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 § 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.
Claims 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barnett (US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0071116) in view of Sloan (US Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0375101).
In reference to claim 1, Barnett discloses a harvesting header 14 comprising:
a set of centrally disposed conditioner rolls 34 and 35 (par. 0107) disposed in a center opening 30 of the header 14 configured to condition crop as the header 14 moves across a field in a direction of travel (par. 0107);
a cutter bed 24 comprising:
a plurality of rotary cutters 26 extending across the path of travel of the header 14 to define a cutting plane, each rotary cutter 26 being rotatable about an upright axis (Fig. 1), the conditioner rolls 34 and 35 being behind the cutter bed 24 to condition crop cut by the rotary cutter bed 24 (Fig. 3), wherein the plurality of rotary cutters 26 comprises a set of inboard rotary cutters disposed inboard of lateral limits of the center opening 30 (Fig. 5) and a set of outboard rotary cutters 56 and 61 on either side of the center opening 30, wherein the set of outboard cutters 56 and 61 on each side of the cutter bed comprises an outboard rotary cutter 61;
an outer impeller 40 fixed to the outboard rotary cutter 61 for rotation therewith about an impeller axis parallel with the upright axis of the outboard rotary cutter 61 to convey cut crop material laterally inwardly toward the center opening 30 of the header 14 (Fig. 5, par. 0109); and
at least one crop conveying spinner 240 mounted outboard the center opening 30 on either side of the center opening 30 (Fig. 5), wherein each crop conveyance spinner 240 has an upright disc, wherein the disc is mounted for rotation on a shaft (Fig. 5, about axis 241), the shaft forming a spinner axis 241, wherein the spinner axis 241 is perpendicular with the impeller axis (Fig. 5).
Barnett fails to disclose that spinner having a plurality of paddles attached to a front face of the disc.
Sloan discloses a spinner 54 having a plurality of paddles 76a and 76b attached to a front face 72 of the spinner 54 (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include paddles on the spinner with a reasonable expectation of success so that crop material will be more efficiently pushed towards the center opening.
In reference to claim 3, Barnett discloses that the header 14 has a first crop conveying spinner 240 outboard the center opening 30 on a first side of the header 14 and a second crop conveying spinner 240 outboard the center opening 30 on a second side of the header 14 (Fig. 5).
In reference to claim 4, Barnett discloses that the rotating spinner 240 has a lower portion generally below the shaft and an upper portion generally above the shaft, and the spinner 240 rotates in a direction such that the paddles while in the lower portion of the disc contact the crop and move the crop towards the center opening 30 (par. 0134, “The member is located at a height on the wall 224 above the respective cutter disks”; this would result in the lower portion contacting the crop material).
In reference to claim 5, Barnett discloses that the rotating spinner 240 has a lower portion generally below the shaft and an upper portion generally above the shaft, with the disc having a diameter such that the shaft of the spinner is above the flow of the crop cut by the rotary cutters (par. 0134, “The member is located at a height on the wall 224 above the respective cutter disks”).
In reference to claim 6, Barnett discloses that the disc 240 is circular in shape (par. 0134, “frusto-conical member”).
In reference to claim 7, Sloan discloses four paddles 76a and 76b positioned equidistant around a circumference of the spinner (Fig. 4).
In reference to claim 8, Barnett discloses that the disc 240 is oriented so that the front face is positioned parallel with the flow of crop from the outboard rotary cutters 61 toward the center opening 30 (Fig. 5).
In reference to claim 9, Barnett doesn’t disclose a particular motive force (par. 0134), but does disclose that it rotates, implying some kind of motive force is provided.
In reference to claim 10, Barnett discloses that the outer impeller 40 is fixed to the outermost outboard rotary cutter 61 for rotation therewith (Fig. 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Stolarski et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0251705) discloses a header with rotating impellers 2 (Fig. 1); Stephenson et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0174050) discloses a header with a spinner 41 (Fig. 1); and Rosembalm et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0016837) discloses a header with impellers 98 (Fig. 2) and spinners 126 (Fig. 4).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRAD HARCOURT whose telephone number is (571)272-7303. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Doug Hutton can be reached at (571)272-4137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRAD HARCOURT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674
6/23/26
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