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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-5, 13-16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marsolek (US 2018/0030672).
As per claim 1, Marsolek teaches a method for operating a road paver having a laterally extendable paving screed (road paver 10; see at least para. 20 for extendable screed assembly 18), comprising:
performing a paving run with the road paver along a paving path extending along a paving edge (see at least Fig. 2A-C for example paving run with edge lines 64 and 66);
during the paving run, detecting the paving edge at a position located ahead of a rear edge of the paving screed with respect to a paving direction using an edge sensor attached to the road paver (see at least para. 27-31 for camera mounted on road paver and generate image data of a region in front of road paver to detect an edge line);
during the paving run, storing data based on the detection of the paving edge, from which data a course of the paving edge can be reconstructed during the paving run in a current paver-fixed coordinate system (see at least para. 34 for three dimensional position of edge line with respect to a reference point on the road paver; Marsolek is not explicit regarding storing the data however it would have been obvious, if not inherent, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the edge line position is stored for use when the screed reaches said position since the edge line position is detected before the screed reaches said edge line position and if the screed width was changed at the instance of detection then the paving would not follow closely to the arcuate section 164B as depicted in Fig. 2B and para. 48); and
during the paving run, adjusting a lateral extension position of the paving screed to a desired lateral distance between
Marsolek is not explicit regarding the desired lateral distance being between the rear edge of the paving screed and the paving edge. However Marsolek teaches that the sides of the screed are a fixed distance from the rear edge of the screed in as depicted in Figs. 2A-2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method to control the rear edge of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance since by controlling sides of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance the rear edge of the screed is also controlled to follow the edge line at a target distance due to the rear edge of the screed being a fixed distance from the sides of the screed.
As per claim 2, Marsolek teaches wherein storing the data comprises storing positions of points of the paving edge detected by the edge sensor (the limitation is addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
As per claim 3, Marsolek teaches wherein the positions of points of the paving edge detected by the edge sensor are each stored as a two-dimensional location vector (the limitation is addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
As per claim 4, Marsolek teaches wherein storing the data comprises storing positions of points of the paving edge detected by the edge sensor as coordinates in a paver-fixed coordinate system (the limitation is addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
As per claim 5, Marsolek teaches wherein storing the data comprises storing positions of points of the paving edge detected by the edge sensor initially as coordinates in a paver-fixed coordinate system that is the current paver-fixed coordinate system at a time of detection of the respective position (the limitation is addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
As per claim 13, Marsolek teaches wherein storing the data comprises storing positions of points of the paving edge detected by the edge sensor, and wherein adjusting the lateral extension position comprises selecting one of the stored positions of points of the paving edge and using it to determine a target value for the lateral extension position of the paving screed (the limitation is addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above).
As per claim 14, a road paver (road paver 10) comprising:
a laterally extendable paving screed (see at least para. 20 for extendable screed assembly 18);
an edge sensor configured to detect, during a paving run, a paving edge at a position located ahead of a rear edge of the paving screed with respect to a paving direction (see at least para. 27-31 for camera mounted on road paver and generate image data of a region in front of road paver to detect an edge line);
a controller (controller 52); and
a data storage (see at least para. 24 for a memory and secondary storage device);
wherein the controller is configured to store data in the data storage during the paving run based on the detection of the paving edge, from which a course of the paving edge can be reconstructed in a current paver-fixed coordinate system during the paving run (see at least para. 34 for three dimensional position of edge line with respect to a reference point on the road paver; Marsolek is not explicit regarding storing the data however it would have been obvious, if not inherent, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the edge line position is stored for use when the screed reaches said position since the edge line position is detected before the screed reaches said edge line position and if the screed width was changed at the instance of detection then the paving would not follow closely to the arcuate section 164B as depicted in Fig. 2B and para. 48); and
wherein the controller is configured to adjust a lateral extension position of the paving screed during the paving run to a desired lateral distance between
Marsolek is not explicit regarding the desired lateral distance being between the rear edge of the paving screed and the paving edge. However Marsolek teaches that the sides of the screed are a fixed distance from the rear edge of the screed in as depicted in Figs. 2A-2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system to control the rear edge of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance since by controlling sides of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance the rear edge of the screed is also controlled to follow the edge line at a target distance due to the rear edge of the screed being a fixed distance from the sides of the screed.
As per claim 15, Marsolek further teaches wherein the edge sensor is configured to detect a distance between a position of the edge sensor at the road paver and the paving edge along a lateral direction perpendicular to the paving direction (see at least para. 34 for distance between camera system and position of the identified edge line; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the measurement would be along a lateral direction perpendicular to the paving direction when the edge line is straight the then paver machine is travelling parallel to said edge line).
As per claim 16, Marsolek further teaches wherein the data storage comprises a data register, and wherein the controller is configured to store positions of the paving edge detected sequentially by the edge sensor during paving as coordinates in the data register (see at least para. 24 for a memory and secondary storage device; see storage of position in the rejection of claim 1; while Marsolek is not explicit regarding storing the positions detected sequentially it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that positions are stored as they detected so as to not lose the data or have the data overwritten).
As per claim 18, Marsolek teaches a method for operating a road paver having a laterally extendable paving screed (road paver 10; see at least para. 20 for extendable screed assembly 18), the method comprising:
storing, in a data register, positions of points of a paving edge detected successively during a paving run of the road paver ahead of a rear edge of the paving screed of the road paver (see at least para. 27-31 for camera mounted on road paver and generate image data of a region in front of road paver to detect an edge line; see at least para. 24 for a memory and secondary storage device; Marsolek is not explicit regarding storing the data however it would have been obvious, if not inherent, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the edge line position is stored for use when the screed reaches said position since the edge line position is detected before the screed reaches said edge line position and if the screed width was changed at the instance of detection then the paving would not follow closely to the arcuate section 164B as depicted in Fig. 2B and para. 48; while Marsolek is not explicit regarding storing the positions detected sequentially it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that positions are stored as they detected so as to not lose the data or have the data overwritten); and
adjusting a lateral extension position of the paving screed to a desired lateral distance between
Marsolek is not explicit regarding the desired lateral distance being between the rear edge of the paving screed and the paving edge. However Marsolek teaches that the sides of the screed are a fixed distance from the rear edge of the screed in as depicted in Figs. 2A-2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method to control the rear edge of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance since by controlling sides of the screed to follow the edge line at a target distance the rear edge of the screed is also controlled to follow the edge line at a target distance due to the rear edge of the screed being a fixed distance from the sides of the screed.
Claim(s) 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marsolek (US 2018/0030672) in view of Iba (US 2024/0375648).
As per claims 9-12, modified Marsolek is silent regarding the number of positions of points that are stored and retrieved.
However, Iba teaches increasing the number of points to represent a curve section of a road vs the number of points to represent a straight section of a road (see at least para. 76 for conditions surrounding vehicle include right and left road edge positions and lane markers; see at least para. 78 for determining trajectory points based on said conditions around vehicle; see at least para. 103 for decreasing intervals between points on a curve as the curvature increases). Iba teaches that the shape of a curve cannot be expressed accurately if the point intervals are too large.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Marsolek with the features of Iba because doing so allows a user to determine what level of accuracy for representing a curve is sufficient by defining how many points represent said curve. It would also have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to represent a detected curve using 3, 5, 10, or 15 points as doing so only involves routine skill in the art and would not produce any new or unexpected result.
The combination would thus allow the arcuate section 164B in Fig. 2B of Marsolek to be represented by as many points as required for the amount of accuracy or resolution desired.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not teach updating the stored coordinates by converting the stored coordinates into the current paver-fixed coordinate system after the road paver has moved on as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4838. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM - 4PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANNA MOMPER can be reached at (571) 270-5788. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT T NGUYEN/PRIMARY EXAMINER, Art Unit 3619
