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) 1-2, 5-6, and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palladino (US – 2006/0076196 A1) and further in view of Thomas Blank (DE – 102012112913 A1, Examiner disclosed English machined translation for rejection reference).
As per claim 1, Palladino discloses Thin Film Sensor For Brake Lining Pas Wear And Brake Temperature Sensing comprising;
a brake pad wear sensor (20, Fig: 1-5) comprising a housing and an electronic board (30, Fig: 4-5), the housing being provided with a wearable protrusion whose end is intended to be fixed flush with a friction surface of a brake pad (Modular sensor 20 is preferably mounted between a pair of brake lining surfaces 11 in a gap 18 with a distal end substantially flush with the outer or friction surface of the brake lining 11, [0019], Fig: 1-5), and the electronic board being provided with a lateral protrusion that extends at least partially inside said wearable protrusion (Fig: 4-5), where the electronic board comprises an electrical measuring line (34, 36, 38, Fig: 4-5) that runs through said lateral protrusion, wherein the electrical measuring line comprises a layer of resistive material (36, Fig: 4) that defines a series electrical resistance and whose cross section extends at least partially towards an end of said lateral protrusion (Fig: 4-5).
Palladino discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the layer of resistive material comprises a layer of nickel phosphorus alloy.
Thomas discloses Electrically Non-conductive Substrate Used In Sensor Components, Has Cavity Whose Surface Is Partially Provided With Four Layers comprising:
wherein the layer of resistive material comprises a layer of nickel phosphorus alloy (The alloy of nickel-phosphorous layer (22) and palladium layer/alloy of palladium-phosphorus layer are deposited electrochemically, Abstract, Fig: 1-6).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Thin Film Sensor For Brake Lining Pas Wear of the Palladino to make the layer of resistive material comprises a layer of nickel phosphorus alloy as taught by Thomas in order to provide effectively improve the high temperature resistance of the probe of the sensor.
As per claim 2, Thomas further disclose wherein the nickel-phosphorus alloy layer is a film electro-deposited on the electronic board ( the object is achieved by an inner layer of a substrate in plate or laminate construction whose surface has at least partially the following layers: a) a first layer of copper b) a second layer of a nickel-phosphorus alloy, c) a third layer of palladium or a palladium-phosphorus alloy and optionally a fourth layer of gold or a gold-phosphorus alloy, solved, [0027], Fig: 6).
As per claim 5, Palladino discloses wherein the cross section of the layer of resistive material (36) extends completely to the end of said lateral protrusion, so that two ends are coincident (Fig: 4).
As per claim 6, Palladino as modified by Thomas discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the electronic board is made of polyimide.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the polyimide for electric board for housing, 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 obvious design choice. MPERP – 2144.07 Art Recognized Suitability for an Intended Purpose [R-01.2024].
As per claim 10, Palladino discloses wherein the electrical measuring line (34, 38) comprises an opening portion defined by a conductive track whose path partially runs through the lateral protrusion (Fig: 4)
As per claim 11, Palladino discloses the leads may be taken off from pads left on the front, etched major face. Both front and back major faces of circuit board 30 are coated with a heat resistant, erodable thermoplastic resin, or similar electrically insulative, heat resistant material, [0022], but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the housing is defined by a phenolic resin overmoulded on the electronic board.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the phenolic resin for housing, 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 obvious design choice. MPERP – 2144.07 Art Recognized Suitability for an Intended Purpose [R-01.2024].
As per claim 12, Palladino discloses wherein the housing comprises a fixation to the brake pad (22, Fig: 2-5).
As per claim 13, Palladino discloses wherein the fixation to the brake pad is performed by an elastic pin clip (22, Fig: 2-5).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palladino (US – 2006/0076196 A1) as modified by Thomas Blank (DE – 102012112913 A1), as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of Djordjevic (US – 6,477,893 B1).
As per claim 3, Palladino as modified by Thomas discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose the layer of resistive material has a geometric shape that comprises a progressive widening of its cross section.
Djordjevic discloses Erodable Sensor For Progressive Brake Wear Detection comprising:
the layer of resistive material (24, Fig: 1-5) has a geometric shape that comprises a progressive widening of its cross section (Fig: 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the Thin Film Sensor For Brake Lining Pas Wear of the Palladino as modified by Thomas to make the layer of resistive material has a geometric shape that comprises a progressive widening of its cross section as taught by Djordjevic in order to the change in resistance provides for continuous indication of the state of wear of the brake lining.
As per claim 4, Djordjevic further discloses wherein the geometric shape of the layer of resistive material is a triangle (24, Fig: 1-5).
Claim(s) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palladino (US – 2006/0076196 A1) as modified by Thomas Blank (DE – 102012112913 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Odisho et al. (US – 6,360,850 B1).
As per claim 7, Palladino as modified by Thomas discloses all the structural elements of the claimed invention but fails to explicitly disclose each end of the electrical measurement line comprises at least one conductive cable attached by means of a metal band.
Odisho discloses Progressive Brake Lining Wear Sensor comprising:
each end of the electrical measurement line comprises at least one conductive cable attached by means of a metal band (FIGS. 4-6 represents an alternate embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, a pair of parallel rails 109a, 109b are connected by a production tab 120 at one end and are connected to sensing circuits leads 104a, 104b, 104c at the opposite end. The rails are crimped to the sensing leads 104a, 104c, Col: 3, Ln: 17-22, Fig: 4-6).
As per claim 8, Palladino discloses wherein the brake pad wear sensor comprises a temperature sensor (Thin Film Sensor For Brake Lining Pad Wear And Brake Temperature Sensing, Title).
As per claim 9, Palladino discloses wherein the temperature sensor is an NTC resistor (The resistors 106, 107, 108 employed may be leaded general purposes resistors provided by Speer Electronics. The thermistor 123 employed in the preferred embodiment may be a type DK negative temperature coefficient thermistor which can measure temperatures up to 698.degree. F., provided by NTC Thermistors, Col: 4, Ln: 21-26).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A: Thomas Eichler (US – 9,228,623 B2),
B: Schutt et al. (US – 2019/0219119 A1),
C: Bates et al. (US – 2019/0217671 A1), and
D: Moore et al. (US – 2015/0152931 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.
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
/Robert A. Siconolfi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3616
Prosecution Insights