DETAILED ACTION
Specification
This objection is withdrawn due to the amendments made to the specification.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (U.S. Pat. No. 10,940,847).
Regarding claim 1, Kato discloses An electric braking device that generates a braking force on a vehicle by transmitting a rotational motion generated by an electric motor (11) to a linear motion conversion mechanism, converting, by the linear motion conversion mechanism, the rotational motion into a linear motion for driving a piston (162) provided in a cylinder (161), and pressing a friction portion (71) that operates in response to a linear motion of the piston with respect to a reference portion against a portion subjected to friction that rotates together with a wheel (shown in fig. 1) of a vehicle, the electric braking device comprising:
an elastic portion (163) that is disposed between a linear motion portion linearly moving with respect to the reference portion in conjunction with the piston or the piston and the reference portion such that at least a part of the elastic portion is included in a movable range of the linear motion portion (shown in fig. 1 to be located in the movable range) or the piston.
Kato does not disclose that the elastic member is compressed in response to linear motion of the linear motion portion in a direction of reducing the braking force to generate a repulsive force against the compression.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to place the elastic member in 161a, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04 V C. Springs can restore the piston with either compressing or expanding force and is simply design choice as to which end to place the spring. This can be overcome by showing any special or unexpected results of the placement of the spring. This is a result effective variable that is the spring constant and compression length of the spring in col. 15, lines 5-15
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claims require a hydraulic braking system that is driven by a motor which drives a screw shaft to rotate which drives the piston and increases braking energy on the hydraulic brakes. The implementation of a screw shaft with the elastic member positioning is not found in the prior art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/17/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on pages 8-11 that the limitations are not simply a matter of moving the spring but causing the spring to work in manner opposite to how it is disclosed, because the disclosure states that the spring is working to push the piston toward the input port. This is the stated objective of the disclosure but the disclosure also discusses the result effective variable that is the spring constant and compression length of the spring in col. 15, lines 5-15. Allowing anyone of ordinary skill in the art to create a spring producing the desired forces.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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GONZALO LAGUARDA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747 email: gonzalo.laguarda@uspto.gov
/GONZALO LAGUARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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