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 .
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.
Introduction
Claims 1-18 are pending and have been examined in this Office Action. This is the First Office Action on the Merits.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs / columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants' definition which is not specifically set forth in the disclosure.
Claim Objections
Claims 8 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 8 and 17 recite “at least one an” in line 2, which should be “at least one of an”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0167557 to Reiners et al.
As per claim 1, Reiners discloses a method for monitoring and controlling billet length during operation of an agricultural harvester (Reiners; At least the abstract), the method comprising:
receiving, with a computing system, an image of billets created by a chopper assembly of the agricultural harvester (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 25, 27, and 33);
analyzing, with the computing system, the image to determine a length-related parameter associated with one or more of the billets contained within the image (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 33 and 34);
comparing, with the computing system, the length-related parameter to a target length parameter range for the agricultural harvester (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 37); and
adjusting, with the computing system, a speed ratio between a feed roller assembly of the agricultural harvester and the chopper assembly when it is determined that the length-related parameter falls outside the target length parameter range (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 37 and 40).
As per claim 2, Reiners discloses wherein receiving the image of billets comprises receiving the image from a vision-based sensor located on or within the agricultural harvester at a location downstream of the chopper assembly (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 25 and 26).
As per claim 3, Reiners discloses wherein the vision-based sensor comprises at least one camera (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 25).
As per claim 4, Reiners discloses wherein the vision-based sensor is provided in operative association with an elevator assembly of the agricultural harvester (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 18 and 26).
As per claim 5, Reiners discloses wherein adjusting the speed ratio comprises increasing or decreasing a rotational speed of the feed roller assembly relative to a rotational speed of the chopper assembly (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 32 and 40).
As per claim 6, Reiners discloses wherein adjusting the speed ratio comprises increasing or decreasing a rotational speed of the chopper assembly relative to a rotational speed of the feed roller assembly (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 32 and 40).
As per claim 7, Reiners discloses wherein adjusting the speed ratio comprises adjusting a rotational speed of both the feed roller assembly and the chopper assembly (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 32 and 40).
As per claim 8, Reiners discloses wherein the length-related parameter comprises at least one an individual length of the one or more billets, an average length of the one or more billets, or a length distribution of the one or more billets (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 37 and 38).
As per claim 9, Reiners discloses further comprising determining a new speed ratio based on the comparison between the length-related parameter and the target length parameter range, wherein adjusting the speed ratio comprises adjusting the speed ratio to the new speed ratio (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 31 and 33).
As per claims 10-18, Reiners discloses the system (Reiners; At least paragraph(s) 2) for performing the method of claims 1-9. Therefore, claims 10-18 are rejected using the same citations and reasoning as applied to claims 1-9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892. The prior art shows the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID P MERLINO whose telephone number is (571)272-8362. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30am-3:00pm F 5:30-9:00 am ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin Bishop can be reached at 571-270-3713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David P. Merlino/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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