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 Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: end of the sentence period missing. Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The abstract is objected to because it exceeds 150 words. Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “100” has been used to designate both temperature sensor and other parts (appeared to be procession unit and algorithm).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The following claim terms lack sufficient antecedent basis:
Claim 1: " the braking element of a vehicle " in 1.
Claim 12: "said vehicle motion" in 7
Claim 13: "wear estimation method" in 6-7.
Claim 14: "the braking element" in 1.
Claims 2-12 recite, “a vehicle brake element”. Previously recited was “the braking element of a vehicle”. It is unclear if a further braking element is being recited.
Dependent claims not specifically mentioned are rejected due to dependency on a rejected base claim for failing to cure the deficiencies of the base claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-10 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wagner Thomas (DE-10233844 A1, from IDS, Examiner disclosed English machined translation) and further in view of Wright et al. (US – 2010/0030490 A1).
As per claim 1, Wagner discloses Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake comprising:
a method for estimating wear in the braking element of a vehicle that includes at least a braking disc (6, Fig: 1), a wear-able block of friction material (2, 4, Fig: 1) and a back support plate of said block of friction material (Attached figure and Fig: 1), at least one temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2) configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate, and one electronic processing unit (20, 24, 36, Fig: 2) connected to said temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2), the method comprising:
[[-]]capturing, over time, a plurality of temperature values from said at least one temperature sensor (a temperature device 22 for contactless measurement of at least the temperature TB of the friction surface of the brake pad during braking, English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln; 17-23, Fig: 1-2); and
[[-]]processing an estimate of the thickness of said wear-able block of friction material by processing said acquired temperature values (English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 17-43, Fig: 1-2),
wherein said estimate of the thickness of said wear-able block of friction material (2, 4) is performed by subsequently subtracting a plurality of wear increases from the thickness of said block, where each increase in wear is calculated between capture points of a corresponding pair of temporally consecutive temperature values, where each increase in wear is calculated by calculating an amount of heat transferred to said wear-able block of friction material between said capture points (Abstract, English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 17-43, and Ln: 79-118, Fig: 1-2).
Wagner discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose at least one temperature sensor configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate.
Wright discloses Method, System, And Apparatus For Friction Pad Wear And Brake Condition Monitoring comprising:
at least one temperature sensor (322, Fig: 3a, 8) configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate (306, a point of sensor-wear material 322 applied completely through the friction material 304 and the backing pad 306. While a partial-sensor-wear layer 362 of sensor-wear material 312 is shown that covers part of the surface of the friction material 304 is shown applied with the combination-approach disc-brake pad 360, a complete sensor-wear layer (such as sensor-wear layer 322) of sensor-wear material 312 that completely covers the friction material 304 on the surface of layered-coating-approach disc-brake pad 310, [0039], Fig: 3A, 8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to arrange the temperature sensor in which at least one temperature sensor configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate as taught by Wright in order to provide a simple and economical construction method of brake pads and more generally braking elements, and therefore also brake shoes, wherein it is then possible to detect during use, in real time and in a simple and precise way during braking, the wear of the brake pad.
As per claim 5, Wright further discloses wherein each increase in wear is calculated upon each acquisition of said detected temperature of said back support plate (306, [0101] – [0102], Fig: 3A-3B).
As per claim 6, Wagner discloses wherein said acquisition of the sensed temperature of said back support plate is activated with each activation of braking on said braking disc at time t1 and until a predetermined time t2 after release of the braking (English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 79-118).
As per claim 7, Wagner discloses wherein said estimation of the thickness of said wear-able block of friction material (304, Fig: 3A) is performed in real time (English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 79-118).
As per claim 8, Wright further discloses wherein said temperature sensor (322, Fig: 3A-3B, 8) is a contact temperature sensor positioned flush or overlapping on a surface of the back support plate (306, Fig: 3A-3B, 8) adjacent to the wear-able block of friction material (304, Fig: 3A-3B, 8) or flush or overlapping on a surface of the back support plate opposite the wear-able block of friction material, or is integrated into the back support plate.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the contactless measuring sensor of the Wegner to use sensor use in sensor 322 as taught by Wright in order to provide more accurate determined using sensor-wear material on a brake component.
As per claim 9, Wagner discloses wherein said temperature sensor (22) is a no-contact temperature sensor positioned on the side of a surface of the back support plate (Attached figure and Fig: 1) adjacent to the wear-able block of friction material (2, 4, Fig: 1, description of the embodiment, [0003], Fig: 1-2) or on the side of a surface of the back support plate opposite the wear-able block of friction material, or laterally to the back support plate.
As per claim 10, Wagner discloses providing an ambient temperature sensor connected to said electronic processing unit (20, 24, 36, Fig: 2);
generating an ambient temperature signal corresponding to an ambient temperature (English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 108-127, Fig: 1-2), and
transmitting said ambient temperature signal to said electronic processing unit, where said electronic processing unit processes said ambient temperature signal to adjust said wear increase estimate (English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 99-118, Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 13, Wagner discloses Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake comprising:
a wear-able block of friction material (2, 4, Fig: 1):
a back support plate of said block of friction material (Attached figure and Fig: 1);
a temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2) configured and positioned to detect the temperature of said back support plate; and
an electronic processing unit (20, 24, 36, Fig: 2) configured to carry out the wear estimation method for said element (Abstract, English machined translation, description of the embodiment, Ln: 17-43, and Ln: 76-98, Fig: 1-2).
Wagner also discloses temperature sensor but fails to explicitly disclose a temperature sensor configured and positioned to detect the temperature of said back support plate.
Wright discloses Method, System, And Apparatus For Friction Pad Wear And Brake Condition Monitoring comprising:
a temperature sensor (322, Fig: 3a, 8) configured and positioned to detect the temperature of said back support plate (306, Fig: 3A, 8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to arrange the temperature sensor in which the temperature sensor configured and positioned to detect the temperature of said back support plate as taught by Wright in order to improve accuracy of vehicle brake wear estimation.
PNG
media_image1.png
574
389
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Claim(s) 2-3 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wagner Thomas (DE-10233844 A1, from IDS, Examiner disclosed English machined translation) as modified by Wright et al. (US – 2010/0030490 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Peters Martin (DE – 19943352 A1, from IDS, Examiner disclose English machined translation).
As per claim 2, Wanger as modified by Wright discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein at least a first contribution to said amount of heat transferred for each increase in wear is inferred from a calculation of the acquired temperature difference between said capture points (t1 and t2).
Peters discloses Device And Method For Determining The Temperature Of Brake Elements Provided On A Vehicle comprising;
wherein at least a first contribution to said amount of heat transferred for each increase in wear is inferred from a calculation of the acquired temperature difference between said capture points (t1 and t2)(English machined translation, Description, Line 68 – 85, line 86-90, line 124-129, Fig: 2-8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary kill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to make the at least a first contribution to said amount of heat transferred for each increase in wear is inferred from a calculation of the acquired temperature difference between said capture points (t1 and t2) as taught by Peters in order to provide a temperature model in the form of Software ready to measure the temperature especially of a disc brake can be calculate.
As per claim 3, Peters further discloses wherein at least a second contribution to said amount of heat transferred for each increase in wear is inferred from a calculation of the acquired temperature difference between said capture points (t1 and t2) (English machined translation, Description, Line 68 – 85, Fig: 2-8).
As per claim 11, Peters further discloses providing a vehicle accelerometer connected to said electronic processing unit;
generating an acceleration signal corresponding to vehicle acceleration; and
transmitting said vehicle acceleration signals to said electronic processing unit, where said electronic processing unit processes said acceleration signal to adjust said wear increase estimate (English machined translation, Description, Ln: 91-129, Fig: 2-8).
As per claim 12, Peters further discloses providing a vehicle motion detector connected to said electronic processing unit;
generating a motion signal for said vehicle motion (English machined translation, Description, Ln: 91-129, Fig: 2-8); and
transmitting said vehicle motion signals to said electronic processing unit, where said electronic processing unit processes said motion signals to adjust said wear increase estimate (English machined translation, Description, Ln: 91-129, Fig: 2-8).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wagner Thomas (DE-1023384 A1, Examiner disclosed English machined translation) as modified by Wright et al. (US – 2010/0030490 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Matsui (US – 2022/0034379 A1).
As per claim 4, Wanger as modified by Wright discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the calculation of said amount of heat transferred, each contribution to said amount of heat transferred is modulated with parameters to make it consistent with previously acquired experimental data.
Matsui discloses Wear Volume Estimation Device, Wear Volume Estimation Method, And Wear Volume Estimation Program comprising:
wherein the calculation of said amount of heat transferred, each contribution to said amount of heat transferred is modulated with parameters to make it consistent with previously acquired experimental data (Wear Volume Estimation Considering Temperature History, [0056] and [0057], Fig: 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary kill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to include the calculation of heat transfer in which the calculation of said amount of heat transferred, each contribution to said amount of heat transferred is modulated with parameters to make it consistent with previously acquired experimental data as taught by Matsui in order to provide a technique that can increase an estimation accuracy of a wear volume of a brake pad of a vehicle.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wagner Thomas (DE-1023384 A1, Examiner disclosed English machined translation) and further in view of Wright et al. (US – 2010/0030490 A1) and Robere et al. (US – 2019/0071062 A1).
As per claim 14, Wagner discloses Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake comprising:
a method for estimating wear in the braking element of a vehicle that includes at least a braking disc (6, Fig: 1), a wear-able block of friction material (2, 4, Fig: 1) and a back support plate of said block of friction material (Attached figure and Fig: 1), at least one temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2) configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate, and one electronic processing unit (20, 24, 36, Fig: 2) connected to said temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2), the method comprising:
acquiring a temporal evolution of the temperature by said temperature sensor (description of the embodiment, [0011] - [0015], Fig: 1-2).
Wagner discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose at least one temperature sensor (22, Fig: 2) configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate and
creating a wear model in which a relationship between said wear and said temporal evolution of temperature is modeled with a differential equation, where the wear estimate is given by an analytical or numerical solution of said differential equation.
Wright discloses Method, System, And Apparatus For Friction Pad Wear And Brake Condition Monitoring comprising:
at least one temperature sensor (322, Fig: 3a, 8) configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate (306, Fig: 3A, 8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to arrange the temperature sensor in which at least one temperature sensor configured and positioned to sense the temperature of said back support plate as taught by Wright in order to improve accuracy of vehicle brake wear estimation.
Further, Robere discloses Brake Pas Life Prognosis System For Regenerative Braking Vehicle comprising:
creating a wear model in which a relationship between said wear and said temporal evolution of temperature is modeled with a differential equation, where the wear estimate is given by an analytical or numerical solution of said differential equation ([0048] – [0050].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Device And Method For Monitoring The Functional And/ Or Wear Condition Of Brake Pad And/ Or Brake Discs Of A Vehicle Brake of Wagner to include the wear model and estimate by using differential equation as taught by Robere in order to provide a brake life prognosis system that combines an energy partitioning model with braking energy parameters to accurately predict brake pad thickness. It is also desirable for the prognosis system to output real-time brake life information that is useful to an end user.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 is 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.
Prior art and teaching reference fail to disclose wear estimating and thickness of brake pad by using differential equation and said differential equation is:
dx(t)/dt = - γg (ß) (dT(t)/dt, x(t), ....)
where
x(t) = function that expresses the trend over time (t) of the thickness of the braking element;
T(t) = function that expresses the trend over time (t) of the temperature of the braking element;
(dT(t)/dt) = function derived over the time of T(t)+
dx(t)/dt = function derived over the time of x(t);
γ = parameter; and ß = set of modulation parameters
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A: Kramer et al. (US – 6,236,310 B1),
B: Hanisko (US – 5,637,794), and
C: Robertson et al. (US – 2021/0300313).
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. -To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAN M AUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 3616
/DAVID R MORRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
