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 (IDS) submitted on 11/20/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishigaki (WO-2023228690-A1), henceforth referred to as Ishigaki, in view of Ishiguro (US-20070278774-A1), henceforth referred to as Ishiguro.
Regarding claim 1, Ishigaki discloses an airbag mounted on a steering wheel including a grip portion gripped by an occupant (Figure 1A: airbag device 100 mounted on steering wheel 106 which comprises rim 108), the airbag being inflated by being supplied with an inflation gas (Paragraph [0049]: "The airbag cushion 104 inflates and deploys toward the driver 166 in the driver's seat 102 (see FIG. 8) while splitting the cover of the housing section 110 under the inflation pressure of gas from the inflator 112 "), and covering an entire area of the grip portion from behind when the airbag is completely inflated (Figures 1A and 1B: airbag 100 covers the entire area of the grip portion), the airbag that is completely inflated comprising: an occupant-side panel that is disposed on a rear side and is configured to receive the occupant (Figures 5A and 8C: occupant side center panel 130 disposed in recess 120 to receive driver 166), a steering wheel-side panel that is disposed on a front side and is supported in contact with the grip portion (Figures 1A, 1B, 5A and 6: rear panel 124, which comprises bottom surface 114 that contacts steering wheel 106, further, paragraph [0052]: "The airbag cushion 104 inflates and deploys into a rounded, nearly cylindrical shape. The surface of the airbag cushion 104 can be roughly divided into a bottom surface 114 on the steering wheel 106 (see FIG. 1(a)) side"), and a side panel that is sewn to the occupant-side panel and the steering wheel-side panel and connects the occupant-side panel and the steering wheel-side panel (Figure 5A: side panel 132 is attached to occupant side center panel 130 and wheel-side panel 124, further, Paragraph [0050]: "The airbag cushion 104 is formed by sewing or gluing a plurality of panels that make up its surface", wherein a width of the side panel in a front-rear direction along a rotation axis of the steering shaft is larger than a width of the occupant-side panel in a left-right direction (Figure 5A: width of side panel 132 in a front-rear direction is greater than the width of the center panel 130 in the left-right direction).
However, Ishigaki does not explicitly disclose a steering shaft. Ishiguro discloses a boss portion connected to a steering shaft of a vehicle (Paragraph [0090]: "At an area of core 2 corresponding to boss area B is s a steel boss 3 through which steering shaft SS is inserted and then fixed by nut N"). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the steering assembly of Ishigaki with the steering shaft of Ishiguro in order to connect the steering wheel to the steering rack, such that the vehicle may be turned.
Regarding claim 2, Ishigaki as modified discloses the side panel includes: a left side panel that is disposed on a left side and is sewn to the occupant-side panel and the steering wheel-side panel to connect the occupant-side panel and the steering wheel-side panel (Figures 5A and 6A: side panel 132 includes left side sub-panel 132C, and is sewn to occupant-side center panel 130 and wheel side panel 124), and a right side panel that is disposed on a right side, is configured separately from the left side panel, and is sewn to the occupant-side panel, the steering wheel-side panel, and the left side panel to connect the occupant-side panel and the steering wheel-side panel (Figures 5A and 6A: side panel 132 includes right side sub-panel 132A, and is sewn to occupant-side center panel 130 and wheel side panel 124, and left side sub panel 132C), and a sewn portion between the left side panel and the right side panel extends along the front-rear direction along the rotation axis (Figure 6B: sewn portion 200 joining panels 132A and 132C extends along a front-rear direction, substantially along the steering wheel rotation axis).
Cited Prior Art not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes Suzuki (US-20220306037-A1), which discloses a multi-panel airbag disposed in a vehicle steering wheel
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J O'NEILL whose telephone number is (571)272-4752. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri: 7AM-4PM.
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/MATTHEW JAMES O'NEILL/Examiner, Art Unit 3614
/KAREN BECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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