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 § 102
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 1-2, 4, 7-10, 13, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Birrell (US 20080248843 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Birrell discloses a grain harvesting machine (100) for harvesting a crop material and separating the crop material into grain and material other than grain (MOG), comprising:
a grain thresher (108) configured to separate grain from MOG;
a cleaning subsystem (110) for further separating MOG from the separated grain;
a residue subsystem (shown generally in fig. 4) for chopping the MOG and distributing the MOG onto a ground surface behind the grain harvesting machine, the residue subsystem including a chopper (118) including a chopper housing, a rotatable chopper rotor carrying a plurality of chopper knives, and a stationary knife assembly (not numbered, shown in fig. 7) fixed in position relative to the chopper housing and configured to interact with the chopper knives to chop the MOG into pieces before the MOG is distributed onto the ground surface, the chopper further including a chopper inlet configured to receive the MOG, a chopper outlet (202) configured to distribute the MOG, a MOG flow area between the inlet and the outlet wherein MOG is directed to flow during normal operation, and a MOG non-flow area where MOG is not directed to flow during normal operation (fig. 4-5C, 7, material flows from the left of chopper 118 to the right of chopper 118 by 118 rotating counterclockwise); and
a residue monitoring system including at least one sensor (418C, along with other sensors 418a, 418b, 418d) configured to detect a presence of MOG in the MOG non-flow area (paragraph 0055); and
a controller (400) operatively associated with the at least one sensor (418C) and configured to detect whether MOG is present in the MOG non-flow area above a threshold level (paragraphs 0051, 0057-58),
wherein the controller is further configured to initiate a responsive action (the position of actuator 212) if a presence of MOG in the MOG non-flow area above the threshold level is detected (paragraphs 0050-52); and
wherein the responsive action includes an automatic adjustment to an operating parameter of a component (212) of the grain harvesting machine to reduce a level of the MOG in the MOG non-flow area (paragraphs 0050-52).
Regarding claim 2, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein:
the chopper housing includes a first side wall, a second side wall, and a third side wall extending between the first side wall and the second side wall and disposed aft of the first side wall and the second side wall, the chopper rotor (118) extending between the first side wall and the second side wall ahead of the third side wall (see fig. 1-5C, 7); and
the at least one sensor (418C) is mounted on one or more of the first side wall, the second side wall or the third side wall (see fig. 7).
Regarding claim 4, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 2, wherein:
the at least one sensor is mounted on the third side wall and is configured to detect a presence of MOG along a detection path in a direction generally transverse to a rotational axis of the chopper rotor (see fig. 7).
Regarding claim 7, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein: the at least one sensor includes a camera (418A).
Regarding claim 8, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein:
the MOG flow area extends from the chopper inlet below the chopper rotor to the chopper outlet;
the chopper rotor rotates in a direction such that the chopper knives sweep upward past the chopper outlet; and
the MOG non-flow area is located at least in part above the chopper outlet and above the chopper rotor (see fig. 4-5C, 7).
Regarding claim 10, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein:
the controller is further configured to initiate a responsive action if a presence of MOG in the MOG non-flow area above the threshold level is detected (paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 13, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, wherein:
the automatic adjustment to the operating parameter (the position of 212) includes an automatic reduction to a feed rate of MOG into the residue subsystem (paragraphs 0050-52).
Regarding claim 17, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1, further comprising:
a spreader (206) connected to the chopper outlet and configured to spread the MOG across a width of the grain harvesting machine (paragraph 0029).
Regarding claim 18, Birrell discloses a method of operating a grain harvesting machine (100) for harvesting a crop material and separating the crop material into grain and material other than grain (MOG), the grain harvesting machine including a residue subsystem (shown generally in fig. 4) for chopping the MOG and distributing the MOG onto a ground surface behind the grain harvesting machine, the residue subsystem including a chopper (118) including a chopper housing, a rotatable chopper rotor carrying a plurality of chopper knives, and a stationary knife assembly (not numbered, shown in fig. 7) fixed in position relative to the chopper housing and configured to interact with the chopper knives to chop the MOG into smaller pieces before the MOG is distributed onto the ground surface, the chopper having a chopper inlet for receiving the MOG, a chopper outlet (202) for distributing the MOG, a MOG flow area between the inlet and the outlet along which MOG is directed to flow during normal operation, and a MOG non-flow area in which MOG is not directed to flow during normal operation, the method comprising (fig. 4-5C, 7, material flows from the left of chopper 118 to the right of chopper 118 by 118 rotating counterclockwise):
detecting with at least one sensor (418C) a presence of MOG in the MOG non-flow area above a threshold level; and
initiating a responsive action with a controller (400) if the presence of MOG in the MOG non-flow area above the threshold level is detected (paragraph 0048, 51, 57-58),
wherein initiating the responsive action includes automatically adjusting with the controller an operating parameter of a component of the grain harvesting machine to reduce the presence of the MOG in the MOG non-flow area (paragraphs 0050-52).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birrell (US 20080248843 A1) in view of Dybro (US 10660268 B2).
Regarding claim 3, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 2.
Birrell does not disclose wherein: the at least one sensor (418C) is mounted on the first side wall, the second side wall, or both the first side wall and the second side wall and is configured to detect a presence of MOG along a detection path in a direction generally parallel to a rotational axis of the chopper rotor.
In the same field of endeavor, Dybro discloses a material flow sensor (60, 68) mounted to first and second side walls of a harvester (see fig. 2-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided Birrell with a material flow sensor attached to the sidewalls of the chopper, as disclosed by Dybro, to measure the material flow of the MOG across the entire length of the chopper.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birrell (US 20080248843 A1) in view of Baumgarten (US 10362732 B2).
Regarding claim 5, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1.
Birrell does not disclose wherein: the at least one sensor includes a laser sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Baumgarten discloses a sensor that may be wither a camera or laser (col. 10 line 65-col. 11 line 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided Birrell with a laser in place of its camera, as disclosed by Baumgarten, as an alternative design for the same residue subsystem.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birrell (US 20080248843 A1) in view of Bueermann (US 6783454 B2).
Regarding claim 6, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1.
Birrell does not disclose wherein: the at least one sensor includes a capacitive sensor.
In the same field of endeavor, Bueermann discloses a flow rate sensor that is a capacitance sensor (col. 2 lines 56-63).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided Birrell with a capacitive mass flow rate sensor, as disclosed by Bueermann, to measure the flow rate over the width of the flow of MOG.
Claims 11, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birrell (US 20080248843 A1) in view of Vandike (US 20210015039 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Birrell discloses the grain harvesting machine of claim 1.
Birrell does not disclose wherein: the controller is further configured such that the responsive action includes providing a visual, audible or tactile warning to a human operator of the grain harvesting machine.
In the same field of endeavor, Vandike discloses a controller (450) providing a visual warning (462) to a human operator with a responsive action from the harvesting machine (paragraph 0064).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have provided the grain harvester of Birrell with a control unit configured to provide a warning to a human operator along with the responsive action, as disclosed by Vandike, to allow the operator to monitor the MOG discharged from the rear of the combine without stopping monitoring harvesting at the front of the combine.
Regarding claim 19, Birrell discloses the method of claim 18.
Birrell does not disclose wherein initiating the responsive action includes providing a visual, audible or tactile warning to a human operator of the grain harvesting machine.
In the same field of endeavor, Vandike discloses a controller (450) providing a visual warning (462) to a human operator with a responsive action from the harvesting machine (paragraph 0064).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have provided the grain harvester of Birrell with a control unit configured to provide a warning to a human operator along with the responsive action, as disclosed by Vandike, to allow the operator to monitor the MOG discharged from the rear of the combine without stopping monitoring harvesting at the front of the combine.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-15 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.
Claim 16 is allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MADELINE RUNCO whose telephone number is (469)295-9123. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4:30 M-F.
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/MADELINE I RUNCO/ Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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