Ex Parte Robert et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardMay 31, 201814602393 (P.T.A.B. May. 31, 2018) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 14/602,393 01/22/2015 46442 7590 06/04/2018 CARLSON, GASKEY & OLDS, P.C./Ford 400 W. MAPLE RD. SUITE 350 BIRMINGHAM, MI 48009 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Brian Joseph Robert UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. 83500301;67186-157 PUSl CONFIRMATION NO. 3967 EXAMINER BURCH, MELODY M ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3657 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 06/04/2018 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): cgolaw@yahoo.com ptodocket@cgolaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte BRIAN JOSEPH ROBERT and KENT SNYDER Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 Technology Center 3600 Before ANTON W. PETTING, CYNTHIA L. MURPHY, and KENNETH G. SCHOPPER, Administrative Patent Judges. MURPHY, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL The Appellants 1 appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner's rejections of claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, 14--16, 18, 19, and 21-26. We have jurisdiction over this appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We REVERSE. 1 "Ford Global Technologies, LLC, is the assignee of the entire right in this application," and "[u]ltimately, Ford Global Technologies, LLC, is owned by Ford Motor Company, LLC." (Appeal Br. 1.) Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellants' invention relates to "thermoelectric energy recovery from relatively low wear components of a brake system." (Spec. ,r 1.) Illustrative Claim 1. A brake assembly, comprising: a brake pad; an actuator that selectively moves the brake pad to contact a rotor; and a thermoelectric generator device housed within a cavity of the actuator, the thermoelectric generator device generating power in response to a temperature difference within the brake assembly. Rejections2 The Examiner rejects claims 1, 3, 4, 8-11, 14, 18, 19, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 as anticipated by KR526. 3 (Final Action 4.) The Examiner rejects claim 5 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over KR526 in view ofYazawa. 4 (Final Action 7.) The Examiner rejects claims 7, 15, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over KR526 in view of JP469. 5 (Final Action 8.) ANALYSIS Claims 1, 8, and 14 are the independent claims on appeal, with the rest of the claims on appeal (i.e., claims 3-5, 7, 9-11, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 21-26) 2 The Examiner's rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112 (see Final Action 3--4), has been withdrawn (see Answer 11 ). 3 KR 2008101526A, published November 21, 2008 ("KR526"). 4 Kazuaki Y azawa & Ali Shakouri, Cost-Efficiency Trade-off and the Design of Thermoelectric Power Generators, ENVIRON. SCI. TECHNOL. (2011). 5 JP 2009-269469 A, published November 19, 2009. 2 Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 depending therefrom. (See Appeal Br., Claims App.) Independent claims 1 and 8 recite a "brake assembly" comprising, and independent claim 14 recites a "method" involving a "brake pad " an "actuator " and a ' ' ' "thermoelectric generator device." (Id.) The Examiner finds that KR526 discloses a brake assembly having a brake pad, an actuator, and a thermoelectric generator device. (See Final Action 4.) The sole drawing of KR526, along with the translated portions of its written disclosure, are reproduced below. 310 300 p Pa M 110 NOVELTY - The systes has a piezoelecti·ic element (500) insLal.J.ed in a carrier that Js provided ~ith a pad plate (3001. A thermoelectric element !600) is provided with the piezoelectric element that is installed at a housing (110) of (-=::. c.::tli1;>~:~:c (l.CC) .. Th(:< c.~.Jir•cr i~~: 0(f:.)~:.}J~pr::cl ~viit.b 1:~ r~i~~ton (J.20) that is utilized for moving a pressure pad (310). The pressure pad is mounted on the pad plate near a brake disk ( 2 GD) .. The lYr·.::ik t·: d .. ~. ~s k ~~ s rn(:nn t f::d t.o a :,-,tbr:r: 1 .. TY1c, piezoelectric element is installed to a guide groove. AD\'ANTAGE - The system prevents the vapor lock phenomena caused by the evaporation of the hydraulic oil, and maintains stability of the brake while driving. DE sc:R.I F'T'I {)N ()F' L}F~~?~.VilII\T(; ( S) ... ·'the tl:r ft.ii! i nq sl10~1-J.S b S Cttern2 tic "\! i. et,,J of a brake system. 3 Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 The above-reproduced translated portions of KR526 indicate that its disclosed brake assembly includes a caliper 100 having a housing 110, a pressure pad 310, a piezoelectric element 500, and a thermoelectric element 600. The piezoelectric element 500 is described as "installed in" a carrier, and more specifically "installed to a guide groove," while the thermoelectric element 600 is described as simply "installed at" the caliper housing 110. In the above-reproduced drawing, which is categorized as a "schematic view," the thermoelectric element 600 is depicted as two black boxes diagrammed over what appears to be a cross-sectional portrayal of the caliper housing 110. Independent claim 1 further requires the thermoelectric generator device to be "housed within a cavity of the actuator," independent claim 8 further requires the thermoelectric generator device to be "within an enclosed cavity," and independent claim 14 further requires the thermoelectric generator device to be "within an enclosed cavity of the actuator." (Appeal Br., Claims App.) The Examiner finds that KR526 "clearly shows the thermoelectric generating device 600 being housed within a cavity of the actuator." (Answer 12.) According to the Examiner, "the combination of the description in the English translation describing element 600 as being arranged at the housing and the illustration of element 600 being disposed in the cavity of the housing 110 would lead one of ordinary skill in the art to understand that the thermoelectric element 600 is disposed in the cavity of the housing 110." (Id.) We are persuaded by the Appellants' position that KR526 does not disclose, in an anticipatory manner, that its thermoelectric element 600 is 4 Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 housed within a cavity of its actuator housing 110. (See Appeal Br. 3-5.) We agree with the Appellants that saying something is installed "at" a housing does not equate to a disclosure that it is installed "within a cavity" of the housing. For example, a thermoelectric element "installed at" a housing "could be placed on, or near, an outer surface of the housing." (Reply Br. 2.) And the above-reproduced drawing does not reveal resolutely the manner in which the thermoelectric 600 is installed at the caliper housing 110. Moreover, the Examiner does not explain why one of ordinary skill in the art, knowing that KR526's thermoelectric element 600 could be "installed at" its caliper housing 110, would be inclined to provide the caliper housing 110 with a cavity and situate the element 600 therewithin. The above-reproduced translated portions of KR526 indicate that the stated advantage of the disclosed brake assembly is to prevent "vapor lock," and this objective is apparently achieved by the thermoelectric element 600 operating in tandem with the piezoelectric element 500 to cool the brake fluid. (See Appeal Br. 5.) The Examiner does not address adequately how one of ordinary skill would know that this fluid-cooling function would be uncompromised, or could even be accomplished, if the thermoelectric element 600 is situated within a cavity of the caliper housing 110. The Examiner's further findings and determinations with respect to the additional prior art references also fail to explain why one of ordinary skill in the art would be inclined to provide KR526's actuator housing 110 with a cavity and situate the thermoelectric element 600 therewithin. For example, the Examiner's findings regarding the benefits of a solid-state thermoelectric device do not conjunct with a cavity-containing configuration 5 Appeal2017-008244 Application 14/602,393 for a caliper housing. (See Final Action 5.) Likewise, the Examiner's findings regarding a thermoelectric device providing power for tire-pressure monitoring and/ or battery charging do not entail a change of the installed location of the thermoelectric element. (See id. at 8.) As for Ruiz's teachings related to its access aperture 126 (see id. at 9--11), such a seemingly conventional access aperture "permits installation and removal of the brake pads" (Ruiz, col. 1, 11. 33-3 8); and the Examiner does not maintain that the prior art teaches that this access aperture is affiliated with any thermoelectric generator device. Thus, we do not sustain the Examiner's rejection of claims 1, 3, 4, 8-11, 14, 18, 19, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102; and we do not sustain the Examiner's rejections of claims 5, 7, 15, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. DECISION We REVERSE the Examiner's rejections of claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, 14--16, 18, 19, and 21-26. REVERSED 6 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation