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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) dated September 18, 2024 and April 30, 2025 have been received and fully considered by the Examiner.
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)(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.
(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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwata (JP 2004255068 A).
Regarding Claim 1, Iwata discloses: A massage device (Paragraph 0001, This invention relates to a massage device in which an airbag is arranged on a mat body made of a soft material) comprising:
an air bag configured to inflate with intake of air and configured to deflate with discharge of air (Paragraph 0034, the calculation control circuit 32 controls the operation of the air distribution device 35 to inflate and deflate the airbags 7 to 10 in a predetermined order, so that the user's back is massaged by the airbags 7 to 10);
a support member supporting the air bag (Paragraph 0033, When using such an air massage device 1, the user lies on their back on the mat body 2 so that their neck is positioned above the acupressure members 27, 27 of the massage means 4, their back is positioned above the airbags 7-10, their waist is positioned above the airbags 12-15, and their thighs are positioned above the airbag 17, and operates the remote control 31);
and an intermediate sheet disposed between the air bag and the support member (Paragraph 0055, Furthermore, in this massage device, a plate-like member [a rigid corrugated cardboard sheet 5 (or 6) made of plastic] that does not easily bend is placed on the mat body 2, and the airbags 7 to 10 (or 12 to 15 and 12' to 15') are attached to the plate-like member [corrugated cardboard sheet 5 (6)]), the intermediate sheet being stiffer than the support member (Paragraph 0011, the corrugated cardboard sheets 5 and 6 may also be made of synthetic resin sheets other than polypropylene that do not bend easily, or of other non-bending sheet materials such as wood or metal (e.g., aluminum alloy or other metals)).
Regarding Claim 2, Iwata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Iwata further discloses: wherein a direction in which the air bag, the intermediate sheet, and the support member overlap with one another is a stacking direction, and the intermediate sheet is smaller than the air bag, in plan view in the stacking direction (Figures 1-2, Paragraph 0010, The corrugated cardboard sheets 5 and 6 are arranged adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction on the mat body 2 in this manner. Moreover, the cardboard sheets 5 and 6 are arranged with a slight gap between them. This allows the mat body 2 to be folded between the cardboard sheets 5 and 6).
Regarding Claim 3, Iwata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Iwata further discloses: a joining portion joining the air bag and the intermediate sheet to each other (Paragraph 0059, the plate-shaped member is a corrugated plastic sheet 5 (6), and the corrugated plastic sheet 5 (6) has an upper wall 5a (6a), a lower wall 5b (6b) and a plurality of parallel support walls (vertical walls 5c, 6c) that are integrally connected to these at intervals, and the airbags 7 to 10 (or 12 to 15 and 12' to 15') are held by retaining means [screws 11 (or 16), or hinges 7a to 15'] provided on one side edge).
Regarding Claim 4, Iwata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 3. Iwata further discloses: wherein a direction in which the air bag, the intermediate sheet, and the support member overlap with one another is a stacking direction, and the joining portion joins a central portion of the air bag and a central portion of the intermediate sheet to each other, in plain view in the stacking direction (Paragraphs 0057-059, a plurality of plate-shaped members [the corrugated cardboard sheets (5, 6)] are arranged adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the mat body 2, and the mat body 2 is provided to be foldable between the adjacent plate-shaped members [between the corrugated cardboard sheets (5, 6)] … and the corrugated plastic sheet 5 (6) has an upper wall 5a (6a), a lower wall 5b (6b) and a plurality of parallel support walls (vertical walls 5c, 6c) that are integrally connected to these at intervals, and the airbags 7 to 10 (or 12 to 15 and 12' to 15') are held by retaining means [screws 11 (or 16), or hinges 7a to 15'] provided on one side edge).
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwata (JP 2004255068 A) in view of Inada et al. (JP 2002301125 A).
Regarding Claim 5, Iwata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Iwata further discloses: wherein a direction in which the air bag, the intermediate sheet, and the support member overlap with one another is a stacking direction (Paragraph 0057, a plurality of plate-shaped members [the corrugated cardboard sheets (5, 6)] are arranged adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the mat body 2, and the mat body 2 is provided to be foldable between the adjacent plate-shaped members [between the corrugated cardboard sheets (5, 6)]),
the air bag includes a first bag body and a second bag body that are configured to inflate with intake of air and configured to deflate with discharge of air (Paragraph 0031, This air distribution device 35 selectively connects the air outlet of the air pump 34 to one of the air bags 7-10, 12-15, 17, 28, or 29, thereby supplying air from the air pump 34 to one of the air bags 7-10, 12-15, 17, 28, or 29. Furthermore, the air distribution device 35 is configured to connect airbags 7-10, 12-15, 17, 28, and 29 to the atmosphere, allowing air to be exhausted from airbags 7-10, 12-15, 17, 28, and 29 to the atmosphere),
and a bag body joining portion joining the first bag body and the second bag body to each other in the stacking direction (Paragraph 0029, These multiple first airbags 28, 28, 28 are fixed to the base member 19 by screws 30 at the hinge portion 28a on the edge side of the corrugated cardboard sheet 5. Furthermore, the multiple second airbags 29, 29 are fixed by being sandwiched between the bracket 22 and the movable support plate 19 at the hinge portion 29a on the opposing edge side),
and the intermediate sheet is positioned between the second bag body and the support member in the stacking direction, and is larger than the bag body joining portion in plan view in the stacking direction (Paragraph 0027, The edge of the base member 18 on the corrugated cardboard sheet 5 side is attached to the edge of the movable support plate 19 via hinges 21, 21 so that it can rotate up and down and forward and backward).
However, Iwata does not explicitly disclose a communication hole in the bag body joining portion. Inada does disclose: the bag body joining portion includes a communication hole allowing an inside of the first bag body and an inside of the second bag body to communicate with each other (Paragraph 0020, As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the air cells 8a, 8b, 9a, and 9b are designed to contract and become flat when air is discharged from inside the air cell, and to expand into a fan shape when air is supplied to inside the air cell), (Paragraph 0021, Furthermore, instead of the air cells expanding so that they protrude straight out from the surface on which they are provided, they expand in a curved manner as shown in Figure 5 (hereinafter also referred to as "curved expansion"). To achieve this, an extension restricting member 21 is provided at one end edge of the air cell to restrict the extension of the bellows 20. This extension restricting member 21 is composed of sheet-like connecting pieces that connect the multiple folding sections 22 of the bellows 20 to each other, so that the distance between the folding sections 22 does not exceed a certain limit)
Both Iwata and Inada disclose air massage assemblies with inflatable air bag elements. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teachings of Inada’s curved expansion of air cells with the plurality of airbags described by Iwata, so as to provide an alternative arrangement that allows for controlled airflow through multiple air bag members.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Cech et al. (US 6674024 B2) discloses vehicle airbag systems
Kurematsu et al. (US 20210078475 A1) discloses an airbag assembly for a seat apparatus
Griffin et al. (US 8641142 B2) discloses a weight based device with a bladder system
Ogura (US 20060138832 A1) discloses a lumbar support cushion for a seat
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/MISHAL HUSSAIN/
Examiner
Art Unit 3785
/BRANDY S LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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