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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-17 representing Invention Group I in the reply filed on March 16, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18-31 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Specification
The disclosure is further objected to because of the following informalities:
in ¶0087, “or can another’” should be --or can be another--; and near the end, “behind the first pair of couplers 120(1), 120(2)” should be -- behind the first pair of couplers 116(1), 116(2)--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in Fig. 7A, in the directional compass, “V” should be --L--, and “L” should be --A-- (see e.g., Fig. 6A).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akura (JP 2002-096734, see attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Akura discloses a carriage (10) for pushing a child carrier (1), the carriage comprising:
a plurality of wheels (13, 14); and
a frame (11) comprising:
a front end and a rear end, offset from one another along a longitudinal direction (see Fig. 2);
a lower frame end (12) having the plurality of wheels attached thereto; and
an upper frame end (see upper arched end in Fig. 4) configured to support the child carrier, the upper frame end having a plurality of seat couplers (31, 33) that are configured to releasably couple to the child carrier (1) so as to prevent upwards removal of the child carrier from the carriage, the plurality of seat couplers including:
a pair of seat couplers (31) configured to removably couple to opposing sides (at pins 4a) of the child carrier; and
at least one other seat coupler (33), offset from the pair of seat couplers with respect to the longitudinal direction, the at least one other seat coupler (33) configured to removably couple to the child carrier (at 5), wherein the carriage (10) is devoid of any push handle that extends above the child carrier (see Figs. 2 and 4), and the carriage is configured to be pushed by a push handle (7) of the child carrier (1) when the child carrier is coupled to the carriage (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Akura further discloses that the at least one other seat coupler (33) couples the child carrier (1) to the carriage (10) so as to limit torque applied to the pair of seat couplers (31) when a force is applied to the push handle (7) of the child carrier (i.e., implicit to the longitudinally spaced arrangement of the paired couplers 31, other coupler 33, and the handle 7 is that the force/torque applied against the carriage from the handle would be distributed across all of the couplers; therefore the outer coupler 33 operates to limit/lessen the torque applied to the pair of couplers 31 than there would be if the other coupler 33 was not present in the system).
Regarding claims 3-4, Akura further discloses the pair of couplers (31) comprises a pair of bayonets that are configured to removably couple (i.e., as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the couplers 31 project upwardly away from the supporting frame 11 and are formed as a narrow, slotted structures with attaches to the complementarily shaped sides 4a of the carrier 1, which reads upon a “bayonet” when applying a reasonably broad interpretation of the term) to opposing sides (at 4a) of the child carrier; and
the at least one other seat coupler (33) is disposed in front of or behind the pair of bayonets (31, see e.g., Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 6-8, Akura further discloses the frame (11) comprises a first leg assembly and a second leg assembly (e.g., left and right frames 11), each comprising a front leg (11F) and a rear leg (11R) that are pivotably coupled to one another about a first pivot axis (O2, see Figs. 2, 4, and 7);
wherein the first and second leg assemblies comprise first and second linkages (23F, 23R, see Figs. 7 and 4), respectively, that are configured to guide movement of the front (11F) and rear (11R) legs of the first and second leg assemblies as the frame is transitioned from an expanded configuration to a folded configuration; and
each of the at least one other seat coupler (33) is defined by one of the first and second linkages (e.g., coupler 33 is mounted upon and travels with beam 16 - see Fig. 2, the beam 16 is mounted to and spans a fixed distance between the joints of laterally spaced legs 11 at 23F/23R and therefore are defined (at least by length and mounting location) by the two links 23F, 23R - see Fig. 7, which reads upon a reasonably broad interpretation of the term “is defined by”).
Regarding claim 9, Akura discloses a travel system comprising the carriage (10) and the child carrier (1).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 5 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akura in view of Williams et al. (10,058,192).
Regarding claims 5 and 15-17, Akura does not disclose that the child carrier has an actuator that actuates movable latches that engage the bayonets.
Williams teaches another child restraint seat (10) having a pair of movable latches (e.g., 22’’ in Figs. 13-14) each configured to releasably engage on a pair of bayonets (40, see e.g., Fig. 2) that define a recess on an inner side thereof (see Fig. 2) and is configured to receive a movable latch (22’’) and wherein the carrier includes an actuator (18) configured to actuate the latches (22’’ via cable 32).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to modify the carriage/system of Akura to have movable latches on the seat and latch-receiving couplers/bayonets on the carriage as taught by Williams to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes a simple substitution of one know element (seat-mounted latches cooperating with carriage-mounted fixed couplers) for another (carriage-mounted latches cooperating with seat-mounted fixed couplers) to obtain predictable results (e.g., a seat lock/release that is more readily accessible being mounted in the child seat and/or which can be used in to couple the seat to multiple accessories, such as a stroller 11 or car seat base 12).
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Akura in view of Driessen (US 2010/0001492).
Regarding claims 10-11, as discussed above with respect to claim 1, Akura discloses that the child carrier (1) is an infant car seat. Akura further discloses that the car seat (1) includes a seat shell (e.g., as showing in Figs. 1-2, the car seat has outer frame/body (2, 4, 5) that defines the exterior shape and size of the car seat which reads upon a reasonably broad interpretation of the term “shell;” and a handle (7) pivotably coupled to the seat shell (see Fig. 1), wherein the handle (7) is configured to be transitioned between an upright position when the infant car seat is detached from carriage (see phantom lines in Fig. 1) and an angled position to push the carriage when the infant car seat is coupled to the carriage (solid lines in Fig. 1), and the handle is configured such that removal of the infant car seat (1) from the carriage (10) causes the handle to be removed from the carriage.
Akura does not disclose that the car seat handle is used to carry the car seat when in the non-pusher position.
Driessen teaches another car seat/carriage combination where the seat’s pivoting handle is used as the push handle for the handle-less carriage (see e.g., Figs. 5-6). As shown in Fig. 6, the handle is pivotable to a retracted (longitudinally) upright position to allow for the seat to be carried, while Fig. 5 shows an extended (longitudinally) angled position allowing for pushing the carriage.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to modify the travel system of Akura to have the pivoting handle lock into a carry position as taught by Driessen to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., providing multiple fixed handle positions to ensure user safety) to known devices (e.g., a stroller/car seat system having a pivoting handle on the car seat) ready for improvement to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 12, Akura does not disclose that the child carrier is configured as a toddler seat.
Driessen teaches that the detachable child carrier can take different forms, including a soft goods toddler seat (41-42) that is supported by an external frame (62-63; see Figs. 1-2 showing the outer frame 62-63 supporting the seat (41-42), wherein a push handle (40) is attached to the frame (41-42) and configured to be used to push the carriage when the toddler seat is coupled to the carriage (Fig. 1) wherein the toddler seat is removable leaving the carriage (2) without a push handle when the seat is disconnected (see Fig. 2). As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the handle (40) is pivotable between a longitudinally extended position (Fig. 1) and a longitudinally retracted position (Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to modify the travel system of Akura to modify the removable child carrier to be a soft seated toddler chair as taught by Driessen to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., modifying a seating system to accommodate differently sized users) to known devices (e.g., a stroller system having a detachable rider seat) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (e.g., a stroller system whose child carrier structure is sized to transport a toddler).
Regarding claims 13-14, Akura does not disclose that its handle can also be telescopically adjusted.
Driessen teaches that the pivoting, child seat-mounted, handle (40) can be telescopically adjusted (see arrows 64/65 in Fig. 1) along its frame (62,63; see ¶0066).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to modify the travel system of Akura to modify the removable child carrier to have its handle be telescopic as taught by Driessen to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., modifying a handle to be adjustable in length to accommodate differently sized users) to known devices (e.g., a stroller system having a detachable rider seat with a pivoting handle) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (e.g., a stroller system whose child carrier structure is adjustable for different users).
Conclusion
The examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record in the body of this action for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. Applicant should consider the entire prior art as applicable as to the limitations of the claims. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the response, to consider fully the entire reference(s) as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE CLEMMONS whose telephone number is (313)446-4842. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-4:30 EST Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J Allen Shriver can be reached on 303-297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVE CLEMMONS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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