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
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lauwerys, II et al (2024/0324509, effective filing date 6/2021).
It should be noted that the recitation "adjustable," "operable to” etc. is considered as merely an intended use. Applicants attention is drawn to MPEP 2111.02 which states that intended use statements must be evaluated to determine whether the intended use results in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art. Only if such structural difference exists, does the recitation serve to limit the claim. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Since it is the language itself of the claims which must particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention, without limitations imported from the specification, whether such language is couched in terms of means plus function or consists of a detailed recitation of the inventive matter. Limitations in the specification not included in the claim may not be relied upon to impart patentability to an otherwise unpatentable claim. In re Lundberg, 113 USPQ 530 (CCPA 1957).
“The method includes receiving, with a computing system, distance data from a distance sensor supported relative to the harvesting implement that is indicative of a measured distance from the distance sensor to a location on the ground surface positioned forward of the harvesting implement, and receiving, with the computing system, pose data indicative of both an absolute pose and a relative pose of the distance sensor.”
“The system includes a harvesting implement and an actuator configured to adjust a vertical height of at least a portion of the harvesting implement relative to a ground surface. The system also includes a distance sensor supported relative to the harvesting implement, with the distance sensor configured to generate distance data indicative of a distance from the distance sensor to a location on the ground surface positioned forward of the harvesting implement.”
““However, it should be appreciated that the disclosed control system 100 may be used to control the height of any suitable harvesting implement having any suitable implement configuration in association with any suitable agricultural work vehicle having any other suitable vehicle configuration.”
“For instance, the target height setting selected or calculated by the first controller 102 may, for example, take into account the anticipated movement of the header 32 (and, thus, the distance sensor(s) 102) due to kinematics of the harvester 10 as the wheels 16, 18 rise/fall when encountering changes in elevation of the terrain.”
1. An agricultural harvester operable to move in a forward direction to harvest crop growing from a ground, the agricultural harvester comprising:
a frame (14);
a crop gatherer extending from and being moveably coupled to the frame, the crop gatherer including one of a crop divider, a crop cutter, or a crop remover (such as, but not limited to a cutter bar 42);
a radar assembly operatively connected to the crop gatherer, the radar assembly transmitting electromagnetic waves toward the ground to identify a ground level (distance sensor 106, which is a radar assembly, par. 26; measure the ground forwardly, as taught above the distance between the radar and the ground level / contour); and
a controller operatively connected to the radar assembly and the crop gatherer (controller/computing system, par. 31, the radar operatively communicates / connects with said system),
wherein the controller receives the identified ground level from the radar assembly and adjusts a height of the crop gatherer with respect to the ground (par. 62, 64, the computing system continuously receives sensed ground distance & calculates / sets target height, i.e. adjust the height of the header / crop gatherer).
2. The agricultural harvester of claim 1 further comprising a radar support arranged to locate the radar assembly at or forward of one of the crop divider, the crop cutter, or the crop remover (support 103, fig 1).
3. The agricultural harvester of claim 2 wherein the radar assembly is arranged to emit a radio wave along a path aimed in a downward direction generally perpendicular (104B or 104A center radio wave) to the forward direction (quoted above; shown/marked up below).
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4. The agricultural harvester of claim 2 wherein the radar assembly is arranged to emit a radio wave along a path aimed in a forward looking field of view generally forward of a line extending generally perpendicular from the ground and from one of the crop divider, the crop cutter, or the crop remover, relative to the forward direction while harvesting crop (shown/marked up above).
5. The agricultural harvester of claim 4 wherein the path of the radar assembly in the forward looking field of view forms an angle with the line having a value of between approximately 0 degrees and 45 degrees (marked up).
6. The agricultural harvester of claim 4 wherein the path of the radar assembly in the forward looking field of view forms an angle with the line having a value of between approximately 0 degrees and 30 degrees (marked up).
7. The agricultural harvester of claim 2 wherein the radar support locates the radar assembly at a distance between 0.1 meters and 2 meters above the ground (shown/taught above).
“For instance, in one embodiment, the distance sensor(s) 102 may correspond to one or more radar devices.”
8. The agricultural harvester of claim 1 wherein the radar assembly includes one of a ground penetrating radar, an ultra-wide band radar, or a fixed frequency radar (inherently the radar is one of the radar claimed, since performs the task claimed).
The following method steps are already addressed in view of the apparatus above, unless otherwise noted:
9. A method of harvesting a crop from a ground of a field using an agricultural harvester, the method comprising:
identifying a crop gathering height for harvesting the crop from the field, wherein the crop gathering height is a height determined with respect to a crop gatherer and the ground;
determining, with a radar assembly, a distance between the ground and the crop gatherer (header 32);
comparing the identified crop gathering height to the determined distance between the ground and the crop gatherer (by a controller/computing system, par. 31);
adjusting the distance between the crop gatherer and the ground based on the comparing step (by a lift actuator, par. 31); and
moving the agricultural harvester through the field to harvest the crop at the adjusted distance of the crop gatherer (par. 62, 64, during harvesting, the computing system continuously monitor sets target height) (see in re cl. 1).
10. The method of claim 9 further comprising supporting the radar assembly on the crop gatherer with a radar support (cl. 2).
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the supporting step includes wherein the radar support locates the radar assembly at or forward of one of a crop divider, a crop cutter, or a crop remover of the crop gatherer (cl. 2).
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the supporting step includes supporting the radar assembly in a position arranged to emit a radio wave directed along a path aimed in a downward direction generally perpendicular to a moving direction of the agricultural harvester (cl. 3).
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the supporting step includes supporting the radar assembly in a position arranged to emit a radio wave directed along a path aimed in a forward looking field of view generally forward of a line extending generally perpendicular from the ground and from one of the crop divider, the crop cutter, or the crop remover (cl. 4).
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the path of the radar assembly in the forward looking field of view forms an angle with the line having a value of between approximately 0 degrees and 45 degrees (cl. 5).
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the path of the radar assembly in the forward looking field of view forms an angle with the line having a value of between approximately 0 degrees and 30 degrees (cl. 6).
16. The method of claim 10 wherein the supporting step includes supporting the radar assembly at a distance equal to or less than 2 meters above the ground (cl. 7).
“Moreover, at (306) and (308), the method 300 includes determining a pose of the distance sensor based on the pose data and determining a compensation value for adjusting the measured distance based on the pose of the distance sensor. For example, as indicated above, the computing system 120 may be configured to monitor the pose data received from the sensor positioning assembly 106 to detect changes in the absolute position and/or orientation of the distance sensor(s) 102. By detecting the change in the absolute position and/or orientation of the distance sensor(s) 102, the computing system 120 may then be configured to calculate a compensation value for adjusting the distance measurement(s) initially generated based on the distance data provided from the sensor(s) 102.”
17. The method of claim 10 wherein the comparing step includes comparing the identified crop gathering height to the determined distance between the ground and the crop gatherer on a continuous basis as the agricultural harvester moves through the field harvesting crop (par. 62, 64, and/or see quote above).
“In such an embodiment, the computing system 120 may be configured to receive the distance data from the sensor(s) 102 to allow the computing system 120 to continuously monitor such distance.”
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the adjusting step includes adjusting the distance between the crop gatherer and the ground, based on the comparing step, on a continuous basis as the agricultural harvester moves through the field harvesting crop (see quote above).
The following already addressed above, unless otherwise noted:
“[0066] Additionally, at (312), the method 300 includes controlling an operation of an actuator based at least in part on the compensated distance value to adjust a vertical height of at least a portion of the harvesting implement relative to the ground surface.”
19. A crop gatherer for harvesting crop from a ground, the crop gatherer comprising:
a lift actuator (height actuator 72);
a crop header operatively coupled to the lift actuator, the crop header including one of a crop divider, a crop cutter, or a crop remover,
wherein the lift actuator adjusts a position of the crop header with the ground (see quote);
a radar assembly coupled to the crop header, the radar assembly configured to transmit an electromagnetic wave and to receive reflected electromagnetic waves to identify a ground level of the ground, the radar assembly including a radar support arranged to locate the radar assembly at or forward of one of the crop divider, the crop cutter, or the crop remover (cl. 1, 2).
20. The crop gatherer of claim 19 wherein the radar support includes a support arm and an adjustment mechanism operatively connected to the support arm, wherein the adjustment mechanism is adjustable to locate the support arm to position the radar assembly at or forward of one of the crop divider, the crop cutter, or the crop remover (as taught above, operatively connected; also, in re cl. 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form 892.
Hunt et al (2023/0025352) teaches using RADAR sensor to detect relative position to the ground; and an ECU, in par. 58, “processor may process the signals to determine the terrain features, such as a presence of rocks on the ground and/or a height of the crops, and then may provide control signals to adjust the cutter bar assembly to an appropriate height based on the terrain features.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARPAD FABIAN-KOVACS whose telephone number is (571) 272-6990. The examiner can normally be reached Mo-Th.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Rocca can be reached on (571) 272-8971. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ARPAD FABIAN-KOVACS/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671