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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al (US 11,834,024).
Kim et al disclose a pedal simulator apparatus for a vehicle, the pedal simulator apparatus comprising: a housing unit (10); a piston unit (20) movably engaged in the housing unit (10); an elastic unit (52) elastically supporting the piston unit (20) in the housing unit (10); a damper unit (30) coupled to the piston unit (20) and selectively compressed by contact with the housing unit (10); and at least one friction unit (60) coupled to the piston unit (20), slidably contacting the housing unit (10), and generating frictional force of different magnitudes depending on movement of the piston unit (20) in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction (see Fig 1).
Re claim 2, the piston unit (20) includes a protrusion (90) supporting the at least one friction unit (60) in the second direction (see Fig 1).
Re claim 14, each of the damper unit (30) and the at least one friction unit (60) include an elastically deformable material (col 4 lines 3-7).
Re claim 15, Kim et al disclose a pedal simulator apparatus for a vehicle, the pedal simulator apparatus comprising: a housing unit (10) detachably connected to a pedal unit (not shown); a piston unit (20) movably engaged in the housing unit (10); an elastic unit (52) elastically supporting the piston unit (20) inside the housing unit (10); a damper unit (30) coupled to the piston unit (20) and selectively compressed by contact with the housing unit (10); and at least one friction unit (60) coupled to the piston unit (20), slidably contacting the housing unit (10), and generating frictional force of different magnitudes depending on movement of the piston unit (20) in a first direction or a second direction opposite to the first direction (see Fig 1).
Re claim 16, the piston unit (20) includes a protrusion (51) supporting the at least one friction unit (60) in the second direction (see Fig 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-13 and 17-20 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 10948941 pedal unit
US 6240801 damper
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICKY A JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)272-7106. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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/VICKY A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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