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
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 6/9/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that all inventions are related, and there is no undue burden on the office. This is not found persuasive because in re Group II, the recitation that “a weighing assembly for sensing when the predetermined amount of fruit has been reached for each container” is not found in claims 1 or 24 (or Group I), therefore it would require additional burdensome search for this feature; in re Group III, the recitation that “an elevator with support brackets extending below the stack of containers” is not found in claims 1 or 24 (or Group I), therefore it would require additional burdensome search for this feature.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated Palm (8635845).
“(49) The collection receptacles (e.g., agricultural bins) may be mounted on an elevator capable of changing the position of the receptacles. For example, and without limitation, FIG. 7 shows a bin elevator 705 that may be a structure having an inverted U or horse shoe-shaped track on which bins 704 are mounted. The elevator may be operable to position the bins such that an empty bin is moved into a position at an end of a roller conveyor or an angled conveyor, where the empty bin can receive produce coming off of the conveyor. As a bin at an end of the conveyor becomes full or substantially full of produce, the elevator can change the position of the bins such that the full bin is replaced the position with an empty bin. For example and without limiting the invention, FIG. 7 shows a bin elevator 705 that may replace the bin in position 706 with an empty bin when the bin in position 706 becomes full or substantially full with produce 711.”
“Bins or trays may be positioned at the base of each slide, e.g., near the bottom of the chassis for collecting the produce as it leaves the slide. In some non-limiting embodiments, a single row or set of bins or trays may receive produce from both slides. In other non-limiting embodiments, the slides may each deposit produce on a single conveyor located in the base of the chassis and along a bottom of the slide. The conveyor may move the produce to bins that may be located at the front or back of the harvester. In such embodiments, the conveyor may include an about horizontal motorized conveyor (e.g., a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor). Without limiting the invention, the bins in such embodiments may be mounted on a bin elevator that is similar to the bin elevator 1206 shown in FIG. 12, and located at the front or back of the harvester and having a U-shaped track for the movement of the bins. The conveyors may deposit produce in bins located at an end of the conveyor (e.g., in a position near the base of the chassis), and when the bin is full or substantially full, the bin elevators may replace the full bin with an empty bin.”
“(63) The bin elevator may be driven by a motor, which may be a separate motor or it may be connected to a motor driving the rotary brush harvester, the conveyor(s), or means for driving the rotary brush harvester along a row of trees. The operation of the bin elevator may be automated so that when a bin is substantially full, a sensor (not shown, and as described above) detects that the bin is substantially full and the bin elevator 807 replaces the substantially full bin with an empty bin.”
1. A fruit harvester, comprising: a chassis (fig 2); a fruit removal system (rotating brush 201 pull produce);
a fruit delivery system (conveyor 202);
a container delivery system for automatically separating an individual container (bin/receptacle 704) from a stack of containers (automated bin replacement, see intended use in the quotes above);
a container filling station receiving fruit from the fruit delivery system and individual separated containers from the container delivery system and filling the containers with a predetermined amount of fruit (filling/depositing fruit is taught above).
The following method steps are already addressed in view of the apparatus above, unless otherwise noted:
“(71) The bin elevator may be driven by a motor, which may be a separate motor or it may be connected to a motor driving the rotary brush harvester, the conveyor(s), or means for driving the rotary brush harvester along a row of trees. The operation of the bin elevator may be automated so that when a bin is substantially full, a sensor (not shown, and as described above) detects that the bin is substantially full and the bin elevator replaces the substantially full bin with an empty bin.”
24. A method of harvesting and filling containers with fruit with a harvester having a container filling station and a container delivery system, the method comprising: removing fruit from plants; automatically delivering the fruit to the container filling station; automatically removing a fruit container from of a stack of fruit containers, delivering the removed fruit container to the fruit filling station; and automatically filling the fruit containers with a predetermined amount of the fruit (see cl. 1, and teachings above).
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) 7-9, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palm (8635845), in view of Korthuis et al (2019/0166763).
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Palm teaches the claimed invention, except as noted:
7. The harvester according to claim 1, wherein the container filling station comprises: a fruit delivery apparatus (conveyor, figs 2, 7); a container support (figs 2, 7);
a container weighing system generating a weighing signal; a processor in communication with the weighing system, the processor cancelling vibrations from the weighing signal (not taught/shown).
Korthuis teaches that it has been known to include a controls / processor cancelling vibrations from weighing signals (par. 9, 32).
“The controls preferably include an isolation system that eliminates vibrations from machinery and therefore ensures that there are no false readings and the actual weight of the berries is accurate.”
“The processor/controls (180) also incorporate an isolation system that eliminates vibrations from machinery and therefore ensures that there are no false readings and the actual weight of the berries in a container is accurate. Such an isolator or filter should also take into account shaking motion that the stackers often impart to the containers (1000 or 1002) while the containers are being filled to ensure that the berries in the container are spread more evenly and therefore are easier to handle as well as achieving more even unloading and feeding at the processing facility. The system (150) also utilizes the load cells (166) in order to ensure that the weighing system automatically resets when a filled container is removed from the weighing deck (172). The processor (180) also provides for inputting different variables depending on the container being used and the desired load. The tare may be selected to match the weight of the container being utilized.”
“The system also provides for inputting different variables related to filling, corresponding to the containers being used and the load requirements. The tare may be selected to match the weight of the container being utilized. Moreover, as different processing facilities may request different loads in each container so that the particular load may be selected.”
“[0011] When the full container is removed, the system resets for the new empty container. The process is repeated until the containers must be off loaded. Moreover, if conditions or requirements change, the container fill system may be reset with different inputs to reflect the changes. The harvester may also be in communication with a global positioning system (GPS), such as a DataStar Inc. system to provide data on the harvest in relation the position of the harvester. Use of a GPS provides for producing a yield map of the fields being harvested.”
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 fruit harvester of Palm with the teachings of Korthuis, with a reasonable expectation of success since a different facilities require different weight / load facilitated by the weighing system, which would further eliminate false readings due to vibrations, therefore an accurate weight / load can be determined.
8. The harvester according to claim 1, comprising a control system automatically controlling and coordinating the container delivery system and the container filling station (taught in the combination, see Korthuis, processor/controls 180 capable of coordinating each system).
9. The harvester according to claim 1, further comprising a processor, wherein the processor is in communication with a position indicator, the processor being configured to map yields (taught in the combination, see Korthuis, GPS/position indicator & yield map, par. 5).
25. The method according to claim 24, comprising automatically removing the fruit container from a bottom of the stack of fruit containers (although, to one skilled it would be more accessible to replace the filled container from the top, however, it would not be outside the skill to replace it with one from the bottom using sound engineering skill).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2-6, 26 is/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. See form 892.
Knopf et al (2023/0097284) teaches an automated tray lift system to collect fruits, the trays are stacked via vertical shaft (fig 1, par 7).
Paulin et al (9357707) teaches selectively releasing an empty container from a stack of empty to container to fill / discharge fruit in it (fig 3):
“(12) Each upper arm 44 has a pair of movable flaps 46 mounted and articulated thereto. The flaps 46 are operable by hydraulic cylinders 48, from a vertical position as shown in FIG. 1, to a horizontal position as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. As it will be understood from the illustration in FIG. 2, the flaps 46 are operable to retain a stack of empty blueberry containers 50 above the lower arms 34, and to selectively release one empty container 50 at the time onto the pair of lower arms 34 under the stack of containers. In use, the empty berry containers 50 are stacked by hand on the upper arms 44 with the flaps 46 in a horizontal locking position.”
“(13) In a harvesting operation, the berries picked up by the picking head 24 are dumped into the transverse conveyor 26. The berries are moved along the transverse conveyor 26 and into the longitudinal conveyor 28. The longitudinal conveyor 28 discharges the berries into the receiving container 30 resting on the right side forks 32 of the four-arm lift assembly of the harvester 22. This operation can be better understood when referring to FIG. 3.”
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
Prosecution Insights