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.
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 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, 5, and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mogi (JP-H05-50167 U) (Cited on the IDS of 3/5/2024)
Regarding claim 1, Mogi discloses A disc brake (1) comprising:
a mounting member (3) fixed to a non-rotating portion of a vehicle (vehicle body, see pgh. 0012) and provided to straddle an outer circumferential side (see fig. 4) of a disc (2);
a caliper (4) provided on the mounting member to be movable in an axial direction of the disc (up and down in fig. 2);
a pair of friction pads (two pads 8) provided on the mounting member (as shown) to be movable and pressed against both sides of the disc by the caliper (see pgh. 0016); and
a pair of pad springs (left and right retainer 11) provided on the mounting member, wherein at least one of the pair of pad springs includes: a pad support part supporting the friction pads (11a or 11b); and a suppression part (11f) suppressing at least one of movement of the caliper in a rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in a radial direction of the disc (11f pushes on the caliper up and to the left in fig. 1, so it suppresses both movement in the rotation direction and movement in the radial direction).
Regarding claim 2, Mogi discloses a first pad spring (11 on one side), which is one of the pair of pad springs, suppresses at least one of movement of the caliper in the rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in the radial direction of the disc, and a second pad spring (11 on the other side), which is the other of the pair of pad springs, suppresses at least one of movement of the caliper in the rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in the radial direction of the disc (11f pushes on the caliper up and to the left in fig. 1, and the other one would be up and to the right, so they both suppress both movement in the rotation direction and movement in the radial direction).
Regarding claim 3, Mogi discloses the first pad spring is provided on the mounting member (at 11d at elast) at one end side of the friction pads in a longitudinal direction (on the right end, for example) and suppresses movement of the caliper in the rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in the radial direction of the disc (as discussed above), and the second pad spring is provided on the mounting member at the other end side of the friction pads in the longitudinal direction (the spring 11 on the left end, for example) and suppresses movement of the caliper in the rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in the radial direction of the disc (as discussed above).
Regarding claim 5, Mogi discloses the caliper includes:
a cylinder part (area near 4b) having a cylinder hole (4a) in which a piston (6) pressing the friction pads is accommodated (see fig. 5);
a bridge part (4d) having an inner circumferential part provided to straddle an outer circumferential side of the disc from the cylinder part and which faces the friction pad side (radial inside of 4d), an outer circumferential part on a side opposite to the inner circumferential part (radial outside of 4d), a lateral part extending in the axial direction of the disc to be continuous with the outer circumferential part (4h), and an inclined part extending in the axial direction of the disc to be continuous with the lateral part and the inner circumferential part and inclined to a side of the inner circumferential part with respect to the lateral part when viewed from the axial direction of the disc (4g or 4i); and
a claw part (4c) provided to face the cylinder part in an axial direction of the cylinder hole from the bridge part (as shown), and
the suppression part is in contact with the inclined part (fig. 1 as shown).
Regarding claim 8, Mogi discloses A disc brake (1) comprising:
a mounting member (3) fixed to a non-rotating portion of a vehicle (vehicle body, see pgh. 0012) and provided to straddle an outer circumferential side of a disc (see fig. 4, at 2);
a caliper (4) provided on the mounting member to be movable in an axial direction of the disc (up and down in fig. 2);
a pair of friction pads (two of pads 8) provided on the mounting member to be movable and pressed against both sides of the disc by the caliper (see pgh. 0016);
a first suppression member (one of springs 11) provided on the mounting member at one end side of the friction pads in a longitudinal direction (e.g. left side) and configured to suppress at least one of movement of the caliper in a rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in a radial direction of the disc (11f pushes on the caliper up and to the left in fig. 1, so it suppresses both movement in the rotation direction and movement in the radial direction); and
a second suppression member (another of springs 11) provided on the mounting member at the other end side of the friction pads in the longitudinal direction (e.g. right side) and configured to suppress at least one of movement of the caliper in the rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in the radial direction of the disc (11f pushes on the caliper up and to the left in fig. 1, so it suppresses both movement in the rotation direction and movement in the radial direction).
Regarding claims 9-10, Mogi discloses A pad spring (11) which is provided on a mounting member (3) in a disc brake (1) including the mounting member fixed to a non-rotating portion of a vehicle (vehicle body, see pgh. 0012) and provided to straddle an outer circumferential side of a disc (see fig. 4 at 2), a caliper (4) provided on the mounting member to be movable in an axial direction of the disc (up and down in fig. 2), and a pair of friction pads (two of pads 8) provided on the mounting member to be movable and pressed against both sides of the disc by the caliper (see pgh. 0016), the pad spring comprising:
a pad support part supporting the friction pads (e.g. 11a or 11b); and a suppression part (11f) suppressing movement of the caliper in a rotation direction of the disc and movement of the caliper in a radial direction of the disc (11f pushes on the caliper up and to the left in fig. 1, so it suppresses both movement in the rotation direction and movement in the radial direction).
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mogi (JP-H05-50167 U) in view of Maehara et al. (WO 2011/126125 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Mogi does not appear to disclose two first springs and two second springs for a total of 4 springs. Rather there is only a first and second spring that are shared by the front and back pad. Maehara teaches either having only two springs, one first and second springs (e.g. fig. 22) that are shared by the pads, or four springs, two first springs and two second springs (e.g. fig. 25), such that two of the first pad springs are provided to correspond to the pair of friction pads, and two of the second pad springs are provided to correspond to the pair of friction pads.
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 separate springs for the front and rear pads to provide for additional flexibility when tuning the springs, as it may be desirable for the spring on the front or back to have different properties than the other side for balancing brake forces. Further, it is noted that such a modification amounts to constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements, which has been held to involve only routine skill in the art. Nerwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if rewritten to overcome any 112(b) rejections, as appropriate.
Reasons for allowance, if applicable, will be the subject of a separate communication to the Applicant or patent owner, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.104 and MPEP § 1302.14.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. The documents listed on the PTO-892 disclose related spring supports for brake calipers.
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.
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/DAVID MORRIS/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DAVID R MORRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616