DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement has been received and considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitations of claims 2 and 3 and the pressing member inclined perpendicular to the pad plates, as claimed in claim 4, the pad plate on line 6 of claim 5, and the inclined finger, on the second to the last line must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-7 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.
Claim 1 applicants claim a ‘slide groove’ in the carrier. How does a slide groove (i.e. single slide groove) have protrusions from the pair pad plates inserted and supported? Applicants should claim that the carrier has a pair of slide grooves, as per claim 6.
Claim 4 last line the limitation of “inclined perpendicular to…” is not understood.
Regarding claim 5 line 6 it is unclear which ‘pad plate’ applicant is claiming since a pair of pad plates was previously claimed on line 3 of claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3,6,7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang 5,022,500 in view of Bach U.S. 2009/0236187.
Regarding claim 1 Wang shows in figures 2,3,17 a caliper brake 12 comprising a disc 29 and a pair of pad plates 36 disposed on both sides of the disk 29, respectively; and a carrier 24,170 (fig 17) fixed to a vehicle body and configured to accommodate the pair of pad plates therein, wherein the pair of pad plates 36 comprise protrusions 173 (fig. 17) protruding from both side ends thereof, and the carrier 170 comprises a ‘slide groove’ 171 recessed from the inner surface to the outer side thereof so that the protrusions 173 are inserted and supported, the slide groove 171 being recessed to be inclined in a reciprocating direction so that the pair of pad plates are slidable ‘diagonally’, as broadly claimed.
Lacking in Wang is a clear showing of the slide grooves at 171 from fig 17.
The reference to Bach is relied upon to more clearly show in fig 3 in the area of 50 what the grooves 171 could/would look like— comprised of a recess/slot arrangement capable of supporting the protrusions 173—since Wang describes this arrangement in col 8 as :
“.. an anchor bracket 170 has two relatively widely spaced slideways 171. A pair of elongate pad assemblies 172 have ends 173 which slide in those slideways.”.
One having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would realize that the groove/slideway 171 of Wang could represent as a channel as taught by Bach in the area of 50 (and based upon a similar orientation of the pads 37,38 to that of Wang), based upon the description therein in Wang col 8.
Regarding claims 2,3 as best understood, subject to the drawing objections above, these limitations appear to be met.
Regarding claim 6 these limitations are met.
Regarding claim 7 since it is notoriously well known in the art to provide cooling holes in brake discs it would have been obvious to have provided these in the brake disc 29.
Claim(s) 4,5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang/Bach as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hayes 3,366,200.
Regarding claims 4,5, as best understood, (subject to the drawing and 112 objections/rejections above) Wang states with respect to the embodiments of figures 8,9 in col 6:
It will be appreciated that the bridge 71 will be able to tilt relative to the pot 70 due to the flexible nature of the studs 79. The rounded form of the recesses 84 facilitates that assembly.
With the construction shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 there will be lateral flexibility between pot and bridge permitting parallel movement and engagement of the pad assemblies (not shown) so that those pad assemblies avoid the tapered wear problems referred to above with reference to FIG. 1.
Therefore the “inclined and perpendicular” limitations (as best understood) of claims 4 and 5 are capable of being met.
Regarding claim 4 the pressing member is shown in the area of 21 in figure 2.
Regarding claim 5 the caliper of Wang would inherently have a pressing member best seen in the area of 21 in figure 2 and a ‘finger’ at 14,18 (also seen but not labeled in fig 17).
However, notwithstanding the ‘inclined and perpendicular’ argument above the reference to Hayes shows it is well known to orient a caliper and carrier arrangement at an inclination to a radial direction of the brake disc. This could simply be chassis/undercarriage vehicle specific to accommodate certain types of vehicles.
Accordingly it would have been obvious to have mounted the brake caliper 174 and carrier 170 of Wang (fig 17) at an angle/inclination as taught by Hayes, for this reason. If mounted this way applicants ‘inclined and perpendicular’ limitations (as best understood and as broadly claimed) are believed to be met.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER P SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7123. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 A.M.-7:00P.M..
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/CHRISTOPHER P SCHWARTZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
12/1/25