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 amended claims filed January 21, 2026 have been entered. Claims 1-5, 7-18 and 20 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7, filed January 11, 2026, with respect to the rejection of original claim 6, now amended to be included in claim 1, under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Jiang (WO2021150369A1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 20 is written as being dependent on claim 19, which has been canceled. The contents of claim 19 have been added to claim 14. For purposes of examination below, the examiner is interpreting claim 20 as being dependent on claim 14.
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 1-5, 9, 11, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (WO2021150369A1) in view of Alexia (US6943824B2).
Regarding claim 1 Jiang teaches a vision system for a harvester (Fig. 11 depicts the image system may be used on a harvester), the system comprising:
a controller (1318, Fig. 13);
a first camera having a first field of view of at least one hundred and forty degrees (page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO. Fisheye lenses are well-known and widely used for their ability to capture more background that other lenses (see supplemental material from cnAICO). Thus, it would be obvious to use the fisheye lens embodiment taught in Jiang in order to enable a larger field of view); and
the second camera having a second field of view of at least one hundred and forty degrees (page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO. Fisheye lenses are well-known and widely used for their ability to capture more background that other lenses (see supplemental material from cnAICO). Thus, it would be obvious to use the fisheye lens embodiment taught in Jiang in order to enable a larger field of view),
the first camera being separated from the second camera by a distance of at least twenty centimeters (page 3, line 33),
wherein the first camera and the second camera are separated along two axes (Fig. 2A depicts an embodiment where the cameras separated horizontally and vertically. The cameras are positioned asymmetrically to adhere to the size and spatial needs of the system (page 10, lines 21-23). Thus, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the embodiment of Jiang which has the asymmetric cameras depending on the needs of the size/shape of the system),
wherein a center of the first field of view and a center of the second field of view are angled away from one another by an angle of at least ten degrees (Jiang teaches multiple applications where this is true, for example Fig. 3A and Figs. 10A and 10B. Specifically, page 12, lines 12-37 discloses one embodiment where the cameras are angled at least ten degrees; page 12, lines 20-21 discloses the vision system may be used with cameras oriented at any angle relative to each other; page 12, lines 30-32 discloses such an arrangement is useful to avoid collisions with surrounding objects not directly in the forward direction. Thus, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the vision system of Jiang with the cameras being angle away from each other by at least 10 degrees in order to ensure collisions are avoided),
wherein a first portion of the first field of view overlaps at least a portion of the second field of view and a second portion of the first field of view does not overlap the second field of view, and a first portion of the second field of view overlaps at least a portion of the first field of view and a second portion of the second field of view does not overlap the first field of view (see Figs. 7-12 which depicts the fields of view of the cameras),
wherein the controller is configured to combine overlapping portions of image data from the first camera and the second camera to form a stereo image (see Fig. 25; page 1, lines 9-12 disclose the vision system is a stereo vision system. A stereo camera system inherently performs this operation; page 6, line 10 explicitly discloses creating a stereo image from the first and second images).
Jiang teaches an embodiment where a first and second camera are positioned on a crop transfer arm (1108, 1110), but it is unclear if these cameras are on a first and second side that are opposite each other.
However, in the same field of endeavor of vision systems, Alexia teaches a vision system which comprises a first camera on a first side of the crop transfer arm (24, Fig. 1) and a second camera on the second side of the crop transfer arm (column 2, lines 62-65).
Jiang discloses that in systems where the cameras are separated by more than 20 cm, frequent and manual calibration of the cameras is needed (page 4, lines 1-14). However, the system of Jiang is able to overcome this problem and provide a stereo image system which does not need manual calibration (page 5, line 10). Thus, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the system of Jiang with the application on a crop transfer arm taught in Alexia as the vision system of Jiang provides a way to image a crop harvester while avoiding manual calibration.
Regarding claim 2, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the first camera has a first field of view of at least one hundred and sixty degrees and the second camera has a second field of view of at least one hundred and sixty degrees (Jiang: page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO.).
As discussed above, it would be obvious to combine the device of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the embodiment of Jiang that uses a fisheye lens in order to enable a larger field of view.
Regarding claim 3, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the first camera has a first field of view of at least one hundred and eighty degrees and the second camera has a second field of view of at least one hundred and eighty degrees (Jiang: page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO.).
As discussed above, it would be obvious to combine the device of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the embodiment of Jiang that uses a fisheye lens in order to enable a larger field of view.
Regarding claim 4, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the center of the first field of view and the center of the second field of view being angled outward relative to one another by an angle of at least fifteen degrees (Jiang: multiple applications where this is true, for example Fig. 3A and Figs. 10A and 10B. Specifically, page 12, lines 12-37 discloses one embodiment where the cameras are angled at least ten degrees; page 12, lines 20-21 also discloses the vision system may be used with cameras oriented at any angle relative to each other).
As discussed above, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the vision system of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the cameras being angle away from each other by at least 15 degrees in order to ensure collisions are avoided.
Regarding claim 5, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the center of the first field of view and the center of the second field of view being angled outward relative to one another by an angle of at least twenty degrees (Jiang: multiple applications where this is true, for example Fig. 3A and Figs. 10A and 10B. Specifically, page 12, lines 12-37 discloses one embodiment where the cameras are angled at least ten degrees; page 12, lines 20-21 also discloses the vision system may be used with cameras oriented at any angle relative to each other).
As discussed above, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the vision system of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the cameras being angle away from each other by at least 20 degrees in order to ensure collisions are avoided.
Regarding claim 9, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches a controller in communication with the first camera and the second camera, the controller implementing a software-based clock synchronization protocol to synchronize the operation of the first camera and the second camera (Jiang: teaches a controller which controls stereo cameras, see page 15, lines 28-30; Jiang does not explicitly teach a synchronization protocol between the first and second cameras, however Jiang does disclose the first and second cameras are part of a stereo vision system (page 15, line 30-31). Stereo vision systems inherently synchronize the two cameras, see supplemental material titled "Bringing Photography to Life: An Introduction to Stereo Cameras" from Lomography).
Regarding claim 11, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the first camera having a fisheye lens and the second camera having a fisheye lens (page 18, line 30).
As discussed above, it would be obvious to combine the device of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the embodiment of Jiang that uses a fisheye lens in order to enable a larger field of view.
Regarding claim 12, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the second portion of the first field of view representing at least twenty percent of the first field of view, and the second portion of the second field of view representing at least twenty percent of the second field of view (It is the position of the examiner that this is true in multiple applications of the vision system, for example Figs. 5A - 5C, 10A-10B, 12B-12C).
Regarding claim 13, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the second portion of the first field of view representing at least thirty percent of the first field of view, and the second portion of the second field of view representing at least thirty percent of the second field of view (It is the position of the examiner that this is true in multiple applications of the vision system, for example Figs. 5A - 5C, 10A-10B, 12B-12C).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (WO2021150369A1) in view of Alexia (US6943824B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Branston (US20200084963).
Regarding claim 7, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1, but fails to teach a mounting assembly movably coupled with the crop transfer arm of the harvester, the first camera and the second camera being mounted on the mounting assembly such that moving the mounting assembly on the crop transfer arm moves the first camera and the second camera relative to the crop transfer arm.
However, in the same field of endeavor of a harvesting monitoring system, Branston teaches a camera module on a mounting assembly ('camera module mount', paragraph [0089]). This mount attaches the camera to the transfer arm ('conveyor', 108, paragraph [0090]). Further, this mounting assembly is also adjustable relative to the transfer arm ('mounting bracket', paragraphs [0020], [0103]; the mounting bracket is part of the camera module mount in some embodiments, paragraph [0101]).
Branston discloses an advantage of using a camera mounting assembly is the ability to move the camera to a desirable location or position to acquire images of harvest items (paragraph [0089]). Thus, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the first and second cameras taught in Jiang as modified by Alexia with the mounting bracket taught in Branston as it allows for the camera to be in a desirable location to acquire images of the harvested items.
Regarding claim 8, Jiang as modified by Alexia and Branston teach the invention as explained above in claim 7, and further teaches the mounting assembly being movably attachable to the crop transfer arm of the harvester at multiple, discrete locations (Branston: paragraph [0103]).
Branston discloses the ability to move the mounting bracket allows for variability of the assembly depending on the needs of the system (paragraph [0103]). Thus, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the first and second cameras taught in Jiang as modified by Alexia with the mounting bracket attached at different positions taught in Branston depending on the configuration of the harvester and to increase variability.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (WO2021150369A1) in view of Alexia (US6943824B2) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Canon (US20220239891A1).
Regarding claim 10, Jiang as modified by Alexia teaches the invention as explained above in claim 9, but fails to teach the first camera and the second camera forming a local area network, the clock synchronization protocol being a precision time protocol according to the IEEE 1588 standard.
However, Canon, which seeks to solve the problem of syncing multiple cameras and thus reasonably pertinent, discloses the use of the IEEE 1588 method to sync the clocks that control the cameras (paragraph [0056]).
As stated by Canon, the IEEE 1588 method is given as a standard by IEEE (paragraph [0056]). A person of ordinary skill in the art would find this standard to be well-known as IEEE is well-known in many fields and their standards widely used. Thus, a person of ordinary skill would find it obvious to combine the system of Jiang as modified by Alexia with the IEEE 1588 standard as taught by Canon as the method of synchronization is a widely known and well-used standard.
Claims 14-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (WO2021150369A1) in view of Branston (US20200084963) and Alexia (US6943824B2).
Regarding claim 14, Jiang teaches a harvester (Fig. 11) comprising:
a crop processor for reducing crop material to processed crop (see front of harvester in Fig. 11);
a crop transfer arm for transferring processed crop material to a receiving vehicle (1112, Fig. 11); and
a vision system including –
a controller (1318, Fig. 13);
a first camera attached to the mounting assembly such that it is positioned on a first side of the crop transfer arm of the harvester (1108, Fig. 11), the first camera having a first field of view of at least one hundred and forty degrees (page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO. Fisheye lenses are well-known and widely used for their ability to capture more background that other lenses (see supplemental material from cnAICO). Thus, it would be obvious to use the fisheye lens embodiment taught in Jiang in order to enable a larger field of view),
a second camera attached to the mounting assembly (1110, Fig. 11), the second camera having a second field of view of at least one hundred and forty degrees (page 18, line 30 discloses the use of a fisheye lens; Typical fisheye lenses have a field of view of one hundred and eighty degrees, see supplemental material titled "What is a fisheye lens and how does it work?" from cnAICO. Fisheye lenses are well-known and widely used for their ability to capture more background that other lenses (see supplemental material from cnAICO). Thus, it would be obvious to use the fisheye lens embodiment taught in Jiang in order to enable a larger field of view), the first camera being separated from the second camera by a distance of at least twenty centimeters (page 3, line 33),
a center of the first field of view and a center of the second field of view being angled away from one another by an angle of at least ten degrees (Jiang teaches multiple applications where this is true, for example Fig. 3A and Figs. 10A and 10B. Specifically, page 12, lines 12-37 discloses one embodiment where the cameras are angled at least ten degrees; page 12, lines 20-21 discloses the vision system may be used with cameras oriented at any angle relative to each other; page 12, lines 30-32 discloses such an arrangement is useful to avoid collisions with surrounding objects. Thus, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the vision system of Jiang with the cameras being angle away from each other by at least 10 degrees in order to ensure collisions are avoided),
wherein the first camera and the second camera are separated along two axes (all embodiments of Jiang are separated along one axis; Fig. 2A depicts the cameras separated horizontally and vertically. The cameras are positioned asymmetrically to adhere to the size and spatial needs of the system (page 10, lines 21-23). Thus, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the embodiment of Jiang which has the asymmetric cameras depending on the needs of the size/shape of the system),
wherein a first portion of the first field of view overlaps at least a portion of the second field of view and a second portion of the first field of view does not overlap the second field of view, and a first portion of the second field of view overlaps at least a portion of the first field of view and a second portion of the second field of view does not overlap the first field of view (see Figs. 7-12 which depicts the fields of view of the cameras),
wherein the controller is configured to combine overlapping portions of image data from the first camera and the second camera to form a stereo image (see Fig. 25; page 1, lines 9-12 disclose the vision system is a stereo vision system. A stereo camera system inherently performs this operation; page 6, line 10 explicitly discloses creating a stereo image from the first and second images).
Jiang fails to teach a mounting assembly movably coupled with the crop transfer arm, the mounting assembly including a first side bracket, a second side bracket and a cross member connecting the first side bracket and the second side bracket; and the second camera positioned on a second side of the crop transfer arm of the harvester opposite the first side.
However, Branston teaches a camera module on a mounting assembly ('camera module mount', paragraph [0089]). This mount attaches the camera to the transfer arm ('conveyor', 108, paragraph [0090]). Further, this mounting assembly is also adjustable relative to the transfer arm ('mounting bracket', paragraphs [0020], [0103]; the mounting bracket is part of the camera module mount in some embodiments, paragraph [0101]).
As discussed above in claim 7, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the first and second cameras taught in Jiang with the mounting bracket taught in Branston as it allows for the camera to be in a desirable location to acquire images of the harvested items.
Jiang as modified by Branston fails to teach the second camera positioned on a second side of the crop transfer arm of the harvester opposite the first side.
However, Alexia teaches a vision system which comprises a first camera on a first side of the crop transfer arm (24, Fig. 1) and a second camera on the second side of the crop transfer arm (column 2, lines 62-65).
As discussed above in claim 1, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the system of Jiang as modified by Branston with the application on a crop transfer arm taught in Alexia as the vision system of Jiang provides a way to avoid manual calibration.
Regarding claim 15, Jiang in view of Branston and Alexia teach the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches the mounting assembly being movably attachable to the unloading arm of the harvester at multiple, discrete locations (Branston: paragraph [0103]).
As discussed above in claim 8, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the first and second cameras taught in Jiang as modified by Branston and Alexia with the mounting bracket attached at different positions taught in Branston depending on the configuration of the harvester and to increase variability.
Regarding claim 16, Jiang in view of Branston and Alexia teach the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches the first side bracket being movably attached to the first side of the crop transfer arm and the first side bracket being attached to the second side of the crop transfer arm (Branston: paragraph [0089] discloses a camera bracket on the adjustable mounting assembly.
Branston discloses an advantage of the camera brackets being movably attached allows for the camera to be in a stable and desirable location to acquire images (paragraph [0089]). Thus, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the vision system of Jiang as modified by Branston and Alexia with the movable bracket taught in Branston in order to allow the camera to be placed in a stable and desirable location.
Regarding claim 17, Jiang in view of Branston and Alexia teach the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches a controller in communication with the first camera and the second camera, the controller implementing a software-based clock synchronization protocol to synchronize the operation of the first camera and the second camera (Jiang: teaches a controller which controls stereo cameras, see page 15, lines 28-30; Jiang does not explicitly teach a synchronization protocol between the first and second cameras, however Jiang does disclose the first and second cameras are part of a stereo vision system (page 15, line 30-31). Stereo vision systems inherently synchronize the two cameras, see supplemental material titled "Bringing Photography to Life: An Introduction to Stereo Cameras" from Lomography).
Regarding claim 18, Jiang in view of Branston and Alexia teach the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches the second portion of the first field of view representing at least twenty percent of the first field of view, and the second portion of the second field of view representing at least twenty percent of the second field of view (Jiang: It is the position of the examiner that this is true in multiple applications of the vision system, for example Figs. 5A - 5C, 10A-10B, 12B-12C).
Regarding claim 20, Jiang in view of Branston and Alexia teach the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches the first camera and the second camera being separate along a first, horizontal axis by at least twenty centimeters and being separate along a second, vertical axis by at least two centimeters (Jiang: page 3, line 33 discloses the vision system in all embodiments as a horizontal separation of at least 20cm; the asymmetrical embodiment shown in Fig. 2A shows one camera (102) in one corner of a car windshield and a second camera (102) in the area a rear view mirror would be. It is the position of the examiner the two cameras are separated by at least 2 cm in the vertical direction).
As discussed above in claim 14, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the embodiment of Jiang which has the asymmetric cameras depending on the needs of the size/shape of the system.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDRIA MENDOZA/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/MICHELLE M IACOLETTI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877