DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 17, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the front chamber part is folded in the tuck-in way to fold the front chamber part" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since only a part of the front chamber part (not “the front chamber part”) is previously described as being folded in a tuck-in way. This rejection could be overcome by amending claim 2 as follows:
The airbag cushion of claim 1, wherein the is folded by pushing an end of the front chamber part inward.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-12 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sung et al. (US 2021/0402949 A1) in view of Lee et al. (US 2021/0354654 A1) and Shibayama et al. (US 2013/0076013 A1). Sung teaches an airbag cushion (e.g., 100) comprising: a side chamber part (e.g., 110) combined with a seat part (e.g., 10), and configured to be deployed by pressurized gas provided by an inflator (paragraphs 0057 and 0060), and protect a side of a passenger; a front chamber part (e.g., 210) connected to the side chamber part, and configured to deploy toward a front of the passenger to protect a front of the passenger; and a shape maintenance part (e.g., 310, 320, 410, 420, 510, 520, 610, 620) configured to connect the side chamber part and the front chamber part to the seat part; and a tether (710, 720) attached to the side chamber part and configured to limit an expansion thickness of the side chamber part during deployment thereof (paragraph 0058) to hasten deployment of the front chamber, wherein, when the inflator is activated, the side chamber part and the front chamber part are deployed, and the shape maintenance part is further configured to maintain the front chamber part in a bent state with respect to the side chamber part (Figs. 1-6, 8 and 9), and wherein the side chamber part comprises: a first side part (e.g., a rearward portion) connected to the inflator; a second side part (e.g., a middle portion) extended from the first side part and configured to protect the side of the passenger; and a third side part (e.g., a forward portion) extended from the second side part, and configured to: be deployed forward from the second side part; and include a third hole part (paragraph 0059) formed therein. The front chamber part is combined with the third side part and deployed toward the front of the passenger by a gas that is discharged through the third hole part (paragraphs 0052, 0057 and 0059-0061). The shape maintenance part comprises: a first upper maintenance part (e.g., 310) configured to connect an upper part of the side chamber part and an upper part of the seat part; and a second upper maintenance part (e.g. 410) configured to connect an upper part of the front chamber part and an upper part of the seat part. The first upper maintenance part and the second upper maintenance part are overlapped and fixed to the seat part (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9). The shape maintenance part further comprises: a first lower maintenance part (e.g., 510) configured to connect a lower part of the side chamber part and a lower part of the seat part; and a second lower maintenance part (e.g. 610) configured to connect a lower part of the front chamber part and a lower part of the seat part. The first lower maintenance part and the second lower maintenance part are overlapped and fixed to the seat part (Fig. 3). After the side chamber part and the front chamber part are deployed, the shape maintenance part maintains the side chamber part and the front chamber part as an L-shape when viewed from above, to protect the front and the side of the passenger (Figs. 1-6, 8 and 9). The airbag cushion further comprises: another side chamber part (e.g., 120) connected to the inflator and configured to be integrated with the seat of the vehicle; and another front chamber part (e.g., 220) connected to the other side chamber part and configured to be integrated in the seat of the vehicle, wherein the shape maintenance part is further configured to connect at least one of the other side chamber part, the other front chamber part, or a combination thereof to the seat, and wherein, when the inflator is activated, pressurized gas released by the inflator deploys the other side chamber part to protect another side of the passenger seated in the seat, the pressurized gas in the other side chamber part deploys the other front chamber part to protect the front of the passenger seated in the seat, and the shape maintenance part is further configured to maintain the other front chamber part as being bent from the other side chamber part (Figs. 1-6, 8 and 9). Sung does not teach that the front chamber part includes a part folded in a tuck-in way, that the first side part is folded in one or more zigzag patterns, that the second side part is folded in an outboard roll way, or that the third side part is folded in an inboard roll way. Lee teaches a front chamber part that includes a part folded in a tuck-in way by pushing an end of the front chamber part inward (Fig. 6). Shibayama teaches a side chamber part comprising: a first side part (e.g., at rear portion 110B) connected to an inflator 121; a second side part (e.g., at a rearward portion of front portion 110A) extended from the first side part and configured to protect the side of the passenger; and a third side part (e.g., at a forward portion of front portion 110A). The first side part is folded in one or more zigzag patterns (Figs. 3 and 11a) to induce lateral deployment with respect to a passenger (Fig. 11b). The second side part is folded in an outboard roll way (Figs. 3 and 11a) to fold the second side part in a direction of the passenger so that the second side part is deployed beyond a shoulder portion of the passenger (Fig. 2). The third side part is folded in an inboard roll way (Fig. 13) to fold the third side part toward a direction of the passenger. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fold a front chamber part and a side chamber part as taught by Sung, according to the known techniques taught by Lee and Shibayama, so the airbag cushion can be “compactly accommodated and fixed to the backrest 13 by folding a part of the airbag 110 that is forward of the part that accommodates the inflator assembly 120 and placing the folded part in front of the inflator assembly 120 as shown in FIG. 3” (paragraph 0042). All the claimed elements were known in the cited prior art, and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results. MPEP §2143(I)(A).
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed on March 17, 2026 were not in compliance with 37 C.F.R. 1.121(c)(2) because “is” was deleted from claim 1, lines 17 and 19 (two places) and from claim 18, lines 20 and 22 (two places) without the deletions being properly indicated as required by 37 C.F.R. 1.121(c)(2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on March 17, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments in the second to the last paragraph on page 10 of the remarks, a combination of Sung, Lee and Shibayama would result in a “deployment-direction control mechanism that sequentially applies different folding patterns”, as explained above. Contrary to applicant’s assertions, Sung does disclose a tether (710, 720) attached to a side chamber part (e.g., 110) of an airbag cushion (e.g., 100) that limits an expansion thickness of the side chamber part during deployment thereof (paragraph 0058) to hasten deployment of a front chamber (e.g., 110) of the airbag cushion, as recited in claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEITH J FRISBY whose telephone number is (571)270-7802. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM - 5:00PM.
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/KEITH J FRISBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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