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
Specification
The ABSTRACT language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc.
In this case “disclosed” should be removed.
The title of an invention should clearly and comprehensively reflect the subject matter and kind of the invention for which protection is sought, in other words the title should be commiserate with the claimed invention.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: at end of claim 10, a period is needed. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wigdahl (6272821), in view of Schmidt (7028457).
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.
Wigdahl teaches the claimed invention, except as noted:
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1. An air duct for a cotton stripper, the air duct comprising:
a body having a passageway therethrough (duct 30), wherein the body has a curved portion (the duct’s bent portion design to one skilled could be a continuous curve); and
a plurality of protruding members extending into the passageway (131-135),
wherein the plurality of protruding members comprises a first type of obstructing members and a second type of obstructing members, the first type being different than the second type (not clearly shown),
wherein the plurality of protruding members extend along the curved portion of the body (in particular, when the bent portion is a continuous curve as the design choice calls for).
Schmidt teaches that a different type of crop engaging elements (protuberances 112, beads 116/118) can be chosen form any number of types:
“The elements of the surface texture can have irregular or multiple angularly related surfaces oriented so as to face into different directions and have sharp edges, and can include a combination of smooth surface areas and raised protuberances, such as protuberances 112, rounded weld beads 116, and elongate beads 118. Other surface texture characteristics, such as recessed pits, grooves, and the like, can also be used, as required or desired for achieving the threshing function or aggressiveness sought. One advantage of using weld beads and splatter is that welders are common appliances in agricultural operations, and the surface texture of surface 64a can thus be repaired or altered conveniently and easily, as desired. As an example, welded surface features can be fully or partially removed such as by grinding and new features added or existing features modified by welding. Others of the surface features can also be altered or modified for providing a desired threshing function. For instance, the protuberances 112 can be removable or changeable so as to be variable in height, width and/or shape for providing a desired threshing function.”
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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 protruding members of Wigdahl with the teachings of Schmidt, with a reasonable expectation of success since varied height, hat shape, triangular shape baffles in any arrangement and mix would enhance material handling and/or deflection (see teachings in Schmidt above).
2. The air duct of claim 1, wherein a first protruding member and a last protruding member of the plurality of protruding members are of the first type of obstructing member and all of the protruding members between the first and last protruding members are of the second type of obstructing member (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
3. The air duct of claim 2, wherein the second type of obstructing member has a height that is greater than a height of the first type of obstructing member (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
4. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the first type of obstructing members comprises hat-shaped baffles (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
5. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the second type of obstructing members comprises triangular-shaped baffles (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
6. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the first type of obstructing members having a first profile height and the second type of obstructing members have a second profile height, wherein the first profile height is different than the second profile height (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
7. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the plurality of protruding members comprises baffles of varying profile heights (already addressed in the combination in re cl. 1).
8. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the curved portion of the body comprises a curved rear separation duct panel and the plurality of protruding members are configured to increase in height as a depth of the curved rear separation duct panel increases and decrease in height as the depth of the curved rear separation duct panel decreases (the arrangement would not be outside of one skilled in the art).
9. The air duct of claim 1, further comprising a first portion formed from the body and a second portion formed from another body, the first and second bodies having complementary passageways, wherein the first portion is coupled to the second portion having a gap therebetween (taught in the combination, marked up in Wigdahl).
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10. The air duct of claim 9, wherein: the curved portion of the body defines a generally “S” shaped curve that is operable to cause sashay movement of cotton as the cotton moves through the body, wherein the generally “S” shaped curve comprises a cotton impingement surface defined in areas of the first and second portions of the air duct adjacent to the gap between the first and second portions, wherein the generally “S” shaped curve comprises a velocity gradient zone in an area of the duct near to the plurality of protruding members (taught in the combination, marked up in Wigdahl).
11. The air duct of claim 1, wherein each member of the plurality of protruding members abuts at least one adjacent member of the plurality of protruding members (obvious arrangement of combination members).
12. The air duct of claim 1, wherein each member of the plurality of protruding members is spaced apart from at least one adjacent member of the plurality of protruding members (obvious alternate arrangement of combination members, no criticality of the arrangement, as evidenced by cl. 11).
13. The air duct of claim 1, wherein the body is configured to couple with a cross-auger of a cotton stripper (taught in the combination, intended use, Widgahl, auger 26).
The following are already addressed above, unless otherwise noted:
14. A harvester vehicle comprising: a header system that includes a crop header component, wherein the crop header components comprises a cotton stripper header; and an air system operably coupled to, and in communication with, the header system, the air system comprising a crop conveyor component that conveys crop through the harvester vehicle (taught in the combination, Wigdahl, fig 1),
wherein the crop conveyor component includes one or more air ducts having a cotton stripper lower transition duct comprising a curved rear separation panel with a plurality of varying profile height baffles (see in re cl. 1).
15. The harvester vehicle of claim 14, wherein the plurality of varying profile height baffles comprises baffles having different shapes, including a plurality of a first type of obstructing members and a plurality of a second type of obstructing members (cl. 4, 5).
16. The harvester vehicle of claim 14, wherein the plurality of varying profile height baffles comprises hat-shaped obstructing members (cl. 6 / 7).
17. The harvester vehicle of claim 14, wherein the plurality of varying profile height baffles comprises triangular-shaped obstructing members (cl. 5).
18. The harvester vehicle of claim 14, wherein the plurality of varying profile height baffles are configured in an abutting arrangement (cl. 11).
19. The harvester vehicle of claim 14, wherein the plurality of varying profile height baffles are configured in a spaced apart arrangement (cl. 12).
The following method steps are already addressed in view of the apparatus above, unless otherwise noted:
20. A method for configuring a lower transition duct in a cotton stripper, the method comprising: configuring a plurality of protruding members to having a first type of obstructing member and a second type of obstructing member; configuring a rear separation duct panel of the lower transition duct to have a curved surface; and coupling the plurality of protruding members to the curved surface of the rear separation duct panel, wherein the protruding members extend into a passageway of the lower transition duct (cl. 1; taught in the combination, see Wigdahl, fig 1).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form 892.
Hummel et al (9228589) also teaches protruding elements in the bent portion of the duct:
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/ARPAD FABIAN-KOVACS/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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