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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
IDS filed 12/11/2025, 3/20/2025, 6/28/2024 are being considered by the examiner
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Applicant's preliminary amendment filed 12/29/2023 has been received and entered into the record. As a result, claims 4-6 have been added. Therefore, claims 1-6 are presented for examination.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. [U.S. Pub. 2021/0053407] ("Smith") in view of Andersson et al. [EP 1150019 A1] ("Andersson").
With regard to claim 1, Smith teaches a method for determining height above the ground of a landing gear of a trailer coupled with a tractor ("an autonomous vehicle (AV) yard truck … The system computes a height of the trailer, and/or if landing gear of the trailer is on the ground and interoperates with the fifth wheel to change height [abstract]"), comprising:
controlling a hydraulic pump to pump a hydraulic fluid into a chamber of a piston coupled to a fifth wheel of the tractor to raise the fifth wheel ("The controller also then lifts the fifth wheel when using appropriate hydraulic/pneumatic (more generally, 'fluid' herein) pressure actuators on the truck to raise the trailer landing gear out of engagement with a ground surface and allow it to be hauled to another location in the yard [par. 0229]").
Although Smith teaches where, "raising of the fifth wheel and verification that the trailer landing gear has disengaged the ground is automated [par. 0009]," Smith does not explicitly teach sensing, at intervals as the fifth wheel rises, a pressure value of the hydraulic fluid in the chamber; and
processing the pressure values to determine when the landing gear is lifted off the ground.
In the same field of endeavor (hydraulic lift), Andersson teaches sensing, at intervals as a lift rises, a pressure value of a hydraulic fluid in a chamber ("The means 36, which henceforth is denominated "lifting counter", registers this by detecting the velocity of the pressure variations in the lifting cylinder 8 of the crane, which pressure variations are measured by the pressure sensor 34 associated with the lifting cylinder 8. During lifting up of a load, the pressure in the lifting cylinder 8 very rapidly increases just at the moment when the load is lifted up from the underlay and becomes free hanging [par. 0021]"); and
processing the pressure values to determine when a load is lifted off the ground ("A lifting up and a putting down, respectively, of a load is consequently registered when the velocity of the pressure variation in the lifting cylinder 8 exceeds a certain predetermined value [par. 0021]").
Andersson further teaches, "lifting up and puttings down of load performed by the crane can be registered in a very simple manner and with simple and cheap means [par. 0006]."
Because Smith teaches using a hydraulic fifth wheel and the need to determine the height of the trailer and to ensure that the landing gear of the trailer is clear of the ground the avoid damage [par. 0235], it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to have included Andersson's teachings of determining when a load is lifted off the ground, with Smith's teachings of lifting the landing gear off the ground, for the benefit of determining when the landing gear is off the ground via a simple and cost effective manner.
With regard to claim 2, the combination of Smith and Andersson teaches the method of claim 1. Andersson in the combination further teaches the processing comprising processing the pressure values to determine a peak in first derivative values indicative of the landing gear lifting off the ground ("A lifting up and a putting down, respectively, of a load is consequently registered when the velocity of the pressure variation in the lifting cylinder 8 exceeds a certain predetermined value [par. 0021]").
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Smith et al. [US 2021/0053407 A1] teaches where a processor facilitates autonomous movement of an AV yard truck, and connection to and disconnection from trailers. A plurality of sensors are interconnected with the processor that sense terrain/objects and assist in automatically connecting/disconnecting trailers. A hydraulic fifth wheel is used to lift a trailer without the need to retract the landing gear of the trailer. An imaging system is utilized to determine the height of a kingpin and location of components of the trailer.
Andersson et al. [EP 1150019 A1] teaches a means connected to a pressure sensor, which is adapted to register the lifting up and putting down of a load by detecting the velocity of the pressure variations in a cylinder and to register a lifting up and a putting down, respectively, of a load when the velocity of a detected pressure variation exceeds a predetermined value.
Banwart [US 2014/0015223 A1] teaches where a trolley movable along a railcar is provided for securing the trolley or trailer to the railcar and includes a hitch component for selectively interconnecting to a hitch component on the trolley or trailer. A hydraulic fifth wheel is moved upward into contact with a bearing plate lifting the trailer up off of the ground without having to retract the landing gear. Once the landing gear are off of the ground, an operator can release the air brakes on the trailer and may then move the trailer using the powered dolly. The trailer, with landing gear extended, may be left in a target location by lowering the hydraulic fifth wheel assembly and bringing the landing gear into contact with the ground.
Jatt et al. [US 2023/0123587 A1] teaches optimization of autonomous vehicle technology and, more specifically, to a transfer hub for autonomous trucking operations. The transfer hub supports automated trailer delivery, trailer-tractor matching, trailer-tractor hitching, automated post-hitching visual inspection, automated refueling, parking spot calibration, load verification, load distribution assessment, automated brake inspection, and other improvements to the existing technology.
Grossman [US 2019/0367107 A1] teaches autonomous vehicles having hitched or towed trailers for transporting cargo and other items between locations. Aspects of the technology provide a smart hitch connection between a fifth-wheel of a tractor unit and the kingpin of a trailer. The fifth-wheel may provide air pressure via one or more slots arranged on a connection surface, and the trailer is configured to receive the air pressure through one or more openings on a contact surface of the kingpin. An electrical connection section of the fifth-wheel may also provide electrical signals and/or power to an electrical contact interface of the kingpin. One or more motors can be used to lift and lower the landing gear.
Hammonds [US 2006/0070774 A1] teaches where a fifth wheel plate is mounted on an articulated arm which raises and lowers the fifth wheel plate for rapid coupling to and transportation of a semi-trailer without the need for retracting the semi-trailer's landing gear. The fifth wheel plate is preferably elevated to a sufficient height to allow movement of a trailer with sufficient clearance between the ground and fully-extended landing gear and to allow the trailer mule driver an unobstructed view underneath the trailer.
Although the prior art of record teachings raising the fifth wheel and ensuring that the landing gear is not in contact with the ground, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest, alone or in combination, stopping the hydraulic pump a predetermined period after the landing gear is lifted off the ground, wherein the predetermined period and a rate of raising the fifth wheel corresponds to a clearance height of the landing gear above the ground as recited in claim 3, in combination with the limitations as set forth in claim 1.
Claim 4 is objected to by virtue of its dependency.
Although the prior art of record teaches determining the height of fifth wheel based on a position sensor, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest, alone or in combination, wherein the peak is determined after the height is above a minimum lift-off height as recited in claim 5, in combination with the limitations as set forth in claims 1 and 2.
Although the prior art of record teaches determining the height of fifth wheel based on a position sensor and determining the weight of the trailer, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest, alone or in combination, sensing a second pressure value of the hydraulic fluid in a second chamber of the piston; determining an estimate of a weight of a front end of the trailer based on the differential; and stopping the hydraulic pump when the height is above a maximum height threshold and the weight is above a minimum load threshold as recited in claim 6, in combination with the limitations as set forth in claims 1 and 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINCENT W CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1214. The examiner can normally be reached (M-F) 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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/VINCENT WEN-LIANG CHANG/
Examiner
Art Unit 2119
/MOHAMMAD ALI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119