DETAILED ACTION
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 § 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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nogami et al. (WO 2021/065392 A1).
Re claim 1, Nogami et al. disclose a disc brake device for a railway vehicle, the disc brake device comprising: a rotary member (10) to be attached to an axle (200) of the railway vehicle; a brake disc including a disc body (21) having an annular shape and a plurality of fins (22), the disc body having a rear surface that faces the rotary member, the plurality of fins being disposed on the rear surface in a radial shape; and a control member (30e) configured to control an airflow rate between, of the plurality of fins, fins disposed adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the brake disc, the control member including a base plate (31) sandwiched between the rotary member and the plurality of fins and a protruding portion (32e) protruding from the base plate toward the disc body, wherein a top surface of each of the fins disposed adjacent to each other has a recessed portion (223) that crosses the fin in the circumferential direction, and the protruding portion extends in the circumferential direction through from the recessed portion of one of the fins disposed adjacent to each other to the recessed portion of the other of the fins. (Fig. 1, 10-11)
Re claim 2, Nogami et al. disclose wherein the protruding portion (32e) is positioned on an inner side in a radial direction of the brake disc (100e). (Fig. 11)
Re claim 3, Nogami et al. disclose wherein the protruding portion is positioned on an outer side in a radial direction of the brake disc. (See US 2022/0333656 A1 for English Translation – [0093])
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kondo and JP ‘554 teach similar disc brake devices.
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/MELANIE TORRES WILLIAMS/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
MTWDecember 24, 2025