DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of applicant’s amendment filed December 10, 2025. Claim 2 has been canceled without prejudice. Claims 1 and 3-13 are pending and an action on the merits is as follows.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6 of the response, filed December 10, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 2 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art reference(s).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 3-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakari et al. (US 2019/0084793 A1) in view of Della Porta (US 9,457,987 B2) further in view of Hopp (US 9,469,504 B2).
Claims 1 and 9: Nakari et al. discloses a method of controlling an elevator car and an elevator system, where the elevator car is driven with a drive system which includes a drive device (elevator motor) and a brake device (first and second elevator brake) (page 3 paragraph [0029]). A second brake of the brake device is triggered to brake in response to an emergency stop condition (emergency), and a delay is applied between triggering the second brake of brake device and stopping the elevator car such that a time period corresponding to the delay is waited before activating the first brake to stop the elevator car (page 5 paragraph [0049]). Since the brake device is triggered in response to an emergency stop condition, the emergency stop condition would be detected by a safety system of the elevator system, as is recognized in the art. This reference fails to disclose a determination to be made whether the detected emergency stop condition is a motion-hazard emergency stop condition, and to only wait for the time period corresponding to the delay before stopping the drive device in response to the emergency stop condition being a motion-hazard emergency stop condition. This reference further fails to disclose the delay to be determined and applied between triggering the brake device and stopping the drive device such that a time period corresponding to the delay is waited before stopping the drive device.
However Della Porta teaches a method of controlling an elevator car and an elevator system where an emergency stop condition is determined (column 9 lines 7-11) whether it is a motion-hazard emergency stop condition (overspeed event), and only waits for a time period (about 150 to 600 milliseconds) corresponding to a delay before using a second brake in response to the emergency stop condition being a motion-hazard emergency stop condition (column 3 lines 7-11).
Given the teachings of Della Porta, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and elevator system disclosed in Nakari et al. with providing a determination to be made whether the detected emergency stop condition is a motion-hazard emergency stop condition, and to only wait for the time period corresponding to the delay before stopping the drive device in response to the emergency stop condition being a motion-hazard emergency stop condition. Doing so would “minimize discomfort to passengers when the elevator car is stopped … during an emergency stop … [and] ensure that the elevator is brought to a smooth stop” as taught in Della Porta (column 8 line 66 through column 9 line 11). These references fail to disclose the delay to be determined and applied between triggering the brake device and stopping the drive device such that a time period corresponding to the delay is waited before stopping the drive device.
However Hopp teaches a method of controlling an elevator car and an elevator system where in response to an emergency stop condition (technical problem), a drive device (drive machine) is controlled to brake an elevator car in a motor-brake operating mode, and as soon as a braking effect of a brake device (service brake) is detected, the drive device switches to a braking-torque-free state (column 6 lines 19-28). The brake device is activated after a time period (predefined deceleration time) corresponding to a delay (column 5 lines 37-39). Therefore a time period corresponding to a delay is waited before stopping the drive device. In a different emergency stop condition (failure of the drive machine), the brake device is triggered with zero delay (immediately) and stops the drive device (column 5 lines 55-65). Therefore the delay to be applied between triggering the brake device and stopping the drive device is determined based on the emergency stop condition.
Given the teachings of Hopp, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and elevator system disclosed in Nakari et al. as modified by Della Porta with stopping the drive device as soon as the first brake is detected. The delay then would be determined and applied between triggering the second brake of brake device and stopping the drive device based on activation of the first brake, such that a time period corresponding to the delay is waited before stopping the drive device. Doing so would “achieve, at an emergency stop, as short a braking distance as possible and, despite the emergency stop, to offer a user of the [elevator car] a predefined ride comfort” as taught in Hopp (column 2 lines 13-20).
Claim 3: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method as stated above, where the delay to be applied between triggering the second brake of brake device and stopping the drive device is shown in Hopp to be predetermined (column 4 lines 39-41).
Claim 4: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method as stated above, where the predetermined delay to be applied between triggering the brake device and stopping the drive device is shown in Hopp to correspond to an expected brake drop delay of the brake device resulting from delay times of switching elements and an actuation time for application of the brake (column 9 lines 54-60).
Claim 5: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method where a second brake is triggered, and the drive device is stopped after a delay from triggering the second brake, as stated above. The delay to be applied is shown in Hopp to be determined such that a braking force that acts on the elevator car is influenced for a longer period of time, and regulated in magnitude so that uniform braking of the elevator car is possible, resulting in a constant deceleration (column 11 lines 17-34). In order to ensure a uniform braking force being applied between the drive motor acting in a motor-brake operating mode, and the first brake being activated while stopping the drive device, a level of braking force applied in use by the brake device would have to be measured, as is recognized in the art.
Claim 7: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method where the drive device is controlled to brake an elevator car in a motor-brake operating mode after the second brake of brake device is triggered, as stated above. The drive device is shown in Hopp to be controlled to decelerate the elevator car in the motor-brake mode (column 5 lines 28-31).
Claim 8: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method as stated above, where based on detected statuses, safety relays of a safety chain are opened, as shown in Nakari et al. (page 3 paragraph [0041]). Detection of an emergency stop condition results in a first safety signal going OFF/LOW (page 5 paragraph [0049]). Therefore detecting the emergency stop condition would open the safety chain.
Claim 10: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses an elevator system where the safety system determines the delay to be applied between triggering the brake device and stopping the drive device and waits for the time period corresponding to the delay before stopping the drive device, as stated above. The safety system then includes a safety controller for controlling performance of such operations, as is recognized in the art.
Claim 11: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses an elevator system as stated above, where based on detected statuses, safety relays of a safety chain are opened, as shown in Nakari et al. (page 3 paragraph [0041]). Therefore the safety system comprises the safety chain, and is configured to detect an emergency stop condition, resulting in a first safety signal going OFF/LOW (page 5 paragraph [0049]).
Claims 6, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakari et al. (US 2019/0084793 A1) modified by Della Porta (US 9,457,987 B2) and Hopp (US 9,469,504 B2) as applied to claim 9 above, further in view of Gremaud et al. (US 8,267,224 B2).
Claim 6: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses a method where a level of braking force applied in use by the brake device is measured to ensure a uniform braking force, as stated above. These references fail to disclose measuring the level of braking force to comprise monitoring motion of the elevator car after the brake device has been triggered.
However Gremaud et al. teaches a method of controlling an elevator car, where a level of braking force (effective braking force FBeff) that is applied in use by a brake device (brake unit 15) is measured via braking force sensor (16) according to a monitored motion (current acceleration) of an elevator car after the brake device has been triggered (column 7 lines 27-36).
Given the teachings of Gremaud et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed in Nakari et al. as modified by Della Porta and Hopp with providing measuring the level of braking force to comprise monitoring motion of the elevator car after the brake device has been triggered. Doing so would allow “checking and possible correction” of the braking force based on monitored motion of the elevator car, as taught in Gremaud et al. (column 7 lines 33-36).
Claim 12: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta and Hopp discloses an elevator system as stated above, but fails to disclose an absolute position measurement system arranged to determine elevator car position and/or velocity.
However Gremaud et al. teaches an elevator system, where an absolute position measurement system is used to determine elevator car position with respect to absolute position values of exit zones (column 6 line 67 through column 7 line 4).
Given the teachings of Gremaud et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and elevator system disclosed in Nakari et al. as modified by Della Porta and Hopp with providing an absolute position measurement system arranged to determine elevator car position. Doing so would allow the system to ascertain whether the elevator car should be stopped at a next exit region based on distance to an exit region, current speed of the elevator car, and a hypothetically required deceleration being too high, as taught in Gremaud et al. teaches (column 7 lines 4-11).
Claim 13: Nakari et al. modified by Della Porta, Hopp and Gremaud et al. discloses an elevator system which determined elevator car position using an absolute position measurement system, as stated above. Gremaud et al. teaches that the system selects a next exit region that the elevator car should be stopped based on distance to an exit region and current speed of the elevator car (column 7 lines 4-11). When the elevator car is to stop at an exit region that is not the next exit region, the delay to be applied after the brake device has been triggered would be adjusted accordingly. The delay then would be determined by monitoring motion of the elevator car using the absolute position measurement system.
Conclusion
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/Christopher Uhlir/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619 February 24, 2026