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 .
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“actuator” in claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-11 and 14. The specification provides adequate structure to the term by stating “the actuator(s) 250 can include pneumatic actuators, hydraulic actuators, electrotechnical actuators, and/or piezoelectric actuators, just to name a few possibilities. The actuator(s) 250 can include piston(s), push and/or pull bar(s) or rod(s), linkage(s), slider(s), pulley(s), gear(s), gear track(s), motor(s), magnet(s), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and/or combinations thereof, just to name a few possibilities” (see paragraph [0048] of the specification).
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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, 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, 3-4, 6-7, 10-13, 15, 17-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada (US 20050253425 A1) in view of Bajic (US 20080296939 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Asada teaches of:
A seat (Fig. 10, 11) comprising:
a seat body including a core and an outer cover defining an outer surface of the seat (Fig. 11, the seat 11 has a core and an outer cover, the outer cover is pulled by 41 at 33 to create contours);
an actuator (Fig. 11, 40+41) operatively connected to the seat body to cause a portion of the seat body including the opening to move away from a seat occupant (¶ [0085], “FIG. 10 shows the sinking motion created by pulling down certain points of the seat 11. Sinking motion creates crater-like depressurized zones 33 that enhance the blood circulation at the point and also enhance the ventilation at the points. In one particular illustrative embodiment, two depressurizing zones 33 are used at the thighs and three depressurized zones 33 are used along the center of the hips, where ventilation is most effective. The mechanism of the invention, through activation of the integrated SMA/TED devices, pulls on a cable, or strap that is attached to the underside of the seat surface at the depressurized zones 33.”)
Asada fails to explicitly teach:
a flow passage defined in the seat body, the flow passage including an opening defined in the outer cover
whereby convective cooling is provided to a seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion.
Bajic teaches of:
a flow passage defined in the seat body (Fig. 2, 36), the flow passage including an opening defined in the outer cover (Fig. 2, 38 is defined in the outer cover of 36)
whereby convective cooling is provided to a seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion (see combination made below).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a flow passage and an opening at locations 33 shown in Figs. 10-11 of Asada so that when the surface of the seat is pulled and troughs created air can be provided to the trough and onto the seat occupant
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
providing air flow at 33 of Asada allows for convective cooling of the occupants body without the opening being covered by the occupant (Bajic, ¶ [0020], “In one configuration it is contemplated that the openings 38 formed through the point of exit are advantageously located such that the openings 38 are not closed upon occupancy of the seat.”)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the seat body is one of a back portion, a seat portion (Asda, Fig. 10 and 12-13, the seat body is a seat portion where occupants thighs are positioned), a headrest, an armrest, or a seat bolster.
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the actuator is operatively connected to at least one of the core and the outer cover (Asada, Figs. 10-11, 40+41 is operatively connected to the outer cover at 33 to lift or pull the outer cover).
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further including one or more processors operatively connected to activate and deactivate the actuator (the system of Asda controls the actuators through software and a PCB, while Asada does not explicitly state that the PBC has a processor, a processor would inherently need to be in the PCB to control the actuators based on controls from the software; ¶ [0093], “As noted above, the actuator box 40 includes sixteen SMA actuators. Each actuator includes multiple SMA wires attached to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)”; ¶ [0104], “Software for controlling the car seat actuator was developed using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and Measurement Studio for Visual Studio 6.0. FIG. 23 is a view of the menu of the controller software.”)
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 6, and the combined teachings further teach:
further including one or more energy sources operatively connected to supply energy to the actuator, wherein the one or more processors are operatively connected to the one or more energy sources, wherein the one or more processors are configured to selectively activate and deactivate the actuator by controlling a supply of energy from the one or more energy sources to the actuator (Asada, Fig. 19 shows an exemplary circuit structure for the actuators of Asada, as stated in claim 6 there inherently needs to be a processor in the system of Asada to implement software controls through a PCB, the processor and the actuator must have a power source to provide power to them within a vehicle, further Asada discusses activating and deactivating the actuators through the use of software which must be implemented through a processor; see ¶ [0097] and [0104] of Asada).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein flow passage is a first flow passage (see combination made above, Asada, Fig. 10, see leftmost 33 where a first flow passage is made), wherein the actuator is a first actuator (each strap connected to a section 33 is controlled by a single actuator), wherein the portion of the seat body is a first portion (leftmost 33 is a first portion), and further including a second actuator operatively connected to the seat body to cause a second portion of the seat body including a second opening to move away from a seat occupant, whereby convective cooling is provided to a seat occupant in a region corresponding to the second portion (the rightmost 33 is the second portion forming the second passage connected to a second actuator).
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first actuator and the second actuator are independently activatable (Asada, ¶ [0104], “each actuator can be actuated separately by designating the actuator to be activated”)
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first portion and the second portion are nonoverlapping (Asada, Fig. 10, each 33 is not overlapping)
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the seat is a vehicle seat (Asada, abstract, “An apparatus and method for providing controlled heating, cooling and motion, in a device such as an active robotic automobile seat”)
Regarding claim 15, Asada teaches of:
A method of ventilating a seat, the seat including a seat body including a core and an outer cover defining an outer surface of the seat (Fig. 11, the seat 11 has a core and an outer surface, the outer surface is pulled by 41 at 33 to create contours), the method comprising:
causing a portion of the seat body including the opening to move away from a seat occupant (¶ [0085], “FIG. 10 shows the sinking motion created by pulling down certain points of the seat 11. Sinking motion creates crater-like depressurized zones 33 that enhance the blood circulation at the point and also enhance the ventilation at the points”)
Asada fails to explicitly teach:
a flow passage being defined in the seat body, the flow passage including an opening defined in the outer cover
whereby convective cooling is provided to the seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion.
Bajic teaches of:
a flow passage defined in the seat body (Fig. 2, 36), the flow passage including an opening defined in the outer cover (Fig. 2, 38 is defined in the outer cover of 36)
whereby convective cooling is provided to a seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion (see combination made below).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a flow passage and an opening at locations 33 shown in Figs. 10-11 of Asada so that when the surface of the seat is pulled and troughs created air can be provided to the trough and onto the seat occupant
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
providing air flow at 33 of Asada allows for convective cooling of the occupants body without the opening being covered by the occupant (Bajic, ¶ [0020], “In one configuration it is contemplated that the openings 38 formed through the point of exit are advantageously located such that the openings 38 are not closed upon occupancy of the seat.”)
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein flow passage is a first flow passage (see combination made above, Asada, Fig. 10, see leftmost 33 where a first flow passage is made), wherein the opening is a first opening (see combination made above, flow passage and openings are added to each of the portions 33), wherein the portion of the seat body is a first portion (leftmost 33 is the first portion), wherein the seat includes a second flow passage defined in the seat body (see combination made above, the second flow passage is at the rightmost 33), the second flow passage including a second opening defined in the outer cover (see combination made above, the second opening is positioned at the second flow passage at the rightmost 33), the method further including:
causing a second portion of the seat body including the second opening to move away from the seat occupant, whereby convective cooling is provided to the seat occupant in a region corresponding to the second portion (Asada, Figs. 7-8 and 12, each 33 can be lifted towards an occupant)
Regarding claim 18, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 17, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein causing the first portion of the seat body including the first opening to move away from a seat occupant and causing the second portion of the seat body including the second opening to move away from the seat occupant are performed at different times (Asada, Figs. 1-2, each portion of the outer surface that can be actuated, portions 33 shown in Figs. 10-1, is alternated between moving away from the occupant and towards the occupant).
Regarding claim 20, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein causing the portion of the seat body including the opening to move away from a seat occupant is performed in response to a user command (Asada, Fig. 23, see user interface that allows for a user command to be input to either raise or lower the portions; ¶ [0104], “Actuators A1 to A4 are designated for activating the Flap mechanism, and Actuators C2, C3 and D1 to D4 are designated for lifting motion, where D4 is the actuator closest to the front end of the chair, and C2 is the inner most actuator for lifting motion.”)
Claim(s) 2, 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada (US 20050253425 A1) in view of Bajic (US 20080296939 A1) and in further view of Gandhi (US 20180215293 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the actuator is configured to cause the portion of the seat body to move toward the seat occupant such that the outer cover in the region corresponding to the portion contacts the seat occupant (Asada, Figs. 7-8 and 12, the actuator 40+41 can pull the outer cover and move it in contact with the seat occupant)
Asada fails to explicitly teach:
whereby conductive cooling is provided to the seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion.
Gandhi teaches of:
whereby conductive cooling (Fig. 2a, 34) is provided to the seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion (Fig. 2a-c, 34 is provided in a region with opening 32c and where occupant 99 is in contact with the outer surface 39).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
provide conductive cooling 34 within the flow passage positioned at 33 of Asada, so that when 33 of Asada is lifted the conductive cooling element 34 is in contact with the occupant
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the occupant in the system of Asada to still experience cooling even when the air flow opening is covered by the occupant such as when the system of Asada is alternating between a lifted and sinking contour
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
further including:
causing the portion of the seat body including the opening to move toward the seat occupant such that the outer cover in the region corresponding to the portion contacts the seat occupant (Asada, Figs. 7-8 and 12, the actuator 40+41 can pull the outer cover and move it in contact with the seat occupant)
Asada fails to explicitly teach:
whereby conductive cooling is provided to the seat occupant in the region corresponding to the portion.
Gandhi teaches of:
whereby conductive cooling (Fig. 2a, 34) is provided to the seat occupant in a region corresponding to the portion (Fig. 2a-c, 34 is provided in a region with opening 32c and where occupant 99 is in contact with the outer surface 39).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
provide conductive cooling 34 within the flow passage positioned at 33 of Asada, so that when 33 of Asada is lifted the conductive cooling element 34 is in contact with the occupant
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the occupant in the system of Asada to still experience cooling even when the air flow opening is covered by the occupant such as when the system of Asada is alternating between a lifted and sinking contour
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada (US 20050253425 A1) in view of Bajic (US 20080296939 A1) and in further view of Morishita (US 20200108752 A1).
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the actuator is operatively connected to a seam of the seat.
Morishita teaches of:
wherein the actuator is operatively connected to a seam of the seat (Fig. 10, pulling member 66 is connected to seam 63 of the seat)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Form seams at portions 33 of the seat of Asada so that the cables 41 of the actuator is attached to the seam
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would create a point in the outer cover of the seat that is easily bent without bunching
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the actuator is located within the seat body.
Gandhi teaches of:
wherein the actuator is located within the seat body (Fig. 2a, 46 is within 44 of the seat body)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
position the actuator 40+41 within the seat body so that no portion of the actuator is external to the seat
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would contain all elements of the actuator of Asada within the seat, saving space in the vehicle
Claim(s) 8-9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada (US 20050253425 A1) in view of Bajic (US 20080296939 A1) and in further view of Duncan (US 20220203875 A1).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 6, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further including one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to acquire sensor data, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to selectively activate or deactivate the actuator based on the acquired sensor data.
Duncan teaches of:
further including one or more sensors (Fig. 2, 15) operatively connected to the one or more processors (see combination made below), wherein the one or more sensors are configured to acquire sensor data (15 acquires temperature data relating to occupant temperature from the seat), and wherein the one or more processors are configured to selectively activate or deactivate the actuator based on the acquired sensor data (¶ [0047]-[0048], the cooling cycle of Duncan results in the adjustment of the contours of the outer cover of the seat and is actuated based on data received from the sensor 15).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a temperature sensor in the seat of Asada that can measure the temperature of the seat where the occupant is located and further connect this sensor to the processor of Asada so that control of the actuators can be achieved through data received from the sensor
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for automatic cooling of the occupant without user input
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the seat of claim 8, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the sensor data includes at least one of:
a temperature of an external environment of a vehicle, a temperature within a cabin of the vehicle, a temperature of a seat occupant, and a temperature of the outer cover (Duncan, Fig. 2, 15 measures the temperature of the outer cover).
Regarding claim 19, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 15, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein causing the portion of the seat body including the opening to move away from a seat occupant is performed based on sensor data.
Duncan teaches of:
wherein causing the portion of the seat body including the opening to move away from a seat occupant is performed based on sensor data (Fig. 2, 15; ¶ [0047]-[0048], the cooling cycle of Duncan results in the adjustment of the contours of the outer cover of the seat and is actuated based on data received from the sensor 15)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a temperature sensor in the seat of Asada that can measure the temperature of the seat where the occupant is located and further connect this sensor to the processor of Asada so that actuators can move the portions towards and away from the occupant based on sensor data
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for automatic cooling of the occupant without user input
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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