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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1-7, 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Eichhorn et al. (2019/0254223).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 12, Eichhorn et al. discloses a row unit (1) and method for an agricultural sowing machine for depositing material to be spread on agricultural arable land, comprising;
- at least one furrow opening element (2A), in particular a colter, which is provided for opening a seed furrow (12);
- at least one material depositing device (4) which is provided for supplying the material to be spread as required and for depositing the material to be spread within said seed furrow (12);
- at least one depth guidance element (3A) which is provided for setting a defined depositing depth and/or covering height for the material to be spread and/or a defined penetrating depth of the furrow opening element (2A) into the ground of the arable land;
and at least one associated electronic evaluation device (24) which comprises several sensors (14A,14B) associated with said row unit (20), wherein said several sensors (14A, 14B) are configured to scan the arable land preferably said seed furrow (12) and/or said ground of the arable land (pgphs 0031-0032), without contact within a detection region associated with said respective several sensors (14A, 14B) (Figure 4), and wherein said evaluation device (24) is configured to determine by way of said several sensors (14A, 14B) the depositing depth and/or covering height of the material to be spread that is deposited in said seed furrow (12) and/or the penetrating depth of said furrow opening element (23) (pgph s0031-0033);
characterized in that wherein said several sensors (14A, 14B) are arranged such that said detection region of said several sensors (14A, 14B) during the deposition of the material to be spread and in the direction of travel and/or work of said row unit (1) is arranged and/or disposed behind a bearing surface of said at least one depth guidance element (3A) (Figure 4).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, the several sensors (14A, 14B) are arranged behind an axis of rotation of the at least one depth guidance element (3A) (Figure 4).
Regarding claims 3 and 6, the detection region of at least one of the several sensors (14A, 14B) is oriented at least in part toward a region (broad) of the ground pressed on by said at least one depth guidance element of said depth guidance element (3A) (pgph 0076).
Regarding claim 4, the detection region of at least one of said several sensors (14A, 14B) is oriented at least in part toward said open seed furrow (Figure 4).
Regarding claim 5, the detection region of a first one of said sensors (14A) is oriented toward the region (broad) of said ground pressed on by said at least one depth guidance element (3A) and of a second one of said several sensors (14B) is oriented toward said open seed furrow (Figure 4).
Regarding claim 7, said detection regions of said sensors (14A, 14B) are offset from one another transverse to the direction of travel and/OR work of said row unit (offset front to back as shown in Figure 4 is offset in the work direction).
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eichhorn et al. (2019/0254223) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Hubner et al. (2022/0000008).
Regarding claim 8, Eichhorn discloses the invention as described above but fails to disclose that one of the sensors can be located behind a closing wheel. Eichhorn does, however, disclose that sensors can be mounted in various different locations (pgph 0076). Like Eichhorn, Hubner also discloses a sensor system for a furrow opener. Unlike Eichhorn, Hubner discloses that multiple sensors can be used in multiple different locations, including behind a closing wheel (pgph 0029). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place multiple sensors in multiple locations, including behind a closing wheel in Eichhorn as taught by Hubner as it would be combining prior art elements according to known methods to obtain predictable results (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eichhorn et al. (2019/0254223) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Zielke (10,362,726).
Regarding claim 9, Eichhorn disclose the invention as described above but fails to disclose determining the furrow depth and/or depth/location of the seed/material after it has been placed in the furrow. Like Eichhorn, Zielke also discloses a planter having a work layer sensor (100B) positioned rearwardly on the row unit and further utilizes a pressing device to ensure that the material engages the bottom of the furrow and which determines actual seed depth and seed position. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a firming element with sensing system in Eichhorn to sense the deposited seed and determine its actual depth within the soil as taught by Zielke in order to verify actual seed placement depth and thereby determine whether the seed has been deposited at the desired depth rather than relying solely on the measured depth of the furrow as the use of a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)).
Claim(s) 10 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eichhorn et al. (2019/0254223) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Kuhn (EP3821707A1).
Regarding claim 10, Eichhorn discloses the invention as described above but fails to disclose the plausibility checks as claimed. Like Eichhorn, Kuhn also discloses an agricultural planter with contactless sensors. Unlike Eichhorn, Kuhn discloses that measured sensor values are compared with predetermined or normally expected operating parameters in the form of limit values or ranges and are filtered out when they lack plausibility (pgphs 0008-0012). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize plausibility filters in Eichhorn as taught by Kuhn as the use of a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)) to ensure accurate data and results are being achieved by removing erroneous values.
Regarding claim 15, the combination discloses predefinable operating parameters are used by the evaluation device to determine plausibility. Eichhorn further discloses that at least one of a colter pressure, a bearing force of said row unit and a condition of the arable land are predefinable operating parameters (gauge wheel load input signals 102 are compared to set point 116). The combination therefore discloses that the colter pressure, bearing force or condition of the land can be used to determine plausibility.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Walter (11,202,404) also discloses non contact sensors for a row unit.
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/JAMIE L MCGOWAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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