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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final Office Action on the merits in response to communications filed by Applicant on December 04, 2024. Claims 1-11 are currently pending and examined below.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: Examiner suggests replacing the condition "if" to "when" for positive recitation of the claimed subject matter. Appropriate correction is required.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Schoeny et al. US2019/0053421 (“Schoeny”).
Regarding claim(s) 1, 11. Schoeny discloses an agricultural machine comprising:
a traveling machine body equipped with a working implement including a plurality of ground working mechanisms to perform ground work ([0026] Still referring to FIG. 1, planter 7 may be one of the EARLY RISER® series planters available from Case IH and is typically pulled by a traction device such as a tractor, schematically represented as tractor 9. A frame 11 of the planter 7 supports multiple row units 13, only one of which is shown, that are substantially identical. Each row unit 13 includes various support, metering, and ground-engaging components.); and
a controller configured or programmed to: acquire work information indicating, with regard to each of areas of an agricultural field, whether or not the ground work is to be performed in a corresponding one of the areas ([0044] Referring again to FIG. 2, control system 201 includes tractor control system 203 and planter control system 205 that operably communicate with each other, for example, by way of an ISOBUS connection, for coordinating controls of tractor 9 (FIG. 1) and planter 7 (FIG. 1), including which seed variety(ies) 17a, 17b is delivered, based on the type or variety zones Variety-A, Variety-B, or other of the agricultural field.); and
when the traveling machine body travels in the agricultural field and the working implement passes through one of the areas, selectively actuate each of the ground working mechanisms based on the work information ([0027] the different compartments 23 may hold seed 17 of a different plant type or a common plant type but different varieties such as Variety-A and Variety-B schematically shown as circles and triangles indicated by 17a, 17b for planting in different type or variety zones of an agricultural field. The type or variety zones of the agricultural field may be defined at least in part by characteristics relating to at least one of soil type and management type, or other characteristics such as low/high ground areas, weed issues, insect issues, fungal issues, buffer zones in organic fields that are planted next to non-organic fields, or others, which may be represented in a prescription map, as is known. Although two different seed varieties 17a, 17b are shown, it is understood that other numbers of seed varieties, such as a third variety as Variety-C (not shown) or others, may be stored on and planted by the planter 7 based on, for example, the number of compartments 23 in the seed storage system 19 for a particular planter 7.).
Regarding claim(s) 2. Schoeny discloses wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: acquire the work information, with regard to each of the areas, indicating whether each of the ground working mechanisms is to perform the ground work in a corresponding one of the areas ([0024] FIG. 16 is a simplified representation of a prescription map shown on a path map of multiple variety planting of a field.); and
when the working implement passes through one of the areas, if the work information indicates that at least one of the ground working mechanisms is not to perform the ground work in the one of the areas, not actuate the at least one of the ground working mechanisms that is indicated not to perform the ground work in the one of the areas but actuate one or more of the ground working mechanisms that are indicated to perform the ground work in the one of the areas ([0044] The planter controller 211 commands delivery of the appropriate seed variety to seed meter 5 by way of manipulating selector pipe 71, which may include removing a deactivated seed variety from seed meter 5 with the purging system 33, to plant specific varieties in specific locations. The particular way in which control system 201 commands switching between seed varieties, including control of segmented feed pipe system 31 and/or purging system 33 to selectively define delivery and/or purging routes through the respective systems, also depends on the particular system and components configurations.).
Regarding claim(s) 3. Schoeny discloses wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: based on the work information, select, for each of the areas, one or more of the ground working mechanisms that are to perform the ground work in a corresponding one of the areas; and when the working implement passes through one of the areas, actuate the one or more of the ground working mechanisms selected to perform the ground work in the one of the areas ([0044] The planter controller 211 commands delivery of the appropriate seed variety to seed meter 5 by way of manipulating selector pipe 71, which may include removing a deactivated seed variety from seed meter 5 with the purging system 33, to plant specific varieties in specific locations. The particular way in which control system 201 commands switching between seed varieties, including control of segmented feed pipe system 31 and/or purging system 33 to selectively define delivery and/or purging routes through the respective systems, also depends on the particular system and components configurations.).
Regarding claim(s) 4. Schoeny discloses an accommodator to accommodate materials that are seeds or seedlings of crops; wherein the working implement includes, as the plurality of ground working mechanisms, a plurality of crop-planting mechanisms arranged in a width direction of the traveling machine body at a predetermined interval to plant the agricultural field with the materials accommodated in the accommodator; and the controller is configured or programmed to determine, for each of the areas, whether or not each of the crop-planting mechanisms is to plant the materials in a corresponding one of the areas ([0043-0044] Referring again to FIG. 2, when seed 17 in seed pool 35 has been sufficiently removed, then the next seed variety 17b may be introduced into seed meter 5. The amount of seeds or seed pool level may be determined by a sensor such as seed level sensor 199 that operably communicates with control system 201, that could be used to determine when the seed level has been reduced to an acceptably low level, or a determination of an acceptably low seed level could be based on predictive algorithms based on seed type and planting rate. Referring again to FIGS. 7-8, when it is time to release seed from seed return valve 155 for reintroduction into the compartment 23 of hopper 21, control system 201 (FIG. 2) may coordinate the release of seed from seed return valve 155 into compartment 23 with the determination of the acceptably low seed level in seed meter 5… Planter controller 211 also controls segmented feed pipe system 31 and purging system 33 by sensing various states and delivering control signals to automatically control the variety of seed that is in and delivered to seed pool 35 by controlling seed purging airflow system 27, including airflow through purge vacuum line 173, as well as controlling diverter drive system 145, sump inlet gate 68, and/or other actuators or controllable components with the segmented feed pipe system 31, purging system 33, and storage system 19, based on the type or variety zones Variety-A, Variety-B in the prescription map schematically represented in the path map of FIG. 16.).
Regarding claim(s) 6. Schoeny discloses a position detector to detect a position of the traveling machine body based on a satellite signal received from a satellite positioning system; wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: determine, based on the position of the traveling machine body detected by the position detector, which area of the areas is reached by the traveling machine body that is traveling; and by referring to specific information included in the work information that indicates whether or not the ground work is to be performed in the area reached by the traveling machine body, select one or more of the ground working mechanisms that are to perform the ground work in the area reached by the traveling machine body ([0044-0050] Tractor controller 207 is configured for controlling the functions of the tractor 9 by controlling, e.g., steering, speed, braking, shifting, and other operations of the tractor, which may include controlling various GPS steering or other GPS-related systems, transmission, engine, hydraulic, and/or other systems of the tractor 9. ).
Regarding claim(s) 7. Schoeny discloses wherein the plurality of ground working mechanisms are arranged in a width direction of the traveling machine body; and the controller is configured or programmed to, based on the work information and a traveling direction of the traveling machine body, select, for each of the areas, one or more of the ground working mechanisms that are to perform the ground work in a corresponding one of the areas ([0044] During use, control system 201 can determine planter position, speed, heading, and/or other movement characteristics by way of monitoring tractor position and movement through the tractor controller 207. Tractor controller 207 may evaluate, for example, a speed input signal from a tractor speed sensor along with a GPS signal or data from tractor GPS with respect to the prescription map. Using such evaluations, control system 201 determines which row units 13 should plant which seed variety(ies) 17a, 17b and when, to achieve such multi-seed variety planting. The planter controller 211 commands delivery of the appropriate seed variety to seed meter 5 by way of manipulating selector pipe 71, which may include removing a deactivated seed variety from seed meter 5 with the purging system 33, to plant specific varieties in specific locations.).
Regarding claim(s) 8. Schoeny discloses wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: create, based on the work information and a working width of the working implement, a travel route along which the traveling machine body is to travel with the working implement performing the ground work in the agricultural field; based on the work information and the travel route, select, for each of the areas, one or more of the ground working mechanisms that are to perform the ground work in a corresponding one of the areas; and during travel of the traveling machine body along the travel route, when the working implement passes through one of the areas, actuate the one or more ground working mechanisms selected to perform the ground work in the one of the areas ([0053] Referring generally to FIGS. 2-3 and with further reference to FIG. 16, one example of control system 201 (FIG. 2) commanding seed switching with purging or seed removal with two seed varieties 17a, 17b, in field with two variety zones may occur in the following way. Referring now to FIG. 16, a path map is shown with a simplified schematic representation of a prescription map of field 301 showing the two zones of Variety-A and Variety-B respectively shown as zones 303 and 305 for receiving the two different varieties of seed 17a, 17b. Tractor 9 (FIG. 1) and planter 7 (FIG. 1) travel along path 311 through field 301 while traveling through the Variety-A zone(s) 303 and Variety-B zone(s) 305. Seed variety switching events are shown as circles labeled as switching events 313.).
Regarding claim(s) 9. Schoeny discloses an assistor configured or programmed to create work information indicating, with regard to each of areas of an agricultural field, whether or not ground work is to be performed in a corresponding one of the areas ([0053] Referring generally to FIGS. 2-3 and with further reference to FIG. 16, one example of control system 201 (FIG. 2) commanding seed switching with purging or seed removal with two seed varieties 17a, 17b, in field with two variety zones may occur in the following way.).
Regarding claim(s) 10. Schoeny discloses wherein the agricultural machine includes a traveling machine body equipped with a working implement including a plurality of crop-planting mechanisms to plant the agricultural field with materials; and the assistor is configured or programmed to create, for each variety of the materials, the work information indicating, with regard to each of the areas, whether or not the plurality of crop-planting mechanisms are to plant the variety of materials in a corresponding one of the areas ([0053] As shown in FIG. 16, initially, steady state planting of seed variety 17a occurs until reaching the first seed-switching event 313 to change planting to variety 17b. As initial preparations for switching, such as when the planter 7 (FIG. 7) is a predetermined distance or time from the first-to-be-encountered seed-switching event 313, control system 201 (FIG. 2) may command closing sump inlet gate 68 (FIG. 3) to block further release of seed variety 17a, through sump inlet 49 (FIG. 3) and/or or may include energizing diverter drive system motor 147 (FIG. 3) to rotate diverter 105 and selector pipe 71 (FIG. 3) to cover the sleeve outlet port 67 (FIG. 3) and inlet ports 65a, 65b (FIG. 3). Control system 201 may command removal of at least some of deactivated seed 17a from seed pool 35 (FIG. 2) of seed meter 5 (FIG. 2).).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schoeny et al. US2019/0053421 (“Schoeny”) in view of Wendte et al. US2015/0351135 (“Wendte”).
Regarding claim(s) 5. Schoeny does not explicitly discloses clutches each operably switchable between an engaged state and a disengaged state and corresponds to each of the crop-planting mechanisms; wherein each of the crop-planting mechanisms includes a planting arm driven by power of a prime mover provided in or on the traveling machine body; the planting arms are each configured to: when a corresponding one of the clutches is in the engaged state, take out seedlings from the accommodator and plant the seedlings in the agricultural field; and when the corresponding clutch is in the disengaged state, not take out seedlings from the accommodator or not plant the seedlings in the agricultural field; and the controller is configured or programmed to: when one of the crop-planting mechanisms is to be actuated, switch a corresponding one of the clutches to the engaged state; and when one of the crop-planting mechanisms is not to be actuated, switch a corresponding one of the clutches to the disengaged state.
Wendte teaches another multiple seed-type metering system and method that uses clutches each operably switchable between an engaged state and a disengaged state and corresponds to each of the crop-planting mechanisms; wherein each of the crop-planting mechanisms includes a planting arm driven by power of a prime mover provided in or on the traveling machine body; the planting arms are each configured to: when a corresponding one of the clutches is in the engaged state, take out seedlings from the accommodator and plant the seedlings in the agricultural field; and when the corresponding clutch is in the disengaged state, not take out seedlings from the accommodator or not plant the seedlings in the agricultural field; and the controller is configured or programmed to: when one of the crop-planting mechanisms is to be actuated, switch a corresponding one of the clutches to the engaged state; and when one of the crop-planting mechanisms is not to be actuated, switch a corresponding one of the clutches to the disengaged state ([0010] the seed disk drive system includes a clutch arranged with respect to each of the first and second seed disk assemblies. Each clutch selectively engages/disengages transmission of a rotation driving power to the respective seed disk for permitting/preventing rotation of the corresponding seed disk of the first and second seed disk assemblies. The clutch may be an air clutch or an electromechanical clutch. This allows for a seed meter capable of delivering multiple types of seed by activating and/or deactivating multiple seed disks within the seed meter. [0037] [0037] Still referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, each seed meter 5 has a seed disk drive system 131 that is controlled by the control system 85 for selectively activating and/or deactivating the seed disk assemblies 51, 55. As shown in FIG. 2A, the seed meter 5a with the parallel and transversely aligned seed disks 53, 57 is shown with mechanical chain drives 133 that deliver rotating driving power from a rotating shaft 135 through clutches 137 and chains 139, which rotate sprockets that are attached to spindles 141 that drive rotation of the seed disks 53, 57. Clutches 137 may be, for example, air clutches or electromechanical clutches, noting that the corresponding drives may include pneumatic motors or electric motors. Regardless, the control system 85 is operably connected to each of the clutches 137 to either disengage and prevent transmission of the rotation driving power from the shaft 135 or engage and permit transmission of the rotation driving power from the shaft 135 to each of the seed disks 53, 57.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system and method of Schoeny with the applied teaching of Wendte above to improve a flow control of multiple seed-type in planting operation and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination would have been predictable with a reasonable expectation of success.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRUC M DO whose telephone number is (571)270-5962. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-6PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ramón Mercado, Ph.D. can be reached on (571) 270-5744. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRUC M DO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3658