Appeal No. 1999-1742
Application No. 08/730,674
return signal and a second frequency to provide a beat signal
having a beat frequency.
For this feature, the examiner relies on Breed for a
teaching of a vehicle occupant position sensor wherein the
sensor disables the inflatable restraint system if the occupant
is in danger including
a first and second signal generated pulse, the second
signal having a second frequency slightly different
from the first signal and a means for combining the
first and second signal to produce a first beat signal
(See column 15, lines 1-11).
Answer, p. 4. The examiner concluded that it would have been
obvious to combine the teachings of Blackburn and Breed “in
order to provide an appropriate signal that would allow the safe
deployment of the restraining device” (answer, p. 5).
As to claim 14, the examiner also acknowledges (answer, p.
6) that Blackburn does not disclose “the combiner for mixing the
frequency signals as discussed and therefore is rejected for the
same reasons as discussed above.”
The appellant argues that a person of ordinary skill in the
art would not have arrived at the claimed invention based on the
combined teachings of the applied prior art, except by the use
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