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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 19-Feb-2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, 5, 8, 12-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurz (WO 2020/256551) in view of Schwarz (US 6,315,092).
Regarding independent claim 1, Kurz discloses a brake apparatus for a vehicle (see Abstract, FIGS. 1-6), the brake apparatus comprising: a caliper body (210); a drive unit (300) connected to the caliper body and configured for generating a rotational force (see page 12, lines 24-27); a transfer gear (3) engaged to the drive unit and transferring the rotational force generated by the drive unit to a piston unit (202, 203, 204) engaged to the transfer gear; a first parking unit (7) rotated together with the transfer gear (see FIG. 4); a second parking unit (11, 19) movably mounted on the caliper body (see FIG. 4) and, according to a direction of a movement of the second parking unit, selectively interfering with a rotation of the first parking unit (see page 13, lines 11-23); and an adjustment unit (15) mounted to be spaced away from the second parking unit (see FIG. 4), wherein, the first parking unit comprises: a parking plate (7) supplied with the rotational force from the drive unit and rotated in a forward direction or a reverse direction (see FIG. 4); a plurality of first parking members extending from the parking plate (see FIG. 4, teeth extending from (7)); and a plurality of parking grooves arranged between neighboring first parking members (see FIG. 4, grooves between teeth), wherein the second parking unit is inserted into the parking grooves or separated from the parking grooves according to the direction of the movement of the second parking unit (see page 14, lines 5-19), wherein each of the first parking members comprises: a first parking body (see FIG. 4); a first contact surface arranged on a first side of the first parking body and, as the parking plate is rotated in the forward direction, brought into contact with the second parking unit inserted into the parking grooves (see page 16, lines 1-12); and a second contact surface arranged on a second side of the first parking body and, as the parking plate is rotated in the reverse direction, brought into contact with the second parking unit inserted into the parking grooves (see page 16, lines 1-12), wherein the first contact surface is formed to be inclined with respect to an axial direction of the parking plate (see page 16, lines 1-12; see also FIG. 4).
Kurz does not disclose that the second contact surface is formed to be inclined with respect to the axial direction of the parking plate.
Schwarz teaches a brake apparatus for a vehicle (see Abstract, FIGS. 1, 3) comprising first (50) and second (51) contact surfaces formed to be inclined with respect to a rotation direction (S) (see FIG. 3).
It would have been obvious to configure the second contact surface of Kurz to be inclined with respect to the axial direction of the parking plate to ensure that the first parking unit and the second parking unit remain engaged when forces are applied to the second parking unit in a releasing direction (see e.g. Schwarz, FIG. 3, rotation in a direction opposite to direction (S) results in increasing the engaging force between the tappet (46) and surface (51)).
Regarding claim 4, Kurz discloses that the plurality of first parking members are arranged to be spaced away from each other along a circumferential direction of the parking plate (see FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 5, Kurz discloses that the plurality of first parking members are equally spaced from each other (see FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 8, Kurz discloses that when the rotational force applied to the parking plate exceeds a preset magnitude, the first contact surface separates the second parking unit from the parking grooves (see page 16, lines 1-12; see also FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 12, Kurz discloses that the second parking unit comprises: a support bracket fixed to the caliper body (see FIG. 4, bracket supporting solenoid (15) and lever (19)); a parking lever (19) rotatably connected to the support bracket (see FIG. 4); and a second parking member extending from a first side of the parking lever (see FIG. 4, multiple parking latches around body (11)) and, according to a direction of a rotation of the parking lever, inserted into the parking grooves or separated from the parking grooves (see FIG. 4).
Regarding 13, Kurz discloses that the second parking member comprises: a plurality of parking latches inserted into different parking grooves, respectively (see FIG. 4, multiple parking latches around body (11)).
Regarding claim 14, Kurz discloses that each of the parking latches is formed in so that a width of the parking latches is decreased toward an end thereof (see FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 16, Kurz disclose that the adjustment unit comprises: an adjustment drive member (15) configured for generating a drive force; and an adjustment member (see FIG. 4, pin extending from body (15)) reciprocating by the drive force generated by the adjustment drive member and, according to a direction of a movement of the adjustment member, brought into contact with or separated from a second side of the parking lever (see FIG. 4).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurz (WO 2020/256551) and Schwarz (US 6,315,092), as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Tajima et al. (US 2014/0000992).
Regarding claim 3, Kurz discloses that the transfer gear comprises: a first transfer gear connected to an output shaft of the drive unit (see FIG. 3, transfer gear connected to motor (300)); and a second transfer gear (3) gear-engaged to the first transfer gear (see FIGS. 2, 3).
Kurz does not disclose that the parking plate is connected to the output shaft and is rotated at a same angular speed as the first transfer gear.
Tajima teaches a brake apparatus for a vehicle (see Abstract, FIG. 1) comprising a first transfer gear (16) connected to an output shaft of the drive unit (6) (see FIG. 1); and a second transfer gear (33) gear-engaged to the first transfer gear (see FIG. 7) (medium-sized gear connected to first gear (16a)), and a parking plate (11) connected to the output shaft and is rotated at a same angular speed as the first transfer gear (see FIG. 1).
It would have been obvious to connect the parking plate to the output shaft of the drive unit to maximize the amount of torque that is generated by the parking unit.
Claims 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurz (WO 2020/256551) and Schwarz (US 6,315,092), as applied to claims 12 and 16, above, and further in view of Fleischer et al. (US 6,267,207).
Regarding claim 15, Kurz teaches a torsion spring (see page 15, liens 21-22). Kurz does not disclose that the second parking unit further comprises: an elastic member provided between the support bracket and the parking lever and rotating the parking lever in a direction in which the second parking member is inserted into the parking grooves.
Fleischer teaches a brake apparatus for a vehicle (see Abstract, FIG. 3) comprising an elastic member (24) provided between the support bracket (26) and the parking lever (23) and rotating the parking lever in a direction in which the second parking member is inserted into the parking grooves (see col. 9, lines 1-19).
It would have been obvious to replace the torsion spring of Kurz with the elastic member of Fleischer to ensure that the parking lever rotates the parking lever to the engaged position in the absence of power, thereby preventing unintended separation of the teeth from each other.
Regarding claim 17, Kurz does not disclose that as the adjustment member is brought into contact with the second side of the parking lever, the adjustment member rotates the parking lever in a direction in which the second parking member is separated from the parking grooves.
Fleischer teaches a brake apparatus for a vehicle (see Abstract, FIG. 3) comprising an elastic member (24) provided between the support bracket (26) and the parking lever (23) and rotating the parking lever in a direction in which the second parking member is inserted into the parking grooves (see col. 9, lines 1-19), and that as the adjustment member (36) is brought into contact with the second side of the parking lever (23), the adjustment member rotates the parking lever in a direction in which the second parking member is separated from the parking grooves (see col. 9, lines 1-19).
It would have been obvious to replace the torsion spring of Kurz with the elastic member of Fleischer to ensure that the parking lever rotates the parking lever to the engaged position in the absence of power, thereby preventing unintended separation of the teeth from each other, and allowing the teeth to be separated upon the application of power.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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 with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection noted above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS J LANE whose telephone number is (571)270-5988. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/NICHOLAS J LANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
March 21, 2026