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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Larrison (US 2024/0116409).
Claim 1- Larrison discloses a car seat (10), comprising:
a base (12) including a receiving portion (28);
a seat shell (14) including a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom (fig. 8), the seat bottom having a top side and a bottom side (fig. 1), the bottom side interfacing with the receiving portion of the base, wherein the seat bottom is configured to move away from the base such that, in a first position (figs. 7-8) at least part of a lower surface of the seat bottom abuts a surface of the receiving portion of the base, and in a second position (figs. 1-2) the bottom side of the seat bottom is separated from the surface of the receiving portion; and
a connector (30) having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end (32) of the connector being secured to the base and the second end (34) being secured to the bottom side of the seat bottom (¶ [0021]), wherein the connector maintains connection between the base and the seat shell when the seat shell is in the second position (fig. 2).
Claim 2- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 1, wherein the connector (30) moves between a non-extended position when the seat shell is in the first position and an extended position when the seat shell is in the second position (¶ 22-23).
Claim 3- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 2, wherein the connector (30) is a retractable connecting piece having a first length between the first end and the second end in the non-extended position (¶ 22) and a second length between the first end and the second end in an extended position (figs. 1-2).
Claim 4- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 3, wherein the first end of the connector (30) is secured to a spool (39) at least partially positioned in the base (fig. 2).
Claim 5- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 1, wherein the first end (32) of the connector (30) is secured to a central portion of the base in the receiving portion (¶ 24 discloses that the first end/ base attachment 32 may be located at rotation axis 16, which is in the central portion of the base and receiving portion, fig. 2).
Claim 6- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 1, wherein the car seat includes only one connector (figs. 2-3).
Claim 7- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 1, wherein when the seat shell is in the second position, the bottom side of the seat bottom is positioned at a distance from the receiving portion of the base (figs. 2-4), wherein the distance is at least 12 inches (figs. 1 & 3 show a tether 36 length, corresponding to the claimed distance, that is approximately one foot).
Claim 8- Larrison discloses a car seat (10), comprising:
a base (12) including a receiving portion (28);
a seat shell (14) including a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom (fig. 8), the seat bottom having a top side and a bottom side (fig. 1), the bottom side interfacing with the receiving portion of the base, wherein the seat bottom is configured to move away from the base such that, in a first position (figs. 7-8) at least part of a lower surface of the seat bottom abuts a surface of the receiving portion of the base, and in a second position (figs. 1-2) the bottom side of the seat bottom is separated from the surface of the receiving portion; and
a connector (30) having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end (32) of the connector being secured to the base and the second end (34) being secured to the seat shell (14), wherein the connector maintains connection between the base and the seat shell when the seat shell is in the second position (fig. 2), and wherein the connector (30) is a retractable connecting piece having a first length between the first end and the second end in the non-extended position when the seat shell is in the first position (¶ 22-23) and having a second length in an extended position when the seat shell is in the second position (figs. 1-2).
Claim 9- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein the first end of the connector (30) is secured to a spool (39) at least partially positioned in the base (fig. 2).
Claim 10- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein the first end (32) of the connector (30) is secured to a central portion (16) of the base in the receiving portion (¶ 24 discloses that the first end/ base attachment 32 may be located at rotation axis 16, which is in the central portion of the base and receiving portion, fig. 2).
Claim 11- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein the car seat includes only one connector (figs. 2-3).
Claim 12- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein when the seat shell (14) is in the second position, the bottom side of the seat bottom is positioned at a distance from the receiving portion of the base (figs. 2-4); and wherein the distance is at least 12 inches (figs. 1 & 3 show a tether 36 length, corresponding to the claimed distance, that is approximately one foot).
Claim 13- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein the connector (30) has slack in the non-extended position (fig. 8) and is taut when in the extended position (¶ 23 discloses the connector can comprise an elastic bungee, which is capable of being taut when pulled to an extended position and of being flexibly loose in its non-extended position).
Claim 14- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 8, wherein the seat shell (14) is rotatable about a rotation axis (16) with respect to the base such that the seat shell is selectively positionable between at least a rearward-facing position and a forward-facing position (¶ 18).
Claim 15- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 14, where the first end (32) of the connector (30) is secured to a portion of the base that is located along the rotation axis (figs. 1 & 3 show that the connector comprises a tether 36 extendable in a parallel orientation to the axis 16, which fully encompasses “located along”).
Claim 16- Larrison discloses a car seat (10), comprising:
a base (12) including a receiving portion (28);
a seat shell (14) including a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom (fig. 8), the seat bottom having a top side and a bottom side (fig. 1), the bottom side interfacing with the receiving portion of the base, wherein the seat bottom is configured to move away from the base such that, in a first position (figs. 7-8) at least part of a lower surface of the seat bottom abuts a surface of the receiving portion of the base, and in a second position (figs. 1-2) the bottom side of the seat bottom is separated from the surface of the receiving portion; and
a connector (30) having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end (32) of the connector being secured to the base and the second end (34) being secured to the seat shell (14), wherein the connector maintains connection between the base and the seat shell when the seat shell is in the second position (fig. 2), and wherein the connector (30) is a single connecting piece (36) and is the only connection between the base and the seat shell when the seat shell is in the second position (¶ 22-23, figs. 1-2).
Claim 17- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 16, wherein the first end (32) of the connector (30) is secured to a spool (39) at least partially positioned in a central portion (16) of the base (¶ 24 discloses that the first end/ base attachment 32 may be located at rotation axis 16, which is in the central portion of the base and receiving portion, and ¶ 22 discloses the tether retractor 39 is included in the base attachment 32).
Claim 18- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 16, wherein when the seat shell is in the second position, the bottom side of the seat bottom is positioned at a distance from the receiving portion of the base (figs. 2-4), wherein the distance is at least 12 inches (figs. 1 & 3 show a tether 36 length, corresponding to the claimed distance, that is approximately one foot).
Claim 19- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 16, wherein the seat bottom (38) includes an engagement feature that selectively locks with an engagement feature of the receiving portion of the base (figs. 1-2 show a hook-type feature on the rear side of the seat back and a notch-type feature on one end of the receiving portion 28, which corresponds to the “configured to secure” coupling disclosed in ¶ 20), wherein when the seat shell is in the second position (fig. 2), the engagement feature of the seat bottom is disengaged from the engagement feature of the receiving portion (evident from the figures, ¶ 21).
Claim 20- Larrison discloses the car seat of claim 16, wherein the seat shell (14) is rotatable about a rotation axis (16) with respect to the base such that the seat shell is selectively positionable between at least a rearward-facing position and a forward-facing position (¶ 18), and wherein the connector (30) extends parallel to the rotation axis (fig. 1 shows that the connector comprises a tether 36 extendable in a parallel orientation to the axis 16).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/T.A/Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636