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 .
This is the First Office Action on the merits of Application No. 19/265220, filed on 07/10/2025. Claims 1-15 are still pending in the application.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 14 appears to depend on itself. Appropriate correction is required. Claim 14 has not been examined on the merits.
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 3-10 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.
Regarding claims 3 and 10, the phrase "in particular" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
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) 1-4, 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 1832778 to Benzing (henceforth referred to as Benzing).
Regarding claims 1-4, 7-10, Benzing teaches an elevator brake disc assembly for braking rotation of a shaft (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 5) within an elevator brake (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 1), the shaft extending in an axial direction (i.e. Fig. 1, left and right direction) and being rotatable around an axis of rotation (i.e. Fig. 1, not referenced but axis line shown at center of ref. 5), the elevator brake disc assembly comprising:
a brake disc (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 11) mounted to the shaft for rotating concurrently with the shaft;
at least one first brake lining (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 6) firmly fitted to the brake disc; and
at least one second brake lining (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10) attached to the brake disc in a configuration in which the at least one second brake lining rotates concurrently with the brake disc and in which it is movable with respect to the brake disc along the axial direction (i.e. Machine Translation page 5, first paragraph: “a redundant braking system is provided by the subdivision of the brake disc 4 and the axial adjustability of the outer ring 11 relative to the inner ring 10”).
Wherein the first brake lining comprises a first brake lining portion (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 6 on the left) applied to a first side of the brake disc and a second brake lining portion (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 6 on the right) applied to an opposing second side of the brake disc; and/or
wherein the second brake lining comprises a first brake lining portion applied to a first side of the brake disc and a second brake lining portion applied to an opposing second side of the brake disc.
Wherein the first brake lining is provided as at least one first brake lining ring (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 6);
wherein the second brake lining is provided as at least one second brake lining ring (i.e. Fig. 4, ref. 10); and
wherein the at least one first brake lining ring and the at least one second brake lining ring are arranged coaxially within each other with the shaft extending through the common center of the at least one first brake lining ring and the at least one second brake lining ring,
wherein the at least one first brake lining is in particular arranged outside the at least one second brake lining ring along a radial direction (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 5 runs through a common center through concentric ref. 10 and 6).
Comprising a carrier (i.e. Fig. 2, wider hub of ref. 10) supporting the at least one second brake lining, wherein at least a portion of the carrier is movable along the axial direction with respect to the brake disc.
wherein the brake disc comprises a first brake disc portion supporting the first brake lining; and
a second brake disc portion supporting the second brake lining;
wherein the first brake disc portion and the second brake disc portion are movable with respect to each other along the axial direction (i.e. Machine Translation page 5, first paragraph: “a redundant braking system is provided by the subdivision of the brake disc 4 and the axial adjustability of the outer ring 11 relative to the inner ring 10”).
Wherein the first brake disc portion is provided as a first brake disc portion ring (i.e. Fig. 4, ref. 11) and the second brake disc portion is provided as a second brake disc portion ring (i.e. Fig. 4, ref. 10);
wherein the first and second brake disc portions are arranged coaxially with each other with the first brake disc portion surrounding the second brake disc portion.
Wherein the first brake disc portion is coupled to the second brake disc portion by a spline (i.e. Fig. 4, ref. 9).
Wherein a plurality of notches (i.e. Fig. 4, notches seen at ref. 9) extending in the axial direction are formed along the inner periphery of the first brake disc portion, and wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed on the outer periphery of the second brake disc portion (i.e. Fig. 4, plurality of protrusions seen at ref. 9); or
wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed along the inner periphery of the first brake disc portion, and wherein a plurality of notches extending in the axial direction are formed on the outer periphery of the second brake disc portion (i.e. Fig. 4, notches and protrusions seen at ref. 9);
wherein the protrusions are in engagement with the notches for fixing the first braking disc portion to the second brake disc portion in a configuration in which the first and second brake disc portions rotate concurrently with each other and in which they are movable with respect to each other along the axial direction (i.e. Machine Translation page 5, first paragraph: “a redundant braking system is provided by the subdivision of the brake disc 4 and the axial adjustability of the outer ring 11 relative to the inner ring 10”);
wherein the notches and the protrusions have in particular a rectangular cross section (i.e. Fig. 4, rectangular cross section notches and protrusions shown at ref. 9), or a triangular cross section, or a cross section including the shape of a semi-circle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 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.
Claims 11-13, 15 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO 2018/173193 teaches an elevator brake with concurrent brake discs, a plunger and a stationary element but does not teach two plungers move independently of each other;
US Patent No. 8,151,950 to Fargo teaches an elevator brake but does not teach two plungers move independently of each other;
US Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0151254 to Sevilleja-Perez teaches a brake with two brake pads on opposite sides of a brake disc and a plunger but does not teach two plungers move independently of each other;
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIEM M TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7825. The examiner can normally be reached M 9-5, W-F 10-2.
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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