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 1-4, 11-12, 16 and 19 in the reply filed on March 13, 2026, is acknowledged.
Claims 5-10, 13-15, 17-18 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on March 13, 2026.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The units for the total aperture area and internal volume of the hollow body should be stated without parentheses, since the condition 10 ≤ S/V is defined with the values for S and V in square centimeters and liters, respectively. For example, the end of the claim could be amended to read, “where S is the total area of the apertures in square centimeters and V is the internal volume of the hollow body in liters.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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) 1-4, 11-12, 16 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP S60-168914 U to Ikeda Bussan (for citations to the text of JP 60-168914 U, refer to the translation document of record).
Regarding claims 1 and 2:
Ikeda Bussan teaches a seat structure (top of page 3: an interior part such as a headrest or armrest, bottom of page 3: not limited to a headrest) comprising a hollow body (12) made of resin and a foam body (14) in which the hollow body is embedded (see fig. 6), and the hollow body has one or more apertures (17) formed therein.
Ikeda Bussan teaches one or more apertures formed in the hollow body, but is silent to a total aperture area S which specifically satisfies the condition 10 ≤ S/V, where S is the total area of the apertures in square centimeters (cm2), and V is the internal volume of the hollow body in liters (L). However, "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Ikeda Bussan teaches that through hole 17 is formed to prevent the hollow core member from being deformed by the foaming pressure generated at the time of molding (bottom of page 2). As the resin is injected, through hole 17 causes the foaming pressure acting on the outside of the hollow core 12 to also act on the inside, such that the pressures inside and outside the hollow core are mostly equal (top of page 4).
With the teachings of Ikeda Bussan, one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would be aware that deformation of the hollow body may be caused by a difference in pressure between the inside and the outside of the hollow body, and that the total area of the apertures and the internal volume of the hollow body affect the foaming pressure acting through the apertures on the interior of the hollow body. Consequently, the total aperture area and the internal volume of the hollow body are considered to be result effective variables.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have configured the apertures of Ikeda Bussan to satisfy the condition 10 ≤ S/V or the condition S/V ≤ 30, where S is the total area of the apertures in square centimeters, and V is the internal volume of the hollow body in liters, for the purpose of preventing deformation of the hollow body during formation of the foam body and as a matter of routine optimization of the dimensions of hollow bodies embedded in foam bodies of vehicle interior cushions, with predictable results.
Ikeda Bussan teaches that the structure may be of an interior article such as a headrest or armrest (top of page 3), but is not limited to a headrest (bottom of page 3). Since vehicle headrests are part of the seat, it is considered that Ikeda Bussan provides a teaching of a seat pad.
However, in the interest of compact prosecution, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have applied the teachings of Ikeda Bussan to the seat pad for the purpose of weight reduction (bottom of page 3).
Regarding claims 3 and 11:
Ikeda Bussan, as modified, provides the seat pad according to claims 1 and 2. Ikeda Busan is silent to a support pillar supporting the two opposing walls inside the hollow body. However, the examiner takes official notice that it is known in the art to provide hollow members with interior support pillars when the hollow member is subjected to external pressure. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have configured the structure of Ikeda Bussan such that the hollow body has two opposing walls and a support pillar supporting the two opposing walls inside the hollow body, in order to provide additional reinforcement to prevent deformation from foaming pressure.
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Item A: figure 4 of JP S60-168914 U
Regarding claims 4, 12, 16 and 19:
Ikeda Bussan, as modified, provides the seat pad according to claims 1-3 and 11, wherein the hollow body has a rib extending along a surface of the hollow body (fig. 4: the grooves between uneven portions 15 are ribs extending along the interior surface of the hollow body 12).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 8,827,372 B2 to Yoon, JP S59-142118 A to Tokumitsu, CN 105829054 A to Newman et al., EP 2468473 A1 to Michel et al. and JP H02-37849 B2 to Myazeki et al. teach foam components for vehicles with hollow bodies which are pressurized during injection to prevent deformation of the core.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Richard Green whose telephone number is (571)270-5380. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 7:00.
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/Richard Green/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3647
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