DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “12” has been used to designate both a central hole and a locking spring (see pgh. 0049 at least)
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. 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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vittorio (ES 2774623 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Vittorio discloses A railway disc brake (title at least), comprising:
a base plate (2);
a first number of first friction elements (at 4b) fixed to the base plate and including a sintered friction material (abstract at least); and
a second number of second friction elements (at 4a) fixed to the base plate and including an organic friction material (abstract at least),
the sintered friction material having a compressibility modulus that is at least two megapascals greater than the organic friction material2,
the first number of the first friction elements being greater than the second number of the second friction elements (see fig. 1, as shown).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vittorio (ES 2774623 A1) in view of Vittorio (JP 2020-079642 A).1
Regarding claims 1-2, 10-13, and 18-20, ES 2774623 discloses a disc brake (as shown), comprising: a pad including a base plate (2) and first and second friction elements (4a,4b) fixed to the base plate, the first friction elements made with a first friction material (4b) and the second friction elements made with a second friction material (4a),
the first friction material having a compressibility modulus greater than the compressibility modulus of the second friction material by at least two megapascal2, the pad including more of the first friction elements than the second friction elements (see claim 1, more of 4b than 4a).
ES 2774623 does not appear to disclose the elastic elements and rigid spacers. In the same field of endeavor of brake pads for railway vehicles, JP 2020-079642 teaches a disc brake including a base plate (2), a plurality of friction elements (4) mounted thereon, where some of the friction elements include an elastic element (11b, 11c) interposed between the friction element and the base plate, while other friction elements include a rigid spacer (11a) interposed between the friction elements and the base plate, where a majority of the friction elements have elastic elements rather than rigid spacers (see fig. 1).
Only 2 combinations exist, 1) the majority of elastic elements coincides with the majority of first material, 2) the majority of elastic element coincides with the minority second material. Upon selecting the first option, one of ordinary skill in the art arrives at the claimed invention.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the elastic elements at the first friction elements but not the second to provide braking force at different pressures thereby reducing braking noise without jeopardizing braking efficiency (see abstract of JP 2020-079642 at least).
Regarding claim 3, ES 2774623 as modified teaches the respective rigid spacer is interposed between each of the second friction elements and the base plate (see fig. 3 of JP 2020-079642).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, ES 2774623 as modified teaches the elastic element includes a Belleville washer (see page 3 pgh. 5 of JP 2020-079642 translation).
Regarding claim 5, ES 2774623 further discloses a disc (fig. 1, shown in phantom) on which the pad acts, wherein the first and second friction elements are arranged in arcuate rows substantially superimposed on respective concentric lines of the disc (see fig. 1 of ES 2774623), each of the arcuate rows comprising both the first friction elements and the second friction elements (see fig. 1 of ES 2774623).
Regarding claim 6, ES 2774623 further discloses each of the arcuate rows includes at least as many of the first friction elements as the second friction elements (fig. 1 as shown).
Regarding claim 7, ES 2774623 further discloses the compressibility modulus of the first friction material is between twenty and forty megapascals, and the compressibility modulus of the second friction material is between one and twenty megapascals2
Regarding claims 8, 15 and 16, ES 2774623 further discloses the first friction material is a sintered material and the second friction material is an organic material (abstract at least).
Regarding claim 9, ES 2774623 further discloses the pad is configured for braking low or medium speed trains (title at least).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Hiramatsu discloses a brake lining for a rail car. Komori discloses a clutch disk with both sintered and organic friction material used together.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID MORRIS whose telephone number is (571)270-3595. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAVID R MORRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
1 Since both references have the same name, they will be referred to within the rejection by the publication number.
2 See page 16 pghs. 7-8. The composition of the sintered material and the organic material are identical to the present application. Accordingly, since the compositions are identical, they will carry the same relative properties including compressibility modulus.