DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 12/09/22. Foreign priority to a corresponding KR application filed 03/14/22 has been received and is proper. Claims 1-11 are currently pending, yet all are rejected due to the 102, 103 and 112 rejections detailed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected because claim 1 recites a clutch unit “connected to the gear unit [and]…for inputting the rotation to the pressure unit to the gear unit…” See clam 1, lines 10-12. It is unclear whether rotation is input to the pressure unit, or the gear unit, or from the gear unit unit to the pressure unit. Given that Figure 2 depicts the clutch unit (400) being directly connected to the gear unit (300), and the gear unit is connected to the pressing unit (200), what does it mean for the gear unit to input rotation “to the pressure unit to the gear unit?”
Claims 10 and 11 are further ejected because it refers to “magnetic members” but only (at least one) magnetic member was previously defined. See claim 10, line 2; claim 11, line 5; claim 9, line 4.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Cao in view of Song
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao et al. (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2009/0194385) in view of Song (CN 107965536). Cao is directed to a positive-fit freewheel mechanism. See Abstract. Song is directed to a floating clamp disc type brake. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Cao discloses an automotive electro-mechanical brake apparatus [Fig. 2] comprising: a clamping unit (24), to press a disc (23) through a friction pad (22, 25) by moving rearward in braking; a pressing unit (28) accommodated in the clamping unit, selectively moving forward or rearward when rotation is input thereto, and configured to move forward, press the disc through the friction pad, and guide rearward movement of the clamping unit in the braking; a gear unit (27) engaged with the pressing unit; and a clutch unit (1, 13) [see Fig. 1] connected to the gear unit, configured to transmit rotational driving force for inputting the rotation to the pressure unit to the gear unit, and configured to prevent displacement against reverse rotation input from the gear unit in driving [see para. 0002].
Cao discloses all the limitations of this claim except for the clamping unit moving along a “torque member.” Like Cao, Song is directed to a floating disc brake, and the clamping unit (1) move forward and rearward along the torque member (5), which includes a guide rod (6). See Figs. 1, 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention for the Cao caliper to move along a torque member because this is a floating-type disc brake, which typically moves along some type of guide rod(s) such that it can shift into and out of a braking position. The specifics of this structure are not depicted in Cao, but this type of structure is commonly employed for floating disc brakes.
Claim 2: Song discloses that the clamping unit includes: a clamper body (1) coupled to guide rods (6) of the torque member, accommodating the pressing unit (8) therein, and configured to be moved forward and rearward by the pressing unit; a clamper rod (3) slidably coupled to the torque member and configured to move in a movement direction of the clamper body together with the clamper body; and a clamper (2) connected to an end portion of the clamper rod with the friction pad (9) mounted on the clamper and configured to guide the clamper rod so that the disc (4) is pressed by the friction pad when the clamper rod is moved rearward in the braking. See Fig. 1. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art to use multiple guide rods to provide additional stability for the caliper system.
Claim 3: Song discloses that the clamping unit further includes an elastic member (7) disposed between the clamper body and the clamper rod and configured to be compressed by the clamper body and the clamper rod so that the clamper rod is selectively pressed when the clamper body is moved rearward thereof. See Fig. 1.
Claim 5: Cao discloses that the pressing unit includes: a lead nut (29) disposed to face the friction pad; a screw (30), a first end portion of which is inserted and thread-fastened in the lead nut; and a movement guide member (left portion of 24) coupled to a second end portion of the screw, gear-engaged with the gear unit, and configured to move forward the lead nut so that the friction pad is selectively pressed by the lead nut and the disc is pressed by the friction pad when rotation for the braking is input to the movement guide member. See Fig. 2.
Claim 6: Cao discloses that the pressing unit further includes a spring (32) positioned in a hollow portion of the clamping unit and configured to assist a force for pressing the friction pad by providing elasticity to the friction pad when the lead nut is moved forward thereof. See Fig. 2.
Claim 7: Cao discloses that the clutch unit includes: a housing (2); a cover positioned at an end portion of the housing; an external shaft (14) at least partially positioned in the housing and including an end portion connected to the gear unit through the housing; a plurality of lockers (16) positioned in the housing to surround the external shaft; and an input shaft (31) connected to a control motor (26) and including a first end portion inserted in openings of the lockers and a second end portion connected to the control motor through the cover, and wherein the external shaft is restricted by the lockers so that the external shaft and the lockers are rotated in a rotation direction of the input shaft. See Figs. 1, 2.
Claim 8: Cao discloses that the first end portion of the input shaft includes a plurality of rotation transmission portions slidably engaged to each corresponding opening of the lockers. See Figs. 1, 2.
Claim 9: Cao discloses that the clutch unit further includes: a steel portion positioned on an internal surface of the housing; and a magnetic member (3) positioned on an external surface, which faces the steel member, of at least one of the lockers. See para. 0007. The use of “steel” would be obvious to one skilled in the art since the material choice is a design consideration based on cost/availability. Steel is readily available and relatively inexpensive.
Claim 10: Cao discloses that the magnetic members on the lockers are positioned adjacent to the steel member when rotation force of the input shaft is removed from the input shaft. See Figs. 1, 2; see also 112 rejection above.
Claim 11: Cao discloses that the clutch unit further includes a braking portion positioned adjacent to the steel member and configured to selectively come in contact with the lockers, and wherein external surfaces of the lockers come in contact with the braking portion when the magnetic members are positioned adjacent to the steel member. See Figs. 1, 2.
Cao in view of Song and Chen
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao in view of Song and Chen (CN 11204988). Chen is directed to a fixed brake caliper of a vehicle disc brake. See Abstract.
Claim 4: Cao and Song are relied upon as in claims 1-3 above, but do not disclose the use of an LVDT sensor. Chen discloses an automotive electro-mechanical brake apparatus including a Linear Variable Differential Transformer sensor (2) configured to measure an amount of pressing of the friction pad by the pressing unit. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use a LVDT sensor because this measures the force of the brake system, which can be tuned accordingly by the user to ensure that desired braking is achieved. Displacement can be measured in a number of ways, and using the distance change of the elastic member is one intuitive way to do so to determine the degree of pressing force.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 December 16, 2025