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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 11, 12, 15, 16, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeong et al. (US 2019/0100186 A1).
Re claim 11, Jeong et al. disclose a method for controlling a brake system, comprising: generating, by a controller, a control instruction, wherein the control instruction is used to control a driving apparatus; and sending, by the controller, the control instruction to the driving apparatus (120), to control the driving apparatus to drive the piston (114) to move along an inner wall of the hydraulic cylinder to increase or decrease pressure of brake fluid in at least one of the first group of brake wheel cylinders or the second group of brake wheel cylinders (40). (Fig. 1-19, [0018])
Re claim 12, Jeong et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: when a braking circuit for providing the braking force for the first group of brake wheel cylinders fails, and the first hydraulic chamber is required to provide the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders, controlling, by the controller, both the first control valve (235) and the second control valve (236) to be in an open state. ([0114])
Re claim 15, Jeong et al. disclose wherein the sending, by the controller, the control instruction to the driving apparatus, to control the driving apparatus to drive the piston to move along an inner wall of the hydraulic cylinder to increase or decrease pressure of brake fluid in at least one of the first group of brake wheel cylinders or the second group of brake wheel cylinders comprises: in a process of providing the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders, sending, by the controller, the control instruction to the driving apparatus, to control the driving apparatus to drive the piston to compress a volume of the first hydraulic chamber (113), to press brake fluid in the first hydraulic chamber into the second group of brake wheel cylinders through the second brake pipe (218), to increase the pressure of the brake fluid in the second group of brake wheel cylinders. (Fig. 6)
Re claim 16, Jeong et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: when a braking circuit for providing the braking force for the first group of brake wheel cylinders fails, and the second hydraulic chamber is required to provide the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders, controlling, by the controller, the first control valve (235) to be in an open state and controlling the second control valve (236) to be in a closed state. (Fig. 4)
Re claim 18, Jeong et al. disclose wherein:the third brake pipe is provided with a fifth control valve (233), and the fifth control valve controls closing or opening of the third brake pipe; and the method further comprises: when a braking circuit for providing the braking force for the first group of brake wheel cylinders fails, and the second hydraulic chamber is required to provide the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders, controlling, by the controller, the first control valve (235) and the fifth control valve (235) to be in an open state and the second control valve (236) to be in a closed state. (Fig. 11)
Re claim 19, Jeong et al. disclose wherein the sending, by the controller, the control instruction to the driving apparatus, to control the driving apparatus to drive the piston to move along an inner wall of the hydraulic cylinder, to increase or decrease pressure of brake fluid in at least one of the first group of brake wheel cylinders or the second group of brake wheel cylinders comprises: in a process of providing the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders, sending, by the controller, the control instruction to the driving apparatus (100), to control the driving apparatus to drive the piston to compress a volume of the second hydraulic chamber (112), to press brake fluid in the second hydraulic chamber into the second group of brake wheel cylinders through the second brake pipe (218), to increase the pressure of the brake fluid in the second group of brake wheel cylinders. (Fig. 3)
Re claim 20, Jeong et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: when a braking circuit for providing the braking force for the second group of brake wheel cylinders fails, and the second hydraulic chamber (112) is required to provide the braking force for the first group of brake wheel cylinders, controlling, by the controller, the first control valve (235) to be in a closed state and the second control valve (236) to be in an open state. (Fig. 11)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 2 and 4-10 are allowed.
Claims 13, 14, and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 19, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Although the subject matter of cancelled claim 3 is considered allowable with respect to claims 1 and 9, claim 11 is a method of controlling a brake system. The structural limitations included in claim 9 are not considered since it is a method claim and not an apparatus claim. It is the Examiner’s position that the method steps are anticipated by Jeong et al. and the method would be capable of operating the brake system as recited.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELANIE TORRES WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-7127. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday - Friday 7:00AM-3:00PM.
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/MELANIE TORRES WILLIAMS/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
MTW
March 7, 2026