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 is in response to Applicant’s case, no. 18/985,721, with an effective filing date of 12/18/2024. Claims 1-9 are currently pending.
Priority
This is the first office action on the merits of the instant application which was filed 12/18/2024, claiming priority to JP 2023-218208, filed 12/25/2023. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. The application contains claims 1-9.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/18/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 line 3 contains a typographical error where an excavation reaction force calculated should be corrected to the excavation reaction force calculated.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 and 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “outside” in claim 3 (line 2) is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “outside” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The notification of the presence of the object is rendered indefinite because it is unclear whether the outside is proximal to the excavator (e.g., visual or auditory signal such as a light or a buzzer, respectively) or whether the notification is a communications transmission of greater distance (wireless communication to a management device).
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Regarding claim 5 line 3, the claim recites the limitation an excavation reaction force generated and it is unclear whether this is the same excavation reaction force recited in the claim 1 (lines 7-8) limitation of an excavation reaction force calculated.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kurkawa et al. (CN Pat. Pub. No. CN 111417757 A), hereinafter referred to as Kurkawa
Regarding claim 1, Kurkawa discloses:
A control device for an excavator, the control device comprising:
circuitry configured to control the excavator (pg. 3 ¶2 use of a control device, pg. 7 ¶12 sentence (s.)2 processing unit provided in the controller, and pg. 28 ¶7 s. 1 the use
of hydraulic and electric pilot circuits); and
a sensor configured to detect information about a ground raised by excavation (pg. 8 ¶8 s.1 operation pressure sensor and pg. 3 ¶1 s.1 underground object detector),
wherein the circuitry estimates presence or absence of a buried object based on at least one of an excavation reaction force calculated during excavation by an excavation attachment of the excavator (pg. 8 ¶8 s.1 operation pressure sensor which, based off of the Applicant’s disclosure in pg.13 lines (ln) 17-20, appears to qualify as an excavation reaction force) or information detected by the sensor (pg. 3 ¶1 s.1 underground object detector).
Regarding claim 2, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry controls a movement of the excavation attachment so as to avoid contact between the buried object and the excavation attachment when the presence of the buried object is estimated (pg.7 ¶2 s.1 controller functions as a control device that controls the driving of the shovel, which is construed as controlling the movement of the excavation attachment so as to necessarily avoid contact with the buried object).
Regarding claim 3, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry notifies an outside of the presence of the buried object when the presence of the buried object is estimated (pg.7 ¶1 s.3 communication device T1 controls communication between the shovel PS and a device located outside the shovel and pg. 22 ¶11 s.2. device that outputs sound to a worker outside the cab).
Regarding claim 4, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry estimates the presence or absence of the buried object based on at least one of an excavation reaction force calculated when the excavation attachment is moved along a predetermined trajectory to perform excavation or the information about the ground raised by excavation (see claim 1 regarding the estimation and pg. 29 ¶1 s.1-4 where a track acquiring unit acquires a target track and intaking information, which is construed as a predetermined trajectory and 29 ¶2 where the autonomous control unit operates the specific cylinders, which may necessarily provide reaction force calculations while the attachment is moved along the trajectory).
Regarding claim 5, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry estimates the presence or absence of the buried object based on at least one of an excavation reaction force generated when a bucket that is a part of the excavation attachment is moved in a direction approaching a body of the excavator to perform excavation or the information about the ground raised by excavation (see claim 1 and pg. 2 ¶3 s.2 underground object detector E1 derives the position and size of the underground object U1 from a plurality of combinations of the position of the underground object detector E1 and the distance between the underground object detector E1 and the underground object U1).
Regarding claim 6, Kurkawa discloses:
A control device for an excavator, the control device comprising:
circuitry configured to control the excavator; and
a sensor configured to detect information about a ground raised by excavation, wherein the circuitry estimates an arrangement of a buried object based on at least one of an excavation reaction force during excavation by an excavation attachment of the excavator or information detected by the sensor (see claim 1 and claim 5).
Regarding claim 7, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 6, wherein the information about the ground raised by excavation includes information about a range of a portion of an earth pile formed by the ground raised by excavation, the portion being located on a left side of a center plane of the excavation attachment extending in a front-rear direction, and information about a range of another portion of the earth pile formed by the ground raised by excavation, the another portion being located on a right side of the center plane ( see claim 1 pg.21 ¶8 a left sensor 70L attached to the left end of the upper surface of the upper revolving body, and a right sensor 70r attached to the right end of the upper surface of the upper revolving body and sensors that detect the inclination angle of the upper slewing body 3 about the front-rear axis).
Regarding claim 8, Kurkawa discloses:
The control device according to claim 6, wherein the excavation reaction force during excavation by the excavation attachment includes an excavation reaction force acting in a slewing direction (pg.21 ¶1 s.2 turning hydraulic motor as a turning actuator mounted on the upper turning body 3. However, the slewing actuator may be a slewing motor generator as an electric actuator).
Regarding claim 9, Kurkawa discloses:
An excavator, comprising:
the control device according to claim 1 (see claim 1);
a lower traveling body (see Fig. 12, below);
an upper slewing body mounted on the lower traveling body (see Fig. 12, below); and
an excavation attachment attached to the upper slewing body (see claim 1 and Fig. 12, below).
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Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see:
Wu (CN Pat. Pub. No. CN 108138459 B) is directed towards excavator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a lower traveling body (1); an upper revolving body (3) mounted on the lower traveling body (1); an excavation attachment attached to the upper slewing body (3); a posture detection device (M3) for detecting the posture of the excavation attachment; and a controller (30) that controls the bucket cutting edge angle (alpha) on the basis of information relating to the transition of the posture of the excavation attachment and the current shape of the excavation target ground, and the operation content of the operation device (26) relating to the excavation attachment;
Sano et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. 2020/0018045 A1) is directed towards control the projection device so as to enable visualization of the relationship between the current shape of the ground surface and the shape of a target surface; and
Koch (US Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0133128 A1) is directed towards a controller may be configured to receive information regarding a predetermined task for the machine, receive the machine's position, and receive a location of an obstacle at the excavation site
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to KEITH ALLEN VON VOLKENBURG whose telephone number is (703)756-5886. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin D. Bishop can be reached at (571) 270-3713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEITH A. VON VOLKENBURG/Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/Erin D Bishop/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665