Appeal No. 2002-0922
Application No. 09/305,531
reverse the aforementioned rejection.
The examiner correctly found (answer, pages 4-5) that Kauer
describes a method for making a thermoplastic air bag cover
assembly comprising: (i) positioning front and back panels so
that the surfaces of the panels are adjacent to one another; (ii)
positioning a thermoplastic electromagnetic material in channels
between the adjacent inner surfaces; (iii) positioning a switch
in a switch pocket between the adjacent inner surfaces and the
channels; (iv) establishing an electromagnetic field about the
positioned material for a time sufficient to melt the material
within the channels; (v) forcing the adjacent inner surfaces
together to cause the molten material to flow within the channels
and cause the surface layers of the front and back panels
defining the channels to melt; and (vi) allowing the molten
material and the molten surface layers to cool and solidify.
(Figure 4; column 3, line 5 to column 4, line 26.) According to
the examiner (answer, page 5), Kauer does not teach the use of
infrared energy on an infrared-absorbing material as recited in
appealed claim 1.
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