Appeal No. 2002-1569 Page 5
Application No. 09/356,431
which normally force the rotating and non-rotating discs into contact with one another.
This force is mitigated by actuation of the brake pedal by the vehicle operator, which
causes pressurized fluid to operate a piston to counteract the force of the springs to
lessen their effect on the discs. Heidenreich fails to disclose or teach that the fluid in
the brake housing is of the type that changes its viscosity upon the application of
electrical current, or that there is a current source selectively connected to the housing.
Daniels is directed to an exercise machine for providing variable resistance in
opposition to a user applied force. This is accomplished by attaching cables, or other
means by which the user applies force, to a resistance device comprising a sealed
housing encasing fixed and rotatable discs immersed in a liquid whose viscosity can be
varied by the application of electric current. In response to the application of a selected
current, the resistance device applies a force to counteract the force applied by the
user, “by varying the applied potential, the amount of shear stress necessary for the
rotatable member to rotate is varied, thereby providing a variable resistance exercise
apparatus” (column 4, lines 35-38). Contrary to the examiner’s assertion, it is quite
clear to us that Daniels would not have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art that
the disclosed wet disc resistance device also had utility as a brake for vehicles. In this
regard, Daniels mentions bicycle, car and motorcycle caliper disc brakes, however,
rather than suggesting that the wet disc resistance device from the exercise apparatus
be used as a brake for vehicles, the reference proposes the opposite, that is, that a
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