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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/27/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claims 24-35 are 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.
Claim 24 recites the limitation "the first and second actuators" in line 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 24, 25, and 31-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mazanek et al (US 8,702,123) in view of Kunisada et al (US 10,377,337). Mazanek discloses:
With regard to claim 24 - A system for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle seat, comprising:
at least one side airbag 12, 16 configured to be mounted to a seat frame 29 of the vehicle seat;
a gas generator assembly configured to inflate the at least one airbag, the gas generator assembly being configured to be mounted to the seat frame 29 and to be positioned inside the airbag 12, 16 when mounted to the seat frame 29, the gas generator assembly comprising first and second separate gas generators 10, 28 and a support 22 to which the first and second gas generators 10, 28 are tightly mounted, the first and second gas generators 10, 28 being manufactured separately from each other and each comprising a housing including a gas outlet area, a propellant stored in the housing, and an igniter that is actuatable to ignite the propellant to cause a filling gas to be discharged from the gas outlet area directly into the airbag 10, 28, wherein the first and second gas generators are configured to supply, individually and/or jointly, the filling gas for filling the airbag; and
a control unit configured to control, individually, the actuator of the first gas generator and the actuator of the second gas generator (“The analysis of signals from pre-crash sensors to determine the likely severity of an anticipated impact is well known in the art, and any suitable technique may be used for this.” – column 6, lines 43-45), wherein the control unit is configured to detect a possibly imminent crash situation, to activate the actuator of the first gas generator in response to detecting the possibly imminent crash situation in advance of an occurrence of an actual crash (“Sensors which can detect proximity of an object to the side of the vehicle, and relative velocity between the vehicle and the object, before a collision occurs may also be used, for instance radar or lidar-based sensors. If such sensors are used, it may be possible to trigger the first air-bag unit 18 before an impact has occurred, if the signals received from the sensors indicate that a crash event is inevitable or likely.” – column 4, lines 12-19), wherein the first gas generator is configured to deliver a first volume of filling gas, and the airbag is configured such that, in response to receiving the first volume of filling gas, the airbag interacts with and moves the occupant out of a dangerous zone prior to the occurrence of the actual crash (“FIG. 9 shows how, as the first air-bag cushion 12 is inflated, the first side plate 24 will help to urge the air-bag cushion 12 inwardly towards the seat occupant, thus helping to ensure that the seat occupant is moved inwardly away from the side wall of the vehicle” – column 7, lines 27-31);
wherein the control unit is configured to detect the occurrence of the actual crash and to actuate the second gas generator in response to detecting that the possibly imminent crash situation has really occurred, wherein the second gas generator is configured to deliver a volume of filling gas sufficient to fill the airbag to a pressure and volume sufficient to cushion the occupant (“Referring to FIGS. 6c and 7c, once the side impact has been detected the second air-bag module 13 is activated, so that the second air-bag cushion 16 is inflated into position between the seat occupant and the vehicle's side wall.” – column 6, lines 46-49).
Mazanek fails to explicitly disclose wherein the airbag is a single airbag. Kunisada teaches an airbag assembly comprising a two-stage gas generator assembly 86 having a first igniter 86A and a second igniter 86B, and a control unit 74 configured to control, individually, the first igniter and the second ignitor so that the first and second igniters produce the two-stage inflation of the side airbag. Kunisada further teaches that it would be obvious to modify a previously disclosed two-airbag system, as seen in Fig. 5 such that the airbags 20, 22 are combined into one single airbag, as seen in Figs. 9 and 10. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Mazanek with the teaching of Kunisada such that the airbags are combined into a single airbag to simplify the system and thus drive down the cost.
With regard to claim 25, Mazanek discloses wherein the gas generator assembly further comprises a fastener 27 configured to fix the gas generator assembly to the seat frame 29, wherein the fastener 27 is provided on the first or second gas generator 10, 28 or on the support 22.
With regard to claim 31, Mazanek discloses wherein the support 22 includes at least one fastening hole which is aligned with a fixing element 27 on a circumferential wall of one of the first and second gas generators (see Fig. 8).
With regard to claim 32, Mazanek discloses wherein the support 22 is designed such that longitudinal directions of the first and second gas generators on the support include an angle between 00 and 1800 with each other (see Fig. 8).
With regard to claim 33, Mazanek discloses wherein the support 22 is designed such that longitudinal directions of the first and second gas generators on the support include an angle between 00 to 450 with each other (00, see Fig. 8).
With regard to claim 34, Mazanek discloses wherein the propellant of the first gas generator is configured to fill the airbag to a volume sufficient to interact and move the occupant out of the dangerous zone but not to the pressure and volume sufficient to cushion the occupant (“As discussed above, the cushion 12 is mounted inboard of the upright support member 6 which is provided on the outboard side 2 of the seat back 1. The cushion 12 therefore inflates away from the upright member 6, and when inflated, protrudes from the front surface of the seat back 1 in a forward and inboard direction. It will be appreciated that, if an occupant of the seat is sitting normally in the seat, the cushion 12 will contact and bear against the seat occupant, exerting a pushing force against the seat occupant in an inboard direction. The air-bag cushion 12 may also exert a pushing force against the seat occupant in a forward direction, with the result that the overall motion of the seat occupant with respect to the seat is diagonally inboard and forward.” – column 4, lines 28-40). As seen in the citation and in the specification of the reference, the first airbag 12 is configured to move the occupant while a second airbag 16 is needed in order to fully cushion the occupant during collision.
Claim(s) 26 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazanek and Kunisada, as applied to claims 24, 25, and 31-34 above, and further in view of Smith (US 6,142,519). Mazanek discloses wherein the support 22 includes a central land 23 having two seats 24, 25 provided on opposite sides of the central land and facing away from each other, with each of the first and second gas generators being inserted in one of the seats.
Mazanek and Kunisada fail to explicitly disclose wherein the seats are concave and the adjusted to the outer contour of the respective gas generator as such. Smith teaches a vehicle occupant protection system comprising: at least one airbag; a gas generator assembly 12 configured to inflate the at least one airbag, the gas generator assembly 12 comprising at least one separate support 36 mountable to the vehicle and at least two gas generators 34a, 34b manufactured separately from each other and each having a separate outer housing, the at least two gas generators 34a, 34b being tightly mounted on the at least one support 36, wherein both of the at least two gas generators 34a, 34b supply, individually and/or jointly, filling gas for filling the at least one airbag 24; and a control unit configured to determine times of activation of the at least two gas generators (“The gas-supplying cartridges 34a and 34b are each adapted to provide an associated and corresponding inflation medium. As will be appreciated, the gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b can be designed and controlled, such as in a known manner, to provide a wide range of performance capabilities. Dependent on the specific circumstances of the event leading to the need to deploy the airbag cushion 24, the gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b can be actuated in a correspondingly appropriate manner such as to provide specifically desired inflation performance. For example, the inflation system 22 may be operated such that only a selected one of the gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b is actuated. Alternatively, if the specific circumstances call for both of the gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b to be actuated, such actuation can be effected simultaneously or sequentially, with or without a selected time delay between the production of gas output from the respective gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inflation medium outputs from the first and second gas-supplying cartridges or stages 34a and 34b can also or alternatively be at such different quantities or rates as may be desired to provide additionally desired performance flexibility.” - column 5, line 47 - column 6, line 3); wherein the at least one support includes a central land 56 having two concave seats 84a, 84b provided on opposite sides of the central land, with each of the at least two gas generators being inserted in one seat and the seats being adjusted to the outer contour of the respective gas generator (see Fig. 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Mazanek and Kunisada with the teaching of Smith such that the support seats are concave and the adjusted to the outer contour of the respective gas generator as such, with a reasonable expectation of success to more snuggly secure the gas generators against the surface of said seats.
With regard to claim 27, Mazanek discloses wherein the first and second gas generators are biased toward each other into the seats 23, 25.
Claim(s) 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazanek in view of Kunisada and Smith, as applied to claims 26 and 27 above, and further in view of Lewis et al (US 8,505,963). Mazanek, Kunisada, and Smith fail to explicitly disclose a strap configured to encircle the two gas generators and the support, the strap being configured to bias the two gas generators toward each other into the seats. Lewis teaches an airbag assembly having a gas generator 150, a support 130, and a strap 190a, 190b configured to encircle the gas generator 150 and the support 130. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Mazanek, Kunisada, and Smith with the teaching of Lewis such that the gas generators are secured to the support through straps, with a reasonable expectation of success, to allow for easy attachment and release of the gas generators.
With regard to claim 29, Smith teaches wherein the seats are circumferentially closed and encircle the respective one of the first and second gas generators seated therein.
With regard to claim 30, Lewis teaches wherein the first and second gas generators are fixed to the support via straps.
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazanek and Kunisada, as applied to claims 24, 25, and 31-34 above, and further in view of Nagasawa (US 2018/0281730). Mazanek and Kunisada fail to explicitly disclose wherein the airbag is configured to vent the filling gas if the actual crash does not occur. Nagasawa teaches an airbag apparatus for a vehicle comprising an airbag 20 and a controller, wherein, “after avoiding a collision, the controller 19 activates the pair of armrest airbag devices 20 to retract the armrest airbags 22. To be more specific, the controller 19 opens the exhaust valves 25 to shrink the armrest airbags 22. The shrunk armrest airbags 22 are stored in the airbag bodies 21 of the armrests 5 again. By this means, the armrest airbags 22 can be deployed by the compressed air again.” (¶[0036]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Mazanek and Kunisada with the teaching of Nagasawa such that the airbag is configured to vent the filling gas if the actual crash does not occur, with a reasonable expectation of success, to allow for the airbag to possibly be reused.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/27/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Two-stage inflator systems are well known in the art. Mazanek and Kunisada show this to be true. Other art, such as Breed (US 2002/0027339; see Fig. 5) confirm this as well. Applicant rightly pointed out the deficiency of Mazanek in that the airbag comprises a multi-bag system. However, Kunisada (and Breed) shows that it is known in the art to use a two-stage inflator in a single bag system, even going so far as to show the same goal being accomplished by single and multi- bag systems. Thus, the amendments do not put the application in condition for allowance.
Conclusion
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614 November 12, 2025