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.
(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, 4, 9, & 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)&(a)(2) as being anticipated by Graeve et al (7451686).
Graeve et al disclose an arrangement (e.g. Fig. 2) for operating a load-controlled hydraulic system of an agricultural tractor, and an agricultural tractor (e.g. Col. 3, Ln. 52-59), comprising: a hydraulic pump (e.g. 14) generating a system pressure and having an actuating device (e.g. as shown in Fig. 1) to adjust a displacement volume; a hydrostatic vehicle steering system (e.g. 110, 114) connected to the hydraulic pump and having a steering orbitrol (e.g. 114) and a first load-indicating pressure (e.g. ~24); a pressure-regulating valve (e.g. 16) connected upstream of the steering orbitrol and actuated via a pressure difference decreasing across a throttle element (e.g. 67) counter to a predetermined restoring force in accordance with the first load-indicating pressure; a second hydraulic consumer (e.g. loader valve “ldrvlv”, Col. 4, Ln. 1-7) connected to the hydraulic pump and feeding a second load-indicating pressure (e.g. Fig. 2, “from ldrvlv ls”) back to a shuttle valve arrangement (e.g. as shown in Fig. 2 adjacent to “to pump control”), which compares and transmits the respectively higher of the first and second load-indicating pressures to the actuating device to adjust the displacement volume; and a pressure-copying valve (e.g. 18) indirectly feeding back the first load-indicating pressure to the shuttle valve arrangement by transmitting the system pressure reduced to a hydraulic pressure that follows the first load-indicating pressure. Wherein the system pressure is a hydraulic pressure generated by the hydraulic pump to operate the hydrostatic vehicle steering system.
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.
Claims 3, 7, 11, & 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Graeve et al (7451686) in view of Pomeroy et al (9133605).
Graeve et al disclose an arrangement for operating a load-controlled hydraulic system of an agricultural tractor, and an agricultural tractor, as described above, but do not explicitly teach that the system pressure is a hydraulic pressure at a delivery outlet of the hydraulic pump, or a pressure-limiting valve limiting the hydraulic pressure transmitted to the actuating device of the hydraulic pump to a predefined maximum value.
Pomeroy et al teach an arrangement (e.g. Fig. 2) for operating a load-controlled hydraulic system of an agricultural tractor, and an agricultural tractor (e.g. Fig. 1), wherein the system pressure is a hydraulic pressure at a delivery outlet of the hydraulic pump (e.g. Fig. 2A, outlet of pump 60 feeds actuator 97), and a pressure-limiting valve (e.g. 99) limiting the hydraulic pressure transmitted to an actuating device (e.g. 97) of a hydraulic pump (e.g. 60) to a predefined maximum value.
Graeve et al and Pomeroy et al all seek to provide an arrangement for operating a load-controlled hydraulic system of an agricultural tractor, and an agricultural tractor, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Graeve et al such that the system pressure is a hydraulic pressure at a delivery outlet of the hydraulic pump, and a pressure-limiting valve limiting the hydraulic pressure transmitted to the actuating device of the hydraulic pump to a predefined maximum value, as taught by Pomeroy et al, for the purpose balancing pump load with system demand, and preventing pressure overload in the load sense conduit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-6, 8, 10, 13-14, & 16 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LESLIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4819. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8 am - 4-30pm.
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/MICHAEL LESLIE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
July 18, 2026
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