DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-9 are pending in this application.
Claims 2-4 are presented as currently amended claims.
Claims 1 and 5-9 are presented as original claims.
No claims are newly presented.
No claims are cancelled.
Examiner's Note
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs / columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants’ definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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, 5, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Georgin et al. (US 20230249846 A1) in view of Huxford (US 20210135614 A1) (the combination of which will be referred to as 'combination Georgin' hereinafter) . As regards the individual claims:
Regarding claim 1, Georgin teaches a method for
ascertaining a wear value of an electromechanical wheel brake unit for a motor vehicle, (Georgin: ¶ 004; determining a wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance and a prior linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator.) the wheel brake unit including a displaceable actuator element, which is movable by a controllable actuator against a brake disk of the wheel brake unit to generate a braking force, and the actuator including (Georgin: ¶ 034; brake control unit 250 provides force commands to the electric brake controller 254, which in turn provides a current command to the electric brake actuator 219 to apply force, directing the electric brake actuator 219 to cause the brake assembly 218 to mechanically operate, thereby driving the brake assembly 218 to provide braking power) an electric motor with a rotor rotatably mounted and operatively connected to the actuator element, (Georgin: ¶ 056; linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator 219.) the method comprising: ascertaining, depending on the displacement of the actuator element, the wear value of the wheel brake unit, wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, (Georgin: ¶ 057; calculating a local wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance from step 510 and a prior flight linear travel distance (step 512) . . . the actuator element is subsequently moved against the brake disk, and, when the actuator element is moved from the end stop against the brake disk, (Georgin: ¶ 055; commanding the electric brake actuator 219 to extend from the fully retracted state (step 506) and determine an end position based on receiving a force measurement from the load cell) (Georgin: ¶ 055; Upon contacting the brake stack 150, the force measurement from the load cell 259 may start to increase from zero. In this regard, the end position (e.g., for brake wear calculation purposes) may be determined in response to the force measurement increasing from zero in step 508.) a number of revolutions of the rotor is monitored and, depending on the sensed number of revolutions, (Georgin: ¶ 056; process 500 further comprises calculating a linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator 219 from the reference position to the end position (step 510). In various embodiments, linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator) the wear value of the wheel brake unit is ascertained. (Georgin: ¶ 057; process 500 further comprises calculating a local wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance from step 510 and a prior flight linear travel distance)
Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach: the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop; however, Huxford does teach:
the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop, (Huxford: ¶ 014; For applications that use the rotor position sensor for mechanical positioning of the rotor or a connected load, additional information is required to determine the mechanical rotor position. Such information can be found, for example, by identifying an end stop where the rotor is unable to move past a point.) (Huxford: ¶ 036; exemplary method when the motor rotor hits an end stop in a positive direction)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Huxford with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of "provid[ing] a simple and reliable method of determining the offset between the angular position indicated by the rotary position sensor assembly and the mechanical position of the motor rotor. " (Huxford: ¶ 011).
Regarding claim 5, as detailed above, combination Georgin teaches the invention as detailed with respect to claim 1. Georgin further teaches:
wherein, depending on the number of revolutions, an absolute movement path of the actuator element is ascertained and stored, and, depending on the absolute movement path or a movement path change, the wear value is ascertained. (Georgin: ¶ 057; process 500 may be performed prior to each and every flight cycle and stored in a database (e.g., memory 116 from FIG. 1B). Thus, local wear may be calculated between flights (e.g., current flight vs. immediately prior flight), calculated from a first flight with the braking system 200 (e.g., current flight vs. first flight), or calculated from a designed initial linear length)
Regarding claim 7, Georgin teaches a device for:
operating an electromechanical wheel brake unit of a motor vehicle, wherein the wheel brake unit includes a displaceable actuator element which is movable by a controllable actuator against a brake disk of the wheel brake unit to generate a braking force, (Georgin: ¶ 034; brake control unit 250 provides force commands to the electric brake controller 254, which in turn provides a current command to the electric brake actuator 219 to apply force, directing the electric brake actuator 219 to cause the brake assembly 218 to mechanically operate, thereby driving the brake assembly 218 to provide braking power) wherein the actuator includes an electric motor with a rotor rotatably mounted and operatively connected to the actuator element, the device comprising: (Georgin: ¶ 056; linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator 219.)
a control unit specifically configured to ascertain, depending on the displacement of the actuator element, a wear value of the wheel brake unit, (Georgin: ¶ 004; determining a wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance and a prior linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator.) . . . the actuator element is subsequently moved against the brake disk, and, when the actuator element is moved from the end stop against the brake disk, (Georgin: ¶ 055; commanding the electric brake actuator 219 to extend from the fully retracted state (step 506) and determine an end position based on receiving a force measurement from the load cell) (Georgin: ¶ 055; Upon contacting the brake stack 150, the force measurement from the load cell 259 may start to increase from zero. In this regard, the end position (e.g., for brake wear calculation purposes) may be determined in response to the force measurement increasing from zero in step 508.) a number of revolutions of the rotor is monitored and, depending on the sensed number of revolutions, (Georgin: ¶ 056; process 500 further comprises calculating a linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator 219 from the reference position to the end position (step 510). In various embodiments, linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator) the wear value of the wheel brake unit is ascertained. (Georgin: ¶ 057; process 500 further comprises calculating a local wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance from step 510 and a prior flight linear travel distance)
Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach: wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop; however, Huxford does teach:
wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop, (Huxford: ¶ 014; For applications that use the rotor position sensor for mechanical positioning of the rotor or a connected load, additional information is required to determine the mechanical rotor position. Such information can be found, for example, by identifying an end stop where the rotor is unable to move past a point.) (Huxford: ¶ 036; exemplary method when the motor rotor hits an end stop in a positive direction)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Huxford with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of "provid[ing] a simple and reliable method of determining the offset between the angular position indicated by the rotary position sensor assembly and the mechanical position of the motor rotor. " (Huxford: ¶ 011).
Regarding claim 8, Georgin teaches an electromechanical wheel brake unit, comprising:
a displaceable actuator element which is movable by a controllable actuator against a brake disk of the wheel brake unit to generate a braking force, (Georgin: ¶ 034; brake control unit 250 provides force commands to the electric brake controller 254, which in turn provides a current command to the electric brake actuator 219 to apply force, directing the electric brake actuator 219 to cause the brake assembly 218 to mechanically operate, thereby driving the brake assembly 218 to provide braking power) the actuator including an electric motor with a rotor rotatably mounted and operatively connected to the actuator element; and (Georgin: ¶ 056; linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator 219.) a device for operating an electromechanical wheel brake unit, the device including: a control unit specifically configured to ascertain, depending on the displacement of the actuator element, a wear value of the wheel brake unit, (Georgin: ¶ 004; determining a wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance and a prior linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator.) . . . the actuator element is subsequently moved against the brake disk, and, when the actuator element is moved from the end stop against the brake disk, (Georgin: ¶ 055; commanding the electric brake actuator 219 to extend from the fully retracted state (step 506) and determine an end position based on receiving a force measurement from the load cell) (Georgin: ¶ 055; Upon contacting the brake stack 150, the force measurement from the load cell 259 may start to increase from zero. In this regard, the end position (e.g., for brake wear calculation purposes) may be determined in response to the force measurement increasing from zero in step 508.) a number of revolutions of the rotor is monitored and, depending on the sensed number of revolutions, (Georgin: ¶ 056; process 500 further comprises calculating a linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator 219 from the reference position to the end position (step 510). In various embodiments, linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator) the wear value of the wheel brake unit is ascertained. (Georgin: ¶ 057; process 500 further comprises calculating a local wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance from step 510 and a prior flight linear travel distance)
Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach: wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop; however, Huxford does teach:
wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop, (Huxford: ¶ 014; For applications that use the rotor position sensor for mechanical positioning of the rotor or a connected load, additional information is required to determine the mechanical rotor position. Such information can be found, for example, by identifying an end stop where the rotor is unable to move past a point.) (Huxford: ¶ 036; exemplary method when the motor rotor hits an end stop in a positive direction)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Huxford with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of "provid[ing] a simple and reliable method of determining the offset between the angular position indicated by the rotary position sensor assembly and the mechanical position of the motor rotor. " (Huxford: ¶ 011).
Regarding claim 9, Georgin teaches a
brake system for a motor vehicle, the brake system comprising: one or more electromechanical wheel brake units, each including: a displaceable actuator element which is movable by a controllable actuator against a brake disk of the wheel brake unit to generate a braking force, (Georgin: ¶ 034; brake control unit 250 provides force commands to the electric brake controller 254, which in turn provides a current command to the electric brake actuator 219 to apply force, directing the electric brake actuator 219 to cause the brake assembly 218 to mechanically operate, thereby driving the brake assembly 218 to provide braking power) the actuator including an electric motor with a rotor rotatably mounted and operatively connected to the actuator element; and (Georgin: ¶ 056; linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator 219.) a device for operating an electromechanical wheel brake unit, the device including: a control unit specifically configured to ascertain, depending on the displacement of the actuator element, a wear value of the wheel brake unit, wherein, for ascertaining the wear value, (Georgin: ¶ 004; determining a wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance and a prior linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator.) . . . the actuator element is subsequently moved against the brake disk, and, when the actuator element is moved from the end stop against the brake disk, (Georgin: ¶ 055; commanding the electric brake actuator 219 to extend from the fully retracted state (step 506) and determine an end position based on receiving a force measurement from the load cell) (Georgin: ¶ 055; Upon contacting the brake stack 150, the force measurement from the load cell 259 may start to increase from zero. In this regard, the end position (e.g., for brake wear calculation purposes) may be determined in response to the force measurement increasing from zero in step 508.) a number of revolutions of the rotor is monitored and, depending on the sensed number of revolutions, (Georgin: ¶ 056; process 500 further comprises calculating a linear travel distance of the electric brake actuator 219 from the reference position to the end position (step 510). In various embodiments, linear travel distance is directly proportional to a number of rotations of a motor controlling the electric brake actuator) the wear value of the wheel brake unit is ascertained. (Georgin: ¶ 057; process 500 further comprises calculating a local wear depth based on calculating a difference between the linear travel distance from step 510 and a prior flight linear travel distance)
Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach: the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop; however, Huxford does teach:
the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop, (Huxford: ¶ 014; For applications that use the rotor position sensor for mechanical positioning of the rotor or a connected load, additional information is required to determine the mechanical rotor position. Such information can be found, for example, by identifying an end stop where the rotor is unable to move past a point.) (Huxford: ¶ 036; exemplary method when the motor rotor hits an end stop in a positive direction)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Huxford with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of "provid[ing] a simple and reliable method of determining the offset between the angular position indicated by the rotary position sensor assembly and the mechanical position of the motor rotor. " (Huxford: ¶ 011).
Claims 2-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination Georgin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim-858 (US 20250065858 A1).
Regarding claim 2, as detailed above, combination Georgin teaches the invention as detailed with respect to claim 1. Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach:
wherein a speed sensor is assigned to the rotor of the electric motor, and the number of revolutions is sensed using the speed sensor; however, Kim-858 does teach:
wherein a speed sensor is assigned to the rotor of the electric motor, and the number of revolutions is sensed using the speed sensor. (Kim-858: ¶ 039; a motor rotation angle sensor).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Kim-858 with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of allowing better flexibility on when calibration occurs (Kim-858: ¶ 008-009).
Regarding claim 3, as detailed above, combination Georgin teaches the invention as detailed with respect to claim 1. Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach:
wherein the actuator element reaching the brake disk is ascertained depending: (i) on an operating current of the electric motor, and/or (ii) on data of the speed sensor assigned to the rotor of the electric motor; however, Kim-858 does teach:
wherein the actuator element reaching the brake disk is ascertained depending: (i) on an operating current of the electric motor, (Kim-858: ¶ 050; EMB controller 121 may generate the clamping force feedback by detecting the contact point and a home position using the actual stroke and the actual motor current.). and/or (ii) on data of the speed sensor assigned to the rotor of the electric motor. (Kim-858: ¶ 039; a motor rotation angle sensor)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Kim-858 with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of allowing better flexibility on when calibration occurs (Kim-858: ¶ 008-009).
Regarding claim 4, as detailed above, combination Georgin teaches the invention as detailed with respect to claim 1. Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach:
wherein the actuator element reaching the end stop is ascertained depending: (i) on an operating current of the electric motor, and/or (ii) on data of the speed sensor assigned to the rotor of the electric motor; however, Kim-858 does teach:
wherein the actuator element reaching the end stop is ascertained depending: (i) on an operating current of the electric motor, (Kim-858: ¶ 050; EMB controller 121 may generate the clamping force feedback by detecting the contact point and a home position using the actual stroke and the actual motor current. Here, the home position means the actual stroke of the piston when the electro-mechanical brake 120 is not activated.) and/or (ii) on data of the speed sensor assigned to the rotor of the electric motor. (Kim-858: ¶ 039; a motor rotation angle sensor)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Kim-858 with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of allowing better flexibility on when calibration occurs (Kim-858: ¶ 008-009).
Regarding claim 6, as detailed above, combination Georgin teaches the invention as detailed with respect to claim 1. Georgin is silent about or does not explicitly teach:
wherein the method is carried out at regular intervals including after each start of operation of a motor vehicle including the wheel brake unit; however, Kim-858 does teach:
wherein the method is carried out at regular intervals including after each start of operation of a motor vehicle including the wheel brake unit. (Kim-858: ¶ 008; electro-mechanical brake apparatus is initialized before start-up of the vehicle.).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Kim-858 with the teachings of Georgin because doing so would result in the predicable benefit of allowing better flexibility on when calibration occurs (Kim-858: ¶ 008-009).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed Apr. 1, 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the previously applied drawing objection is persuasive and the drawing objective is withdrawn.
Applicant’s argument and amendments with respect to the previous applied 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection is persuasive and the rejection is hereby withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant argues that
The claims recite the feature of the actuator element is first displaced against an end stop, the actuator element is subsequently moved against the brake disk, and, when the actuator element is moved from the end stop against the brake disk, a number of revolutions of the rotor is monitored. In contrast, nowhere do the cited references disclose or suggest this feature. For example, Georgin discloses an actuator retracted to a "fully retracted state" in order to establish a reference position (steps 502- 504), and then the actuator is extended until contact with the brake stack is detected by a load cell force measurement, not by monitoring motor revolutions (step 508). While Georgin may disclose later converting motor rotations into a linear travel distance (step 510), the wear value is calculated as a difference between the current linear travel distance and a prior stored travel distance (step 512), rather than being ascertained based on a number of rotor revolutions sensed during movement from an end stop to the brake disk as claimed. (Applicant’s Arguments filed Apr. 1, 2026, pg. 6).
Newly applied art Huxford (US 20210135614 A1) teaches a brake calibration system in which the brake rotor is calibrated against an immoveable end stop (Huxford: ¶ 014; identifying an end stop where the rotor is unable to move past a point) in a positive and a negative direction (Huxford: ¶ 036-037) while rotor position is sensed (Huxford: ¶ 067; output may provide an unambiguous position measurement over only part of a rotation of the rotor, or a whole rotation, or over a number of rotations). Consequently the claims are rejected.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure Kim-524 (US 20240246524 A1) which discloses a self-calibrating electromechanical braking system. Also made of record is Beier et al. (US 20220073049 A1) which teaches calibrating a vehicle braking system through rotational measurement.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES PALL whose telephone number is (571)272-5280. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30 - 18:30.
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/C.P./ Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ANGELA Y ORTIZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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