Appeal No. 2005-0682 Page 9
Application No. 10/064,682
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,6872 to Becker et al. (Becker), incorporated by reference by
McGrath, relates to electric braking systems to be used by a towed vehicle when being
pulled by a towing vehicle. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electric brake system
incorporating the principles of Becker's invention. The numeral 10 denotes a brake
pedal for the conventional brake system for a towing vehicle. The brake system
comprises a master cylinder 11 and hydraulic wheel brakes denoted at 12. The electric
brake system also includes a pressure transducer assembly 13 which senses the brake
system hydraulic pressure and in response thereto develops a corresponding control
signal which is utilized by a control system or controller, shown generally at 14. This
control system 14 controls electric brakes 15 for a towed vehicle such as a trailer.
In our view, independent claims 11 and 20 are not anticipated by McGrath for the
reasons set forth by the appellant in the brief (pp. 4-5). Specifically, McGrath does not
disclose providing vehicle brake pressure from the anti-lock braking system 252 to the
controller 250 in addition to providing the vehicle speed from the anti-lock braking
system 252 to the controller 250 and then utilizing both the vehicle speed and the
vehicle braking pressure to determine a trailer brake output signal. In our view, the
disclosure of McGrath taken with the incorporated disclosure of Becker teaches that the
2Issued October 20, 1981.
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