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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 2/13/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609; accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner. However, the non-patent literature cited has not been submitted. 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2) requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. Accordingly, the information referred to therein has not been considered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Santos (WO 2011/029951).
Claim 1- Santos discloses a child safety seat and base system, the system comprising:
a child safety seat (200), the child safety seat comprising: a plurality of pins (not shown) on a bottom surface of the child safety seat (the hooks 72 indicate the inherent presence of at least two horizontally disposed rods, or “pins”, on the bottom of the seat for removable attachment to the base, figs. 1 & 6); and
a base (100), the base comprising: a base body (30); a rotary element (60) rotatably mounted to the base body; and a seat latch (70), the seat latch having an open and close position (shown in fig. 6);
wherein the child safety seat (200) is configured to selectively couple to the base (fig. 7A) via the plurality of pins.
Claim 2- Santos discloses the system of Claim 1, wherein the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat align with a plurality of notches on the seat latch (the hooks 72 each include a notch formed therein, fig. 6).
Claim 3- Santos discloses the system of Claim 2, wherein the plurality of notches on the seat latch are configured to receive the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat (fig. 6 shows the hooks 72 include an adjacent bracket with another notch for capturing a rod on the underside of the car seat).
Claim 4- Santos discloses the system of Claim 3, wherein the seat latch (70) comprises an actuator (73) to selectively hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat (not shown) with the plurality of notches on the seat latch (72), and wherein when the plurality of notches on the seat latch hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat, the child safety seat is selectively coupled to the base (fig. 6 shows the closed state of the latch for holding the seat to the base).
Claim 5- Santos discloses the system of Claim 4, wherein the base blocks access to the actuator (73) when the seat is in use in any position other than one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 1 & 6-8B show that the handle 73, located underneath the front end of the car seat 200, is between the base and the car seat in a forward or rearward orientation, and is positioned beyond the lateral side of the base in the car seat side-loading orientation), thereby preventing opening or closing the seat latch when the seat is in any position other than the one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 7A & 8A show that the handle 73 is inaccessibly disposed between the lower end of the car seat and the upper side of the base).
Claim 6- Santos discloses the system of Claim 1, wherein the seat latch (70) is mounted to the rotary element (by lower vertical posts 71, fig. 6).
Claim 7- Santos discloses the system of Claim 1, further comprising an interlock mechanism (40) that prevents rotation of the rotary element with respect to the base, via a lock mechanism (43, 34) between the interlock and base body (figs. 2-3 & 5).
Claim 15- Santos discloses a child safety seat and base system, the system comprising:
a child safety seat (200), the child safety seat comprising: a plurality of pins (not shown) on a bottom surface of the child safety seat (the hooks 72 indicate the inherent presence of at least two horizontally disposed rods, or “pins”, on the bottom of the seat for removable attachment to the base, figs. 1 & 6); and
a base (100), the base comprising: a base body (30); a rotary element (60) rotatably mounted to the base body; and a seat latch (70), the seat latch having an open and close position (shown in fig. 6);
wherein the child safety seat (200) is configured to selectively couple to the base (fig. 7A) via the plurality of pins;
wherein the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat align with a plurality of notches on the seat latch (the hooks 72 each include a notch formed therein, fig. 6); and
wherein the plurality of notches on the seat latch are configured to receive the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat (fig. 6 shows the hooks 72 include an adjacent bracket with another notch for capturing a rod on the underside of the car seat).
Claim 16- Santos discloses the system of Claim 15, wherein the seat latch (70) comprises an actuator (73) to selectively hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat (not shown) with the plurality of notches on the seat latch (72), and wherein when the plurality of notches on the seat latch hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat, the child safety seat is selectively coupled to the base (fig. 6 shows the closed state of the latch for holding the seat to the base).
Claim 17- Santos discloses the system of Claim 16, wherein the base blocks access to the actuator (73) when the seat is in use in any position other than one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 1 & 6-8B show that the handle 73, located underneath the front end of the car seat 200, is between the base and the car seat in a forward or rearward orientation, and is positioned beyond the lateral side of the base in the car seat side-loading orientation), thereby preventing opening or closing the seat latch when the seat is in any position other than the one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 7A & 8A show that the handle 73 is inaccessibly disposed between the lower end of the car seat and the upper side of the base).
Claim 18- Santos discloses a child safety seat and base system (figs. 7A-8B), the system comprising:
a child safety seat (200), the child safety seat comprising: a plurality of pins (not shown) on a bottom surface of the child safety seat (the hooks 72 indicate the inherent presence of at least two horizontally disposed rods, or “pins”, on the bottom of the seat for removable attachment to the base, figs. 1 & 6); and
a base (100), the base comprising: a base body (30); a rotary element (60) rotatably mounted to the base body; an interlock mechanism (40) that prevents rotation of the rotary element with respect to the base; and a seat latch (70), the seat latch having an open and close position (shown in fig. 6);
wherein the child safety seat (200) is configured to selectively couple to the base (fig. 7A) via the plurality of pins; and wherein the seat latch is mounted to the rotary element (fig. 6).
Claim 19- Santos discloses the system of Claim 18, wherein the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat align with a plurality of notches (72) on the seat latch (the hooks 72 each include a notch formed therein, fig. 6); wherein the plurality of notches on the seat latch are configured to receive the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat, wherein the seat latch (70) comprises an actuator (73) to selectively hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat with the plurality of notches on the seat latch, and wherein when the plurality of notches on the seat latch hold the plurality of pins on the bottom surface of the child safety seat, the child safety seat is selectively coupled to the base.
Claim 20- Santos discloses the system of Claim 19, wherein the base blocks access to the actuator (73) when the seat is in use in any position other than one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 1 & 6-8B show that the handle 73, located underneath the front end of the car seat 200, is between the base and the car seat in a forward or rearward orientation, and is positioned beyond the lateral side of the base in the car seat side-loading orientation), thereby preventing opening or closing the seat latch when the seat is in any position other than the one or two side-loading position(s) (figs. 7A & 8A show that the handle 73 is inaccessibly disposed between the lower end of the car seat and the upper side of the base).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record did not show or suggest, either singly or combined, a child seat and base system as claimed, comprising inter alia an interlock mechanism that is activated when the seat latch is in the open position, wherein the mechanism includes a locking projection engagable with a locking recess to prevent rotation of the rotary element with respect to the base when the seat latch is in the open position; or comprising inter alia a depressible element on the rotary element that is depressible by a depending surface of the child seat for releasing the interlock mechanism.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/T.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
