DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 10/26/23. The request for foreign priority to a corresponding KR application filed 10/26/22 has been received and is proper. Claims 1-20 are currently pending yet all are rejected as detailed below. 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.
Joon in view of Toshifumi
Claim(s) 1-6, 11-12 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joon et al. (KR 10-2013-9993932) (cited by Applicant) in view of Toshifumi et al. (JP 2010-60080) (cited by Applicant). Joon is directed to a spring pad for a caliper brake. See Abstract. Toshifumi is directed to a disc brake. See Abstract. Note: both are “Y” references in the cited KR Patent Office Action.
Claim 1: Joon discloses a caliper brake [Figs. 1, 2] comprising: a housing (500, 530); inner and outer pad plates (510) at least partially disposed in the housing and configured to be movable by pistons, each of the inner and outer pad plates having protrusions (511) on opposite sides of each of the inner and outer pad plates; inner and outer friction pads coupled to the inner and outer pad plates [see Fig. 3], respectively; and a pad spring (1, 3, 5) [see Fig. 1] comprising a plurality of guide supports(1) configured to guide movement of the inner and outer pad plates, each of the guide supports comprising: a concave bent portion (3) in which one of the protrusions of the inner and outer pad plates is disposed; and a returning tab (32) configured to elastically support one of the inner and outer pad plates so that the one of the inner and outer pad plates returns to an original position by the returning tab in response to the movement of the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Figs. 1-3.
Joon discloses all the limitations of this claim except for an explicit mention/depiction of pistons disposed on opposite sides in the housing. Toshifumi discloses a caliper brake with a housing (5), pistons (8, 9) disposed on opposite sides in the housing, inner and outer plates (13, 18) in the housing and movable by the pistons, and a pad spring (25) [see Fig. 8] with a guide support (27) and a concave bent portion (28) where protrusions (23) of the plates are disposed. See Figs. 3, 7-8, 17. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to employ pistons on opposite sides of the Joon caliper brake housing because this is the most common/typical means for providing an actuating force to brake pads and doing so to both pads provides a properly distributed actuating forces. Furthermore, Joon discuss the use of pistons in the “background” section of the specification. See para. 0002.
Claim 2: Joon discloses that the housing includes a recess in which the concave bent portion of the pad spring is disposed. See Fig. 2.
Claim 3: Joon discloses an upper connector connecting upper portion of the guide supports of the pad spring. See Fig. 1.
Claim 4: Joon discloses that the concave bent portion of the pad spring comprises: an upper part; a side part bent downwardly from the upper part of the concave bent portion of the pad spring; and a lower pail bent from the side part of the concave bent portion of the pad spring toward the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Fig. 1.
Claim 5: Joon discloses an upper part support protrusion protruding upwardly from the upper part of the concave bent portion of the pad spring. See Fig. 1.
Claim 6: Joon discloses that the returning tab is extended from the side part of the concave bent portion bent downwardly from the upper part of the concave bent portion of the pad spring. See Fig. 1.
Claim 7: Joon discloses a side support protrusion bent and protruding from a lower portion of one of the guide supports, located below the concave bent portion, in a direction away from the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Fig. 1.
Claim 11: Joon discloses that the returning tab includes a bent portion bent at an end of the returning tab in a direction away from the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Fig. 1.
Claim 12: Joon discloses that at least one of the guide supports further includes a lower bent portion bent from a lower end of the at least one of the guide supports toward the one of the inner and outer pad plates to support a lower portion of the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Figs. 1, 2.
Claim 16: Joon discloses that the returning tab comprises: a first protrusion (first part of 31) bent and protruding from the concave bent portion of the pad spring toward the one of the inner and outer pad plates; a first bent portion (remaining part of 31) bent from the first protrusion toward an inside of the concave bent portion of the pad spring; a second protrusion (32) extending from the first bent portion in a direction away from the one of the inner and outer pad plates; a second bent portion (first part of curved end of 32) bent from the second protrusion toward the one of the inner and outer pad plates; and a third protrusion (next part of curved end of 32) extending from the second bent portion toward the one of the inner and outer pad plates. See Fig. 1. Note: “portions” can be small/large, no defined limits.
Claim 17: Joon discloses that the returning tab further comprises a third bent portion (final end of 32) bent from an end of the third protrusion of the returning retainer toward the first bent portion bent from the first protrusion toward the inside of the concave bent portion of the pad spring. See Fig. 1. Note: “portions” can be small/large, no defined limits.
Joon in view of Toshifumi and Kobayashi
Claim(s) 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joon in view of Toshifumi and Kobayashi et al. (JP 08-226470) (cited by Applicant). Kobayashi is directed to a disc brake. See Abstract. Note: Kobayashi is a “Y” reference in the cited KR Patent Office Action.
Claim 8: Joon discloses that the housing includes a recess in which the concave bent portion of the pad spring is disposed. See Fig. 2. However, Joon does not disclose a “through hole” in the concave bent portion and an “inner protrusion” protruding from that through hole.
Kobayashi discloses a pad spring (10) that supports protrusions (4) of plates (3), the pad spring having a concave bent portion (11), wherein the side part of the concave bent portion bent downwardly from the upper part of the concave bent portion of the pad spring has a through hole (at 20) and an inner support protrusion (20) protruding from an edge of the through hole toward the recess of the housing. See Fig. 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to include the Kobayashi inner support protrusion to the Joon concave bent portion to provide a secure, locking fit for the pad spring in the recess of the housing. This will ensure stable placement of the inner and outer brake plates.
Claim 9: Kobayashi discloses a stepped portion is formed on a bottom of the recess of the housing, and the inner support protrusion protruding from the edge of the through hole of the side part of the concave bent portion toward the recess of the housing is supported by the stepped portion formed on the bottom of the recess of the housing. See Figs. 1, 10, 11.
Claim 10: Kobayashi discloses that the inner support protrusion protruding from the edge of the through hole of the side part of the concave bent portion toward the recess of the housing has a bent portion supported by the stepped portion formed on the bottom of the recess of the housing. See Figs. 1, 10, 11, 16, 17.
Joon in view of Toshifumi, Choi and Hoon
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joon in view of Toshifumi, Choi et al. (KR 10-2014-0053703) (cited by Applicant) and Hoon et al. (KR 20150028599) (attached). Both Choi and Hoon are directed to disc brakes. See Abstract. Note: Choi is a “Y” reference in the cited KR Patent Office Action.
Claims 13-15: Joon and Toshifumi are relied upon as in claim 1 above but do not show that the plate protrusions gradually expand radially, in a housing recess that also expands radially, along with the upper and lower parts of the concave bent portion expanding radially. Choi discloses that a distance between an upper part and a lower part of the concave bent portion increases in a direction away from the one of the inner and outer pad plates, a thickness of the one of the protrusions of the inner and outer pad plates increases toward a distal end of the one of the protrusions of the inner and outer pad plates, and a recess in which the concave bent portion of the pad spring is disposed, and a distance between an upper surface and a lower surface of the recess of the housing gradually increases inwardly. See Fig. 1. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to have the protrusions expand out radially because the shape is ultimately a design choice, and the Hoon protrusion/recess mating connection provides a secure attachment for the plates, making it less likely that they’ll be dislodged during use.
Choi discloses all the features of these claims except that these components don’t expand radially “gradually.” Choi discloses a brake caliper with a plate (31) having a protrusion (110) that transitions gradually, into a mating recess (120) that transitions gradually, with a mating spring (130) that transitions gradually. See Fig. 6. . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the Hoon protrusion/recess/spring to transition “gradually” because this is also merely a design choice, perhaps providing ease in manufacturing.
Joon in view of Toshifumi and Jin
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joon in view of Toshifumi and Jin et al. (KR 2016-0058444) (cited by Applicant). Jin is directed to a spring pad of a caliper brake. See Abstract. Note: Jin is a “Y” reference in the cited KR Patent Office Action.
Claim 18: Joon and Toshifumi are relied upon as in claim 1 above but do not disclose that the returning tab has “a pair of protrusions.” Jin discloses a pad spring (4) of a caliper brake (1) that supports protrusions (5) of plates (31), the pad spring having a returning tab (120) that extends from the side part of a concave bent portion, wherein the returning tab includes a pair of protrusions spaced apart from each other. See Fig. 6. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify Joon’s returning tabs to include pairs of protrusions because this would provide an increased return/restoring force, which furthers the objective of the pad spring.
Claim 19: Jin discloses that the returning tab further comprises an end connector connecting ends of the pair of protrusions to each other. See Fig. 6.
Claim 20: Jin discloses that the pair of protrusions of the retaining tab protrudes from the concave bent portion of the pad spring. See Fig. 6.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 January 8, 2026