DETAILED ACTION
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show sufficient detail that one familiar with the specification would understand what is being depicted as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Discovering Application Pressure for Disc Brakes based on Infeed Travel.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5-12, 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Siebke (U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0330470).
Regarding claim 1, 8, 10, Siebke discloses a method for setting an application pressure of a vehicle brake of a motor vehicle having a vehicle disk brake, wherein, as the brake pressure increases in a first pressure range (0[Wingdings font/0xE0]P2 shown in fig. 5), the vehicle brake (1) feeds in a brake pad (3) by a brake infeed travel in the direction of a brake disk (2), crossing a release clearance (¶55 discloses the clearance created by the release movement), with an increase in a friction torque, and, as the brake pressure increases (p) further in a second pressure range (>P2), the brake disk is fed in fully and there is a further increase in the friction torque at the vehicle brake; the method comprising the steps of:
detecting the brake infeed travel as a function of the brake pressure (fig. 5);
identifying (106) the first pressure range on the basis of the detected brake infeed travel as a function of the brake pressure; and,
setting an application pressure of the vehicle brake (2) to a pressure lying within the first pressure range (claim 12 to 20).
Regarding claim 2 which depends from claim 1, Siebke discloses wherein detection of the brake infeed travel as a function of the brake pressure is performed via a continuous pad wear sensor (12) arranged on the vehicle brake.
Regarding claim 5 which depends from claim 1, Siebke discloses wherein the application pressure is set to a pressure which is in an upper third in relation to a total range width of the first pressure range (shown in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 6 which depends from claim 1, Siebke discloses comprising the further step of checking the set application pressure during operation of the vehicle via at least one test braking operation (fig. 7 and ¶85 discloses checking clearance which ends at the point of contact which the previous disclosure relates to the pressure).
Regarding claim 7 which depends from claim 6, Siebke discloses wherein the checking of the application pressure is performed with an aid of an electric vehicle drive (¶63 discloses brakes that are driven by electricity) by determining i) a change in a drive power (torque option addressed); or ii) a change in a drive torque while the at least one test braking operation is being carried out (shown in fig. 5 where contact is made travel stops but friction increases depicted by the pressure).
Regarding claim 9 which depends from claim 8, Siebke discloses wherein the control device is configured as a dedicated control device or as a central control device (shown in fig. 7).
Regarding claim 11, 16, Siebke discloses a vehicle brake including a commercial vehicle (this is intended use any vehicle can be used commercially) disk brake, the vehicle brake comprising: a brake carrier having at least one brake pad receptacle; at least one brake pad guided and supported in such a way that it can be moved axially in the brake pad receptacle; a brake caliper that can be moved axially relative to the brake carrier (shown in fig. 1); and, a measuring arrangement, which is configured to detect a brake infeed travel of the vehicle brake as a function of the brake pressure; wherein, as the brake pressure increases in a first pressure range, the vehicle brake feeds in a brake pad by a brake infeed travel in the direction of the brake disk, crossing a release clearance, with an increase in a friction torque; and,4 as the brake pressure increases further in a second pressure range, the brake disk is fed in fully and there is a further increase in the friction torque at the vehicle brake; and,the vehicle brake is configured to set an application pressure to a pressure which is within the first pressure range (except where noted above the limitations of this claim have been addressed above in claim 1).
Regarding claim 12 which depends from claim 11, Siebke discloses wherein the measuring arrangement has a pad wear sensor (12) configured to detect the brake infeed travel of the vehicle brake as a function of the brake pressure.
Regarding claim 15 which depends from claim 11, Siebke discloses wherein the application pressure is set to a pressure which is in an upper third in relation to the total width of the first pressure range (shown in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 17 which depends from claim 16, Siebke discloses further comprising a control device for carrying out a method for setting an application pressure of a vehicle brake of a commercial motor vehicle having a vehicle disk brake, wherein, as the brake pressure increases in a first pressure range,6 the vehicle brake feeds in a brake pad by a brake infeed travel in the direction of a brake disk, crossing a release clearance, with an increase in a friction torque, and, as the brake pressure increases further in a second pressure range, the brake disk is fed in fully and there is a further increase in the friction torque at the vehicle brake; the control device including: a non-transitory computer readable medium having a program code stored thereon ;said program code being configured, when executed by processor, to perform the steps of: detecting a brake infeed travel as a function of a brake pressure; identifying a first pressure range on the basis of the detected brake infeed travel as a function of the brake pressure; and, setting an application pressure of the vehicle brake to a pressure lying within the first pressure range (except where noted above the limitations of this claim have been addressed above in claim 1).
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.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 13, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Siebke (U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0330470) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above.
Regarding claim 3 and 13 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Siebke does not disclose wherein the application pressure is set to a pressure which is in a lower third in relation to a total range width of the first pressure range.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the lower third of the range, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05. This can be overcome by showing unexpected results for this range not found in the other ranges that have also been claimed.
Regarding claim 4 and 14 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Siebke does not disclose wherein the application pressure is set to a pressure which is in a middle third in relation to a total range width of the first pressure range.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the middle third of the range, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05. This can be overcome by showing unexpected results for this range not found in the other ranges that have also been claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GONZALO LAGUARDA whose telephone number is (571)272-5920. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 M-Th Alt. F.
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GONZALO LAGUARDA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747 email: gonzalo.laguarda@uspto.gov
/GONZALO LAGUARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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