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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the restraint for the knees at the side part of the seat cushion (claim 11) in addition to the restraint from the seat back (claim 1 in which it depends) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 – 3 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by E. Capener, U.S. 3,623,768 (“Capener”). Capener discloses a vehicle occupant protection device (column 1, line 5) comprising:
a vehicle seat (10 - 13); and
one or more restraint units (15, 16) for restraining an occupant (passenger 11) seated in the vehicle seat in the event of a vehicle emergency (impact), wherein the seat has a seat cushion part that supports the buttocks of the occupant and a seat back part (12) that supports the back of the occupant, and the restraint unit is configured to dynamically deform from a peripheral portion of the seat back part (fig. 2) to wrap around in front of the occupant in the event of a vehicle emergency (impact), thereby restraining the occupant.
In reference to claims 2, 3, and 10, Capener further discloses [[claim 2]] wherein the restraint unit is dynamically deformed so as to wrap around the peripheral portion of the seat back part to the front of the occupant in the event of a vehicle emergency (impact), thereby restraining the upper body or head of the occupant;
[[claim 3]] further comprising an impact absorbing mechanism (12, 15, 16, 25) that absorbs impact when the restraint unit restrains the upper body or head of the occupant, and the impact absorbing mechanism causes one or both of the seat cushion part and the seat back part (15, 16) to move forward in conjunction with the dynamic deformation of the restraint unit in the event of a vehicle emergency (impact);
[[claim 10]] wherein a plurality of the one or more restraining units (15, 16, 25) are provided, and a pair of the plurality of restraining units (15, 16) are provided so as to be positioned on each of the peripheral portions on both sides of the seat back part in the width direction.
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Capener in view of L. Zhang, CN 110775085 (“Zhang”). Capener does not disclose the impact absorbing mechanism (12, 15, 16, 25) including a weakened part provided on a frame of the seat back portion. Zhang teaches an impact absorbing mechanism (fig. 7) including a weakened part (between 1, 21, and 22) provided on a frame (hinge(s)), the weakened part deforming so as to cause the seat back portion to move forward in conjunction with the dynamic deformation of the restraint unit in the event of a vehicle emergency (fig. 7B). One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Capener such that it comprised the weakened part in view of the teachings of Zhang obvious so as to generate torque, allowing each section to fold forward and protect both the seated passenger and a passenger in the immediate adjacent row (page 9, 4th paragraph beginning with “According to a still further embodiment …”).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Capener in view of Aikin et al. U.S. 10,518,674 (“Aikin”). Capener does not disclose the impact absorbing mechanism including a seat slider unit. Aikin teaches an impact absorbing mechanism (216, column 4, line 50) including a seat slider unit (220) that is provided on a floor of the vehicle (fig. 6) and supports the seat cushion part (218), and the seat slider unit causes the seat cushion part to move forward in conjunction with dynamic deformation of the restraint unit in the event of a vehicle emergency (column 5, line 10). One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Capener such that it comprises the seat slider unit in view of the teachings of Aikin obvious so as to allow the seat to move in response to an output signal prior to a collision to efficiently decelerate the occupant based on the forces generated against the occupant by the collision (column 5, line 50).
Claim(s) 11 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Capener in view of Masuda et al. U.S. 2019/0389414 (“Masuda”). Capener discloses wherein in the event of a vehicle emergency (impact), the restraint unit is dynamically deformed so as to extend forward from a side part of the seat (fig. 1), but does not disclose [[claim 11]] it at a cushion part and bend inward in the width direction of the seat cushion part to restrain the occupant near the knees from the front. Masuda teaches a restraint unit (30) dynamically deformed so as to extend forward from a side part at a cushion part of the seat (31, 36) and bend inward in the width direction of the seat cushion part to restrain the occupant near the knees from the front (fig. 2). One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Capener such that it comprised the restraint unit near the knees in view of the teachings of Masuda obvious so as to restrain the lower part of the body of an occupant from moving forward in the event of a collision of the vehicle (abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 – 9 and 12 – 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Prior art references do not disclose or teach a vehicle occupant protection device comprising, inter alia, [[claims 6 and 12]] a restraint unit having a plurality of restraint blocks connected so as to be aligned in the front-to back direction of a seat back in a non-operation state, and all or some of the plurality of restraint blocks have a tapered portion on the seat back part side (see fig. 3 – 5).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN BECK whose telephone number is (571)272-6212. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday from 8:30AM - 4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Shanske can be reached at 571-270-5985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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KAREN BECK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3614
/KAREN BECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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