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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-7 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 29 May 2024 was filed before the mailing date of the first Office Action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the Sound Absorbing Material disposed in the opening or the notch must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Komaya (JP 2022099446 A).
In regards to claim 1, Komaya discloses a rail vehicle comprising:
a seat base (200) (Fig. 6) disposed on a floor (51) of a vehicle cabin (55) and having an opening (as seen in Fig. 6, the open space below the seat) or a notch;
a seat (210) disposed facing the opening (as seen in Fig. 5) or the notch (201) (Fig. 4) of the seat base;
an exhaust air flow path (300) (Fig. 5) disposed under the floor (as seen in Fig. 5);
an exhaust port (1) (Fig. 6) formed in the floor (as seen in Fig. 6) in a manner of facing the opening (as seen in Fig. 5, the exhaust port 1 extends upwards into the opening, with open air above it) or the notch of the seat base, and configured to allow the exhaust air flow path and the inside of the vehicle cabin to communicate with each other (as seen by the arrows indicating the flow of air in Fig. 5);
a lower tube portion (110) provided on the floor and including the exhaust port (as seen in Fig. 6); and
an upper tube portion (20) disposed below the seat base and including a part of the lower tube portion (as seen in Fig. 6), wherein
a return flow path structure (as seen in Fig. 5) is formed by the lower tube portion (110), the upper tube portion (20), the seat (210), and the opening (as seen in Fig. 6, the open space below the seat 210) or the notch (201) (Fig. 4) of the seat base, and
when air flows from the inside of the vehicle cabin to the exhaust port via the return flow path structure (as seen in Fig. 5, the arrows indicate the air flowing from inside the vehicle cabin into the exhaust port), a direction of a flow passing between an outer periphery of the lower tube portion and an inner periphery of the upper tube portion is opposite to a direction of a flow passing through an inner side of the lower tube portion (see annotated Fig. 4 below. Examiner illustrates an air flow path of air that is lower than the ports 23a depicted in Fig. 4, the air lower than the ports 23a must travel upwards to gain access to the ports 23a, on the outer periphery of the lower tube 110, and then follows the arrows Fx downwards once the air enters the exhaust port as depicted in Fig. 4).
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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) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komaya (JP 2022099446 A) in view of Axakov (US 20150329027 A1).
In regards to claim 2, Komaya teaches the rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the seat
Komaya does not teach a seat sound absorbing member on a surface facing the opening or the notch.
Axakov teaches a seat sound absorbing member (154) (Fig. 1A) on a surface (126) facing the opening (136) or the notch.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the bottom surface of the seat of Komaya to include a seat sound absorbing member as taught by Axakov with a reasonable expectation of success for the purpose of reducing noise from air moving and or vibrations (see Axakov, para. [0043], lines 11-14).
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komaya (JP 2022099446 A) in view of Friderich (US 20200070696 A1).
In regards to claim 3, Komaya teaches the rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein
Komaya does not teach a sound absorbing material disposed in the opening or the notch.
Friderich teaches a sound absorbing material (22) disposed in the opening or the notch (para. [0007], the radial fans are located in a notch where the sound absorbing material 22 is located)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the material of the seats 210 (which are disposed in both the opening below the seats and the notch 201 as seen in Fig. 1) of Komaya to include the sound absorbing material as taught by Friderich with a reasonable expectation of success for the purpose of reducing noise in a cost-effective manner (para. [0007], lines 6-8).
Claim(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Komaya (JP 2022099446 A) in view of Liu (CN 113928358 A).
In regards to claim 4, Komaya teaches the rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein
Komaya does not teach wherein a sound absorbing material is disposed on at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of one of the lower tube portions and the upper tube portion.
Liu teaches wherein a sound absorbing material (7) is disposed on at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of one of the lower tube portions and the upper tube portion (as seen in Figs. 2, 3, sound absorbing material 7 is installed at a port 2)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the inner peripheral surfaces of one of the lower tube portion and the upper tube portion of Komaya to include the sound absorbing material as taught by Liu with a reasonable expectation of success for the purpose of reducing noise in a simple manner (see machine translation, Liu, para. [n0008], lines 7-9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach the combination of limitations as recited in claim 5, While Komaya teaches the rail vehicle according to claim 1, wherein
the seat base has a first leg portion (221) (Fig. 6), a second leg portion (223), and a top wall (225) supported by the first leg portion and the second leg portion (as seen in Fig. 6), and the opening or the notch (201) is formed in the top wall (as seen in Fig. 5),
the lower tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of upper walls (the structural walls of the lower tube portion 110)
the upper tube portion has a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of lower walls (the structural walls of 20)
Komaya does not teach wherein the lower tube portion’s peripheral wall includes being formed with the second leg portion connected to the upper walls, and the upper tube portion’s peripheral wall is formed by the second leg portion connected to the lower walls.
It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the peripheral walls of the lower and upper tube portions of Komaya to include forming the peripheral walls of each portion including the second leg portion connected to the upper and lower walls as the modifications necessary would require an improper amount of hindsight, i.e., the modifications needed would required a complete redesign of the lower and upper tube portions of Komaya. Furthermore, the examiner finds no obvious reason to modify the lower and upper tube portions of Komaya to meet the claimed limitations.
Thus, claim 5 is non-obvious in view of the prior art of record, but is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim. Claims 6-7 are also non-obvious in view of the prior art of record due to dependence upon claim 5, but are also objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Misaki (GB 2590001 B) discloses a railcar with an air-conditioning ventilation system.
Homma (US 20220065467 A1) discloses an air conditioning system for a room with a seat, and method for air conditioning a room with a seat.
Luan (CN 111661086 A) discloses a combined system of a high-speed rail air conditioner and high-speed rail seat.
Gao (CN 111301113 A) discloses an intelligent ventilation system of carriage.
Bhatia (US 20190298072 A1) disclose a seat back and cushion ventilation assembly.
A, Jing-lei (CN 109398188 A) discloses a vehicle seat with ventilating and damping effect.
Yu (CN 108189853 A) discloses a carriage ventilation damping device for reducing noise.
Daisuke (GB 2549296 A) discloses a train comprising an air conditioning device.
Zhang (CN 103568908 A) discloses a vehicle seat ventilating filtering device and car seat.
Nakamura (WO 2008062295 A1) discloses a vehicle seat structure with a ventilation system.
Yoshida (JP 2006282061 A) discloses a railway rolling stock with an underseat ventilation system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES WILLIAM JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-7063. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 11am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel Morano can be reached at (571) 272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES WILLIAM JONES/ Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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