DETAILED ACTION
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 is a response to the amendment filed on 4/30/2026.
Claim Objections
Claim1-3 and 5-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Re. claim 1: The phrase “on a front surface of the substrate;” as recited in line 5-6 appears to be --on a front surface of the substrate; and--.
The phrase “to move the substrate by rotating; and” as recited in line 8 and 6 appears to be --to move the substrate by rotating,--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajiyama et al. (US PAT. 6,311,908) in view of Genji et al. (JP-2008043936 A).
Kajiyama et al. teach an apparatus for detaching substrate components, which detaches electronic components mounted on a substrate, wherein the apparatus (1, Fig. 1) for detaching substrate components (M, Fig. 1) comprising: a screw blade roller with a screw blade (25, Fig. 3) attached to a rotary shaft (33, Fig. 3), the screw blade roller being placed on a front surface of the substrate, wherein the screw blade roller comes into contact with the electronic components mounted on the substrate (W) and detaches the electronic components while the screw blade roller rotates (col. 6, lines 5-19 and col. 6, line 64 to col. 7, line 47).
However, Kajiyama et al. silent a feed roller placed on a back surface of the substrate, the feed roller being configured to support the back surface and to move the substrate by rotating. Genji et al. teach an apparatus to remove cover part including a feed roller (18, Fig. 1, paragraph [0015] or 2, Fig. 4, paragraph [0012]) placed on a back surface of a substrate (14), wherein the feed roller is configured to support a back surface and to move the substrate by rotating. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify an apparatus for detaching substrate components of Kajiyama et al. by a feed roller placed on a back surface of the substrate, the feed roller being configured to support the back surface and to move the substrate by rotating as taught by Genji et al. in order to supply the substrate to a next station to process. Since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable rangers involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04 (il-A).
Re. claim 2: Kajiyama et al. also teach that two or more screw blades are arranged as shown in Fig. 3.
Re. claim 3: Kajiyama et al. also teach that the winding direction of the screw blade in one side of the screw blade roller is opposite to the winding direction of the screw blade in the other side of the screw blade roller as shown in Fig. 3 (see also col. 2, lines 39-45).
Re. claim 5: Genji et al. also teach that a plurality of screw blade rollers placed in multiple stages(5, 6) as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the substrate enters the system at a front stage (5) and then advances to the subsequent stage (see also Fig. 5, paragraph [0021]).
Re. claim 6: Kajiyama et al. also teach that the winding direction of the screw blade of the screw blade roller in an odd numbered stage is opposite to the winding direction of the screw blade of the screw blade roller in an even numbered stage as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.
Re. claim 7: Genji et al. also teach that the plurality of screw blade rollers are placed in the multiple stages, wherein a gap between the screw blade roller and the feed roller in the front stage is larger than a gap in the subsequent stage as shown in Fig. 1.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajiyama et al. in view of Genji et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Knofe et al. (PGPub 2017/0164465 A1).
Kajiyama et al., modified by Genji et al., teach all limitations as set forth above, but silent a substrate heating apparatus. Knofe et al. teach a process of electronic component including a substrate heating apparatus for melting a connecting material (such as a solder) in order to remove at least one component from the substrate (col. 2, lines 3-14). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify an apparatus for detaching substrate components of Kajiyama et al., modified by Genji et al., by a substrate heating apparatus as taught by Knofe et al. in order to assist removing at least one component from the substrate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9 and 11-19 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 and 5-19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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