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 Objections
Claim 6 objected to because of the following informalities: The word "seat" is duplicated, such that the patent reads "anchor is for a rear seat seat belt". Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 114789754 A) in view of Kajiwara and Kimura (JP 7127845 B2) and further in view of Pinsonneault and Castriota (US 12134426 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang et al. discloses a vehicle lower part structure comprising: a vehicle body constituting portion that is a cast product of metal and includes a … support portion (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2) …
PNG
media_image1.png
625
905
media_image1.png
Greyscale
However, Zhang et al. fails to disclose a vehicle lower part structure comprising: a battery case that accommodates a battery and is disposed at a lower part of a vehicle; a vehicle body constituting portion that … includes a battery support portion that supports the battery case; and an anchor member that is attached to the battery support portion on a vehicle upper side.
Kajiwara and Kimura teaches a vehicle lower part structure comprising: and an anchor member that is attached to the … support portion on a vehicle upper side (Kajiwara and Kimura Annotated Figure 2, the support portion is continuous and part of a larger vehicle body constituting portion).
PNG
media_image2.png
565
620
media_image2.png
Greyscale
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to attach a rear seat belt anchor, as taught by Kajiwara and Kimura, to a support portion of a vehicle body constituting portion, as disclosed by Zhang et al. and present in Kajiwara and Kimura, because by placing the rear seat belt anchor on the support portion, the amount of deformation the rear seat belt anchor experiences during a car crash decreases, improving the reliability of the seat belt.
However, Zhang et al. as modified by Kajiwara and Kimura still fails to disclose a vehicle lower part structure comprising: a battery case that accommodates a battery and is disposed at a lower part of a vehicle; a vehicle body constituting portion that … includes a battery support portion that supports the battery case.
Pinsonneault and Castriota teaches a vehicle lower part structure comprising: a battery case that accommodates a battery (Pinsonneault and Castriota Col. 25 Lines 23-27, the structural ring is the battery case) and is disposed at a lower part of a vehicle (Pinsonneault and Castriota Annotated Figure 13); a vehicle body constituting portion that … includes a battery support portion that supports the battery case (Pinsonneault and Castriota Col. 25 Lines 52-59, the rear structural floor 700 is the vehicle body constituting portion, of which parts are the battery supporting portion).
PNG
media_image3.png
508
778
media_image3.png
Greyscale
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to support the battery case with a battery case support portion, as taught by Pinsonneault and Castriota, that is integral to a vehicle body constituting portion, as disclosed by Zhang et al., because a battery is a large and heavy structure that is typically disposed at the bottom of the vehicle, such that it needs some form of dedicated support to be adequately attached to the rest of the vehicle body.
Regarding claim 2, Zhang et al. as modified by a first reference Kajiwara and Kimura along with a second reference Pinsonneault and Castriota discloses the vehicle lower part structure according to claim 1, wherein the battery support portion (Pinsonneault and Castriota Annotated Figure 7C provides a battery support portion, a modification of the support portion shown in Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2) includes a vertical wall portion that extends in a vertical direction (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2), a horizontal wall portion that extends in a horizontal direction from a lower end portion of the vertical wall portion (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2), the battery case being attached to the horizontal wall portion (Pinsonneault and Castriota Annotated Figure 7C shows attachment sites in horizontal wall portion, attachment confirmed Pinsonneault and Castriota Col. 25 Lines 52-59), and a reinforcing rib that establishes coupling between the vertical wall portion and the horizontal wall portion and reinforces the vertical wall portion and the horizontal wall portion (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2), in a side view.
PNG
media_image4.png
563
1089
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 3, Zhang et al. as modified by a first reference Kajiwara and Kimura along with a second reference Pinsonneault and Castriota discloses the vehicle lower part structure according to claim 2, wherein: the vehicle body constituting portion has a cross member that extends in a vehicle width direction (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2) with the cross member spaced apart from the battery support portion (Zhang et al. Annotated Figure 2, the support portion is modified by Kajiwara and to ); and the cross member, the battery support portion, and the battery case form a rahmen structure in a side view (The applicant has not provided a special definition for a rahmen structure. As such, the examiner uses the definition from the blog website Fundamentals of Unibody Construction – Rahmen Structure, which states that a rahmen structure is a framework structure of individual parts assembled together with rigid fixed points or joints. The term “rigid fixed points or joints” will be interpreted broadly, such that any rigid connection up to and including a fully integral casting of two or more substructures will be thought of as part of a rahmen structure. The cross member and battery support portion form an integral casting. The battery case is rigidly attached to the battery support portion. Therefore, the cross member, battery support portion and the battery case form a rahmen structure).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang et al. as modified by a first reference Kajiwara and Kimura along with a second reference Pinsonneault and Castriota discloses the vehicle lower part structure according to claim 1, wherein the anchor member is attached to the battery support portion on the vehicle upper side by a fastening member (Kajiwara and Kimura Annotated Figure 2).
Regarding claim 5, Zhang et al. as modified by a first reference Kajiwara and Kimura along with a second reference Pinsonneault and Castriota discloses the vehicle lower part structure according to claim 4, wherein the anchor member is a seat belt anchor (Kajiwara and Kimura Annotated Figure 2).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang et al. as modified by a first reference Kajiwara and Kimura along with a second reference Pinsonneault and Castriota discloses the vehicle lower part structure according to claim 5, wherein the seat belt anchor is for a rear seat seat belt (Kajiwara and Kimura Annotated Figure 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL R SACKINGER whose telephone number is (571)270-0840. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. 6 p.m. ET..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 5712705500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/G.R.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3612
/AMY R WEISBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3612
Prosecution Insights