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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. sec. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious in view by United States Patent Application Pub. No.: US20210347323A1 to Thomas that is assigned to GM and filed on 2021 and in view of United States Patent Application Pub. No.: US20200207488A1 to Troy et al. assigned to BOENIG™
Thomas discloses “…a detection unit configured to detect load information related to a load applied to an occupant seat section of the vehicle during the inspection; and (see paragraph 51 where the user can pull the seat belt out and move it vertically and horizontally to latch the seat belt to the buckle and the controller can determine the weight and the slouch and provide the correct amount of payout from the seat belt from the track so it can provide a first length for a smaller person and a second length for a larger person)
an output unit configured to output a result of the inspection by the inspection apparatus in association with the load information detected by the detection unit. (See paragraph 170-172 and 51-58 where the device has an automatic retraction motor to pull the seat belt back to fasten the seat belt based on the output of the sensors to determine the correct amount of payout from the device) (See claims 1-9 where a shoulder seat belt adjustment is determined to be needed by the processor and then this can be also adjusted with high confidence)
Thomas is silent but Troy teaches “..1. A system comprising:
an inspection apparatus configured to perform an inspection of a vehicle;” (See abstract where a drone can provide a flight and monitor the areas of the plane and see claims 1-14).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of TROY with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since TROY teaches that a drone can act as a non-destructive inspection apparatus. The operator can control the drone remotely to provide a non-destructive inspection of the item that is desired using one or more sensors. The sensors can be eddy current sensors, ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, mechanical impedance sensors, optical sensors, x-ray backscatter sensors, computed tomography sensors, surface roughness sensors, IR thermography, microwave sensors, and terahertz sensors. A point of interest in the inspection can be determined not depending on the deviation from the flight path to provide a reliable inspection apparatus regardless of the flight path. See paragraph 37-44.
Thomas discloses “….2. The system according to claim 1, wherein:
the occupant seat section includes a seat on which an occupant of the vehicle is seated; and the detection unit includes a seat sensor provided in the seat, the seat sensor being configured to detect the load information related to a load applied to the seat”. (See paragraph 170-172 and 51-58 where the device has an automatic retraction motor to pull the seat belt back to fasten the seat belt based on the output of the sensors to determine the correct amount of payout from the device) (see claims 1-8 where the seat occupancy is detected with a sensor that can be an IR or camera sensor to adjust the seat belt payout) (see paragraph 51 where the user can pull the seat belt out and move it vertically an horizontally to latch the seat belt to the buckle and the controller can determine the weight and the slouch and provide the correct amount of payout from the seat belt from the track so it can provide a first length for a smaller person and a second length for a larger person)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of TROY with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since TROY teaches that a drone can act as a non-destructive inspection apparatus. The operator can control the drone remotely to provide a non-destructive inspection of the item that is desired using one or more sensors. The sensors can be eddy current sensors, ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, mechanical impedance sensors, optical sensors, x-ray backscatter sensors, computed tomography sensors, surface roughness sensors, IR thermography, microwave sensors, and terahertz sensors. A point of interest in the inspection can be determined not depending on the deviation from the flight path to provide a reliable inspection apparatus regardless of the flight path. See paragraph 37-44.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. sec. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious in view by United States Patent Application Pub. No.: US20210347323A1 to Thomas that is assigned to GM and filed on 2021 and in view of United States Patent Application Pub. No.: US20200207488A1 to Troy et al. assigned to BOENIG™ and in view of Chinese Patent No.: CN203148627U to Henan University filed in 2013.
Thomas is silent but HENAN teaches “…3. The system according to claim 2, wherein:
the occupant seat section further includes a floor panel on which feet of the occupant seated on the seat are placed; and
the detection unit further includes a load sensor provided on the floor panel, the load sensor being configured to detect the load information related to a load applied to the floor panel”. (see abstract and claims 1-10).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of HENAN with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since HENAN teaches that a vehicle can include a floor scale type device to measure the weight of the passenger. This can measure the weight of the passengers to adjust one or more devices in the vehicle being based on the different weights of the passengers to determine a centroid location of the vehicle for adjustment . See claims 1-4.
Thomas discloses “…4. The system according to claim 1, wherein:
the detection unit includes an imaging device configured to capture an image of the occupant seat section; and
the detection unit is configured to detect, from image data obtained from the imaging device, the load information related to the load applied to the occupant seat section”. (See paragraph 170-172 and 51-58 where the device has an automatic retraction motor to pull the seat belt back to fasten the seat belt based on the output of the sensors to determine the correct amount of payout from the device) (see claims 1-8 where the seat occupancy is detected with a sensor that can be an IR or camera sensor to adjust the seat belt payout) (see paragraph 51 where the user can pull the seat belt out and move it vertically an horizontally to latch the seat belt to the buckle and the controller can determine the weight and the slouch and provide the correct amount of payout from the seat belt from the track so it can provide a first length for a smaller person and a second length for a larger person)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of TROY with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since TROY teaches that a drone can act as a non-destructive inspection apparatus. The operator can control the drone remotely to provide a non-destructive inspection of the item that is desired using one or more sensors. The sensors can be eddy current sensors, ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, mechanical impedance sensors, optical sensors, x-ray backscatter sensors, computed tomography sensors, surface roughness sensors, IR thermography, microwave sensors, and terahertz sensors. A point of interest in the inspection can be determined not depending on the deviation from the flight path to provide a reliable inspection apparatus regardless of the flight path. See paragraph 37-44.
Thomas is silent but Troy teaches “…5. A system comprising:
an inspection apparatus configured to perform an inspection of a vehicle;” (See abstract where a drone can provide a flight and monitor the areas of the plane and see claims 1-14).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of TROY with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since TROY teaches that a drone can act as a non-destructive inspection apparatus. The operator can control the drone remotely to provide a non-destructive inspection of the item that is desired using one or more sensors. The sensors can be eddy current sensors, ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, mechanical impedance sensors, optical sensors, x-ray backscatter sensors, computed tomography sensors, surface roughness sensors, IR thermography, microwave sensors, and terahertz sensors. A point of interest in the inspection can be determined not depending on the deviation from the flight path to provide a reliable inspection apparatus regardless of the flight path. See paragraph 37-44.
Thomas discloses “…a detection unit configured to detect load information related to a load applied to
an occupant seat section of the vehicle during the inspection; and
an output unit configured to output a result of the inspection by the inspection apparatus when the load information detected by the detection unit meets a predetermined criterion, and configured not to output the result when the load information detected by the
detection unit does not meet the predetermined criterion” (See paragraph 170-172 and 51-58 where the device has an automatic retraction motor to pull the seat belt back to fasten the seat belt based on the output of the sensors to determine the correct amount of payout from the device) (see claims 1-8 where the seat occupancy is detected with a sensor that can be an IR or camera sensor to adjust the seat belt payout) (see paragraph 51 where the user can pull the seat belt out and move it vertically an horizontally to latch the seat belt to the buckle and the controller can determine the weight and the slouch and provide the correct amount of payout from the seat belt from the track so it can provide a first length for a smaller person and a second length for a larger person)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present disclosure to combine the teachings of TROY with the disclosure of THOMAS with a reasonable expectation of success since TROY teaches that a drone can act as a non-destructive inspection apparatus. The operator can control the drone remotely to provide a non-destructive inspection of the item that is desired using one or more sensors. The sensors can be eddy current sensors, ultrasonic sensors, acoustic sensors, mechanical impedance sensors, optical sensors, x-ray backscatter sensors, computed tomography sensors, surface roughness sensors, IR thermography, microwave sensors, and terahertz sensors. A point of interest in the inspection can be determined not depending on the deviation from the flight path to provide a reliable inspection apparatus regardless of the flight path. See paragraph 37-44.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN PAUL CASS whose telephone number is (571)270-1934. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7 am to 7 pm; Saturday 10 am to 12 noon.
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/JEAN PAUL CASS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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