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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to communications filed on 3/16/2026. Claims 1-5, 7-9, 11-13, 18 & 20 have been amended. No other claims have been amended, added, or canceled. Accordingly, claims 1- 20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant's representative argues, in substance, that Wuestefeld fails to teach and/or disclose: A- a material transfer machine comprising a status sensor configured to detect a variable indicative of whether the material transfer is complete to a threshold level and generate sensor data indicative of the variable; B- determine whether the material transfer operation is complete based on the sensor data.
In response to applicant's arguments the examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner contends all that is needed to read on the limitation is: a material transfer machine with a sensor that indicates whether the transfer of material has reached a threshold level (i.e., transfer of material is complete). As such the examiner contends that Wuestefeld's disclosure of a combine harvester, with the ability to track and measure material quantities (e.g., how much grain is in the harvester’s tank, how fast the tank is filling) and the rate at which the material is being transferred into and/or out of the harvester reads on this limitation. In other words, Wuestefeld's various sensors (e.g., video cameras 205 & 210, laser scanners or 3D video systems used--either by themselves and/or--in conjunction with fixed reference lines indicating levels mapped to premeasured volumes) determining/estimating how materials has been transferred reads on the instantly contested limitation(s).
In response to B, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Keeping in mind what has been disclosed with respect to A (above), the examiner contends that Wuestefeld's disclosure of determining a "full' state (and/or a fixed percentage of a full rate--i.e., 85%) to optimally schedule an unloading (i.e., these percentages indicate the completion of transfer of material) reads on this limitation.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wuestefeld et al. (hereinafter Wuestefeld, US 2012/0200697).
Wuestefeld discloses:
1: A material transfer machine comprising:
a material receptacle configured to hold a material (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
a material transfer subsystem operable to transfer the material from the material receptacle to another location during a material transfer operation (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6), the material transfer subsystem comprising:
a conveying mechanism configured to convey material from the material receptacle (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
and an actuator configured to drive the conveying mechanism (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
a material transfer status sensor configured to detect a variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to a threshold level and generate sensor data indicative of the variable; one or more processors (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 6-7);
memory (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 6-7); and
computer executable instructions, stored in the memory, the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, configuring the one or more processors to:
obtain the sensor data generated by the material transfer status sensor (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full);
determine whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, based on the sensor data (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85% full); and
control the material transfer machine based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to the threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85 % full).
2: wherein the control comprises control of the material transfer subsystem based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to the threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full).
3: wherein the control comprises control of an interface mechanism to generate an indication to an operator of the material transfer machine based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to the threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full).
4: wherein the material transfer status sensor is configured to detect, as the variable, a weight of the material in the material receptacle, and to generate, as the sensor data, sensor data indicative of the detected weight of the material in the material receptacle (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 100500 lbs).
5: wherein the material transfer status sensor comprises a non-contact sensor that is configured to detect, as the variable, a presence of the material in a monitoring area of the non-contact sensor, and to generate, sensor data indicative of presence of material in the monitoring area of the non-contact sensor, wherein the non-contact sensor comprises one of: a camera; a lidar sensor; a radar sensor; or an ultrasonic sensor (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 2A; video camera [210] over Bin [215]).
6: wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the one or more processors to detect a change in weight of material in the material receptacle or in the other location based on the sensor data generated by the material transfer status sensor and determine whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, based on the detected change in weight of material in the material receptacle (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full).
7: wherein the material transfer status sensor comprises a contact sensor that is configured to detect, as the variable, a force applied to the contact sensor or a displacement of the contact sensor, caused by contact with the material, and to generate, as the sensor data, sensor data indicative of the force or displacement caused by contact with the material (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1-3, 6-7; weight of the material, the use of photo detectors, spectral methods, load cells for measuring).
8: wherein the material transfer status sensor is configured to detect, as the variable, a force used to drive the actuator to drive the conveying mechanism of the material transfer subsystem, and to generate, as the sensor data, sensor data indicative of the force used to drive the actuator to drive the conveying mechanism of the material transfer subsystem (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1-3, 6-7).
9: wherein the material transfer status sensor is configured to detect, as the variable, a vibration pattern corresponding to a component of the material transfer subsystem, and to generate, as the sensor data, sensor data indicative of the detected vibration pattern (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1-3, 6-7; vibrational modes and frequencies).
10: wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configuring the one or more processors to: obtain a learned vibration pattern associated with the material transfer machine; and determine whether the material transfer operation is complete based on the sensor data indicative of the detected vibration pattern and based on the learned vibration pattern (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1-3, 6-7).
A computer implemented method of determining completion of a material transfer operation in which material is transferred from a material receptacle of a material transfer machine to another location, the computer implemented method comprising:
detecting, with a material transfer status sensor during the material transfer operation in which the material is transferred from the material receptacle of the material transfer machine, a variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to a threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full);
generating, with the material transfer status sensor, sensor data indicative of the detected variable (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full);
determining whether the material transfer operation is complete based on the sensor data indicative of the variable (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85% full); and
controlling the material transfer machine based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85% full).
12: controlling comprises controlling signal to control a controllable subsystem of the material transfer machine based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to the threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
13: controlling comprises controlling an interface mechanism to generate an indication based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete at least to the threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
14: wherein detecting, with the material transfer status sensor, the variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, comprises detecting a vibration of a component of the material transfer machine (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
15: wherein detecting, with the material transfer status sensor, the variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, comprises detecting a wave reflected from the material (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
16: wherein detecting, with the material transfer status sensor, the variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, comprises detecting a force used to drive a conveying mechanism that conveys the material from the material receptacle during the material transfer operation (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
17: wherein detecting the force used to drive the conveying mechanism that conveys the material from the material receptacle during the material transfer operation comprises detecting, as the force, a torque or a power used to drive the conveying mechanism (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
18: wherein detecting, with the material transfer status sensor, the variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, comprises detecting a force imparted on or a displacement of the material transfer status sensor (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
19: wherein detecting, with the material transfer status sensor, the variable indicative of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, comprises detecting a variable indicative of an amount of material in the material receptacle (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7).
20: A system comprising:
a material receptacle configured to hold a material (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
a material transfer subsystem operable to transfer the material from the material receptacle to another location (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6), the material transfer subsystem comprising:
a conveying mechanism configured to convey material from the material receptacle during a material transfer operation (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6); and
an actuator configured to drive the conveying mechanism (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
a material transfer status sensor configured to detect one or more operational characteristics of the material transfer operation and to generate an indication of whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to a threshold level (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
one or more processors (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6);
memory (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6); and
computer executable instructions, stored in the memory, the computer executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, configuring the one or more processors to:
determine whether the material transfer operation is complete, at least to the threshold level, based on the indication (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85 % full); and
control a controllable machine substystem based on the determination of whether the material transfer operation is complete (see Wuestefeld at least fig. 1-7, in particular fig. 1, 3, 6-7; percentage completed/full, 85 % full).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MACEEH ANWARI whose telephone number is 571-272-7591. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00 PM ES.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Ortiz can be reached on 571-272-1206. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MACEEH ANWARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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