Detailed Correspondence
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 01/07/2026, in response to claims 1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13, and 16-18 rejection from the non-final office action (10/07/2025), by amending claims 1 and 10 is entered and will be addressed below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 19-20 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Interpretations
The newly added limitation “a temperature measurement device to measure the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing within the cooling gap“ of claims 1 and 10, Applicants’ Fig. 2 merely shows a line for the temperature measurement device 270, there is no indication where the measuring part, such as thermocouple, is directly exposed to the coolant or covered by a protector, or the measurement is ‘indirectly’ through conduction of intervening part. Claims 1 and 10 will be examined inclusive indirect conduction through intervening part.
The “wherein the coolant fluid is an inert gas” of claim 10 is followed by “wherein the coolant fluid is selected from argon, nitrogen, clean dry air, and oil or combinations thereof”, therefore, the inert gas is considered to the coolant gas being inert to some components, such as the cooling jacket and the crucible. It is not limited to the rare gas and nitrogen.
The “a cooling mechanism” of claim 1 is structurally modified by “comprising a cylindrical cooling jacket” and is not treated under 35 USC 112(f).
The “a cylindrical cooling jacket” of claim 1, the usual definition of a cooling jacket includes a cooling function. However, Applicants’ jacket 232 encloses the cooling gap that receive the coolant fluid (claim 6). Therefore, the cooling jacket can be either an outer wall for the coolant fluid or can be a jacket that performing additional cooling function. The “a cylindrical cooling jacket” will be examined inclusive both interpretations.
The previously added limitation “wherein the coolant fluid is an inert gas“, an apparatus that is capable of using inert gas as coolant is considered read into this limitation.
The “A system for reactive deposition” of claim 10, the reactive material source is not positive recited in claim 10. A crucible that is capable of evaporating a reactive material is considered read into this limitation.
The “wherein the coolant fluid is selected from argon, nitrogen, or combinations thereof” of claims 8 and 17,an apparatus that is capable of receiving argon and/or nitrogen is considered read into the claim.
It has been held that claim language that simply specifies an intended use or field of use for the invention generally will not limit the scope of a claim (Walter, 618 F.2d at 769, 205 USPQ at 409; MPEP 2106). Additionally, in apparatus claims, intended use must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim (In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967); In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963); MPEP2111.02). When the structure recited in the reference is substantially identical to that of the claims, claimed properties or functions are presumed to be inherent (In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977); MPEP 2112.01).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 5, 7-11, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsujimoto et al. (US 5418348, hereafter ‘348), in view of Hoffman (US 4472453, hereafter ‘453), Ruth (US 20180245208, hereafter ‘208), Lee et al. (KR 101719739, from IDS, hereafter ‘739), Honda et al. (US 20140050850, hereafter ‘850), Wong et al. (US 20200340883, hereafter ‘833), and KAMIKAWA (KR 20110134824, from IDS, hereafter ‘824).
‘348 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: The electron beam source assembly 20 defines a generally rectangular copper block 2 with a circular copper crucible 4 having frustoconical side walls 6, a bottom wall 8, and lip 10 (Figs. 1-2, col. 4, lines 62-65, includes the claimed “An evaporation source, comprising: a crucible, comprising: a base, wherein a bottom surface of the base is exposed; and at least one sidewall extending upward from the base and defining an interior region of the crucible”);
Conventional passages 12 are formed in the block 2 for circulation of water, or another suitable coolant, from the coolant inlet 14, through the passages 12, to the outlet 15 (col. 4, line 66 to col. 5, line 1, Fig. 2 shows the coolant passages 12 surround the side wall 6 but not cover the bottom wall 8, therefore reads into the claimed “and a cooling mechanism, the cooling mechanism comprising a cylindrical cooling jacket surrounding an outer surface of the at least one sidewall while leaving the bottom surface of the base exposed”, note the outer wall of the copper block 2 is the claimed “a cylindrical cooling jacket” while the gap/space of the coolant passages 12 is the claimed “wherein a cooling gap is defined between the outer surface of the at least one sidewall of the crucible and an inner surface of a sidewall of the cylindrical cooling jacket”).
Claim 10: an electron gun for vaporizing materials for thin film deposition on a substrate placed in a high or ultra high vacuum environment (col. 1, lines 8-10, substrate intrinsically needs a supporting deposition surface, includes the claimed “A system for reactive deposition, comprising: a deposition surface operable for depositing a material onto a substrate provided on the deposition surface”);
The electron beam source assembly 20 defines a generally rectangular copper block 2 with a circular copper crucible 4 having frustoconical side walls 6, a bottom wall 8, and lip 10 (Figs. 1-2, col. 4, lines 62-65, includes the claimed “and an evaporation source positioned for depositing the material onto the substrate, comprising: a crucible, comprising: a base, wherein a bottom surface of the base is exposed; and at least one sidewall extending upward from the base and defining an interior region of the crucible”, note the bottom surface of the base is exposed to heat transfer, see claim interpretation above);
Conventional passages 12 are formed in the block 2 for circulation of water, or another suitable coolant, from the coolant inlet 14, through the passages 12, to the outlet 15 (col. 4, line 66 to col. 5, line 1, Fig. 2 shows the coolant passages surrounds the side wall 6 but not covers the bottom wall 8, therefore reads into the claimed “and a cooling mechanism comprising a cylindrical cooling jacket surrounding an outer surface of the at least one sidewall while leaving the bottom surface of the base exposed”, note the outer wall of the copper block 2 is the claimed “a cylindrical cooling jacket” while the gap/space of the coolant passages 12 is the claimed “wherein a cooling gap is defined between the outer surface of the at least one sidewall of the crucible and an inner surface of a sidewall of the cylindrical cooling jacket”).
‘348 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claims 1 and 10: (1A) (wherein a bottom surface of the base is exposed) to a vacuum environment;
(1B) wherein the cooling gap is from about 1 millimeter to about 4 millimeters;
(1C) a coolant inlet positioned at an upper end of the cylindrical cooling jacket, the coolant inlet operable to deliver a coolant fluid to the cooling gap so that the coolant fluid traverses across the outer surface of the at least one sidewall;
a coolant outlet positioned at a lower end of the cylindrical cooling jacket opposite the coolant inlet, the coolant outlet operable to remove the coolant fluid from the cooling gap, (1D) wherein the coolant fluid is an inert gas;
(1E) a plurality of baffles, each baffle extending across the cooling gap from the outer surface of the at least one sidewall to the inner surface of the sidewall of the cylindrical cooling jacket, the baffles spaced from each other to provide uniform flow of the coolant fluid around the outer surface of the at least one sidewall of the crucible;
(1F) a temperature measurement device to measure the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing within the cooling gap; and
(1G) and a system controller storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a plurality of operations to be conducted, the plurality of operations comprising:
heating the crucible containing a material to be deposited, and
(1H) cooling the crucible by flowing the coolant fluid through the cooling gap,
wherein the coolant fluid has a flow rate of 50 to 100 SLM
(1I) and the coolant fluid has a pressure of 100 to 760 Torr,
and the flow rate of the coolant fluid is controlled based at least in part on one of a temperature of the coolant fluid flowing through the cooling gap and a temperature of the crucible.
Claim 5: wherein the cooling gap is from about 3 millimeters to about 4 millimeters.
‘453 is analogous art in the field of A method for the deposition of thin films on semiconductor devices is disclosed which utilizes electron-beam induced evaporation techniques (abstract), two or three turns of copper tubing 102 are wound tightly around the periphery 58 of the holder 50 and connected to a coolant pump 110 via the conduits 104 (Fig. 1, col. 3, lines 34-37). ‘453 teaches that The gun 92 is positioned so that the electron beam 96 will impinge on the under surface 98 of the crucible 70 thereby heating the crucible and the melt 76 (col. 3, lines 28-30), for the deposition of thin films onto semiconductor substrates while shielding the substrates from high energy particles resulting from use of an electron-beam to heat the evaporant. This permits the manufacture of radiation sensitive semiconductor devices heretofore thought not possible and will result in more closely packed monolithic integrated circuit devices (col. 5, lines 10-26).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have re-arranged the electron beam from the top opening of the crucible of ‘348 to the opening under surface of the crucible 4 (the limitation of 1A), as taught by ‘453, for the purpose of manufacturing of radiation sensitive semiconductor devices, as taught by ‘453 (col. 5, lines 10-26).
‘208 is analogous art in the field of EVAPORATION SOURCE (title), including FIG. 6A is a perspective of a cooling assembly to be used in the evaporation source of FIG. 1B ([0018]). ’208 teaches that The one or more cooling tubes 604 can have a diameter from about 4 mm to about 20 mm, such as about 6 mm ([0073], 3rd sentence), If a high temperature of the deposition material 75, such as a temperature greater than 200° C., is measured when a deposition is completed, then a cooling gas, such as air, may be supplied to the cooling tube 604. When the temperature decreases to a temperature below 200° C., a cooling liquid, such as cooling water, may be supplied to the cooling tube 604. Cooling water is not supplied to the cooling tube 604 when the measured temperature is greater than 200° C. because the high temperature may cause formation of large amounts of steam that could damage the cooling tube 604. ([0074], last three sentences). ‘208 also teaches that The substrate 50 can be transferred through the processing region 15 from a feed roll 41, over tensioning rolls 51, 52, 53, 54 and to a take-up roll 42 ([0028], last sentence). ‘208 also teaches that The temperature control system is generally used to control one or more components found in the vapor deposition system 10 … includes a central processing unit (CPU) ([0047]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted a 4 mm width as the coolant passage 12 of ‘348 and a temperature control system with CPU, as taught by ‘208 (overlapping with the claimed 3~4 mm, the limitations of 1B, 1G and 5), for its suitability with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07. Furthermore, to have switched from using water coolant in ‘348 to air coolant, as taught by ‘208, for the purpose of avoiding damage to the cooling tube, as taught by ‘208 ([0074], last sentence).
‘739 is analogous art in the field of EVAPORATING APPARATUS (title), a cooling unit which is open at the top and bottom to surround the deposition source unit (abstract). ’739 teaches that the cooling unit 200 includes a cooling wall 210 formed to surround the deposition source unit 100, a first upper cooling fluid hole 220 formed in an upper portion of the cooling wall; a first lower cooling fluid hole 240 formed in a lower portion of the cooling wall 210 ([0046], Fig. 3 shows cooling fluid flows from top to bottom), the cooling fluid may include cooling water or cooling gas ([0048]), to uniformly cool the plurality of deposition source units 100 ([0061]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have arranged the cooling flow direction for the cooling passage 12 of ‘348 from top to bottom and to have replaced the cooling water of ‘348 with cooling gas (the limitation of 1C, and is also capable of using Ar and nitrogen of the limitation of 1D), for the purpose of uniform cooling, as taught by ‘739 ([0061]).
‘850 is analogous art in the field of VACUUM APPARATUS, METHOD FOR COOLING HEAT SOURCE IN VACUUM, AND THIN FILM MANUFACTURING METHOD (title), an evaporation source (typically, a crucible) used in the vacuum vapor deposition method must be heated during deposition, but it is desirable that the evaporation source be cooled after completion of the deposition to avoid unnecessary evaporation of materials and to start maintenance earlier ([0005]). ’850 criticizes water-cooling type cooling device ([0008]). ‘850 teaches that As shown in FIG. 6, a vacuum apparatus 110 … further includes a temperature sensor 18 that detects the temperature of the cooling gas that has flowed through the cooling device 20 ([0079]), the temperature sensor 18 may detect the temperature of the cooling gas directly or indirectly. Detection signals output from the temperature sensor 18 are input to the flow rate controller 24. The flow rate controller 24 determines the temperature of the cooling gas based on the input detection signals. When the determined temperature is higher than a threshold temperature, the flow rate of the cooling gas to be fed into the cooling device 20 is increased. When the determined temperature is lower than the threshold temperature, the flow rate of the cooling gas to be fed into the cooling device 20 is reduced ([0080], 3rd sentence), The type, pressure, temperature, etc. of the cooling gas to be fed to the cooling device 20 are not particularly limited. Air, an inert gas, or the like can be used as the cooling gas. Air can be suitably used from an economic standpoint. Inert gasses such as nitrogen and rare gas can be suitably used to prevent corrosion of pipes, etc. … The pressure of the cooling gas may be equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure ([0045], i.e. 760 Torr), for the purpose of the risk of pressure rise due to the expansion of the cooling gas can be avoided ([0012], last sentence).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a temperature sensor and as an input to the flow rate controller, and to have adopted Nitrogen or Ar operated at 760 Torr as the cooling gas, replacing dry air of ‘208 and cooling gas of ‘739, as taught by ‘121 (the limitations of 1D, 1F, and 1I), for the purpose of avoiding cooling water problems and the risk of pressure rise due to the expansion of the cooling gas can be avoided, as taught by ‘850 ([0008] and [0012], last sentence). Note the temperature sensor 18 is capable of detecting the temperature in the cooling gap, as least because the proximity of the cooling gap, see claim interpretation above.
‘883 is solving similar problem of heating and cooling as well as instrumentation and control processes that impose predetermined temperatures upon the component(s) ([0027]). ’883 teaches that Valves and regulators are controlled, in this example, by the control system 140, to manipulate the mass flow rate, pressure, and/or temperature of the coolant fluid to adjust the cooling effect of a cooling mechanism within the component(s) 102 ([0039], 4th sentence). In short, ‘883 teaches that coolant flow rate and pressure are effects parameter.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have optimized the coolant flow rate (and pressure) to adjust the cooling effect of the coolant passages 12 of ‘348 (the limitation of 1H), as taught by ‘883. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 105 USPQ 223 (CCPA 1955).
‘824 is analogous art in the field of EVAPORATION AND SUBLIMATION METHOD OF VAPOR DEPOSITION MATERIALS IN A VACUUM VAPOR DEPOSITION APPARATUS, AND CRUCIBLE DEVICE FOR VACUUM VAPOR DEPOSITION (title), particularly the refrigerant jacket 34 (Figs. 1-2, [0053]). ‘824 criticizes that when the vapor deposition material M becomes the evaporation temperature or the sublimation temperature, the vapor deposition material M evaporates or sublimes, making it difficult to control the evaporation amount and the degradation of the vapor deposition material M is facilitated (bottom of [0063]) and ’824 teaches that the refrigerant jacket 34 has, for example, cooling chambers 36a to 36c divided into three vertical stages are formed ([0062]). Note the dividers between chambers are the claimed “baffles”, note Fig. 2 of ‘824 has the same divider structure as the baffles 310a-310d of Applicants’ Fig. 3B .
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have divided the coolant passages 12 of ‘348 into vertical stages with baffles in between, as taught by ‘824 (the limitation of 1E), for the purpose of controlling the evaporation amount and avoiding degradation of the vapor deposition material, as taught by ‘824 (bottom of [0063]).
Applicants have repeatedly argued that the dividers of ‘824 are not “baffles”. An alternative rejection based on the combination of ‘824 and ‘739. Fig. 3 of ‘739 shows the cooling channel 260 is a spiral channel with a spiral wall, which is a baffle that help control flow rates because it turns the direct flow into a spiral flow, similar to Applicants’ baffles, see [0057]. It would have been obvious to insert a spiral wall in Fig. 3 of ‘739 to each of the cooling chambers 36a to 36c of ‘824 to have at least three baffles each control the flow of coolants of the limitation 1E.
See also US 6021582 cited in the conclusion for spiral cooling channel.
‘348 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 7 and 16: Fig. 1 shows the claimed “further comprising a coolant fluid inlet tube fluidly coupled with the coolant inlet and a coolant fluid outlet tube fluidly coupled with the coolant outlet”.
‘208 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 11: The substrate 50 can be transferred through the processing region 15 from a feed roll 41, over tensioning rolls 51, 52, 53, 54 and to a take-up roll 42 (Fig. 1, [0028], last sentence, includes the claimed “wherein the deposition surface is a surface of a coating drum”).
‘850 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 8 and 17: The type, pressure, temperature, etc. of the cooling gas to be fed to the cooling device 20 are not particularly limited. Air, an inert gas, or the like can be used as the cooling gas. Air can be suitably used from an economic standpoint. Inert gasses such as nitrogen and rare gas can be suitably used to prevent corrosion of pipes, etc. ([0045], includes the claimed “wherein the coolant fluid is selected from argon, nitrogen, or combinations thereof“).
Claims 9 and 18: As shown in FIG. 6, a vacuum apparatus 110 according to a fifth modification further includes a temperature sensor 18 that detects the temperature of the cooling gas that has flowed through the cooling device 20 ([0079], obvious to have chosen thermocouple as the temperature sensor, includes the claimed “further comprising a thermocouple coupled with the cylindrical cooling jacket and positioned to measure at least one of the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing through the cooling gap and the temperature of the crucible”).
Alternatively, claims 1, 5, 7-11, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘348, in view of ‘453, ‘208, ‘739, ‘850, ‘883, and Whelan (US 6564755, hereafter ‘755).
‘348 teaches some limitations of claims 1 and 10 and does not teach the other limitation of claims 1, 5, and 10 as discussed above.
‘453, ‘208, ‘739, ‘850, and ‘883 are analogous arts and their combination with ‘348 teaches the limitations of 1A-1D and 1F-1I as discussed above.
‘348 teaches coolant passages 12 but does not explicitly teach how the coolant passages are divided.
‘755 is solving similar problem of heat exchanger … The heat exchanger includes a sleeve surrounding the flue pipe to define an annular space and form a water jacket in direct contact with the flue pipe (abstract). ‘755 teaches that annular space 46 includes an internal baffle 56. As shown in FIG. 6, baffle 56 extends between the outer surface 42 of pipe 12 and an inner surface 43 of sleeve 44 and extends in a spiral path around annular space 46 between upstream end 50 and downstream end 54 of sleeve 44. As shown in FIG. 6, end plate 52 includes an inlet 58 for supplying water into annular space 46. End plate 50 includes an outlet 60 for discharging water from annular space 60. In this embodiment, baffle 56 is arranged to form a spiral path for the water passing through annular space 46 in the direction of from downstream end 54 to upstream end 50 of sleeve 44 (col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 7), for the purpose of continuing need of an improved heat recovery system (col. 2, lines 17-19, i.e. improving heat exchanging).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have insert spiral baffle 56 into each of the coolant passages 12 of ‘348 (forming a plurality of baffles of the limitation of 1E), for the purpose of improved heat exchanging, as taught by ‘755 (col. 2, lines 17-19).
The rejection of claims 5, 7-9, 11, and 16-18 are discussed above.
Further alternatively, claims 1, 5, 7-11, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘348, in view of ‘453, ‘208, ‘739, ‘850, ‘883 (or ‘755), and Olaru (US 20030155674, hereafter ‘674).
Applicants argue that ‘850’s temperature sensor 18 of ‘850 is not in the gap, see page 10 of argument. It seems Applicants equates “a temperature measurement device to measure the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing within the cooling gap” as “a temperature measurement device located in the gap”, which the examiner disagrees.
‘674 is solving similar problem of Measuring The Temperature (title). ‘674 teaches that thermocouple is located inside said cooling duct (claim 3 of ‘674).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have re-arranged the thermocouple 18 of ‘850 inside the cooling duct, as taught by ‘674. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention only involves routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04 VI C.
The rejection of claims 5, 7-9, 11, and 16-18 are discussed above.
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘348, ‘453, ‘208, ‘739, ‘850, ‘883, and ‘824 (or ‘755) (optionally with ‘674), as being applied to claims 2 and 12 rejection above, further in view of Ramsay (US 6342103, hereafter ‘103).
‘348 teaches a circular copper crucible 4 (col. 4, lines 63-64).
The combination of ‘348, ‘453, ‘208, ‘739, ‘850, ‘883, and ‘824 (or ‘755) (optionally with ‘674) does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 3: the cylindrical cooling jacket comprises aluminum, stainless steel, molybdenum, alloys thereof, or combinations thereof.
‘103 is analogous art in the field of Multiple Pocket Electron Beam Source (title, same as ‘348) including coating metals (col. 1, lines 19-20). ’103 teaches that crucibles with high thermal conductivity, low melting point materials, such as copper or aluminum, that incorporate water cooling; crucibles constructed out of high melting point materials such as graphite, tungsten, or molybdenum (col. 5, lines 26-30).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have replaced the copper crucible of ‘348 with either aluminum or molybdenum, as taught by ‘103, and then combined with ‘824 (or ‘755), for the purpose of high thermal conductivity lower melting point crucible or high melting point materials depending on need, as taught by ‘103 (col. 5, lines 26-30).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicants argue that the thermocouple 18 of Honda ‘850 is not “a temperature measurement device to measure the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing within the cooling gap“, see page 10.
This argument is found not persuasive.
As addressed above, it seems Applicants equates “a temperature measurement device to measure the temperature of the coolant fluid flowing within the cooling gap” as “a temperature measurement device located in the gap”, which the examiner disagrees.
First of all, Applicants drawing in Fig. 2 does not justify this interpretation.
Furthermore, thermocouple, or other temperature measurement device, is measuring the temperature of the cooling in the gap through intervening component, such as the cover of the thermocouple junction. The thermocouple 18 is very close to coolant in the “gap”, is capable of determining the temperature of coolant in the gap.
An analogy is the measurement of body temperature, measurement through tongue, skin, inside the ear, etc., are all considered the body temperature. It is not necessary to insert measurement device into blood vessel as body temperature.
The examiner further provides new reference ‘674 to shows thermocouple located inside the coolant duct, therefore, contacting the coolant directly (except for a typical cover).
The rest of arguments were repeating the previous repeated argument and has already been addressed in previous OCs.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20020089237 is cited for “the thermocouple contacts the coolant” ([0054]).
US 6021582 is cited for a spiral divider for evaporator with nitrogen coolant from top to bottom (Fig. 3, col. 7, lines 32-40).
US 20210134620 is cited for “a flow rate of the cooling gas affects a cooling efficiency” ([0006]). US 8524052 is cited for “heat transfer is sensitive to the coolant gas pressure, both nominal cooling rate and cooling rate uniformity” (col. 2, lines 3-4).
US 20200135434 is cited for cooling gas ([0034]), coolant gap of 2 mm (Figs. 1-5, [0035]).
US 20200270743 is cited for exposed bottom of the crucible (Fig. 2).
US 3828850 is cited for baffles 64 (Fig. 2). US 20080035306 is cited for cooling fluid with clean dry air ([0069]). US 3046936 is cited for coating a substrate 13 on drum 46 (Fig. 1).
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 KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716