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 .
Election/Restriction
This application contains claims directed to the following patentably distinct species:
Species I: fluid flow deflector claims 2-3, 11, 12 , 18
Species II: wheel deflector claims 4-5, 13, 14, 19, 20
Species III: body deflector claims 6, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17
The species are independent or distinct because they are mutually exclusive different mechanisms for providing residue deflection. In addition, these species are not obvious variants of each other based on the current record.
Applicant is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 to elect a single disclosed species, or a single grouping of patentably indistinct species, for prosecution on the merits to which the claims shall be restricted if no generic claim is finally held to be allowable. Currently, claims 1, 8, and 15 are generic.
There is a serious search and/or examination burden for the patentably distinct species as set forth above because at least the following reason(s) apply: Species I, II, and III use different mechanisms for providing residue deflection, requiring different analysis between each mechanism.
Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of a species to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected species or grouping of patentably indistinct species, including any claims subsequently added. An argument that a claim is allowable or that all claims are generic is considered nonresponsive unless accompanied by an election.
The election may be made with or without traverse. To preserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the election of species requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable on the elected species or grouping of patentably indistinct species.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the species, or groupings of patentably indistinct species from which election is required, are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing them to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the species unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other species.
Upon the allowance of a generic claim, applicant will be entitled to consideration of claims to additional species which depend from or otherwise require all the limitations of an allowable generic claim as provided by 37 CFR 1.141.
During a telephone conversation with Selene Haedi on 2/18/2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of species III, claims 6, 7, 9, 10, 16, and 17. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 2-5, 11-14, and 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6-10, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vandike, et al. US2021/0015039.
Regarding claim 1, Vandike, et al. teaches a residue deflection assembly (Figure 7) for a crop loss monitoring system 410 (wherein 410 monitors crop residue, thus is considered to include crop loss monitoring ¶49, since crop loss can occur thru residue disposal), comprising:
a residue deflector 447 configured to be positioned rearward (as shown in Figure 6) of a row unit (¶0050 “other types of headers 416, such as transverse frame supporting individual row units, are utilized”) of a header 416 of an agricultural harvester 422 relative to a direction of travel of the agricultural harvester 422, wherein the residue deflector 447 is configured to direct residue CR away from a field of view of a camera 424-3 of the crop loss monitoring system (¶0057 “ Deflector 447 comprises a ramp or other structure that directs the flow of crop residue over and above camera 424-3, reducing direct impacts with the camera and protecting camera 424-3 from the potentially camera damaging flow of crop residue CR”) and to enable crop material to be present within the field of view of the camera 424-3 (wherein at least some of the residue is deflected away from the field of view, and at least some of the residue is in the field of view of the camera. The residue can include some of the crop material, since the harvester is cutting and processing the crop material through the crop harvesting operation, in which crop residue is a byproduct of this operation ¶0001 “Crop residue is a byproduct of a crop harvesting operation. Crop residue may include straw, chaff or other unwanted portions of a crop plant following threshing and/or separation processes by a harvester” and ¶0052 “the rotary chopper 444 which chops the straw and other residue”. Therefore, at least part of the crop residue includes the crop material).
Regarding claim 6, Vandike, et al. teaches that the residue deflector 447 comprises a body (wherein 447 is wedge shaped, and thus has at least dimensional features making it a body) configured to engage the residue to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera 424-3.
Regarding claim 7, Vandike, et al. teaches a reel 444 (wherein chopper 444 is considered a reel because it is wheel-shaped and rotates (¶0052 “the rotary chopper 444 which chops the straw and other residue”). Figure 7 shows paddles within 444) configured to cooperate with the body (wherein reel 444 is disposed immediately to the right of deflector 447) to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera.
Regarding claim 8, Vandike, et al. teaches a crop loss monitoring system 410, comprising: a camera 424-3 directed toward a region (as shown in Figure 7) behind a header 416 of an agricultural harvester 422 (wherein the region is behind 416, since camera 424-3 is located towards the rear of harvester 422) relative to a direction of travel (to the left of Figure 6) of the agricultural harvester; and
a residue deflection assembly (as recited above) comprising a residue deflector 447 configured to be positioned rearward of a row unit (as recited above) of the header (wherein 447 is located to the right of 416, thus is positioned rearward of 416) relative to the direction of travel of the agricultural harvester (to the left of Figure 6), wherein the residue deflector is configured to direct residue away from a field of view ¶0057 of the camera and to enable crop material to be present within the field of view of the camera (as recited above).
Regarding claim 9, Vandike, et al. teaches that the residue deflector 447 comprises a body (wherein 447 is wedge shaped) configured to engage the residue to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera 424-3, and the camera 424-3 is positioned on a bottom (lower right side of 447) of the body.
Regarding claim 10, Vandike, et al. teaches that the residue deflection assembly (Figure 7) comprises a reel 444 (as recited above) configured to cooperate with the body to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera 424-3.
Regarding claim 15, Vandike, et al. teaches a header 416 of an agricultural harvester 422, comprising:
a row unit (as recited above);
a crop loss monitoring system 410 (as recited above) comprising a camera 424-3 directed toward a region (shown in Figure 7) behind the header 416 relative to a direction of travel (to the left of Figure 6) of the agricultural harvester 422; and
a residue deflection assembly (Figure 7) comprising a residue deflector 447 positioned rearward of the row unit 418 relative to the direction of travel of the agricultural harvester 422, wherein the residue deflector 447 is configured to direct residue away from a field of view of the camera 424-3 and to enable crop material to be present within the field of view of the camera 424-3 (as recited above).
Regarding claim 16, Vandike, et al. teaches that the residue deflector 447 comprises a body (wherein 447 is wedge shaped) configured to engage the residue to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera 424-3, and the camera 424-3 is positioned on a bottom (lower right side of 447) of the body.
Regarding claim 17, Vandike, et al. teaches that the residue deflection assembly (Figure 7) comprises a reel 444 (as recited above) configured to cooperate with the body to direct the residue away from the field of view of the camera 424-3 (as recited above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Van Meurs US2018/0098495 teaches a fluid ejector 7.1-7.3 operated means for clearing debris away from a camera 1 view area.
Missotten, et al. US2022/0394925 teaches a sensor 92 with deflector angle 110 for deflector 97 and reel 76.
Beavers, et al. US2020/0100427 teaches a residue handling system 70 at the rear of a harvester 10 head 18, with deflector 128 and 126 interacting with reels 120/122 to spread residue for ejection ¶0024. Sensor 316 can include a camera ¶0031.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Cathleen Hutchins whose telephone number is (571)270-3651. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11am-9:30PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Coy can be reached at (571)272-5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CATHLEEN R HUTCHINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672 2/19/2026