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 .
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, 2, 5, and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Long et al. (US Patent Number 6088643).
Regarding claim 1, Long discloses a back-following support device, comprising: a backrest plate (of 2, 58 for instance); a flexible back and waist support, comprising a cushion airbag (of 90 for instance) disposed over the backrest plate; and a control system, comprising a controller (at least 102 or 128), an air supply device (including 106 or 134) for inflating the cushion airbag, a pressure-regulating valve (at least one 110a-h or 130a-g) for controlling the amount of air in the cushion airbag, and an air pressure sensor (at least one 116a-h or 139) for detecting air pressure inside the cushion airbag; wherein the air supply device, the pressure-regulating valve, and the air pressure sensor are all connected to the controller (this is the general arrangement; see at least Figures 7 and 8); the flexible back and waist support further comprises an air supply and exhaust passage (of 110 or 130 for instance) and a pressure-measuring air passage (at the sensor, between the valve and cell or manifold) which are respectively communicated with the cushion airbag; wherein the air supply and exhaust passage comprises an inflation pipeline and an exhaust pipeline (at front and rear ends of 110 or 130, respectively, for instance) communicated with each other, wherein the inflation pipeline has opposite ends respectively connected to the air supply device and the cushion airbag (at least generally), and the pressure-regulating valve is disposed over the exhaust pipeline (see at least Figures 7 and 8); wherein the air pressure sensor is connected to the cushion airbag exclusively through the pressure-measuring air passage (see at least Figure 7); wherein the cushion airbag comprises a waist airbag and a back airbag which are communicated with each other (two members 90 – 92 and 99 for instance – would meet this limitation; those of 80, 84, etc. would also serve as waist airbags, while cells 88, 89 are within a single zone), such that, upon the back airbag being compressed due to a waist and/or back of a user resting on the back airbag, air inside the back airbag flows into the waist airbag to balance air pressure inside the cushion airbag, and a volume of the waist airbag increases and a volume of the back airbag reduces, thereby supporting the waist and/or back of the user (while at least cells 88 and 89 would appear to operate this way, the arrangement more generally would be at least be capable of this operation depending on the valve opening combination). Long may not clearly disclose the direct connections or particular arrangements within a single embodiment or explicitly described the communication between airbags. Duplication and rearrangement of components requires only routine skill in the art however, and it accordingly would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the connections and arrangements as claimed based on normal variation to improve comfort and support for various users. It would further have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to operate the device as claimed (e.g. opening adjacent valves to equalize pressure between cells/airbags and adjust volume as claimed) based on normal variation to improve comfort and support for various users.
Regarding claim 2, Long further discloses the back- following support device further comprises a first soft cushion cover (143); wherein the first soft cushion cover covers a side of the cushion airbag facing away from the backrest plate (much as in Figure 6B).
Regarding claim 5, Long further discloses the control system further comprises a hand controller (118, 118’ and/or 148, 148’ for instance) connected to the controller.
Regarding claim 7, Long discloses a device as explained above including various waist and back airbags (of 80, 84, 90, etc.) but may not clearly show the particular number and overlap of chambers. Duplication and rearrangement of components requires only routine skill in the art however, and it accordingly would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the chamber numbers and arrangement as claimed based on normal variation to improve comfort and support for various users.
Regarding claims 8/1, 2, 5, and 7, Long, at least as modified, further discloses a chair, comprising a seat and a back-following support device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5, and 7 (2 or 58 is viewed as providing such a chair).
Regarding claims 9/8/1, 2, 5, and 7, Long further discloses the seat comprises a seat plate (a seat portion of 2 and/or 58), and a sitting pressure sensor (of 116a-h or 140a-i) disposed over the seat plate; wherein the sitting pressure sensor is connected to the controller (this is the general arrangement).
Regarding claim 10/9/8/1, 2, 5, and 7, Long further discloses the seat further comprises a seat airbag (of 70 for instance) that is configured to be inflated by the air supply device, and a second pressure-regulating valve (at least one 110a-h or 130a-g) that controls the amount of air inside the seat airbag; wherein the second pressure-regulating valve is connected to the controller (this is the general arrangement).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP F GABLER whose telephone number is (571)272-2155. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00 - 4:30.
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/PHILIP F GABLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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