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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizusaki (US – 4,542,624) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lumpkin (US – 2003/0121739 A1).
As per claim 1, Mizusaki discloses Diaphragm Assembly comprising:
a master cylinder reservoir housing (1, Fig: 1-2) extending upwardly from a disc brake master cylinder main body (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder member (7, Fig: 1-5) received within a brake fluid reservoir of the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder cap member (8, Fig: 2) secured to the bladder member, the bladder cap coupled to the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 2), and
a vent hole (14, Fig: 2) provided in a sidewall of the bladder cap member (Fig: 2), wherein the vent hole is configured to allow direct communication of outside air within the bladder member (An air passage 14 is provided between the reservoir 1 and the cover 8 to maintain the chamber above the diaphragm 7 at atmospheric pressure, Detailed Description, [0010], Fig: 2).
Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose master cylinder assembly is used in disc brake. Therefore Mizusaki lacks the master cylinder assembly use in disc brake.
Lumpkin discloses a similar master cylinder assembly use in bicycle hydraulic disc brake (Title).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilized the master cylinder assembly taught by Lupmpkin for the master cylinder assembly of Mizusaki to provide proper braking operation and compact brake assembly.
As per claim 2, Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose a hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member.
Lumpkin discloses Master Cylinder Lever For A Hydraulic Disc Brake comprising:
a hold down plate (42, Fig: 2) provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member (Fig: 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Diaphragm Assembly of the Mizusaki to include the hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member as taught by Lumpkin in order to provide positive leak proved hydraulic reservoir.
As per claim 3, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder member (7) and the hold down plate (7a) are arranged with coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 1-5).
As per claim 4, Mizusaki discloses wherein the vent hole (14) is positioned above a flat compression zone defined by the coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 2).
As per claim 5, Mizusaki discloses a pair of bladder cap screws (Attached figure and Fig: 2) securing the bladder cap member to the master cylinder reservoir housing (A per figure 1, there are two holes for screws, therefore, it’s obviously disclose “a pair of cap screw”, Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 6, Lumpkin further disclose wherein the bladder cap member (46) and the bladder member (38) have stepped portions (Attached Figure and Fig: 2), wherein the stepped portions provide a flat surface of the hold down plate to be flush with a flat surface of the bladder member (Attached figure and Fig: 2).
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As per claim 7, Mizusaki discloses Diaphragm Assembly comprising:
coupling a disc brake master cylinder assembly (Fig: 1-2) to a brake system of a vehicle (Mizusaki discloses “The present invention relates to a diaphragm used with a master cylinder, and more particularly to a diaphragm assembly adapted to be fitted to a reservoir so as to cut off the communication between a working fluid filled therein and the outside air.” [0002], therefore, its inherently disclose brake of the vehicle), the disc brake master cylinder assembly comprising:
a master cylinder reservoir housing (1, Fig: 1-2) extending upwardly from a disc brake master cylinder main body (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder member (7, Fig: 1-5) received within a brake fluid reservoir of the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder cap member (8, Fig: 2) secured to the bladder member, the bladder cap coupled to the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 2); and
a vent hole (14, Fig: 2) provided in a sidewall of the bladder cap member (Fig: 2);
expanding or contracting the bladder member in response to air entering or leaving an inner volume of the bladder member through the vent hole as brake fluid within the brake fluid reservoir is displaced during brake system operation (An air passage 14 is provided between the reservoir 1 and the cover 8 to maintain the chamber above the diaphragm 7 at atmospheric pressure, Detailed Description, [0010], Fig: 2); and
reducing air within the brake fluid reservoir in response to the expanding and contracting of the bladder member, thereby inhibiting air introduction into a brake line of the brake system ([0010] – [0014], and Claim 1, Fig: 2).
Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose master cylinder assembly is used in disc brake. Therefore Mizusaki lacks the master cylinder assembly use in disc brake.
Lumpkin discloses a similar master cylinder assembly use in bicycle hydraulic disc brake (Title).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilized the master cylinder assembly taught by Lupmpkin for the master cylinder assembly of Mizusaki to provide proper braking operation and compact brake assembly.
As per claim 8, Mizusaki discloses wherein the brake fluid within the brake fluid reservoir is displaced in response to thermal expansion, warping of a brake rotor, brake pad wear and/or by pistons in the caliper housing, ([0011] – [0014], Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 9, Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the disc brake master cylinder assembly further comprises a hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member.
Lumpkin discloses Master Cylinder Lever For A Hydraulic Disc Brake comprising:
wherein the disc brake master cylinder assembly (Fig: 2) further comprises a hold down plate(42, Fig: 2) provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member, (Fig: 1-2)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Diaphragm Assembly of the Mizusaki to include the disc brake master cylinder assembly further comprises a hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member as taught by Lumpkin in order to provide positive leak proved hydraulic reservoir.
As per claim 10, Lumpkin further discloses wherein the bladder member (38) and the hold down plate (42) are arranged with coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 11, Mizusaki discloses wherein the vent hole (14) is positioned above a flat compression zone defined by the coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 2).
As per claim 12, Mizusaki as modified by Lumpkin discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the hold down plate comprises steel.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the steel for hold down plate of the master cylinder reservoir , since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basic of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of design choice. MPEP – 2144.07.
As per claim 13, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder member comprises an elastomer (The diaphragm according to the present invention is bodily molded of an elastic material such as natural or synthetic rubber to such a shape as illustrated in FIG. 3, [0005], Fig: 3).
Claim(s) 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizusaki (US – 4,542,624) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of as applied t above, and further in view of Lumpkin (US – 2003/0121739 A1) and Nakai et l. (US – 2019/0039685).
As per claim 14, Mizusaki discloses Diaphragm Assembly comprising:
a master cylinder reservoir housing (1, Fig: 1-2) extending upwardly from a disc brake master cylinder main body (Fig: 2);
a bladder system assembly (7, Fig: 1-2) provided in the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder member (7, Fig: 1-5) received within a brake fluid reservoir of the master cylinder reservoir housing (Fig: 1-2);
a bladder cap member (8, Fig: 2) secured to the bladder member (Fig: 2);
a pair of bladder cap screws (Attached figure and Fig: 2) securing the bladder cap member to the master cylinder reservoir housing (AS per figure 1, there are two holes for screws, therefore, it’s obviously disclose “a pair of cap screw”, Fig: 1-2).
a vent hole (14, Fig: 2) provided in a sidewall of the bladder cap member (Fig: 2), wherein the vent hole is configured to allow direct communication of outside air within the bladder member (An air passage 14 is provided between the reservoir 1 and the cover 8 to maintain the chamber above the diaphragm 7 at atmospheric pressure, Detailed Description, [0010], Fig: 2).
Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose master cylinder assembly is used in disc brake;
a hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member;
a bleed threaded aperture provided through the bladder cap member and communicating with the brake fluid reservoir through the hold down plate; and
a bleed screw provided within the bleed threaded aperture.
Mizusaki discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose master cylinder assembly is used in disc brake. Therefore Mizusaki lacks the master cylinder assembly use in disc brake.
Lumpkin discloses a similar master cylinder assembly use in bicycle hydraulic disc brake (Title) and
a hold down plate (42, Fig: 2) provided on the bladder member (38, Fig: 2) and secured to the bladder cap member (Fig: 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilized the master cylinder assembly and a hold down plate provided on the bladder member and secured to the bladder cap member taught by Lupmpkin for the master cylinder assembly of Mizusaki to provide proper braking operation and compact brake assembly.
Further, Mizusaki and Lumpkin silent about a bleed threaded aperture provided through the bladder cap member and communicating with the brake fluid reservoir through the hold down plate; and
a bleed screw provided within the bleed threaded aperture.
Nakai discloses Hydraulic Operating Device comprising:
a bleed threaded aperture (82, threaded opening, [0065], Fig: 7) provided through the bladder cap member (60, Fig: 7) and communicating with the brake fluid reservoir through the hold down plate (Fig: 7); and
a bleed screw (84, Fig: 7) provided within the bleed threaded aperture (Fig: 7).
It would have been obvious tone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Diaphragm Assembly of the Mizusaki as modified by Lumpkin to include the bleed threaded aperture provided through the bladder cap member and communicating with the brake fluid reservoir through the hold down plate; and a bleed screw provided within the bleed threaded aperture as taught by Nakai in order to remove air from the hydraulic reservoir tank while maintaining a relatively compact profile of the hydraulic operating device with respect to the handlebar.
As per claim 15, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder cap member is provided with a pair of mounting bosses (Attached figure and Fig: 2) to threadingly receive the pair of bladder cap screws (As per figure 1, there are two holes for screws, therefore, it’s obviously disclose “a pair of cap screw”, (Attached figure and Fig: 2).
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As per claim 16, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder cap member secures the bladder member with the master cylinder reservoir housing via the pair of bladder cap screws (As per figure 1, there are two holes for screws, therefore, it’s obviously disclose “a pair of cap screw”, (Attached figure and Fig: 2).
As per claim 17, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder member (7) and the hold down plate (7a) are arranged with coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 1-5).
As per claim 18, Mizusaki discloses wherein the vent hole (14) is positioned above a flat compression zone defined by the coplanar flat surfaces (Fig: 2).
As per claim 19, Mizusaki as modified by Lumpkin discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the hold down plate comprises steel.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the steel for hold down plate of the master cylinder reservoir , since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basic of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of design choice. MPEP – 2144.07.
As per claim 20, Mizusaki discloses wherein the bladder member comprises an elastomer (The diaphragm according to the present invention is bodily molded of an elastic material such as natural or synthetic rubber to such a shape as illustrated in FIG. 3, [0005], Fig: 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A: Nakagawa et al. (US – 4,168,613),
B: F. R. YOST (US – 3,354,639),
C: Meggiolan et al. (US – 2023/0037259 A1),
D: Perry (US – 2022/0314948 A1),
E: KONRAD et al. (US – 2021/0316815 A1), and
F: Perry (US – 2020/0384971 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAN M AUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-5792. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at 571-272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAN M AUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 3616
/Robert A. Siconolfi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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