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 § 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 1-3, 5, 7-11 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porro (FR 3 071 020) (machine translation attached) in view of Tosi (FR 2711200) (machine translation attached).
Regarding independent claim 1, Porro discloses a brake assembly for a vehicle wheel (8) (see machine translation, ¶ 0001), the brake assembly comprising: - a braked member (2) that is couplable or coupled to the vehicle wheel (see FIG. 1) for a joint rotation therewith about a rotational axis (A) (see FIG. 1), the braked member having brake disk portions (B, C) forming friction linings (D, E) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) that are arranged at an axial distance from one another (see annotated FIG. 1, below); and - a braking unit (18, 20, 22, 24, 26) that comprises an actuator (26) and at least two displaceable members (20, 24), the displaceable members being positioned in between the friction linings (see FIG. 1), wherein the actuator is configured move the displaceable members axially apart from one another (see machine translation, ¶ 0030), thereby bringing each displaceable member into contact with one of the friction linings of the braked member (see machine translation, ¶ 0030), wherein the braked member includes brake disk portions (B, C) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) confining a space (F) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) in which the displaceable members are received (see annotated FIG. 1, below), and a connecting portion (G) extending axially and to which the brake disk portions are fixed (see FIG. 1), and wherein a brake dust collector (54) (see ¶ 0037) is arranged at an outer circumferential surface of the connecting portion defining a bottom face of said space (see FIGS. 1, 4) and extending in between the friction linings (see FIGS. 1, 4).
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Porro does not disclose that the friction linings and the brake disk portions are separate members.
Tosi teaches a brake assembly for a vehicle wheel (see FIG. 1) comprising friction linings (36, 38) attached to brake disk portions (16, 18) (see FIG. 1).
It would have been obvious to configure the brake of Porro to have separate friction linings attached to the brake disk portions to provide replaceable wear surfaces in addition to improving heat insulation towards the rotating disk (see e.g. Tosi, pages 5-6).
Regarding claim 2, Porro discloses that the friction linings face each other (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Porro discloses that the friction linings form at least part of opposite side faces of a space in which the displaceable members are at least partially received (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 5, Porro discloses that the displaceable members are movable apart from one another along an axis extending in parallel to the rotational axis (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 7, Tosi teaches that the friction linings are each comprised by the brake disc portions of the braked member (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Porro discloses that the brake disc portions (B, C) extend in parallel to one another (see FIG. 1), in particular wherein the brake disc portions each extend orthogonally to the rotational axis of the braked member (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 9, Porro discloses that each of the displaceable members (20, 24) is displaceable relative to a housing (50, 52) of the braking unit and relative to one another (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 10, Porro discloses that the actuator comprises one of an electric motor and a hydraulic chamber (see FIG. 1, chamber for piston (26)), each of which is configured to generate the force for moving both of the displaceable members (see FIG. 1; machine translation ¶ 0030).
Regarding claim 11, Porro discloses that at least part of the electric motor or hydraulic chamber are received in the space (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Tosi teaches that the braked member comprises at least one underlayer at which one of the friction linings is arranged (see machine translation, pages 5-6).
Regarding claim 15, Tosi teaches that at least one of the friction linings has a ring shape or comprises a number of ring segments (see machine translation, pages 5-6).
Regarding claim 16, Porro discloses that a contact between the friction lining and displaceable members is formed only in a radially outer portion of the braked member (see FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Porro discloses a method of operating a brake assembly for a vehicle (see machine translation, ¶ 0030), the brake assembly comprising: - a braked member (2) that is couplable or coupled to the vehicle wheel (see FIG. 1) for a joint rotation therewith about a rotational axis (A) (see FIG. 1), the braked member having brake disk portions (B, C) forming friction linings (D, E) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) that are arranged at an axial distance from one another (see annotated FIG. 1, below); and - a braking unit (18, 20, 22, 24, 26) that comprises at least two displaceable members (20, 24), the displaceable members being positioned in between the friction linings (see FIG. 1), wherein the braked member includes brake disk portions (B, C) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) confining a space (F) (see annotated FIG. 1, below) in which the displaceable members are received (see annotated FIG. 1, below), and a connecting portion (G) extending axially and to which the brake disk portions are fixed (see FIG. 1), and wherein a brake dust collector (54) (see ¶ 0037) is arranged at an outer circumferential surface of the connecting portion defining a bottom face of said space (see FIGS. 1, 4) and extending in between the friction linings (see FIGS. 1, 4), wherein the method comprises moving the displaceable members axially apart from one another (see machine translation, ¶ 0030), thereby bringing each displaceable member into contact with one of the friction linings of the braked member (see machine translation, ¶ 0030).
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Porro does not disclose that the friction linings and the brake disk portions are separate members.
Tosi teaches a brake assembly for a vehicle wheel (see FIG. 1) comprising friction linings (36, 38) attached to brake disk portions (16, 18) (see FIG. 1).
It would have been obvious to configure the brake of Porro to have separate friction linings attached to the brake disk portions to provide replaceable wear surfaces in addition to improving heat insulation towards the rotating disk (see e.g. Tosi, pages 5-6).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porro (FR 3 071 020) (machine translation attached) and Tosi (FR 2711200) (machine translation attached), as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Stras et al. (US 2020/0400204).
Regarding claim 6, neither Porro nor Tosi disclose that the displaceable members each comprise a material that is harder and/or more wear resistant than a material comprised by the friction linings.
Stras teaches a brake assembly (see Abstract, FIG. 1) comprising displaceable members (24) and friction linings (20), wherein the displaceable members each comprise a material that is harder and/or more wear resistant than a material comprised by the friction linings (see ¶ 0042).
It would have been obvious to configure the displaceable members from a material that is harder and/or more wear resistant than that of the friction linings to utilize known design alternatives that would optimize braking characteristics (e.g. wear rates, friction forces).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porro (FR 3 071 020) (machine translation attached) and Tosi (FR 2711200) (machine translation attached), as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Prahst (GB 2623246).
Regarding claim 12, Porro discloses that each of the displaceable members and the friction linings have a contact surface for contacting a respective other of the displaceable members and the friction linings (see FIG. 1).
Porro does not disclose that at least one of the displaceable members and the friction linings has at least one recess in its contact surface.
Prahst teaches a brake assembly (see Abstract, FIGS. 1, 2, 6) wherein at least one of the displaceable members (10, 11) and the friction linings (5, 6) has at least one recess (30) (see FIG. 6) in its contact surface (see page 7, line 27 to page 8, line 2).
It would have been obvious to provide grooves in the surface of the friction linings to provide a cooling air flow (see e.g. Prahst, page 7, line 27 to page 8, line 2).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porro (FR 3 071 020) (machine translation attached) and Tosi (FR 2711200) (machine translation attached), as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Themelin (US 2007/0034462).
Regarding claim 13, Porro does not disclose that at least one of the displaceable members comprises at least one cavity and/or comprises at least one recess in a portion facing away from a respectively adjacent friction lining.
Themelin teaches a brake assembly (see Abstract, FIG. 1) comprising a displaceable member (1), wherein the displaceable members comprises at least one cavity (11) (see FIG. 1) and/or comprises at least one recess in a portion facing away from a respectively adjacent friction lining.
It would have been obvious to provide the displaceable member of Porro with a cavity to provide improved cooling of the displaceable member (see Themelin, ¶ 0011).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 17 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection noted above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 NICHOLAS J LANE whose telephone number is (571)270-5988. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at (571)272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICHOLAS J LANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
January 8, 2026
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