Appeal No. 95-4379
Application 08/116,753
primary reference, discloses in Figure 9 an air bag having an
air bag wall 83 of a fabric (A) which is substantially
nonpermeable to gas, and a gas permeable section 84 of a
fabric (C) radially spaced from the central section of the air
bag for the controlled venting of hot gases as the air bag
deploys. Among the claim limitations acknowledged by the
examiner as being absent in Matsumoto is the requirement of
claim 2 that the gas permeable fabric “is oriented in warp and
weft at an angle of about 45E to the warp and weft of the
fabric forming the wall of the air bag.” As explained on page
2 of the specification, this feature helps to ensure that
seams joining the fabric of the gas permeable section to the
remaining air bag cover are loaded evenly.
In rejecting the appealed claims, the examiner relies on
Takada for a teaching of the above noted warp and weft
orientation feature. According to the examiner, Takada
teaches providing the warp and weft of fabric sheets 7 and 8
oriented at 45 degrees to absorb loading (answer, page 3).
Based on this teaching, the examiner concludes that it would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
to modify the air bag of Matsumoto et al. such that
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Last modified: November 3, 2007