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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friggstad US 2012/0174844 A1 in view of Harmon US 2022/0232754 A1 and Crabb et al. 6,564,730.
Independent Claims 1, 15: Friggstad discloses an implement for dispensing agricultural product, said implement comprising:
a bin (14) for holding the agricultural product; and
a plurality of metering devices (24, see also in Fig. 1) secured to a bottom of said bin (seen in Fig. 2) and configured to dispense agricultural from said bin onto the ground, wherein each of said metering devices includes –
a housing (also numbered 14 in para. [0028]) enclosing an interior space,
at least one metering wheel (25) positioned within the interior space of said housing and configured to convey agricultural product through said metering device,
an access door (50, 56) rotatably coupled (via 52, 58, respectively) with said housing and configured to selectively provide access to the interior space of said housing, as per claims 1, 15.
However, Friggstad fails to disclose a vision system comprising at least one camera incorporated with said access door, wherein said camera is configured to capture images and/or video of agricultural product being conveyed through said metering device; and
a control system comprising a processing element configured to analyze the images and/or video to determine if flow rates and/or flow patterns of agricultural product through said metering devices is appropriate;
wherein the access door and the vision system are removably coupled, via snap fit or friction fit coupling, with the housing, as per claims 1, 15.
Harmon discloses a similar implement comprising a vision system (304, 306) comprising at least one camera (see the final six lines of para. [0052]), wherein said camera is configured to capture images and/or video of agricultural product being conveyed through said metering device (para. [0073], lns. 12-14); and
a control system (212) comprising a processing element configured to analyze the images and/or video to determine if flow rates and/or flow patterns (see the Abstract) of agricultural product through said metering devices is appropriate (see para. [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claims 1, 15.
Crabb discloses a similar metering device wherein the access door (826) is removably coupled, via snap fit (829, see col. 13, ln. 38) or friction fit coupling, with the housing (824), as per claims 1, 15.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vision and control system of Harmon on the meter devices of Friggstad in order to ensure proper flow of a commodity and especially to identify and cure blockages.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the snap fit door coupling of Crabb on the device of Friggstad in order to provide a simple and convenient means to secure the door to the housing.
It can be seen in the combination that the natural location for the cameras of Harmon on the housing of Friggstad would ultimately coincide with Friggstad and Crabb’s snap fit access doors, as claimed, in order to gain the same perspective of commodity flow as the cameras of Harmon.
Dependent Claims 4-14: Friggstad further discloses wherein said metering device (24) comprises at least one product door (64, Fig. 4) configured to selectively present an inlet (see Fig. 4) for agricultural product to enter said metering device, wherein said metering device is configured to be adjusted to modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device by adjusting a position of said product door (see Figs. 4-6), as per claim 8;
wherein said metering device (24) is configured to be coupled to a seed bin (14) associated with a seed drill (10), and wherein the agricultural product comprises seed (see the title), as per claim 14.
Harmon further discloses wherein said camera (304, 306) is configured to transmit the captured images and/or video of agricultural product to a control system (212), and wherein the control system is configured to analyze the images and/or video to determine if the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device (302) is appropriate (see paras. [0073], [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 4;
wherein the control system (212) is configured to send an alert to an operator (see para. [0073]) of said metering device (302) if the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device is not appropriate, and wherein said metering device is configured to be adjusted to modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device ([0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 5;
wherein said metering device (302) is configured to be adjusted to modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device by adjusting a rate of rotation of said metering wheel (218, [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 6;
wherein said metering device (302, see the detail of Fig. 7) comprises a gate valve (702) located below said metering wheel (218), presenting a product channel (804) between said gate valve and said metering wheel, wherein said metering device is configured to be adjusted to modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device by adjusting a position of said gate valve (see Figs. 8a, 8b), as per claim 7;
wherein the control system (212) is configured to automatically modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device (302) if the control system determines that the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device is not appropriate (see paras. [0053-0054], [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 9;
wherein the control system (212) is configured to automatically modify the flow rate and/or flow pattern of agricultural product through said metering device (302) by simultaneously adjusting two or more of the following: a rate of rotation of said metering wheel (218, [0084], lns. 1-8), a position of a gate valve positioned below said metering wheel (see para. [0112]), and/or a position of a product door that selectively presents an inlet for agricultural product to enter said metering device, as per claim 10;
wherein said metering device (302, see detail in Fig. 7) comprises a gate valve (702) positioned below said metering wheel (218), presenting a product channel (804) between said gate valve and said metering wheel, wherein said camera (612, para. [0115], lns. 4-5) is aimed at said gate valve (as seen in Fig. 7), as per claim 11;
wherein the captured images and/or video of agricultural product captured by said camera (304, 306) are configured to be transmitted to a graphic display (para. [0073], lns. 9-14), as per claim 12.
Regarding claim 13, in the resultant combination it can be seen that the access door (Friggstad’s 50, 56) is formed from a transparent material (see Harmon, see the final six lines of para. [0052]), as per claim 13.
Dependent Claims 16-19: Friggstad further discloses wherein the implement comprises a seed drill (10) and the agricultural product comprises seed (see the title), as per claim 19.
Harmon further discloses a driveshaft (606, seen in the detail of Fig. 6) extending through each of said metering wheels (218) of said metering devices (302), wherein a rotational rate of said driveshaft is configured to be adjusted to modify the flow rates and/or flow patterns of agricultural product through said metering devices (see para. [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 16;
wherein each of said metering devices (302) includes a gate valve (702, seen in the detailed Fig. 7) located below a respective metering wheel (218), presenting a product channel (804) between said gate valve and said metering wheel, and further comprising a driveshaft (unnumbered, at the bottom of 702, seen best in Fig. 7) extending through each of said gate valves of said metering devices, wherein actuation of said driveshaft is configured to modify the flow rates and/or flow patterns of agricultural product through said metering devices (see Figs. 8a, 8b), as per claim 17;
a graphic display (228), wherein the captured images and/or video of agricultural product are configured to be presented on the graphic display (para. [0073], lns. 9-14), as per claim 18.
Independent Claim 20: Friggstad discloses an implement used by a method of dispensing agricultural product from an implement, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) transferring agricultural product from a bin (14) of the implement to a metering device (24), wherein the metering device comprises a housing (also numbered 14, see para. [0028]) and an access door (50, 56) rotatably coupled with the housing;
(b) conveying agricultural product through the metering device, as per claim 20.
However, Friggstad fails to disclose:
(c) obtaining, via a camera integrated with the access door, images or video of the agricultural product being conveyed in step (b), wherein the access door and the camera are removably coupled, via a snap fit or friction fit coupling, with the housing;
(d) transmitting the images or video to a control system configured to analyze the images or video to determine a flow rate or a flow pattern of the agricultural product through the metering device; and
(e) adjusting the metering device to modify the flow rate or the flow pattern of agricultural product through the metering device, as per claim 20.
Harmon discloses a similar implement comprising the steps of:
(c) obtaining, via a camera (304, 306, see the final six lines of para. [0052]), images or video of the agricultural product being conveyed in step (b) (para. [0073], lns. 12-14);
(d) transmitting the images or video to a control system (212) configured to analyze the images or video to determine a flow rate or a flow pattern of the agricultural product through the metering device; and
(e) adjusting the metering device to modify the flow rate or the flow pattern of agricultural product through the metering device (see para. [0053-0054], [0084], lns. 1-8), as per claim 20.
Crabb discloses a similar implement wherein the access door (826) is removably coupled, via a snap fit (829, col. 13, ln. 38) or friction fit coupling, with the housing (824), as per claim 20.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vision and control system of Harmon on the meter devices of Friggstad in order to ensure proper flow of a commodity and especially to identify and cure blockages.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the snap fit door coupling of Crabb on the device of Friggstad in order to provide a simple and convenient means to secure the door to the housing.
It can be seen in the combination that the natural location for the cameras of Harmon on the housing of Friggstad would ultimately coincide with Friggstad and Crabb’s snap fit access doors, as claimed, in order to gain the same perspective of commodity flow as the cameras of Harmon.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friggstad in view of Harmon and Crabb as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baldinger et al. EP 1882405 A2.
Dependent Claim 2: The implement is disclosed as applied above. However, the combination fails to disclose wherein said vision system further comprises at least one light source incorporated with said access door, wherein said light source is configured to illuminate the interior space of said housing, as per claim 2.
Baldinger discloses a similar device comprising at least one light source (20), wherein said light source is configured to illuminate the interior space of said housing (of 13), as per claim 2.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the light source of Baldinger to illuminate the housing of Friggstad, Harmon and Crabb in order to provide the camera with a bright clear image of the seeds.
Furthermore, it would be obvious to incorporate the light source with said access door in order to provide the camera, also on the access door, with the light.
Response to Arguments
Please see the updated art rejections above now including Crabb et al. who discloses the use of snap fit access doors in metering housings for simple and convenient securement of the door.
Also, regarding the incorporation of Harmon’s cameras into Friggstad’s access doors, as seen in Harmon’s Figs. 2-3, Harmon discloses two possible locations for cameras sensors, in a top and bottom location (224, 226) in Fig. 2 and a left and right location (304, 306) in Fig. 3. It can be seen that, particularly, Harmon’s camera arrangement of Fig. 3, when incorporated with Friggstad’s metering device would result in the most natural camera location being on Friggstad’s doors in order to achieve the same camera view intended by Harmon.
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 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 Alicia M. Torres whose telephone number is 571-272-6997. The examiner’s fax number is 571-273-6997. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph M. Rocca, can be reached at (571) 272-8971.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the group receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-3600. The fax number for this Group is 571-273-8300.
/Alicia Torres/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671 July 10, 2026
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