Appeal No. 1999-2677
Application 08/878,769
THE INVENTION
The subject matter on appeal relates to an air bag
apparatus which is defined in representative claim 30 as
follows:
30. An air bag apparatus for protecting a driver of a
vehicle, said air bag apparatus comprising: an air bag, a base
plate for mounting thereon a gas generator for inflating said
air bag, and a pad cover secured to said base plate for
accommodating said air bag and said gas generator therein,
wherein a portion of said base plate is a unitary component
having a portion configured by turning in a downward direction
to form a side inner face portion and turning outwardly to
form a bottom portion contiguous to the side inner face
portion, and a lower end of a terminal portion of the pad
cover having a terminal flange thereon is disposed along the
side inner face portion and the bottom portion, and the bottom
portion turned back upward and inward to enclose the terminal
portion flange of said pad cover and form a side outer face
portion so that the terminal portion of the pad cover is held
and retained between to the side outer face portion and the
side inner face portion, thereby forming a caulking portion
for said terminal flange.
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of
obviousness are:
Hesse 2,037,204 Jul. 9, 1980
(British Patent Document)
Takada 1-160756 Jun. 23, 19892
2An English language translation of this reference, prepared on behalf of the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is appended hereto.
2
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