligent agriculture, specifically to a target three-dimensional position obtaining method of corn emasculine operation.”),comprising:
acquiring the image of the corn plant (XING, page 5, para. 11; “S1, the image collecting device sequentially photographing the target object;”) during the moving device moves in the cornfield area to be performed corn detasseling (XING, page 5, para. 17; “S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”);
judging whether there is the corn tassel on the corn plant based on the image of the corn plant (XING, page 5, para. 19-page 6, para. 3; “S2.1, the image identification module receives a photo with object; S2.2, the image recognition module performs the dimension reduction and noise reduction process to the picture image; S2.3, the image recognition module processes the gray scale of the picture image; S2.4, the image identification module performs binarization processing to the photo image;”), and determining the position of the root of the corn tassel based on the detasseling operation point prediction model in the case where there is the corn tassel on the corn plant (XING, page 6, para. 4-6; “S2.5, using AI image identification technology to identify the position of the corn stamen in the image; S2.6, using a fixed window to slide in any direction near the corn stamen image, identifying the position of the corn stamen by detecting the corner point, and determining the area of the corn stamen in the image by the position of several corner points; S2.7, taking the coordinate of the central point of the position area of the corn stamen in the image as the two-dimensional position of the target object.”); and
controlling the moving device and using the detasseling device to perform detasseling based on the position of the root (XING, page 5, para. 16-17; “S6, the suction executing mechanism starts executing the suction action, clamping the target and extracting, finishing a complete corn emasculine work; S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”).
Claim(s) 2-4, 6, 11-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1), and Redden (US 11445665 B2), and further in view of Chavasse (US 20230354747 A1).
Regarding claim 2, XING teaches the limitations of claim 1, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, XING teaches (Currently Amended) The corn detasseling inspection robot according to claim 1, wherein the detasseling device comprises a detasseling module (XING, page 5, para. 4; “suction executing mechanism”);
wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support, an elastic member, a guide pipe, a pull string, a motor and a detasseling assembly;
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device;
the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support;
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe;
the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe;
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member; and
one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string.
XING does not explicitly teach wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support, an elastic member, a guide pipe, a pull string, a motor and a detasseling assembly; and
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device; the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support;
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe; the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe;
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member; and one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string.
However, Chavasse, in the same field of endeavor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0001; “The present invention relates to harvesting of crops, in particular, automated and selective harvesting of crops.”) teaches wherein the detasseling device comprises a detasseling module (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22”);
wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22 is mounted at the bottom end of the harvesting member 38.”), an elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”), a guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092 and FIG. 8; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”, the housing that positioned around the cutting blade 32 is the guide pipe), a pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”), a motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and a detasseling assembly (Chavasse, at least one para. 0001; “The harvesting tool 22 is formed having a rotation mechanism 26 mounted on the harvesting member 38, to enable rotation of the tool 22 relative to the harvesting member 38 and therefore relative to the gantry 24. A gripper 28 is mounted to the rotation mechanism 26 and a guide surface 50 and cutter unit 52 are mounted to the gripper 28”, wherein the cutter unit 52 is the detasseling assembly); and
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device (Chavasse, at least one para. 0083; “In the described embodiments, the Y-axis is the direction of movement of the locomotive element 10 and harvester 1. Actuation of the harvesting member 38, and thus the tool 22, in the Y direction allows the gantry 24 to compensate for the forward motion (i.e. the movement in the direction of movement) of the locomotive element 10 and harvester 1.”, wherein the harvester 1 is connected to the rear side of the locomotive element 10);
the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22 is mounted at the bottom end of the harvesting member 38”);
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”);
the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”);
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”); and
one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”) and (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”).
XING and Chavasse are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have substitute the suction executing mechanism of the XING with the harvesting tool of Chavasse. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this substation because it would have been obvious because the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this substation so that the harvesting tool can be adjusted to approach the crop from a substantially optimal direction (Chavasse, at least one para. 0084).
Regarding claim 3, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 2, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The corn detasseling inspection robot according to claim 2, wherein the detasseling assembly comprises a pellet (Chavasse, at least one para. 0018; “The cutter unit may comprise any of: a blade, or other suitable cutting means or cutting element such as a wire; or a scissor-like cutting mechanism.”, wherein it is obvious that “other suitable cutting means or cutting element” teaches the pellet), the pellet is slidably provided in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0117; “the end effector is spring-loaded, with springs located in the end effector, such that when actuated the cutting blade employs a near-constant cutting force throughout the cutting action.”), and one end of the pellet is connected to the motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”) via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”).
Regarding claim 4, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 2, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The corn detasseling inspection robot according to claim 2, wherein the detasseling assembly comprises a knife edge and a knife rod (Chavasse, at least one para. 0090; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32.”, wherein it is inherent that the cutting blade has a knife edge otherwise the cutting blade is not able to cut anything); and
the knife edge is connected with the knife rod (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32.”, wherein it is inherent that the cutting blade has a knife edge otherwise the cutting blade is not able to cut anything), the knife edge and the knife rod are slidably provided in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”), the knife rod abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0117; “the end effector is spring-loaded, with springs located in the end effector, such that when actuated the cutting blade employs a near-constant cutting force throughout the cutting action.”), and one end of the knife rod away from the knife edge is connected with the motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”, wherein it is inherent that actuator 1040 has a rotation shaft.) via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”).
Regarding claim 6, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 2, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The corn detasseling inspection robot according to claim 2, wherein the detasseling device further comprises a main beam (Chavasse, at least one para. 0076; “The gantry 24 provides support for an actuation mechanism that enables precise positioning of the harvesting tool 22.”); and
at least one side of the main beam is provided with a slid rail, and the detasseling support of the detasseling module is slidably provided on the slid rail (Chavasse, at least one para. 0079; “Two Y-axis guide rails 42 are spaced apart, substantially parallel to each other, and each connected at substantially one end to a beam 43 such that the Y-axis guide rails 42 are connected via the beam 43. A third member, an X-axis guide rail 44, extends between the pair of Y-axis guide rails 42, positioned perpendicular to both and in substantially the same plane. Each end of the X-axis guide rail 44 is slidably connected to one of the Y-axis guide rails 42 such that the X-axis guide rail 44 is movable on a linear path in the Y direction along the length of the Y-axis guide rails 42. Also shown are various actuators 610 in the form of electric motors for moving one guide rail 44, 46 relative to another 42, 44.”).
Regarding claim 11, XING teaches the limitations of claim 8, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, XING teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 8, wherein the detasseling device comprises a detasseling module (XING, page 5, para. 4; “suction executing mechanism”);
wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support, an elastic member, a guide pipe, a pull string, a motor and a detasseling assembly;
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device;
the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support;
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe;
the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe;
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member; and
one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string.
XING does not explicitly teach wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support, an elastic member, a guide pipe, a pull string, a motor and a detasseling assembly;
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device;
the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support;
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe;
the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe;
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member; and
one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string.
However, Chavasse, in the same field of endeavor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0001; “The present invention relates to harvesting of crops, in particular, automated and selective harvesting of crops.”) teaches wherein the detasseling device comprises a detasseling module (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22”);
wherein, the detasseling module comprises a detasseling support (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22 is mounted at the bottom end of the harvesting member 38.”), an elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”), a guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092 and FIG. 8; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”, the housing that positioned around the cutting blade 32 is the guide pipe), a pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”), a motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and a detasseling assembly (Chavasse, at least one para. 0001; “The harvesting tool 22 is formed having a rotation mechanism 26 mounted on the harvesting member 38, to enable rotation of the tool 22 relative to the harvesting member 38 and therefore relative to the gantry 24. A gripper 28 is mounted to the rotation mechanism 26 and a guide surface 50 and cutter unit 52 are mounted to the gripper 28”, wherein the cutter unit 52 is the detasseling assembly); and
the detasseling support is connected to one side of the moving device (Chavasse, at least one para. 0083; “In the described embodiments, the Y-axis is the direction of movement of the locomotive element 10 and harvester 1. Actuation of the harvesting member 38, and thus the tool 22, in the Y direction allows the gantry 24 to compensate for the forward motion (i.e. the movement in the direction of movement) of the locomotive element 10 and harvester 1.”, wherein the harvester 1 is connected to the rear side of the locomotive element 10);
the motor and the guide pipe are connected on the detasseling support (Chavasse, at least one para. 0088; “The harvesting tool 22 is mounted at the bottom end of the harvesting member 38”);
the detasseling assembly is slidably disposed in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “The harvesting tool 22 further comprises a cutter actuator 36 configured to actuate the cutting blade 32 between two positions. In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”);
the elastic member is fixed in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”);
the detasseling assembly abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”); and
one end of the detasseling assembly is connected with the motor via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”) and (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”).
XING and Chavasse are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have substitute the suction executing mechanism of the XING with the harvesting tool of Chavasse. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this substation because it would have been obvious because the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this substation so that the harvesting tool can be adjusted to approach the crop from a substantially optimal direction (Chavasse, at least one para. 0084).
Regarding claim 12, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 11, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 11, wherein the detasseling assembly comprises a pellet (Chavasse, at least one para. 0018; “The cutter unit may comprise any of: a blade, or other suitable cutting means or cutting element such as a wire; or a scissor-like cutting mechanism.”, wherein it is obvious that “other suitable cutting means or cutting element” teaches the pellet), the pellet is slidably provided in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”) and abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0117; “the end effector is spring-loaded, with springs located in the end effector, such that when actuated the cutting blade employs a near-constant cutting force throughout the cutting action.”), and one end of the pellet is connected to the motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”) via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”).
Regarding claim 13, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 11, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 11, wherein the detasseling assembly comprises a knife edge and a knife rod (Chavasse, at least one para. 0090; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32.”, wherein it is inherent that the cutting blade has a knife edge otherwise the cutting blade is not able to cut anything); and
the knife edge is connected with the knife rod (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32.”, wherein it is inherent that the cutting blade has a knife edge otherwise the cutting blade is not able to cut anything), the knife edge and the knife rod are slidably provided in the guide pipe (Chavasse, at least one para. 0092; “In a first position, the cutting blade 32 is retracted and housed within the cutter unit 52. In a second position, the cutting blade 32 is fully extended and exposed. The cutting path of the cutting blade 32 is the path of the cutting blade 32 between its retracted and extended positions.”), the knife rod abuts against the elastic member (Chavasse, at least one para. 0117; “the end effector is spring-loaded, with springs located in the end effector, such that when actuated the cutting blade employs a near-constant cutting force throughout the cutting action.”), and one end of the knife rod away from the knife edge is connected with the motor (Chavasse, at least one para. 0103; “The end effector controller 1020 then instructs the rotary actuator 1040 to rotate the cutting unit 52 to the correct orientation to allow the gripper 28 to grip the crop 12 and the cutting blade 32 to cut the crop 12.”, wherein it is inherent that actuator 1040 has a rotation shaft.) via the pull string (Chavasse, at least one para. 0129; “In other embodiments, a spring-loaded blade is attached to a cable that winds onto a drum, and the drum is provided on the same shaft as a rachet and pawl mechanism that allows the drum to retract the blade by winding the cable on to the drum. To release the blade, the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet.”).
Regarding claim 15, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 11, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 11, wherein the detasseling device further comprises a main beam (Chavasse, at least one para. 0076; “The gantry 24 provides support for an actuation mechanism that enables precise positioning of the harvesting tool 22.”); and
at least one side of the main beam is provided with a slid rail, and the detasseling support of the detasseling module is slidably provided on the slid rail (Chavasse, at least one para. 0079; “Two Y-axis guide rails 42 are spaced apart, substantially parallel to each other, and each connected at substantially one end to a beam 43 such that the Y-axis guide rails 42 are connected via the beam 43. A third member, an X-axis guide rail 44, extends between the pair of Y-axis guide rails 42, positioned perpendicular to both and in substantially the same plane. Each end of the X-axis guide rail 44 is slidably connected to one of the Y-axis guide rails 42 such that the X-axis guide rail 44 is movable on a linear path in the Y direction along the length of the Y-axis guide rails 42. Also shown are various actuators 610 in the form of electric motors for moving one guide rail 44, 46 relative to another 42, 44.”).
Claim(s) 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1), Redden (US 11445665 B2), and Chavasse (US 20230354747 A1), and in further view of Gallegos (US 20220347870 A1).
Claim(s) 2-4, 6, 11-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1), and Redden (US 11445665 B2), and further in view of Chavasse (US 20230354747 A1).
Regarding claim 5, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 4, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Original) The corn detasseling inspection robot according to claim 4, (Chavasse, at least one para. 0090; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32”),
Even though Chavasse teaches about the knife rod, Chavasse does not explicitly teach wherein a limiting portion is provided on the knife rod, a limiting groove is provided on a side wall of the guide pipe, and the limiting portion is slidably provided in the limiting groove.
However, Gallegos, in the same field of endeavor (Gallegos, at least one para. 0002; “The present disclosure generally relates to a cutting device, and more particularly to a manual or automatic retracting cutting device having a blade carriage in mechanical communication with an adjustable blade depth assembly providing the ability to pre-select the depth or length a blade disposed in the blade carriage will reach.”) teaches wherein a limiting portion is provided on the knife rod (Gallegos, at least one para. 0047; “a switch member 112”), a limiting groove is provided on a side wall of the guide pipe (Gallegos, at least one para. 0047; “The housing 110 may include an aperture 117 formed on a portion of the front body shell 114 of housing 110, for example, a wall portion of front body shell 114, such as an exterior wall portion.”), and the limiting portion is slidably provided in the limiting groove (Gallegos, at least one para. 0049; “the slider switch 112 is in a forward position in the slider switch slot 117, and the blade 102 is substantially extended.”).
The combination of XING, Chavasse, and Gallegos are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of a cutting device as the detasseling module of the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have to modify the harvesting tool of Chavasse with the pen cutter tool of Gallegos. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that a boundary setting can be set for the particular blade length that extends from the housing to control the traveling distance of the blade (Gallegos; 0051).
Regarding claim 14, The combination of XING and Chavasse teaches the limitations of claim 13, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Chavasse teaches (Previously Presented) The method according to claim 13, (Chavasse, at least one para. 0090; “The harvesting tool 22 comprises a gripper 28 and the cutting unit 52 having a cutting blade 32”),
Even though Chavasse teaches about the knife rod, Chavasse does not explicitly teach wherein a limiting portion is provided on the knife rod, a limiting groove is provided on a side wall of the guide pipe, and the limiting portion is slidably provided in the limiting groove.
However, Gallegos, in the same field of endeavor (Gallegos, at least one para. 0002; “The present disclosure generally relates to a cutting device, and more particularly to a manual or automatic retracting cutting device having a blade carriage in mechanical communication with an adjustable blade depth assembly providing the ability to pre-select the depth or length a blade disposed in the blade carriage will reach.”) teaches wherein a limiting portion is provided on the knife rod (Gallegos, at least one para. 0047; “a switch member 112”), a limiting groove is provided on a side wall of the guide pipe (Gallegos, at least one para. 0047; “The housing 110 may include an aperture 117 formed on a portion of the front body shell 114 of housing 110, for example, a wall portion of front body shell 114, such as an exterior wall portion.”), and the limiting portion is slidably provided in the limiting groove (Gallegos, at least one para. 0049; “the slider switch 112 is in a forward position in the slider switch slot 117, and the blade 102 is substantially extended.”).
The combination of XING, Chavasse, and Gallegos are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of a cutting device as the detasseling module of the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have to modify the harvesting tool of Chavasse with the pen cutter tool of Gallegos. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that a boundary setting can be set for the particular blade length that extends from the housing to control the traveling distance of the blade (Gallegos; 0051).
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1), and Redden (US 11445665 B2), and in further view of WANG (CN 113994885 A) and ZHANG (CN 114489113 A).
Regarding claim 9, XING teaches the limitations of claim 8, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, XING teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 8, wherein (XING, page 5, para. 11; “S1, the image collecting device sequentially photographing the target object;”), the method comprises:
XING does not explicitly teach wherein before the step of acquiring the image of the corn plant around the moving device, the method comprises:
selecting a corn plant sample and acquiring a standard image of the corn plant sample; and
establishing the detasseling operation point prediction model F(S1, S2, S3, 0)=H based on the standard image of the corn plant sample by acquiring a position of a point Oi where a corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i are intersected, a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; measuring a distance Hi from the point Oi to a root of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; inputting the distance Hi into the corn detasseling inspection robot; and processing and analyzing Sli, S2i, S3i, Oi and Hi by the corn detasseling inspection robot.
However, WANG, in the same field of endeavor (WANG, page 2, para. 1; “The invention belongs to the technical field of agriculture, especially relates to the field of method for preparing hybrid corn seed and removing male and purifying.”) teaches wherein before the step of acquiring the image of the corn plant around the moving device, the method comprises:
selecting a corn plant sample and acquiring a standard image of the corn plant sample (WANG, page 3, para. 12; “A1, collecting corn field of corn plant sample image, comprising normal corn plant image and corn hybrid image;”); and
establishing the detasseling operation point prediction model based on the standard image of the corn plant sample (WANG, page 3, para. 14; “A3, using the marking tool for selecting plant area in the image by the rectangular frame, marking the position coordinate of the normal plant and the hybrid plant, using the marked image data to prepare the training set;”) by acquiring a position of a point Oi where a corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i are intersected, a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; measuring a distance Hi from the point Oi to a root of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; inputting the distance Hi into the corn detasseling inspection robot; and processing and analyzing Sli, S2i, S3i, Oi and Hi by the corn detasseling inspection robot.
XING and WANG are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have to modify the image processing of XING with the teaching of WANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that accuracy and operation speed can be increased (WANG; page 5, para. 9).
The combination of XING and WANG does not explicitly teach by acquiring a position of a point Oi where a corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i are intersected, a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; measuring a distance Hi from the point Oi to a root of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; inputting the distance Hi into the corn detasseling inspection robot; and processing and analyzing Sli, S2i, S3i, Oi and Hi by the corn detasseling inspection robot.
However, SCHLOESSER, in the same field of endeavor (SCHLOESSER, Field of the Invention; “The present invention relates to a system and method for automatically mechanically detasseling seed corn and managing data acquired during detasseling related to the seed corn and the detasseling operations.”) teaches by acquiring a position of a point Oi where a corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and leaves on left and right sides of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i are intersected (SCHLOESSER, Description of the Prior Art; “the tassels of the select corn plants are removed to leave the female flower. Therefore, pollen from a different variety must be used to cross-pollinate the female plants. While the tassel is still rolled up in top leaves of the corn plant, the corn is detasseled in which the tassel is removed from the plant.”), a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; measuring a distance Hi from the point Oi to a root of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; inputting the distance Hi into the corn detasseling inspection robot; and processing and analyzing Sli, S2i, S3i, Oi and Hi by the corn detasseling inspection robot.
The combination of XING, WANG, and SCHLOESSER are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the interested point of the XING with the teaching of SCHLOESSER. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize the leaf loss of the corn plant that is critical for maximizing crop yield (SCHLOESSER, Description of the Prior Art)
The combination of XING, WANG, and SCHLOESSER does not explicitly teach a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; measuring a distance Hi from the point Oi to a root of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; inputting the distance Hi into the corn detasseling inspection robot; and processing and analyzing Sli, S2i, S3i, Oi and Hi by the corn detasseling inspection robot.
However, Redden, in the same field of endeavor (Redden, TECHNICAL FIELD; “This invention relates generally to the agricultural field, and more specifically to a new and useful automated system and method of plant measurement and selection in the agricultural field.”) teaches a position of a central point Ai of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the left side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i and a position of a central point Bi of a curved surface of one of the leaves of the corn plant sample i on the right side of the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i; generating a distance Sli between the point Oi and the central point Ai, a distance S2i between the point Oi and the central point Bi, a distance S3i between the central point Ai and the central point Bi and an angle Oi of an angle AiOiBi; (Redden, col. 28, lines 27-48; “In a fourth example, the method includes generating a 3-D model of a plant feature (e.g., the tassels of the corn silk). Generating the model of the plant feature can include identifying a set of pixels (continuous, adjacent, or any other suitable pixel) indicative of the fruit, and fitting a set of curves (e.g., a set of splines) to the feature. For example, a set of curves can be fit to at least a subset of corn ear tassels. Parameters of the set of curves can be extracted and used to determine feature parameters. For example, the tassel color, volume (e.g., determined from the spatial distribution of the curves), uniformity, length (e.g., determined from the curve lengths), curvature (e.g., determined from the curve curvature), or any other suitable tassel geometry parameter can be extracted from the set of curves. The curves can be further used as a reference point to identify secondary plant features adjacent the first plant feature, or can be referenced against the parameters of the secondary plant features to extract morphological information. For example, the method can include determining the lean of the corn ear tassels (e.g., as determined by the curvature of the respective curves) relative to the angle of the adjacent corn ear leaves (e.g., as determined using a method described above).”, wherein it is inherent that the Redden is able to determine dimensions S1, S2, S3, Ɵ thus referring to the plant features such as tassel, first leaf (left), and the second leaf (right)) and (Redden, col. 26, lines 27-33; “Examples of morphological parameter values for the plant feature can include the stem straightness, the leaf curl, the leaf area, the leaf height, the angle of the leaf junction with the stem, the leaf position on the plant or within a geographical volume, fruit geometry, fruit positioning relative to the stem, corn silk density, or any other suitable morphological parameter.”) and (Redden, col. 27, lines 39-45; “Examples of leaf parameters include the leaf roll, leaf curvature relative to the main vein or another leaf feature, the angle of the leaf relative to the stalk, leaf height change between the leaf-stem junction and the leaf curvature apex, leaf position and/or orientation relative to the stem or geographic location, or any other suitable leaf parameter.”).
The combination of XING, WANG, SCHLOESSER, and Redden are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the detasseling point for the corn tassel of the XING with the teaching of Redden. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to precisely identify morphological information of the corn plant so that the root of the tassel can be cut off without damaging the rest of the corn plant.
The combination of XING, WANG, SCHLOESSER, and Redden does not explicitly teach manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i;
However, ZHANG, in the same field of endeavor (ZHANG, TECHNICAL FIELD; “The invention relates to agricultural intelligent technology field, especially relates to a castration-free human-machine control method and system.”) teaches manually removing the corn tassel of the corn plant sample i (ZHANG, page 11, para. 2; “Further, when the male ear leakage rate is less than 5 %, using human-computer interaction mode to carry remove the operation, namely the position of the male ear of the recognition by the emasculating person, manually controlling the unmale to move the cutting knife above the corn male ear, and manually controlling to finish the cutting operation, until completely removing the corn tassel.”);
The combination of XING, WANG, SCHLOESSER, Redden, and ZHANG are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field as automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the detasseling point for the corn tassel of the XING and Redden with the teaching of ZHANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to precisely identify morphological information of the corn plant so that a precision standard can be achieved for the hybridization corn as the process determined that less than 5% male tassels are missed (ZHANG; page 10, para. 11-12).
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XING (CN 114766347 A), SCHLOESSER (EP 3881667 A1), and Redden (US 11445665 B2), and in further view of ZHANG (CN 114489113 A).
Regarding claim 10, XING teaches the limitations of claim 8, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, XING teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of controlling the moving device and using the detasseling device to perform detasseling based on the position of the root (XING, page 5, para. 16-17; “S6, the suction executing mechanism starts executing the suction action, clamping the target and extracting, finishing a complete corn emasculine work; S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”) comprises:
controlling the moving device to stop (XING, page 5, para. 17; “S7, the unmanned vehicle mobile platform moves forward/backward according to the preset program, at the same time, the sequentially of repeating said steps S1 to S6 is repeated until the whole corn field of corn castration work is finished.”), acquiring a profile information of a stem of the corn plant (XING, page 6, para. 1; “S2.2, the image recognition module performs the dimension reduction and noise reduction process to the picture image;”), and extracting the position of the root of the corn tassel (XING, page 6, para. 5; “S2.6, using a fixed window to slide in any direction near the corn stamen image, identifying the position of the corn stamen by detecting the corner point, and determining the area of the corn stamen in the image by the position of several corner points;”);
hitting the root of the corn tassel by using the detasseling device based on the position of the root (XING, page 5, para. 16; “S6, the suction executing mechanism starts executing the suction action, clamping the target and extracting, finishing a complete corn emasculine work;”); and
determining a detasseling result of a current corn tassel based on a result of hitting the root of the corn tassel.
XING does not explicitly teach determining a detasseling result of a current corn tassel based on a result of hitting the root of the corn tassel.
However, ZHANG, in the same field of endeavor (ZHANG, page 2, para. 1; “The invention relates to agricultural intelligent technology field, especially relates to a castration-free human-machine control method and system.”) teaches determining a detasseling result of a current corn tassel based on a result of hitting the root of the corn tassel (ZHANG, page 10, para. 1-5; “step one: determining the emasculine unmanned aerial vehicle according to the operation route, after finishing the emasculine operation of the area to be worked, controlling the emasculine unmanned aerial vehicle to patrol the area to be worked for the second time, so as to obtain the new crop distribution image shot above the area to be worked; step two: based on the recognition result of the new crop distribution image, and combining the first result, recognition the male ear leakage rate; step three: if the male ear leakage rate is greater than the leakage rate threshold value, then re-determining the distribution position information the remaining male ear in the area to be operated; step four: based on the distribution position information the rest tassel, making a new operation route, and loading the new operation route to the emasonless man-machine; step five: iteratively performing the step one to step five, until the male ear leakage rate is not greater than the leakage rate threshold.”).
XING and ZHANG are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of automated harvesting of crops/tassel as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have to modify the controlling the movement of XING with the teaching of ZHANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that a precision standard can be achieved for the hybridization corn (ZHANG; page 10, para. 11-12).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/U.P.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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