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.
Claim(s) 1-14 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Horsch (DE102019108987).
Horsch disclose a method for controlling lift position on an agricultural attachment machine during a cultivation operation on agricultural arable land comprising temporarily lifting at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device (30) of said agricultural attachment machine (10) from a working position (working position, see page 3 first paragraph) to a first predefined lifting position (headland position, see page 3 first paragraph) of at least two predefined lifting positions in at least one first category of maneuvering processes, and temporarily lifting said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device of said agricultural attachment machine from said working position to a second predefined lifting position (transport position, page 3 first paragraph) of said at least two predefined lifting positions in at least one second category of maneuvering processes.
With respect to claim 2, Horsch disclose comprising one or both of the following steps: assigning at least one maneuvering process to said first or said second
category of maneuvering processes prior to the maneuvering process
being performed (headland position); assigning at least one maneuvering process to said first or said second category of maneuvering processes while the maneuvering process is being performed (transport position).
With respect to claim 3, Horsch disclose the assignment of the at least one maneuvering process to the first or the second category of maneuvering processes is carried out as a function of a current direction of travel and/or an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural attachment machine (see page 3 paragraph 2, adjusted to accommodate travel paths).
With respect to claim 4, Heinz disclose wherein - said agricultural attachment machine does not reverse during the maneuvering processes of the first category, and - said agricultural attachment machine does reverse during the maneuvering processes of the second category (wherein the transport position away from the process is considered reverse).
With respect to claim 5, Horsch disclose wherein - during the maneuvering processes of the first category, no cornering takes place and/or said agricultural attachment machine performs cornering in which a limit value for the machine tilt is likely notto be exceeded (see figure 3A); and - during the maneuvering processes of the second category, said agricultural attachment machine performs cornering in which a limit value for the machine tilt is likely to be reached or exceeded (see figure 4A).
With respect to claim 6, Horsch disclose - determining the current direction of travel and/or an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural attachment machine, wherein the current direction of travel- and/or an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural attachment machine is determined based on - the current machine configuration or an impending change in the machine configuration of said attachment machine (wherein the machine goes from working to headland to transport and as such based on the current machine configuration), and/or - the current operating status or an impending change in the operating status of said attachment machine.
With respect to claim 7, Horsch disclose the current direction of travel and/or an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural attachment machine is determined based on - the current speed of motion and/or an impending change in the speed of motion of said attachment machine, and/or the current geographical position of said attachment machine and/or an impending path of motion of said attachment machine (see paragraphs 45-47 and 54).
With respect to claim 8, Horsch disclose wherein said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device (10) is disposed at a first lifting height at the first predefined lifting position (headland position) and at a second lifting height at the second predefined lifting position (transport position), where the second lifting height (H2) is higher than the first lifting height (see figures 3B and 4B and last paragraph page 5).
With respect to claim 9, Horsch disclose wherein at least one soil and/or material depositing device (10) is lifted to the first predefined lifting position by carrying out a first lifting motion (via 110) of said at least one soil and/or material depositing device and said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device is lifted to the second predefined lifting position by carrying out a second lifting motion (via 110) of said at least one soil processing and/or material depositing device wherein the second lifting motion of said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device goes beyond the first predefined lifting position of said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device (10) when said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device is lifted to the second predefined lifting position (see figure 4B).
With respect to claim 10, Horsch disclose wherein the first and/or the second lifting motion is a linear motion (see figure 3A to 4A, wherein this motion is considered linear); and/or the first and/or the second lifting motion is a pivoting motion, wherein the pivoting motion is carried out about a pivot axis extending transverse or parallel to the current direction of travel (see figure 3A and 3B).
With respect to claim 11, Horsch disclose wherein the first lifting motion and the second lifting motion are carried out simultaneously at least in part when said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device is lifted (wherein this is considered simultaneous as the headland position must occur before the transport position, so the overlap is considered simultaneous).
With respect to claim 12, Horsch disclose wherein the material flow of a seed flow and/or of a fertilizer flow to said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device is controlled as a function of a current lifting position of said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device (wherein the position is controlled based on the starting point, see page 3 paragraphs 6-7) and/or an impending or current change in the current lifting position of said at least one material depositing device.
With respect to claim 13, Horsch disclose wherein lifting at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device of said agricultural attachment machine is controlled with a control device (200) as a function of the current direction of travel and/or of an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural attachment machine.
With respect to claim 14, Horsch disclose a control system for controlling lifting
position of an agricultural attachment machine during a cultivation operation on agricultural arable land characterized by a control device (200) which is configured to
cause temporary lifting of at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device
(10) of said agricultural attachment machine from a working position to a first predefined lifting position (headland position) of at least two predefined lifting positions in at least a first category of maneuvering processes, and to cause temporary lifting of said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device of said agricultural attachment machine from the working position to a second predefined lifting position of the at least two predefined lifting positions (transport position) in at least a second category of maneuvering processes.
With respect to claim 16, Horsch disclose further comprising: a lifting adjustment device (100) which is configured to lift said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device to the first or the second lifting position, wherein said control device is configured to control said lifting adjustment device for lifting said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device to the first or the second lifting position as a function of a current direction of travel and/or an impending change in the current direction of travel of said agricultural cultivation machine (see abstract and page 4 paragraph 4).
With respect to claim 17, Horsch disclose wherein said control system (200) is configured to carry out the method for controlling the lift position on an agricultural attachment machine during a cultivation operation on agricultural arable land comprising: temporarily lifting at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing
device of said agricultural attachment machine from a working position to a first predefined lifting position (headland position) of at least two predefined lifting positions in at least one first category of maneuvering processes, and temporarily lifting said at least one soil cultivating and/or material depositing device of said agricultural attachment machine from said working position to a second predefined lifting position (transport position) of said at least two predefined lifting positions in at least one second category of maneuvering processes.
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) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horsch in view of Beier (DE102010025944).
With respect to claim 15, Horsch does not disclose a switching device. Beier disclose a switching device (1) which is configured to change material flow of a seed flow and/or of a fertilizer flow to said and/or material depositing device where said control device is configured to control said switching device for changing the material flow of the seed flow and/or of the fertilizer flow to said soil cultivating and/or material depositing devices as a function of the current lifting position of said soil cultivating and/or material depositing devices and/or an impending or current change in the lifting position of said soil cultivating and/or material depositing devices (see abstract and “When turning the distributor 3 at the edge of the field, ie on the headland, the sowing is interrupted and the working equipment 2 raised so that the cultivation of the soil is avoided. Both lifting the work equipment 2 as well as the exhibition of the sowing on the headland should be made as exact as possible at the field edge reliably. On the other hand, sowing while driving over the soil is not due to a malfunction of the switching device 1 to be interrupted”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Horsch by including a switching device as taught by Beier with a reasonable expectation of success in order to control the distribution of see/fertilizer.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/18/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that claims 1 and 14 recite that the controlling of the lifting position occurs during a cultivation operation and that the transport position cannot be the second predefined lifting position during a cultivation operation, as recited in claims 1 and 14. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant’s arguments rely on language solely recited in preamble recitations in claim(s). When reading the preamble in the context of the entire claim, the recitation “during a cultivation operation” is not limiting because the body of the claim describes a complete invention and the language recited solely in the preamble does not provide any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations. Thus, the preamble of the claim(s) is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction. See Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999). See MPEP § 2111.02.
The Applicant also argues that Horsch does not disclose the first and second categories of maneuvering processes recited in the independent claims 1 and 14. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As noted above, the headland position is a lifting position in a first maneuvering process and the transport position is a lifting position in the second category of maneuvering processes. It is noted that the claim does not define what the maneuvering processes are, or even that they are different from each other, and therefore when the device is in the headland position it is during a first maneuvering process and when the device is in the transport position it is during a second maneuvering process. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., simple turns and reverse travel) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICOLE A COY whose telephone number is (571)272-5405. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6am-3:30pm.
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/Nicole Coy/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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