Appeal 2007-0782
Application 10/683,453
1 Appellants invented a method for controlling the brake system of a
2 vehicle train. (Specification 1).
3 Claim 1 is representative of the invention and is reproduced as
4 follows:
5 1. A method for controlling the brake system of a vehicle train,
6 the vehicle train including a tractor vehicle and a trailer vehicle, a
7 control device in the tractor vehicle arranged and constructed to
8 initiate automatic braking of the trailer vehicle when a vehicle train
9 rollover danger is presented, the method comprising the steps of
10 detecting a coefficient of friction between the road on which the
11 vehicle train travels and the vehicle train, determining whether the
12 coefficient of friction is smaller than a predetermined minimum value
13 when an anti-wheel-lock braking function is at least one of absent in
14 said trailer vehicle and inoperative in said trailer vehicle, and reducing
15 intensity of automatic braking of the trailer vehicle utilizing the
16 control device in the tractor vehicle when the coefficient of friction
17 is smaller than the predetermined minimum value.
18
19 The Examiner rejected claims 1-5, 7-13, and 15 under 35 U.S.C.
20 § 103(a) (2004) as being unpatentable over Takao in view of Hunter.
21 The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on
22 appeal is:
23 Hunter US 3,967,862 Jul. 6, 1976
24 Takao JP 2001-58563A Mar. 6, 2001
25
26 Appellants contend that in combining Takao and Hunter, the
27 Examiner has not established a prima facie case of obviousness (Br. 8).
28 Appellants argue that in Takao, the vehicle combination is automatically
29 braked when a threshold lateral acceleration is reached (i.e., when a rollover
30 condition is detected). Specifically, a control device in the tractor
31 automatically actuates the trailer brake intermittently to avoid wheel lock
32 using a simple on/off trailer brake pressure actuation scheme, and removes
2
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Last modified: September 9, 2013