DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preamble
2. A preamble is generally not accorded any patentable weight where it merely recites the purpose of a process or the intended use of a structure, and where the body of the claim does not depend on the preamble for completeness but, instead, the process steps or structural limitations are able to stand alone. See In re Hirao, 535 F.2d 67, 190 USPQ 15 (CCPA 1976) and Kropa v. Robie, 187 F.2d 150, 152, 88 USPQ 478, 481 (CCPA 1951).
The preambles of claims 1, 16, and 18 have not been accorded any patentable weight; both all merely recite the intended use of a structure, while the body of said claims are able to stand alone1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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 1-3, 11, 15, 16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Ferren (US 2021/0088691).
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Ferren discloses an agricultural machine and associated method for reducing cutting head harvesting loss (grain loss monitoring system configured for vehicle control; Ferren at 0028, 0042) comprising:
Ground engaging mechanisms configured to support a chassis and rotate during movement of the agricultural machine (wheels 108 configured to support chassis and effect movement via rotation; Ferren at Fig. 1, 0027).
A cutting head positioned forward of the ground engaging mechanisms and configured to harvest crop in a worksite (header 118 located forward of the wheel, configured to harvest crop; Ferren at 0029, Fig. 1).
At least one image sensor configured to capture one or more images of a field of view, the field of view being external to the agricultural machine (optical sensor configured to cover a field of view; Ferren at 0118).
At least one light emitting device configured to emit light into the field of view (lighting array; Ferren at 0023, 0052).
A controller (controller 104; Ferren at 0026) configured to:
receive data corresponding to one or more images of the field of view from the at least one image sensor (controller configured to receive images from optical sensor; Ferren at 0036, 0058).
Determine one or more reflectance values based on the received data corresponding to the one or more images, each reflectance value being associated with a portion of an image of the one or more images (controller uses reflectance to analyze grain; Ferren at 0075)
Determine an amount of grain shown in the one or more images of the field of view based on the one or more determined reflectance values (quantity of grain determined; Ferren at 0024, 0025).
Regarding claim 2, Ferren discloses wherein the at least one light emitting device is
configured to emit light from a plurality of locations in the field of view (lighting arrays; Ferren at 0023, 0047, 0052, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Ferren discloses wherein at least one light emitting device is
configured to emit light into the field of view in a plurality of ranges of wavelengths of visible
light; and wherein each range of wavelengths of visible light of the plurality of ranges of
wavelengths of visible light is associated with a specific color of visible light (LED arrays configured to work with CMOS camera in the FOV; Ferren at 0050).
Regarding claim 11, Ferren discloses wherein the controller is configured to cause
adjustment of an operational characteristic of the agricultural machine based on the amount of
grain determined to be shown in the one or more images of the field of view (operational parameters adjusted by controller; Ferren at 0028, 0036, 0042).
Regarding claim 15, Ferren discloses at least one light filter configured to filter the emitted light captured by the at least one image sensor (polarized filter; Ferren at 0050).
Regarding claim 18, Ferren discloses method for reducing cutting head harvesting loss of an agricultural machine configured to harvest crop in a worksite (grain loss monitoring system configured for vehicle control; Ferren at 0028, 0042, 0075), the method comprising:
Capturing one or more images of a field of view that is external to the agricultural machine (optical sensor configured to cover a field of view; Ferren at 0118)
Emitting light in the field of view with at least one light emitting device in a first range of wavelengths and a second range of wavelengths (LEDs emit visible light in the FOV of the CMOS cameras; Ferren at 0050).
Receiving, via a controller, data corresponding to one or more images of the field of view from the at least one image sensor for the first range of wavelengths and the second range of wavelengths (controller configured to receive images from CMOS cameras; Ferren at 0036, 0058).
Determining, via the controller, for each of the first and second ranges of wavelengths, one or more reflectance values based on the received data corresponding to the one or more images, each reflectance value being associated with a portion of an image of the one or more images (grain reflectance values in the image data stream; Ferren at 0112).
Determining, via the controller, for each of the first and second ranges of wavelengths, an amount of grain shown in the one or more images of the field of view based on the one or more determined reflectance values (grain count via image data stream; Ferren at 0112).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 5, 6, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ferren, as cited above, and further in view of
Regarding claim 5, Ferren discloses wherein the at least one light emitting device to emit light into the field of view in a plurality of ranges of wavelengths (LEDs to emit visible light, visible light contains a plurality of wavelengths; Ferren at 0030). Ferren is silent as to what mechanism is used to trigger light emission.
Greten, in a similar invention in the same field of endeavor, teaches controlled lighting in the optical sensor in response to environmental conditions (Greten at 0011, 0026).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the claimed invention to augment the light emission of Ferren with the control of Greten. Doing so would more accurately ascertain grain parameters in response to changing environmental parameters.
Regarding claim 6, Ferren discloses wherein the controller is configured to: receive data corresponding to one or more images of the field of view from the at least one image sensor for each range of wavelengths of the plurality of ranges of wavelengths; determine, for each range of the plurality of ranges of wavelengths, one or more reflectance values based on the received data corresponding to the one or more images, each reflectance value being associated with a portion of an image of the one or more images; and determine, for each range, an amount of grain shown in the one or more images of the field of view based on the one or more determined reflectance values (grain count via reflectance values from emitted visible light in the image data stream; Ferren at 0050, 0075, 0112).
Regarding claim 14, the combination teaches wherein the controller is configured to cause the at least one light emitting device to emit light into the field of view at a plurality of intensities (light levels changed according to environmental conditions; Greten at 0011, 0026).
Claim Objections
5. Claims 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Subsequently, claim 8 is objected due to dependency on claim 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M DAGER whose telephone number is (571)270-1332. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 0830-1730.
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/JONATHAN M DAGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663 15 May 2026
1 The preambles are drawn toward harvesting loss, but the body of the claims are drawn towards determining an amount of grain.
Prosecution Insights