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
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 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) 1-2, 10-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 2022/0055508).
Regarding claim 1, Lee et al. disclose a microclimate system for a vehicle occupant comprising: a seat 200 configured provide an interface (fig. 2, para 0060 discloses the contact area between occupant and seat) between an occupant and a seating surface; an actuator (para 0051 discloses first and second motors adjusting seat back and cushion) configured to adjust a seat positioning that characterizes the interface; at least one microclimate thermal effector 210/220 in thermal communication with the seat at the interface; and a controller 30 in communication with the at least one microclimate thermal effector, the controller configured to regulate the at least one microclimate thermal effector based upon the interface (para 0060 discloses the controller adjusting the heating or cooling power based on contact area that is changed due to change in seat angle).
Regarding claim 2, Lee et al. disclose the controller 30 is configured to regulate the at least one microclimate thermal effector using a transfer function (adjusting voltage, figures 6 and 7) based upon effects of the occupant on the interface.
Regarding claim 10, Lee et al. disclose the transfer function includes characteristics relating to seat material thickness and seating surface area (contact area).
Regarding claim 11, Lee et al. disclose the transfer function includes characteristics relating to seat thermal conductivity (heating wire) and seat heat transfer rate.
Regarding claim 12, Lee et al. disclose the at least one microclimate thermal effector includes at least one of a thermoelectric device, a blower, and a heating mat.
Regarding claim 13, Lee et al. disclose a method for optimizing thermal operations in a microclimate system comprising: determining whether a seat 200 is occupied by an occupant (para discloses identifying body information of occupant); determining a seat positioning of the seat 501; and controlling 502 a microclimate thermal effector based upon the seat occupied determining step and the seat positioning determining step to provide thermal comfort to an occupant of the seat.
Regarding claim 14, Lee et al. disclose adjusting 502 a transfer function to account for pressure exerted on seating surfaces of the seat by the occupant based upon the seat occupied determining step and the seat positioning determining step.
Regarding claim 15, Lee et al. disclose the seat positioning includes at least one of a seat cushion location, a seat back location and a seat lumbar orientation (see figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 16, Lee et al. disclose the seat cushion location and seat back location each include at least one of seating surface height and seating surface angle (see figures 2 and 3).
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) 3-9, 17, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. in view of Yetukuri et al. (US 2021/0016686).
Regarding claim 3, Yetukuri et al. disclose the seating surface is provided by at least one of a seat cushion 28 and a seat back 30, and the actuator 50 is configured to adjust for effects (para 0034 discloses changing angle or start massaging based on detecting an effect) on the interface provided by at least one of a seat cushion location, a seat back location and a seat lumbar orientation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and change the condition on the seat base on the user seating condition in the invention of Lee et al. in order to provide any injuries to the user.
Regarding claim 4, Lee et al. disclose the seat cushion location and seat back location each include at least one of seating surface height and seating surface angle and the seat lumbar orientation includes at least one of lumbar support position and size (see para 0060, figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 5, Yetukuri et al. disclose a seat position input, and the controller 40 includes a first memory 130 (para 0036 discloses loading occupant profile from memory) having a stored seat position and a second memory (para 0036 discloses the memory learns occupants profile which includes the heat and temperature settings that can be automatically loaded) having stored occupant thermal conditioning preferences for the transfer function of the at least one microclimate thermal effectors in the stored seat position.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and memory to save preset setting for users in the invention of Lee et al. because it is efficient and saves time.
Regarding claim 6, Lee et al. disclose the controller has a third memory 10 having occupant information relating to the interface, the occupant information including at least one of occupant height, occupant weight and occupant gender (para 0048).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Yetukuri et al. disclose the seat includes an occupant sensor 94, wherein the occupant sensor is an occupant weight sensor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and use occupancy sensor in the invention of Lee et al. because it is simple and efficient.
Regarding claim 9, Yetukuri et al. disclose the controller 40 is configured to adjust the transfer function based upon an occupant seating status (para 0034).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and change the condition on the seat base on the user seating condition in the invention of Lee et al. in order to provide any injuries to the user.
Regarding claim 17, Yetukuri et al. disclose the seat lumbar orientation includes at least one of lumbar support position and size (para 0018 discloses lumbar extension).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and use lumbar extension in the invention Lee et al. in order to save energy and cost.
Regarding claim 18, Yetukuri et al. disclose referencing a seat position memory 130 (para 0035, 0036 discloses setting the units based on user profile), and the controlling step is performed based upon stored occupant thermal control settings for the occupant associated with the seat position memory.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and memory to save preset setting for users in the invention of Lee et al. because it is efficient and saves time.
Claim(s) 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. in view of Yetukuri et al. (US 2021/0016686), as applied to claims 14 and 18 above, and further in view of Tan (US 2018/0244175).
Regarding claim 19, Tan discloses preconditioning the seat based upon an adjusted transfer function for the occupant when the seat is unoccupied to achieve a desired occupant thermal comfort (para 0081 disclose the controller switching to default setting).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Tan and use default setting in the invention of Lee et al. in order to reduce cost.
Regarding claim 20, Yetukuri et al. disclose revising the stored occupant thermal control settings based upon inputs from the occupant (para 0031 discloses processing based in user input).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yetukuri et al. and user input in the invention of Lee et al. in order to achieve precise comfort.
Regarding claim 21, Tan discloses preconditioning the seat when unoccupied based upon an adjusted transfer function for the occupant when unknown to achieve a desired occupant thermal comfort for the unknown occupant, wherein the seat is a passenger seat (para 0081 disclose the controller switching to default setting).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Tan and use default setting in the invention of Lee et al. in order to reduce cost.
Conclusion
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/SYED A ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636