DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Non-Final Action on the merits in response to the application filed 06/05/24. The request for foreign priority to a corresponding KR application filed 01/20/23 has been received and is proper. Claims 1-11 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 § 102
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.
Sakashita
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakashita (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2009/0294224) (cited by Applicant). Sakashita is directed to an electric disk brake. See Abstract. Note: this is an “X” reference in the cited ISA Written Opinion.
Claim 1: Sakashita discloses an electronic brake device comprising: a driving unit (9) which provides a driving force for braking a disk (2); a power distribution unit (10) which is connected to the driving unit and divides the driving force into a first driving force and a second driving force; a first pressing unit (11, 29, 35, 13) connected to the power distribution unit to transmit the first driving force to the disk; a second pressing unit (12, 30, 36, 14) connected to the power distribution unit to transmit the second driving force to the disk; and a pressing pad (4) connected to the first pressing unit and the second pressing unit to transmit a braking force to the disk, wherein the power distribution unit comprises a planetary gear unit (19) connected to the driving unit, a carrier unit (20) connected to the planetary gear unit to provide the first driving force to the first pressing unit, and a ring gear unit (21) connected to the planetary gear unit to provide the second driving force to the second pressing unit. See Figs. 1-2.
Claim 2: Sakashita discloses that the planetary gear unit comprises a plurality of planetary gears (19) rotating around axes spaced apart from each other on the same plane. See Figs. 1-2.
Claim 3: Sakashita discloses that the power distribution unit further comprises a sun gear (18) which is engaged with and connected to each of the plurality of planetary gears and is capable of transmitting the driving force from the driving unit to the planetary gear unit. See Figs. 1-2.
Claim 4: Sakashita discloses that the first pressing unit comprises a first piston unit (13) which applies the first driving force to one area of the pressing pad, and a first power transmission unit (23, 35) which transmits the first driving force from the power distribution unit to the first piston unit, wherein the first power transmission unit comprises a first driving gear (23) rotating coaxially with the carrier unit, and a first driven gear (35) engaged with and connected to the first driving gear. See Fig. 1.
Claim 5: Sakashita discloses that a rotation axis of the first driving gear and a rotation axis of the first driven gear are spaced apart from each other by a preset interval, and a movement axis of the first piston unit is coaxial with the rotation axis of the first driven gear. See Fig. 1.
Claim 6: Sakashita discloses that the second pressing unit comprises a second piston unit (14) which applies the second driving force to one area of the pressing pad, and a second power transmission unit (24, 36) which transmits the second driving force from the power distribution unit to the second piston unit. See Fig. 1.
Claim 7: Sakashita discloses that the second power transmission unit comprises a second driven gear (24) engaged with and connected to the ring gear. See Fig. 1.
Claim 8: Sakashita discloses that the second power transmission unit comprises a second driving gear (36) engaged with and connected to the ring gear, and a second driven gear engaged with and connected to the second driving gear. See Fig. 1.
Claims 10 and 11: see claim 1 above. Sakashita further discloses that when magnitudes of the first pressing force and the second pressing force are different, the power distribution unit transmits only one of the first driving force and the second driving force to the first pressing unit or the second pressing unit until the magnitudes of the first pressing force and the second pressing force are equal to each other. See Fig. 1; para. 0018-22; claims 5-7 (“output adjusting means”).
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.
Sakashita in view of Tatsuya
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakashita in view of Tatsuya (JP 2017-096362) (cited by Applicant). Tatsuya is directed to an electric linear actuator and brake device. See Abstract. Note: this is an “Y” reference in the cited ISA Written Opinion.
Claim 9: Sakashita is relied upon as in claim 6 above but does not disclose the use of “a second driving gear” in the second power transmission unit, i.e., an intermediate gear. Tatsuya discloses an electronic brake device [Fig. 4] with a driving unit (60) and two pressing units (G1, G2), wherein the second power transmission unit (G2) comprises a second/intermediate driving gear (82) engaged with an input gear (81) connected to the ring gear (73), a reduction gear (83) connected to one side of the second driving gear and rotating coaxially with the second driving gear, and a second driven gear (84) engaged with and connected to the reduction gear. See Fig. 4. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use intermediate gears in the Tatsuya power transmission unit to achieve a specific gear reduction/speed to provide a desired power transmission output for the unit. Furthermore, Sakashita discusses altering the number of teeth in the gears to achieve the desired speed/output, so this is an alternative means of providing this functionality.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 July 24, 2026
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