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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method for producing a bicycle disk brake pad, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2nd February 2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1 and 2 recite the limitation “lateral surface of the substrate without attached with the friction pad,” this is grammatically incorrect and could instead read “one lateral surface of the substrate not attached to the friction pad.”
Claim 3 recites the limitation “a shape of the protrusion,” this is grammatically incorrect and could instead read “the shape of the protrusion.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 4 is 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 4 recites the limitation “provided with the two blind holes and the two corresponding protrusions.” It is unclear whether these are new blind holes not previously established or intended to refer to the “at least one blind hole” of Claim 2. For purposes of examination, “the two blind holes and the two corresponding protrusions” will be interpreted as “the atleast one blind hole is two blind holes and the atleast one corresponding protrusions is two corresponding protrusions.”
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwai (US 20120000735 A1) in view of Zeng (CN 203756816 U), further in view of Mione (US 3400789 A), and further in view of Mehlan (WO 2014161725 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Iwai discloses A bicycle disk brake pad comprising: a heat dissipation member (12) made of aluminum alloy-stainless steel clad metal plate which includes at least one aluminum alloy sheet (30) and at least one stainless steel sheet (32) attached to one lateral surface of the aluminum alloy sheet (see [0029], [0040], Fig. 8, Fig. 11); the heat dissipation member (12) having a first surface (42) and second surface (40) disposed on two opposite sides of the heat dissipation member (12) correspondingly, a heat dissipating area (58), a joined area (56), a plurality of heat dissipation fins (72) arranged at the first surface (42) of the heat dissipating area (58) and extending toward a direction away from the heat dissipation member (12), and a joined plate (32) which is disposed on the joined area (56), made of the stainless steel sheet of the aluminum alloy-stainless steel clad metal plate (see [0040], Fig. 11, Fig. 12), and provided with a joined surface formed by an exposed surface of the joined plate (32) (see Fig. 9, Fig. 10); a friction member (34) and provided with a substrate (90) and a friction pad (92) formed by sintering of composite friction material and attached to the substrate (90) (see Fig. 11, Fig. 12, [0042-0043]); the friction pad (92) and the substrate (90) are connected and integrated into one part (see Fig. 11, Fig. 12, Claim 6);
Iwai does not disclose the joined surface provided at the same level with the second surface (40) and the friction member (34) being fixed on the joined surface.
Zeng teaches a disk brake brake pad heat dissipation member provided with a joined surface formed by an exposed surface of the joined plate (22) and at the same level with the second surface and a friction member fixed on the joined surface of the joined plate (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to combine the teaching of providing the joined surface formed by an exposed surface of the joined plate at the same level with the second surface with the friction member fixed on the joined surface of the joined plate from Zeng with the Bicycle disk brake pad of Iwai such that the disk brake pad can be removed with the joined plate and replaced in case of wear, without replacing the entire heat management system, saving money on material cost (see CN 203756816 U ([Zeng]; [0007-0009]).
Iwai appears to disclose, but does not explicitly disclose the friction member’s substrate being stainless steel and the friction pad being a composite friction pad.
Mione teaches a friction member (21) provided with a substrate (22) made of stainless steel and a friction pad (14) formed by sintering of composite friction material (21) and attached to the substrate (22) (see Fig. 3, 4: 68-75, 5:1-6).
It would have been obvious to combine the teaching of using stainless steel as the chosen metal for the substrate in which a composite friction member is sintered to of Mione with the Bicycle disk brake pad of Iwai modified by Zeng because of the heat transfer and strength material properties of the stainless steel substrate and composite friction member materials (see US 3400789 A [Mione]; 4:58-75, 5:1-6, and US 20120000735 A1 [Iwai]; [0042-0043]).
Iwai does not explicitly disclose the substrate (90) being welded to the joined plate by laser welding.
Mehlan teaches one lateral surface of the substrate without attached with the friction pad is adhered to the joined surface of the joined plate while a periphery of the substrate of the friction member and the joined surface of the joined plate are welded together by laser welding (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0022]).
It would have been obvious to combine the teaching of attaching the substrate and the friction pad to the joined surface using laser welding of Mehland with the Bicycle disk brake pad of Iwai modified by Zeng and Mione in order to provide a precise materially strong connection between the joined surface and the friction pad, such that the friction pad does not become disconnected during routine operation.
Regarding Claim 2, Iwai discloses wherein the joined surface of the joined plate (32) is provided with at least one blind hole (82) while the lateral surface of the substrate of the friction member without attached with the friction pad is provided with at least one protrusion (94) corresponding to the blind hole; the protrusion and the blind hole are coupled with each other correspondingly (see Fig. 9, Fig. 10, Fig. 11, Fig. 12).
Regarding Claim 4, Iwai discloses the joined surface of the joined plate (32) is provided with the two blind holes (82) and the two corresponding protrusions (94) (see Fig. 11, Fig. 12).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwai (US 20120000735 A1) as modified by Zeng (CN 203756816 U), Mione (US 3400789 A), and Mehlan (WO 2014161725 A1) and applied to Claim 1, above, further in view of Kobayashi et. al. (US 5129487 A).
Regarding Claim 3, Iwai modified by Zeng, Mione, and Mehland teaches the brake pad as claimed in Claim 2.
Iwai modified by Zeng, Mione, and Mehland does not teach wherein a diameter of the blind hole is tapered inward to form the blind hole with a conical wall while a shape of the protrusion is conical which matches the conical wall of the blind hole.
Kobayashi teaches wherein a diameter of the blind hole is tapered inward to form the blind hole (28) with a conical wall while a shape of the protrusion is conical which matches the conical wall of the blind hole (22) (see Fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to combine the tapered blind holes and corresponding conical protrusion of Kobayshi with the holes and protrusion of the Bicycle disk brake pad of Iwai modified by Zeng, Mione, and Mehland in order to increase the shear resistance offered by the friction pad (see US 5129487 A [Kobayashi]; 4:34-38).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Stenkamp (US 20160069407 A1).
Stenkamp discloses a friction pad fixed on a joined surface of two metals with different coefficients of thermal expansion.
Conclusion
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/S.W.I./Examiner, Art Unit 3616
/Robert A. Siconolfi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3616