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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhu (9,097,800).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu discloses a detection system for a work site, the detection system comprising:
A current terrain data storage unit (114) that stores current terrain data of the work site where a work machine (column 6 line 4-5) operates (column 18 lines 23-31)
A first detection data acquisition unit (Radar -630) that acquires detection data of a first sensor that detects surroundings of the work machine (column 15 lines 48-64)
A determination unit that determines whether specific data detected by the first sensor is noise or an obstacle on a basis of the current terrain data (column 18 line 23-49)
Regarding claim 2, Zhu discloses a second detection data acquisition unit (Lidar - 620) that acquires detection data of a second sensor that detects a three dimensional shape of the work site and a current terrain data creation unit that creates the current terrain data on a bases of the detection data of the second sensor (column 18 line 50 through column 19 line 2).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu discloses that when the determination unit determines the specific data is an obstacle, the current terrain data creation unit assigns an attribute of the obstacle to a part of three dimensional data corresponding to the specific data (column 20 lines 8-45).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu disclose that the three dimensional data includes height data of each of a plurality of detection points defined on a surface of a terrain of a work site and the current terrain data creation unit assigns an attribute of the obstacle to the detection point corresponding to the specific data (column 15 line 65 through column 16 line 9).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu discloses a detection method for a work site comprising storing current terrain data of the work site where a work machine operates, acquiring detection data of a first sensor (630) that detects surroundings of the work machine and determining whether specific data detected by the first sensor is noise or an obstacle on a basis of the current terrain data (column 18 line 23-49) (column 20 lines 8-45).
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.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (9,097,800).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu discloses that the first sensor is a radar sensor (620) and the second sensor is a laser (lidar 630) and discloses that the work machine could be an earth moving machine or construction vehicle but fails to specifically disclose a bulldozer. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to implement this detection system on a bulldozer, as Applicant has not disclosed that it solves any stated problem of the prior art or is for any particular purpose. It appears that the invention would perform equally well as the invention disclosed by Zhu since Zhu discloses that the detection system can be used on construction vehicles, earthmoving vehicles and farm equipment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Vilar et al. (2022/0365536) also discloses a radar/lidar combination worksite monitoring system for a bulldozer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamie L McGowan whose telephone number is (571)272-5064. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00-5:00 CST.
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/JAMIE L MCGOWAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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