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 Office Action acknowledges the applicant’s amendment filed on 11/13/2025. Claims 1-42 are pending in the application. Claims 9, 18, 26, 30-33 and 38-41 are withdrawn from consideration.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato US 2009/0266441 A1 in view of Chen US 2005/0139267 A1, both previously recited.
With regards to claim 1, Sato discloses a substrate storing container, comprising: a container main body 2 that includes: a tubular wall portion (Para. 0063; with side walls 2a/ bottom wall 2c) that includes an opening circumferential portion provided with a container main body opening portion formed at one end portion (first line of Para. 0064; covered by lid 4), with another end portion being blocked; and a substrate storage space that is made of an inner face of the wall portion, can store a substrate and communicates with the container main body opening portion (Para. 0063); a lid body 4 that can be attached to and detached from the opening circumferential portion, and can block the container main body opening portion in a positional relationship of being surrounded by the opening circumferential portion; a sealing member (sealing gasket; first two lines of Para. 0064) that is attached to the lid body, can abut against the lid body and the opening circumferential portion, and blocks, together with the lid body, the container main body opening portion, by being interposed between the opening circumferential portion and the lid body and being in close contact with and abutting against the opening circumferential portion and the lid body; a filter unit (Fig. 3; structure 8; Para. 0082 and 0093) that includes a ventilation path allowing communication between the substrate storage space and a space outside of the container main body, a filter 15 disposed on the ventilation path and a housing 14 that forms the ventilation path, is disposed in the container main body, and allows gas to pass between the space outside of the container main body and the substrate storage space through the filter; and an outward opening portion (at 14e) that is included in the housing and is opened toward the space outside of the container main body, the housing accommodating: a valve body 13 in combination with O-ring 18 that is movable between a blocked position of blocking the outward opening portion and an open position of opening the outward opening portion in this outward opening portion; an urged member 16 that has a tubular shape (at 16b), is connected to the valve body (Para. 0078 lines 7-10), is supported and guided by the housing movably in the housing, and guides movement of the valve body; and an urging member 17 that urges the urged member so as to move the valve body to the blocked position, wherein the valve body is disposed in a vicinity of one end portion of the urging member, and the urged member is disposed in a vicinity of another end portion of the urging member.
Sato discloses a valve body, an urged member and urging member but it does not specifically disclose the valve body is inserted into the outward opening portion and while moving integrally with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member.
PNG
media_image1.png
413
378
media_image1.png
Greyscale
However, Chen teaches that it was known in the art to have a filter unit (Fig. 1) that has a valve body 30 that is inserted into the outward opening portion 16 and while moving integrally (with structures 30/35/37/45) with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of an urged member 40 faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member 70.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter unit in Sato by having the valve body that inserted into the outward opening portion and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member as taught by Chen for the purposes of providing more of a plug type seal with the opening and having all of the parts move in unison.
With regards to claim 2, Sato discloses the valve body 13 is made of an elastically deformable material. Sato discloses the O-ring 18 is made from rubber (Para. 0088).
With regards to claim 3, Sato discloses an O-ring 18 is provided on a circumferential portion of the valve body.
With regards to claim 4, Sato discloses the valve body 13 is fixed to the urged member 17 in an attachable and detachable manner. (Para. 0078 lines 7-10)
With regards to claim 5, Sato discloses a gas flow path allowing gas to flow therethrough is formed in the urged member 17.
With regards to claim 6, Sato discloses the urging member 17 is made up of a spring, and a diameter of the spring is larger than a diameter of the outward opening portion.
With regards to claim 7, Sato discloses the housing includes: an outer housing portion 12; and an inner housing portion 14 that is disposed in the outer housing portion and is supported by the outer housing portion movably with respect to this outer housing portion, and the inner housing portion includes the outward opening portion 14e.
With regards to claim 8, the combination of Sato in view of Chen inherently teaches the urged member 17 includes an urged member (with structure 16) main body portion that includes a valve body fixation portion to which the valve body is fixed, and the inner housing portion includes: a tubular shaped portion (16b) that includes an inner peripheral sliding face on which the urged member main body portion is slid and this urged member main body portion is supported, and an outward opening portion forming portion integrally formed with the tubular shaped portion (integral forming taught by Chen with structures 30/35/37/45).
Claim(s) 10-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato US 2009/0266441 A1, previously cited, in view of Chen US 2005/0139267 A1, cited in Applicant’s IDS.
With regards to claim 10, Sato discloses a filter unit (Fig. 3; structure 8; Para. 0082 and 0093) disposed in a container main body 2 of a substrate storing container that comprises: the container main body that includes: a tubular wall portion (Para. 0063; with side walls 2a/ bottom wall 2c) that includes an opening circumferential portion provided with a container main body opening portion formed at one end portion (first line of Para. 0064; covered by lid 4), with another end portion being blocked; and a substrate storage space that is made of an inner face of the wall portion, can store a substrate and communicates with the container main body opening portion; and a lid body 4 that can be attached to and detached from the opening circumferential portion, and can block the container main body opening portion in a positional relationship of being surrounded by the opening circumferential portion; and a sealing member (first two lines of Para. 0064) that is attached to the lid body, can abut against the lid body and the opening circumferential portion, and blocks, together with the lid body, the container main body opening portion, by being interposed between the opening circumferential portion and the lid body and being in close contact with and abutting against the opening circumferential portion and the lid body, the filter unit comprising: a filter 15 disposed on a ventilation path allowing communication between the substrate storage space and a space outside of the container main body; and a housing 14 that forms the ventilation path, an outward opening portion that is included in the housing and is opened toward the space outside of the container main body, the housing accommodating: a valve body 13 in combination with O-ring 18 that is movable between a blocked position of blocking the outward opening portion and an open position of opening the outward opening portion in this outward opening portion; an urged member 16 that has a tubular shape (at 16b), is connected to the valve body (Para. 0078 lines 7-10), is supported and guided by the housing movably in the housing, and guides movement of the valve body; and an urging member that urges the urged member so as to move the valve body to the blocked position, wherein the valve body is disposed in a vicinity of one end portion of the urging member, and the urged member is disposed in a vicinity of another end portion of the urging member.
Sato discloses a valve body, an urged member and urging member but it does not specifically disclose the valve body is inserted into the outward opening portion and while moving integrally with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member.
However, Chen teaches that it was known in the art to have a filter unit (Fig. 1) that has a valve body 30 that is inserted into the outward opening portion 16 and while moving integrally (with structures 30/35/37/45) with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of an urged member 40 faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member 70.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter unit in Sato by having the valve body that inserted into the outward opening portion and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member as taught by Chen for the purposes of providing more of a plug type seal with the opening and having all of the parts move in unison.
With regards to claims 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, are treated as in claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 above, respectively.
Claim(s) 19-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato US 2009/0266441 A1 in view of Chen US 2005/0139267 A1, cited in Applicant’s IDS and further in view of Halbmaier US 2006/0266011 A1.
With regards to claim 19, Sato discloses a substrate storing container, comprising: a container main body 2 that includes: a tubular wall portion (Para. 0063; with side walls 2a/bottom wall 2c) that includes an opening circumferential portion provided with a container main body opening portion formed at one end portion (first line of Para. 0064; covered by lid 4), with another end portion being blocked; and a substrate storage space that is made of an inner face of the wall portion, can store a substrate and communicates with the container main body opening portion (Para. 0063); a lid body 4 that can be attached to and detached from the opening circumferential portion, and can block the container main body opening portion in a positional relationship of being surrounded by the opening circumferential portion; a sealing member (gasket; first two lines of Para. 0064) that is attached to the lid body, can abut against the lid body and the opening circumferential portion, and blocks, together with the lid body, the container main body opening portion, by being interposed between the opening circumferential portion and the lid body and being in close contact with and abutting against the opening circumferential portion and the lid body; and a filter unit (Fig. 3; structure 8; Para. 0082 and 0093) that includes a ventilation path allowing communication between the substrate storage space and a space outside of the container main body, a filter 15 disposed on the ventilation path and a housing that forms the ventilation path, is disposed in the container main body, and allows gas to pass between the space outside of the container main body and the substrate storage space through the filter, the filter unit including: an exhaust filter unit 9 (Fig. 12; Para. 0091, 0094-0095 and 0099-0100) that allows gas to flow from the substrate storage space to the space outside of the container main body; and an air supply filter unit 8 that allows gas to flow from the space outside of the container main body to the substrate storage space, the housing of the exhaust filter unit including an outward opening portion 14e opened toward the space outside of the container main body, the housing of the exhaust filter unit accommodating: a valve body 13 in combination with O-ring 18 that is movable between a blocked position of blocking the outward opening portion and an open position of opening the outward opening portion in this outward opening portion; an urged member 16 that has a tubular shape, is connected to the valve body (Para. 0078 lines 7-10), is supported and guided by the housing of the exhaust filter unit movably in the housing of the exhaust filter unit, and guides movement of the valve body; an urging member 17 that urges the urged member 16 so as to move the valve body to the blocked position, wherein the valve body 13 is disposed in a vicinity of one end portion of the urging member 17, and the urged member 16 is disposed in a vicinity of another end portion of the urging member.
Sato discloses a valve body, an urged member and urging member but it does not specifically disclose the valve body is inserted into the outward opening portion and while moving integrally with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member.
However, Chen teaches that it was known in the art to have a filter unit (Fig. 1) that has a valve body 30 that is inserted into the outward opening portion 16 and while moving integrally (with structures 30/35/37/45) with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of an urged member 40 faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member 70.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter unit in Sato by having the valve body that inserted into the outward opening portion and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member as taught by Chen for the purposes of providing more of a plug type seal with the opening and having all of the parts move in unison.
Sato discloses a filter of the exhaust filter unit and a filter of the air supply filter unit but it does not specifically disclose an effective area of the filter of the exhaust filter unit is larger than an effective area of the filter of the air supply filter unit.
However, Halbmaier teaches that it was known in the art to have a substrate storage container that has an effective area of a filter 232 of a filter unit larger than an effective area of the filter of the air supply filter unit. (Para. 0033 and 0035)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter in Sato by providing an effective area of the filter of the filter unit larger than an effective area of the filter of the air supply filter unit as taught by Halbmaier for the purposes of controlling adsorption of gases and chemical reactions.
With regards to claims 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, are treated as in claims 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 above, respectively.
Claim(s) 27-29 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato US 2009/0266441 A1 in view of Chen US 2005/0139267 A1, cited in Applicant’s IDS.
With regards to claim 27, Sato discloses a substrate storing container, comprising: a container main body 2 that includes: a tubular wall portion (Para. 0063; with side walls 2a/ bottom wall 2c) that includes an opening circumferential portion provided with a container main body opening portion formed at one end portion (first line of Para. 0064; covered by lid 4), with another end portion being blocked; and a substrate storage space that is made of an inner face of the wall portion, can store a substrate and communicates with the container main body opening portion (Para. 0063); a lid body 4 that can be attached to and detached from the opening circumferential portion, and can block the container main body opening portion in a positional relationship of being surrounded by the opening circumferential portion; a sealing member (gasket; first two lines of Para. 0064) that is attached to the lid body, can abut against the lid body and the opening circumferential portion, and blocks, together with the lid body, the container main body opening portion, by being interposed between the opening circumferential portion and the lid body and being in close contact with and abutting against the opening circumferential portion and the lid body; a filter unit 9 (Fig. 12; Para. 0091, 0094-0095 and 0099-0100) that includes a ventilation path allowing communication between the substrate storage space and a space outside of the container main body, a filter 15 disposed on the ventilation path and a housing that forms the ventilation path, is disposed in the container main body, and allows gas to pass between the space outside of the container main body and the substrate storage space through the filter; and an outward opening portion 14e that is included in the housing and is opened toward the space outside of the container main body, the housing accommodating a valve body 13 in combination with O-ring 18 that blocks the outward opening portion, wherein the valve body is connected to some urged member that has a tubular shape and guides movement of the of the valve body.
Sato discloses a valve body, an urged member and urging member but it does not specifically disclose the valve body is inserted into the outward opening portion and while moving integrally with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member.
However, Chen teaches that it was known in the art to have a filter unit (Fig. 1) that has a valve body 30 that is inserted into the outward opening portion 16 and while moving integrally (with structures 30/35/37/45) with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of an urged member 40 faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member 70.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter unit in Sato by having the valve body that inserted into the outward opening portion and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member as taught by Chen for the purposes of providing more of a plug type seal with the opening and having all of the parts move in unison.
With regards to claim 28, the combination of Sato in view of Chen further teaches an opening area of the ventilation path at an opening end (at 16; Chen) thereof opening toward the space outside of the container main body is larger than an opening area at the outward opening portion into which the valve body 30 (Chen) is inserted. (Para. 0022-0023)
With regards to claim 29 are treated as in claim 7 above.
With regards to claim 34, Chen further teaches the filter unit includes an urging member 45/70 that urges the valve body 30 in a direction of insertion into the outward opening portion 16. (Fig. 4)
Claim(s) 35-37 and 42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato US 2009/0266441 A1 in view of Chen US 2005/0139267 A1, cited in Applicant’s IDS.
With regards to claim 35, Sato discloses a filter unit for use in a container main body 2 of a substrate storing container that comprises: the container main body that includes: a tubular wall portion (Para. 0063; with side walls 2a/ bottom wall 2c) that includes an opening circumferential portion provided with a container main body opening portion formed at one end portion, with another end portion being blocked; and a substrate storage space that is made of an inner face of the wall portion, can store a substrate and communicates with the container main body opening portion (Para. 0063); and a lid body 4 that can be attached to and detached from the opening circumferential portion, and can block the container main body opening portion in a positional relationship of being surrounded by the opening circumferential portion; and a sealing member (gasket; first two lines of Para. 0064) that is attached to the lid body, can abut against the lid body and the opening circumferential portion, and blocks, together with the lid body, the container main body opening portion, by being interposed between the opening circumferential portion and the lid body and being in close contact with and abutting against the opening circumferential portion and the lid body, the filter unit (Fig. 3; structure 8; Para. 0082 and 0093) comprising: a filter 15 disposed on a ventilation path allowing communication between the substrate storage space and a space outside of the container main body; a housing that forms the ventilation path; and an outward opening portion that is included in the housing and is opened toward the space outside of the container main body, wherein the housing accommodates a valve body 13 in combination with O-ring 18 that blocks the outward opening portion by being inserted into this outward opening portion, the valve body is connected to an urged member that has a tubular shape and guides movement of the valve body.
Sato discloses a valve body, an urged member and urging member but it does not specifically disclose the valve body is inserted into the outward opening portion and while moving integrally with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member.
However, Chen teaches that it was known in the art to have teaches that it was known in the art to have a filter unit (Fig. 1) that has a valve body 30 that is inserted into the outward opening portion 16 and while moving integrally (with structures 30/35/37/45) with the valve body so as to move the valve body from the open position to the blocked position; and an inner peripheral face of an urged member 40 faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member 70.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter unit in Sato by having the valve body that inserted into the outward opening portion and an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member as taught by Chen for the purposes of providing more of a plug type seal with the opening and having all of the parts move in unison.
With regards to claim 36, are treated as in claim 28 above.
With regards to claim 37, are treated as in claim 7 above.
With regards to claim 42, are treated as in claim 34 above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/13/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues Sato and specifically Chen does not disclose the limitation “an inner peripheral face of the urged member faces and is slidable on an outer peripheral face of the urging member” because the inner peripheral face of the "casing 40" of Chen is spaced apart from the outer peripheral face of the "spring member 70". The Examiner respectfully disagrees, as shown above, the inner peripheral face of the urged member 40 (casing) of Chen does contact and slide on the outer peripheral face of the urging member 70 (spring member) at the top portion of the structure.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENINE SPICER whose telephone number is (313)446-4924. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday-Thursday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E. Avilés can be reached at (571) 270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JENINE SPICER/Examiner, Art Unit 3736
/RAFAEL A ORTIZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736