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 .
Status of the Claims
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants’ filing on 03/11/2026. Claims 1, 3-6, 8-14, and 16-20 were previously pending, of which claims 1, 4, 6, 9-10, 14, and 17-18 have been amended, no claims have been cancelled or newly added. Accordingly, claims 1, 3-6, 8-14, and 16-20 are currently pending and are being examined below.
Response to Arguments
With respect to Applicant's remarks, see pages 8-10, filed 03/11/2026; Applicant’s “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered. Applicant’s remarks will be addressed in sequential order as they were presented.
With respect to the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, applicant’s “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Further consideration of the prior art of record determined that the combination of Lenon in view of Missotten does appear to disclose predicting a future draft load of the agricultural implement based on the determined field surface incline parameter and the determined current draft load of the agricultural implement, as amended in claim 1. The Lenon reference provides the controlling of a work vehicle based a current draft force and a slope, Missotten includes the consideration of measurements of the crop conditions in the vicinity of the current location and prior information of the field characteristic in a prediction model to predict upcoming field characteristics. Although the draft load is not explicitly considered by Missotten, the load on the engine and implement is. This makes it obvious to use a similar model to predict the upcoming draft load to provide a proactive engine control to reduce load, rather than a reactive control. Due to the nature of the applicant’s amendments, the scope of the applicant’s invention has changed. New application of prior art addresses the amended language, as mapped below. Therefore, the amended claims are still rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, and have been updated in the final office action below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-9, 12-14, 16-17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lenon et al. (US 2025/0003489 A1), hereinafter Lenon, in view of Missotten et al. (US 2013/0184944 A1, previously applied), hereinafter Missotten.
With respect to claims 1, 6, and 14, Lenon discloses an agricultural vehicle configured to tow an agricultural implement, (see at least [0043] “work implements towed behind or driven at the front of the work vehicle 20 (e.g., tillage equipment, baler, plow, etc.)”)
the agricultural vehicle comprising: a frame; (see at least [0006] “a work vehicle having a chassis”)
an engine coupled to the frame; (see at least [0067] “The transaxle 402 may be embodied as… an internal combustion engine by way of a drive shaft.”)
a transmission operatively coupled to the engine; (see at least [0029] “The first electric transaxle includes… a first transmission driven by the first electric machine and configured to effect multiple gear ratios.”)
a first sensor (see at least [0073] “Work vehicle orientation (e.g., pitch and roll) may be sensed using onboard MEMS IMU devices”)
a second sensor configured to generate data indicative of a current draft load of the agricultural implement, (see at least [0038] “The draft forces may be detected by one or more sensors located on the work vehicle or the work implement or remotely to both.”)
and a computing system communicatively coupled to the first sensor and the second sensor, (see at least [0071] “The control system 36 will also receive inputs from the vehicles sensors 44, as described above, to inform the control system 36 of various parameters or characteristics (e.g., speed, heading, orientation, loading, etc.)”)
determine the current draft load of the agricultural implement based on the data received from the second sensor; (see at least [0038] “For example, the controller may receive sensor input regarding draft forces acting upon the work vehicle from a work implement towed or pushed by the work vehicle.”)
and initiate an adjustment to an operation of at least one of the engine or the transmission (see at least [0073] “Various parameters may be utilized by the operator or the shift logic to select the shift pair sequence (i.e., the relative difference in shifting times), which may include some or all of the speed, heading, orientation, and loading characteristics of the work vehicle 20B… Loading characteristics… draft forces exerted on the work vehicle 20B from a towed implement. ” [0076] “The difference in shift times may decrease as the incline angle increases such that smoothness of shifting is decreased in favor of providing more continuous power to the ground-engaging members.”)
Lenon discloses an agricultural vehicle with a towing implement that readjusts the engine/transmission control based on an incline angle and sensed current draft load of the implement, but does not explicitly disclose the sensor data being used to determine a predicted incline of a field.
However, Missotten teaches a first sensor configured to generate data indicative of a field surface incline forward of the agricultural vehicle relative to a direction of travel of the agricultural vehicle; (see at least [0026] “a sensor unit for measuring the field characteristic, for example the sensor unit may comprise one or more of a farmland condition sensor, e.g. a farmland slope sensor”)
the computing system configured to: determine a field surface incline parameter based on the data generated by the first sensor; (see at least [0055] “Based on these location measurements, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to predict field characteristics, e.g. the slope of the farmland… may be improved by including the inclination measurements, on the agricultural vehicle system, e.g. from a longitudinally arranged sensor”)
predict a future (see at least [0053] “Based on the sensed locations, the corresponding measurement values of the one or more field characteristics are stored in the location specific memory.” [0057-0058] “obtain the predictions, a field model… correlates a field characteristic, e.g. farmland condition such as farmland slope, or crop condition such as crop density or moisture, to a specific location in the field… harvest properties, may be predicted at least for locations in front of the agricultural vehicle system, based on earlier measurements near the current location… In other words, if a variable has a certain value at location A, it will have a similar value at all locations B which are in the vicinity of location A, independent of the state of the agricultural vehicle system.” Note: It is understood that the prediction of the crop condition is considering the load on the implement; and that the draft load sensed by Lenon would be able to be used to provide an equivalent prediction for the draft load using the same modeling technique.)
and initiate an adjustment to an operation of at least one of the engine or the transmission prior to engagement of the field surface incline based on predicted future of the agricultural implement. (see at least [0024-0025] “an agricultural vehicle system adapted for being controlled by a control signal generated based on a predicted value for a field characteristic in front of the agricultural vehicle system… a control system for controlling a vehicle system driving parameter, such as e.g. vehicle or engine speed or transmission ratio” [0052-0054] “control vehicle speed as a function of the power demand or of the load of the crop processors… Based on these earlier measurements the field characteristic in front of the combine harvester may be predicted.”)
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the incline consideration of Lenon to include the farmland slope and crop characteristic modeling disclosed in Missotten, with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to slow machine to reduce a loss in the effective working capacity that tends to occur when going uphill, see Missotten [0046-0047, 0052].
With respect to claims 3, 8, and 16, Lenon discloses the computing system is further configured to: determine a current operational status of the agricultural vehicle; (see at least [0037] “the controller may receive input (e.g., sensor input), that the first electric transaxle is vertically above the second electric transaxle when the first and second transmissions shift from the first speed modes to the second speed modes”)
Lenon discloses controlling an agricultural vehicle to adjust the ground speed, but does not explicitly disclose adjusting the vehicle control prior to engaging the slope.
However, Missotten teaches initiate the adjustment to the operation of the at least one of the engine or the transmission prior to engagement of the field surface incline based on the determined current operational status of the agricultural vehicle. (see at least [0024-0025] “an agricultural vehicle system adapted for being controlled by a control signal generated based on a predicted value for a field characteristic in front of the agricultural vehicle system… a control system for controlling a vehicle system driving parameter, such as e.g. vehicle or engine speed or transmission ratio”)
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the incline consideration of Lenon to include the farmland slope disclosed in Missotten, with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a control system to predict the field conditions to help alleviate the task of operators, see Missotten [0001-0002].
With respect to claims 4, 9, and 17, Lenon discloses controlling an agricultural vehicle to adjust the transmission shift based on the draft force during tilling and an incline of the vehicle, but does not explicitly disclose adjusting the vehicle control based on the incline of the field prior to engaging the slope.
However, Missotten teaches the computing system is further configured to: determine a required operational status of the agricultural vehicle based on the future predicted draft load of the agricultural implement; (see at least [0054] “In this way the results of measurements of field characteristics, such as crop conditions, e.g. crop density, and/or farmland conditions, e.g. slope… the field characteristic in front of the combine harvester may be predicted.” [0057] “The predicted field characteristics in front of the agricultural vehicle system may be used to anticipate in the control of the agricultural vehicle system, e.g. of the vehicle speed or of crop processing settings such as rotor speed, sieve openings, cleaning fan speed, etc.”)
and initiate the adjustment to the operation of the at least one of the engine or the transmission prior to engagement of the field surface incline so as to adjust the determined current operational status to the determined required operational status of the agricultural vehicle. (see at least [0024-0025] “an agricultural vehicle system adapted for being controlled by a control signal generated based on a predicted value for a field characteristic in front of the agricultural vehicle system… a control system for controlling a vehicle system driving parameter, such as e.g. vehicle or engine speed or transmission ratio”)
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the incline consideration of Lenon to include the farmland slope disclosed in Missotten, with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a control system to predict the field conditions to help alleviate the task of operators, see Missotten [0001-0002].
With respect to claims 5 and 11, Lenon discloses controlling an agricultural vehicle to adjust the transmission shift based on the draft force during tilling and an incline of the vehicle, but does not explicitly disclose the incline being the slope of a field surface.
However, Missotten teaches the field surface incline parameter comprises a slope of the field surface incline. (see at least [0012] “a field characteristic, e.g. a farmland condition such as farmland slope”)
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the incline consideration of Lenon to include the farmland slope disclosed in Missotten, with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to slow machine to reduce a loss in the effective working capacity that tends to occur when going uphill, see Missotten [0046-0047].
With respect to claims 12 and 19, Lenon discloses initiating the adjustment to the operation of the at least one of the engine or the transmission comprises initiating an adjustment to a gear ratio of the transmission. (see at least [0044] “the controller 108 may instruct the engine 24 to vary its power output and/or the transmission 26 to upshift or downshift”)
With respect to claims 13 and 20, Lenon discloses initiating the adjustment to the operation of the at least one of the engine or the transmission comprises initiating an adjustment of an output of the engine. (see at least [0044] “the controller 108 may instruct the engine 24 to vary its power output and/or the transmission 26 to upshift or downshift”)
Claims 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lenon in view of Missotten as applied to claims 9 and 17 above, and further in view of Kukuk et al. (US 2021/0054598 A1), hereinafter Kukuk.
With respect to claims 10 and 18, Lenon discloses controlling an agricultural vehicle to adjust the transmission shift based on the draft force during tilling and an incline of the vehicle, but does not explicitly disclose adjusting the vehicle control prior to engaging the slope to avoid stall.
However, Kukuk teaches determining the required operational status of the agricultural vehicle based on the predicted future draft load of the agricultural implement and the determined field surface incline parameter comprises determining a minimum required operational status to avoid a stall of the agricultural vehicle at the predicted future draft load of the agricultural implement. (see at least [0036] “The disclosed engine anti-stall system may be particularly beneficial while traversing a steep incline. While traversing the incline the ground drive 22 speed would be… the minimum engine speed” [0033] “Inputs may include engine load, ground drive speed and engine speed. These inputs act as a signal generator, to instruct the controller as to adverse conditions.”)
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the engine speed adjustment of Lenon to include the minimum engine speed disclosed in Kukuk, with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to avoid the conditions at low engine speed and high load that could cause the machine to stall, see Kukuk [0036].
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/S.M.O./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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