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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on December 9, 2024. Claim 20 has been cancelled. Thus, claims 1-19 and 21 are pending. Claims 1, 10 and 21 are independent.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on December 9, 2024 and July 11, 2025 have been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. The Forms PTO-1449 are signed and attached hereto.
Election/Restrictions
Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-9, drawn to a header row unit, classified in A01D 41/14.
II. Claim 10-19 and 21, drawn to corn header snoot, classified in A01D 45/02.
During a telephone conversation with Kassandra Rittmer on August 6, 2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group 1, claims 1-9. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 10-19 and 21 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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.
(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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170013777 to Posselius et al. (hereinafter “Posselius”).
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Posselius.
With respect to independent claim 1, Posselius discloses (a) at least one non-contact distance sensor disposed on a header row unit (see claim 1: a header height control system including an electrical processing circuit which controls movement of the header; a non-contact sensor connected to the electrical processing circuit and positioned on at least one of the cab and the header, the non-contact sensor positioned to sense a crop canopy position ahead of the header);
(b) a processor in communication with the at least one non-contact distance sensor (see paragraph [0029]: The combine 10 further includes a controller 50 that is configured to receive signals from the sensors 26 and 30); and
(c) a height adjustment system configured to automatically adjust a height of the header row unit in response to detected distances by the at least one non-contact distance sensor (see claim 1: wherein the electrical processing circuit receives signals of the crop canopy position ahead of the header from the non-contact sensor and signals of the actual ground position from the contact sensor on the ground adjacent the header, and a distance between the sensed crop canopy at a location ahead of the header and the actual ground position below the header is determined, thereafter an actual ground position is sensed and determined by the contact sensor at the location in which the crop canopy was sensed by the non-contact sensor, and the electrical processing circuit moveably adjusts the header for receiving upcoming crop based upon at least those determinations.).
With respect to dependent claim 2, Posselius discloses wherein the at least one non- contact distance sensor is a Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor (see paragraph [0025]: the non-contact sensor 82 can be any suitable type of sensor which is capable of sensing the crop canopy 90 (i.e., the top of the crop being harvested). For example, the non-contact sensor 82 can be configured as an ultrasonic sensor, a radar sensor, a sonar sensor, a laser sensor, a microwave sensor, and/or a video camera.).
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 3-5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Posselius in view of EP4201189A1 to Lenaerts et al. (hereinafter “Lenaerts”).
With respect to dependent claim 3, Posselius does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one non- contact distance sensor is an array of Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors.
Lenaerts discloses a radar sensor arrangement 100. The radar sensor arrangement 100 is configured for monitoring the field in front of the header and comprises a first radar sensor 110, mounted to the header 18 on a support beam 120 and configured to emit radio waves along a downward direction towards the field in front of the cutter bar 34 and an inward direction towards a central longitudinal axis of the agricultural harvester 10. (See paragraph [0026]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the radar sensor arrangement Lenaerts with the non-contact sensor based header height control system of Posselius in order to enhance the non-contact sensor with multi-directional sensing.
With respect to dependent claim 4, Posselius does not explicitly teach wherein the system is configured to detect objects above ground as the header row unit passes over by detecting differences in distances between projection points of the array of Time-of-Flight sensors.
Lenaerts discloses many operating parameters of the header and the harvester itself are manually or automatically adjusted during the harvesting process. For example, a header height may be controlled to maintain a constant distance between the header and the ground or between the header and the top of the crop, a drive speed of the harvester may be adapted to the circumstances in the field, or a threshing and cleaning section of the combine harvester may be controlled in dependence of the amount of crop that is taken in per second. A position and rotational speed of a reel on a combine harvester header may be adjusted when approaching fallen crops. (See paragraph [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the radar sensor arrangement Lenaerts with the processing circuit of Posselius in order to distinguish ground profile from obstacles to identify an object above the ground or crop plane.
With respect to dependent claim 5, Posselius discloses wherein the height adjustment system is configured to lower the height of the header row unit in response to detecting lodged stalks (see paragraphs [0005] and [0017]: a non-contact type sensor which can sense the crop canopy or the ground below the crop canopy. the harvester can also be in the form of other types of self-propelled harvesters with height adjustable headers, such as self-propelled windrowers, forage harvesters, sugarcane harvesters, cotton pickers, etc.).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the radar sensor arrangement with automatic control of Lenaerts with the processing circuit of Posselius in order to respond to ground profile, crops or obstacles for adjusting operating parameters.
With respect to dependent claim 9, Posselius does not explicitly teach at least one radar sensor in communication with the processor configured to sense distance to ground.
Lenaerts discloses a radar sensor arrangement that is configured for monitoring the field in front of the header and comprises at least a first radar sensor, mounted to the header and configured to emit radio waves along a downward direction towards the field in front of the cutting or pick-up unit and an inward direction towards a central longitudinal axis of the agricultural harvester, under an angle (β) of about 30°-60° with a horizontal bottom plane of the header, measured in a front view of the header. (See paragraph [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the radar sensor arrangement Lenaerts with the processing circuit of Posselius in order to an effective downward-ground-sensing modality for improved ground or crop profile information.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 are 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEMETRA R SMITH-STEWART whose telephone number is (571)270-3965. The examiner can normally be reached 10am - 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Nolan can be reached at 571-270-7016. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEMETRA R SMITH-STEWART/Examiner, Art Unit 3661
/PETER D NOLAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3661
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