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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/18/2026 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 02/18/2026 is being entered. Claims 1-7 and 10-21 are pending. Claims 1-3 and 6 are amended. Claims 8-9 are cancelled. Claims 10-21 are new. The amendment overcomes the previous 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection. The Examiner notes that all the claims were not examined due to a mislabeling of the last page of the claims to be an abstract. A new 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection is applied herein after further consideration of the previously unexamined features. A new non-final is submitted herein.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 14, the claim recites “a posture in which an excavation target in an amount corresponding to a bucket volume can be scoop in the bucket”. The word “scoop” is incorrect in this limitation and should be “scooped” 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimizu (WO 2020203596 A1) hereinafter Shimizu.
Regarding claim 1, Shimizu discloses a work machine comprising:
a vehicular body that can travel [see Figure 1 below - depicts a work machine 1 and a vehicle body 2];
a work implement including a bucket [see Figure 1 below - depicts a work implement 3 with a bucket 6],
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Figure 1 of Shimizu
the work implement performing an excavation work with the bucket [see Figure 3 below - depicts the work implement 3 performing excavation work with the bucket 6]; and
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Figure 3 of Shimizu
a controller [see Figure 2B below – depicts 102B (computer with calculation unit 161)], wherein the controller:
obtains mechanical data on an operation of the vehicular body and the work implement [see Paragraph 0107 - First, in step S201, the elapsed time and machine data are acquired. The computer 102B, more specifically, the calculation unit 161 calculates the elapsed time from the start of the excavation work at a certain time during the excavation work. Further, the calculation unit 161 is based on the detection results of various sensors including the first hydraulic pressure detector 95, the accelerator operation detection unit 81b, the T / M output rotation speed sensor 92, and the engine rotation speed sensor 91, and the machine data at the time. Is calculated. The input data 191 shown in FIG. 10 includes elapsed time and machine data.],
calculates a target posture of the work implement during the excavation work based on the mechanical data [see Paragraph 0108 - Next, in step S202, the target posture of the work machine 3 is estimated. The computer 102B, more specifically, the target posture estimation unit 165 acquires the trained target posture estimation model 180 by reading the target posture estimation model 180 and the optimum values of the learned parameters from the storage device 104. The target posture estimation unit 165 uses the elapsed time and machine data calculated by the calculation unit 161 as input data 191 to the target posture estimation model 180. The target attitude estimation unit 165 inputs the elapsed time and machine data to each unit included in the input layer 181 of the trained target attitude estimation model 180. An estimated target posture that estimates the target posture of the work equipment 3 during excavation work from the output layer 183 of the trained target posture estimation model 180, specifically, an angle output value 197 including a boom angle θ1 and a bucket angle θ2 (FIG. 10) is output.],
receives, at a trained model, the mechanical data as an input [see Paragraph 0108 – discusses that the mechanical (machine) data is input to the target posture estimation module];
outputs, by the trained model, the target posture, the trained model is trained to output as the target posture, a posture in which an excavation target in an amount corresponding to a bucket volume can be scoop in the bucket [see Paragraph 0108-0111 – discusses that during excavation work (digging) that the outputted target posture based on the mechanical data is determined – therefore, when the vehicle is excavating and the target posture is adjusted during excavating, an amount will be loaded that corresponds to a volume of the bucket], and
calculates an accelerator opening necessary for excavation of a target amount of excavated soil [see Paragraph 0072 - The calculation unit 161 (of the computer 102B) receives an input of a detection signal for detecting the engine speed from the engine speed sensor 91. The calculation unit 161 calculates the fuel supply amount to the engine 21 based on the accelerator operation amount, and the load amount of the excavation object 100 such as earth and sand into the bucket 6 is based on the hydraulic pressure in the oil chamber of the boom cylinder 16. The calculation is performed, and the loading amount of the excavated object per fuel supply amount (that is, the fuel consumption rate) is calculated (target amount)], and
the controller controls the operation of the work implement such that a posture of the work implement is set to the target posture [see Paragraphs 0109-0111 - Next, in step S203, the computer 102B operates the work machine 3 based on the estimated target posture. The target boom angle θ1 is output from the target posture estimation unit 165 to the boom control unit 168. The boom control unit 168 outputs a control signal to the boom cylinder 16 based on the target boom angle θ1. By expanding or contracting the boom cylinder 16 that receives the control signal, automatic control is performed to operate the boom 14 so that the actual value of the boom angle θ1 approaches the target value. The target bucket angle θ2 is output from the target posture estimation unit 165 to the bucket control unit 169. The bucket control unit 169 outputs a control signal to the bucket cylinder 19 based on the target bucket angle θ2. As the bucket cylinder 19 that receives the control signal expands or contracts, automatic control is performed to operate the bucket 6 so that the actual value of the bucket angle θ2 approaches the target value.] and
controls travel of the vehicular body based on the accelerator opening [see Paragraph 0046 - The accelerator operating member 81a is operated to set the target rotation speed of the engine 21. The accelerator operating member 81a is, for example, an accelerator pedal. When the operating amount of the accelerator operating member 81a (in the case of the accelerator pedal, the amount of depression) is increased, the vehicle body accelerates.].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 and 10-22 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.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance. The claimed invention is directed at a work machine that allows automatic and accurate scoop of a designated amount of soil.
Shimizu fails to disclose:
Claim 10 and 16 features:
“calculates a target boom cylinder pressure to be applied to the boom cylinder and target traction force of the work machine based on the target amount of excavated soil, and the accelerator opening based on the target boom cylinder pressure and the target traction force.”, or
Claim 6 features:
“an input device that receives an input of a total weight of an excavation target to be loaded on a load target, wherein when the total weight is larger than a bucket volume, the controller divides the total weight into a plurality of weights equal to or less than the bucket volume, and calculates the accelerator opening with the weight obtained by division being set as the target amount of excavated soil.”.
The Examiner further emphasizes the claims as a whole and hereby asserts that the totality of the evidence fails to set forth, either explicitly or implicitly, an appropriate rationale for further modification of the evidence at hand to arrive at the claimed invention. The combination of features as claimed would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art as combining various references from the totality of the evidence to reach the combination of features as claimed would require a substantial reconstruction of Applicant’s claimed invention relying on improper hindsight bias. It is thereby asserted by the Examiner that, in light of the above and in further deliberation over all of the evidence at hand, that the claims are allowable as the evidence at hand does not anticipate the claims and does not render obvious any further modification of the references to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shayne M Gilbertson whose telephone number is (571)272-4862. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday - Friday: 10:30 AM - 9:30 PM EST.
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/SHAYNE M. GILBERTSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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