DETAILED ACTION
In Response to Applicant’s Remarks Filed 8/10/26
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1 and 3-16 are pending.
Claims 1 and 3-16 have been examined.
The previous action has been withdrawn and this non-final office action has been issued in its place.
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 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (US 20240383379) (“Zhao”) in view of Meng et al. (CN 111114403) (“Meng”). Zhao teaches a vehicle seat comprising: a seat frame assembly (fig. 2: 14, 16, 18) comprising a seat cushion frame (fig. 2: 36) being foldable up and down (fig. 7); a swivel device (fig. 2: 22) configured to swivel the seat frame assembly; a swivel strap (fig. 7: 86) configured to unlock the swivel device; and a locking device (fig. 3: pivot 38 is lockable in a seating and folded/stadium position; paragraph 0023) actuated together with the swivel strap to fix the seat cushion frame (the locking device 38 may be actuated together/simultaneously with the swivel strap by a user to fix the seat cushion frame and unlock the swivel device).
Zhao does not teach wherein the swivel strap is a lever or wherein the locking device is a rotatable hook. However, Meng teaches using a hook (figs. 9-11: 32) and a fixing pin (fig. 9: 33) configured to protrude toward an outside of the seat cushion frame (fig. 4: 31), wherein the hook is configured to be engaged with the fixing pin by rotation (as shown in figs. 9-11) to lock the seat cushion frame in a folded up (fig. 11) or folded down (fig. 9) position. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to construct the locking pivot 38 of Zhao as a hook latch in order to provide the desired locking/positioning of the seat cushion frame. Further, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, as a simple substitution of known parts, to use a lever as the handle/actuator in place of the swivel strap in order to provide the desired structural stability or pulling device.
As concerns claim 3, Zhao, as modified teaches wherein, when the seat cushion frame is in a folded-up state and the swivel device is unlocked by the swivel lever, the hook is engaged with the fixing pin to prevent the seat cushion frame from being folded down (as shown in fig. 11).
As concerns claim 15, Zhao, as modified, teaches a center frame (fig. 2: 18) and a back frame (fig. 2: 14), and the back frame and the seat cushion frame are coupled to the center frame, and wherein the center frame and the swivel device are connected such that, when the swivel device is unlocked, the center frame becomes swivelable (shown in figs. 8 and 9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4-14 and 16 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On page 7, Applicant argues that there is no disclosure in Zhao about the mechanism where the swivel strap 48 actuates the cushion pivot. The prior action mistakenly recited “48” as the swivel strap. The present action uses “86” as the swivel strap. Paragraph 0028 recites “the occupant initiates the swivel process by pulling the release mechanism 86 (arrow 90), causing tension to be applied to the latch release cable 76 and to the cushion release cable 88. The tension applied to the cushion release cable 88 unlocks the cushion pivots 38, and the tension applied to the latch release cable 76 unlatches the double-hook latch 54 from the forward striker 32.” As such 86 actuates both the seat cushion fold release and the swivel release.
Applicant additionally argues that Meng, element 33, may not be considered a fixing pin because it does not perform the function of fixing. The Office disagrees. As shown in figs. 9-11 of Meng, pin 33 is rotated into and out of contact with the teeth of element 34 of the base which is used to fix and lock the seat cushion frame into a folded or seating position. As such, element 33 may be considered a “fixing pin” under broadest reasonable interpretation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7231. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.
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/TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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