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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/04/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicants' submission of replacement drawing and amendment to the specification filed on 03/04/2026, is acknowledged. Applicants’ amendment of the claims, filed on 03/04/2026, in response to the rejection of claims 1-2, 4-10 from the non-final office action, mailed on 12/30/2025, by amending claim 1 and canceling claim 2, is acknowledged and will be addressed below.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
(1) The “a bellows that can be compressed” of Claim 1 should be:
“a bellows configured to be compressed”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ukigaya et al. (US 20100173067, hereafter ‘067) in view of Shinriki (US 20090087339, hereafter ‘339).
Regarding to Claim 1, ‘067 teaches:
Film forming apparatus (title), and manufacturing apparatuses for organic EL displays ([0005], note the claimed “A deposition apparatus for an organic light emitting diode”);
a film forming chamber 40 (Fig. 7, [0029], the claimed “the apparatus comprising: a main chamber for depositing a material”);
a material container replacement chamber 50 that is disposed adjacently to the film forming chamber 40 and enables automatic replacement of the material container 10 ([0047], the claimed “an auxiliary chamber connected to the main chamber and into which a deposition material to be deposited is loaded”);
A heating unit for preheating the material container 10 in a standby state is provided in the material container holder 51 for a standby state ([0100], the claimed “a heater configured for heating the deposition material loaded into the auxiliary chamber);
a plurality of material containers 10 are disposed inside the film forming chamber 40 ([0062]), and In order to replace the material container 10 in the film forming chamber 40 and material container replacement chamber 50, an automatic robot (not shown in the figure) is disposed that conveyers the material container in a standby state to a predetermined position ([0051], note Fig. 7 shows plural connections to receive the plural material containers, thus each connection is a cell, the claimed “wherein the auxiliary chamber includes a load unit configured to load the deposition material into a cell of the main chamber”).
‘067 teaches A heating unit for preheating the material container 10 in a standby state is provided in the material container holder 51 for a standby state ([0100], note Fig. 7 shows the holder 51 having the heating unit is connected to the chamber 50, the claimed “connecting the auxiliary chamber and the heater”).
‘067 does not explicitly teach the other limitations (BOLD and ITALIC letter) of:
Claim 1: (1A) and a bellows that can be compressed and decompressed connecting the auxiliary chamber and the heater,
(1B) and wherein heat generated from the heater is transferred to the auxiliary chamber through the bellow.
In regards to the limitation of 1A,
‘339 is analogous art in the field of deposition apparatus (abstract). ‘339 teaches substrate heating base up/down bellows 14, and the substrate heating base rises and moves to a specified position (Fig. 3, [0158], note Fig. 3 clearly shows the bellows 14 connecting a bottom of the chamber 1 and a heater 2. Further, an intended function of the bellows is compressing and decompressing).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted a bellows, as the connecting portion of the holder, for the purpose of providing vertically movement of the holder, and/or further for its suitability as known connection method with predictable result. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness, see MPEP 2144.07.
In regards to the limitation of 1B,
As discussed in the limitation of 1A above, the holder 51 having the heating unit is connected to the chamber 50 through the imported bellows. Therefore, a thermal energy, which is heat, generated from the heating unit is inherently transferred to the chamber through the bellows, because of the heat conduction property, which is natural phenomenon.
Regarding to Claim 4,
‘067 further teaches A gate valve 52 located between the film forming chamber 40 and material container replacement chamber 50 is then opened, the material container 10 that has been used is withdrawn downward from the material container heating unit 11 and carried by an automatic robot into the material container replacement chamber 50 ([0051], the claimed “wherein the load unit further includes a gate valve controlling movement of the deposition material”).
Regarding to Claim 5,
‘067 teaches In such a replacement operation period the material container replacement chamber 50 was controlled to have the degree of vacuum about equal that of the film forming chamber 40 ([0115], note the vacuum is controlled by a vacuum unit, thus the vacuum container intrinsically requires a vacuum unit creating the vacuum inside the chamber, the claimed “further comprising a vacuum unit for creating a vacuum state inside the auxiliary chamber”).
Regarding to Claim 6,
Fig. 7 of ‘067 shows the material container replacement chamber 50 is under the film forming chamber 40 (the claimed “wherein the auxiliary chamber is placed under the main chamber”).
Regarding to Claim 7,
Based on Fig. 7 of ‘067, it is considered that, the material container 10 is loaded/unloaded into/from the material container replacement chamber 50 from a side of the chamber 50, thus the “loading/unloading” through the chamber 50 intrinsically requires an opening/closing unit disposed on a side of the chamber 50, such as a door on the chamber (the claimed “wherein the auxiliary chamber includes an opening/closing unit on one side for loading and unloading the deposition material”).
Regarding to Claim 8,
‘067 is silent about the “wherein the opening/closing unit further includes a compressor for maintaining an atmosphere inside the auxiliary chamber”.
However, ‘067 clearly teaches the material container replacement chamber 50 is maintained under vacuum or reduced pressure ([0050]).
Herein, the examiner considers use of sealing mechanism, such as “O-ring” between detachable parts of the chamber is commonly well-known in the art, for the purpose of maintaining vacuum status in the chamber by sealing the detachable parts, for instance, see also [0036-0037] of ‘067 disclosing “the sealing mechanism prevents the material from leaking between the material container 10 and the transport pipe 14 inside the material container chamber 41 that has a reduced-pressure atmosphere. For example, a linked structure in which the material container and the transport pipe are integrated using a mechanical clamp, or a linked structure in which an O-ring is inserted between the material container and the transport pipe and the two are sealed by tightening the screws so as to crush the O-ring can be used. Further, a structure can be also used in which the transport pipe and material container are integrated by pushing up the lower surface of a crucible. In addition, generally known seal structures and sealing materials can be used”.
Consequently, even if ‘067 is silent about the feature of “compressor”,
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used the compressor, such as O-ring, for the opening/closing unit of ‘067, for the purpose of preventing leaking from the material container replacement chamber 50, thus maintaining vacuum inside the chamber.
Regarding to Claim 9,
‘067 teaches a gate valve 52 located between the film forming chamber 40 and material container replacement chamber 50 ([0051], note in order to install or remove the gate valve therebetween, for the purpose of maintenance, it is obvious that the material container replacement chamber should be detached from the film forming chamber, thus the replacement chamber is movable. Further as discussed in the claim 2 rejection above, the heating unit in the holder is movable by the bellows (the claimed “wherein the auxiliary chamber and the heater are movable”).
Regarding to Claim 10,
As discussed in the claim 1 rejection above, the bellows is imported into the combined apparatus, and the holder is vertically moved by compressing and decompressing the bellows. Therefore, a power source providing the moving force for the bellows is intrinsically provided. Herein, use of the motor for providing moving force is commonly well-known feature, for instance, see lines 56-57 of col. 7 of US 5356673 disclosing “Translation is accomplished by means of a bellows 100 actuated by the motor 94”.
Consequently, a motor is obviously required to the imported bellow (the claimed “further comprising a motor compressing and decompressing the bellows”).
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments filed on 03/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new ground of rejection above.
The examiner does not agree with the applicants’ argument that the previously cited references do not teach the feature of the amended claim 1, but for the purpose of clarification and compact prosecution, the examiner replaces them with different references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIDEN Y LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1440. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9am-5pm PT.
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/AIDEN LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718