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
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.
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, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamashita (US 20220090362).
Regarding claim 1, (Original) A work vehicle comprising: a monitoring device that monitors a driver that is seated in a driver's seat; (“The image taking part 40 serves as an image taking device for taking an image of the operator. The image taking part 40 can take an image, e.g., a still image, a video image, and other image. In the embodiment, the image taking part 40 includes a plurality of cameras 41, 42. Each of the cameras 41, 42 has a predetermined viewing angle, and is configured to take an image in a field of view at the angle. Information (a video image signal) concerning the image taken by each of the cameras is input to the controller 50.” Yamashita: paragraph 38)
and a support member that supports the monitoring device; wherein in a plan view, when a direction perpendicular to a width direction of the driver's seat is a front-rear direction, and a side the driver faces in the front-rear direction when seated in the driver's seat is a front side, the monitoring device is arranged in a position further forward than the driver's seat, and is offset in the width direction of the driver's seat with respect to a reference axis along the front-rear direction that passes through a center of the driver's seat in the width direction, and is supported by the support member. (cameras 41 and 42 being in front of the driver and offset to either side as seen in figure 2 of Yamashita)
Regarding claim 2, (Currently Amended) The work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a cabin that covers the driver's seat, wherein the cabin is further forward than the driver's seat, and has a first front pillar and a second front pillar that are arranged on one side and another side, respectively, in the width direction of the driver's seat, and the support member is constituted by at least one of the first front pillar and the second front pillar. (vehicle cabin as seen in figures 1 and 2 of Yamashita)
Regarding claim 3, (Original) The work vehicle according to claim 2, wherein when the one side in the width direction of the driver's seat is a right side, and the another side is a left side, the support member is constituted by a pillar that is arranged relatively on the right side among the first front pillar and the second front pillar. (the vehicle cabin having support members surrounding the cabin and supporting the two cameras 41 and 42 as seen in figures 1 and 2 of Yamashita)
Regarding claim 4, (Original) The work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a floor positioned on a forward, lower portion of the driver's seat, and extending in the width direction of the driver's seat, wherein the support member is provided standing on the floor, and supports the monitoring device. (the vehicle cabin having support members surrounding the cabin and supporting the two cameras 41 and 42 as seen in figures 1 and 2 of Yamashita)
Regarding claim 5, (Original) The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device monitors for least one of drowsiness, dozing, inattention, a physical state, and an undrivable state of the driver. (“The distraction determination part 52 determines, based on the image information concerning the image of the operator taken by the image taking part 40, whether the operator is distracted.” Yamashita: paragraph 45)
Regarding claim 10, (Currently Amended) The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a position in an up-down direction of the monitoring device that is supported by the support member is lower than an eye point corresponding to a position of an eye of the driver seated in the driver's seat. (cameras 41 and 42 being in front of the driver, below eyeline and offset to either side as seen in figure 2 of Yamashita)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 6, 7, 8, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita in view of Aoki (US 20210227155).
Regarding claim 6, (Original) The work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an assist monitor device that assists automatic straight travel, wherein the monitoring device is integrally provided with the assist monitor device is not specifically disclosed by Yamashita. Aoki discloses a signal processing system that is used for a vehicle control system (“FIG. 16 is a block diagram schematically depicting a functional configuration example of a vehicle control system 100 that is one example of a moving body control system to which the present technique is applicable.” Aoki: paragraph 148) that teaches motion detection for straight driving/travel (“The signal processing section 30-1 detects motion in a straight travel direction or in a rotation direction. For example, in a case where the image capturing system 10 is mounted on an automobile, the signal processing section 30-1 obtains, as a motion detection result, the speed of the automobile or the steering angle of a steering wheel” Aoki: paragraph 62) for help with automatic driving (“For example, in a case where the input section 101 communicates with the automatic-driving control section 112 over the communication network 121, a simple expression that the input section 101 communicates with the automatic-driving control section 112 is used.” Aoki: paragraph 151). Modifying Yamashita to include motion detecting sensors for detecting straight driving/travel along with automatic driving vehicle control would increase the overall utility of the system by providing the user with means to help with driving control of the vehicle. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Yamashita according to Aoki.
Regarding claim 7, (Original) The work vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the assist monitor device is provided with an information output unit and an output control unit, and the output control unit outputs a warning from the information output unit when the monitoring device detects an abnormality of the driver. (“When at least one of a determination by the manipulation determination part 51 and a determination by the distraction determination part 52 is impossible, the notification control part 55 is configured to control the notification device 60 to notify the operator of determination information concerning the determination” Yamashita: paragraph 52)
Regarding claim 8, (Currently Amended) The work vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the information output unit includes a display unit, and the output control unit outputs a warning on the display unit when the monitoring device detects the abnormality of the driver. (“The notification device 60 has, for example, at least one of a sound emitter for emitting a sound, a light emitter for emitting light, and a display device for displaying a character or a shape.” Yamashita: paragraph 41)
Regarding claim 9, (Currently Amended) The work vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the information output unit includes a sound output unit, and the output control unit outputs a warning sound from the sound output unit when the monitoring device detects the abnormality of the driver. (“The notification device 60 has, for example, at least one of a sound emitter for emitting a sound, a light emitter for emitting light, and a display device for displaying a character or a shape.” Yamashita: paragraph 41)
Conclusion
Related Art:
US 20230035095 – machinery driver monitoring system
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/TRAVIS R HUNNINGS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689