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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/11/23 and 3/27/23 were filed and the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kesil et al. (US 2004/0102858).
RE claims 1 and 12, Kesil et al. (US 2004/0102858) discloses a wafer or substrate holding hand (see Figs. 1-6) comprising: a blade (see Fig. 6) including a support to support a substrate; a movable pressing unit (34a, 24b, 33 of Fig. 1; 140, 124a, 133, 130 of Figs. 2 & 3) (See Exhibit A) including a pressing member that moves back and forth (see arrow in Figs. 2 and 3) to press the substrate (E); and an inclination adjusting mechanism (36, 38, 26, 28, 31, 33, 28a, 26a, and 32 of Fig. 1; 136, 138, 126, 128, 129, 131, 126a, and 132 of Figs. 2 & 3; 320, 360, 363, 361a, 36qb of Fig. 6) (also See Exhibit A) operable to adjust an inclination of the pressing member.
RE claim 12, Kesil et al. substrate holding hand (US 2004/0102858) also shows a blade including a support (24, 36, and 38 of Fig. 1; 124, 136, 138 of Figs. 2 & 3; 322a, 322b, 324a and 324b of Fig. 6) to support a substrate.
Exhibit A
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RE claims 2 and 3, Figs. 1-3 of Kesil et al. substrate holding hand (US 2004/0102858) teach the inclination adjusting mechanism (36, 38, 26, 28, 31, 33, 28a, 26a, and 32 of Fig. 1; 136, 138, 126, 128, 129, 131, 126a, and 132 of Figs. 2 & 3; 320, 360, 363, 361a, 36qb of Fig. 6) (also See Exhibit A) includes an inclination adjusting pin (29, 31, 32 of Fig. 1; 129, 133, 132 of Figs. 2 & 3) to support the pressing member such that the pressing member is rotatable about the predetermined rotation axis, and is operable to adjust the inclination of the pressing member by rotating the pressing member about the predetermined rotation axis with the inclination adjusting pin as a center of rotation.
RE claims 8 and 10, Figs. 1-3 and 6 of Kesil et al. substrate holding hand (US 2004/0102858) also provide a movable support unit (24, 36, and 38 of Fig. 1; 124, 136, 138 of Figs. 2 & 3; 322a, 322b, 324a and 324b of Fig. 6) that moves back and forth to support the substrate; wherein the support includes a front support on a tip end side of the blade and a rear support on a base end side of the blade; the movable support unit supports the substrate together with the front support; and the movable pressing unit includes a first movable pressing unit to press the substrate supported by the front support and the movable support unit, and a second movable pressing unit to press the substrate supported by the front support and the rear support wherein the support member includes a plurality of support members aligned in a direction perpendicular to a main surface of the blade to support a plurality of the substrates aligned in the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the blade; and among the plurality of support members of the movable support unit, an intermediate support member is replaceable while an end support member in the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the blade is attached.
RE claim 9, Figs. 1-3 of Kesil et al. substrate holding hand (US 2004/0102858) employ the pressing member includes a pair of pressing members (36, 38, 26, 28, 31, 33, 28a, 26a, and 32 of Fig. 1; 136, 138, 126, 128, 129, 131, 126a, and 132 of Figs. 2 & 3; 320, 360, 363, 361a, 36qb of Fig. 6) (also See Exhibit A); and the pair of pressing members are arranged at positions symmetrical with respect to a centerline extending in a direction in which the movable pressing unit moves back and forth, as viewed in a direction perpendicular to a main surface of the blade, and press the substrate at the positions symmetrical with respect to the centerline extending in the direction in which the movable pressing unit moves back and forth.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL T CHIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6922. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00-5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL T CHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654