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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-5) in the reply filed on 03/02/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 6-13 are hereby withdrawn as being directed to non-elected inventions.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "133" and "131" have both been used to designate the spindle. For reference in Fig. 9 the spindle is indicated by 133 and in Fig. 24 the spindle is indicated by 131. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 4 recites “the notch portion of the wafer has a preset thickness” however, claim 1 already recites “the notch portion has a preset thickness” and thus it is unclear if the preset thickness referenced in claim 4 is a different preset thickness than in claim 1 (for examination purposes it was assumed that they are the same thickness).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ahn et al (US patent no. 11705323, hereinafter “Ahn”).
Regarding claim 1, Ahn discloses a wafer processing method comprising:
preparing a wafer having a notch portion at one side thereof (col. 6 lines 10-15, Figs 7-11 (fig 11 shown below) illustrate a wafer W including a notch N at one side);
aligning the wafer (in the embodiment relevant to this action: Ahn discloses that the center of the vertical control module 35v may be vertically aligned with the center of the wafer W; col 6 lines 2-6 fig 6 shown below); and
processing the notch portion (defined as notch N) using a notch wheel (defined as notch trimmer 20) so that a certain region of the notch portion has a preset thickness (Col. 7 lines 17-20 explain that notch trimmer 20 may perform trimming such that the notch trim NT of the wafer W has a height of 600 μm or less).
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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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn in view of Katayama et al (US patent no. 7189149, hereinafter “Katayama”).
Regarding claim 2, Ahn discloses the limitations of claim 1 as described above. However, Ahn fails to disclose analyzing image information of the notch portion and extracting edge information of the notch portion; and
setting a processing path of the notch wheel using the extracted edge information and previously planned notch processing information,
wherein, in the processing of the notch portion, the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness, by controlling the notch wheel to move the set processing path.
Katayama is also concerned with wafer processing methods and teaches analyzing image information of the notch portion and extracting edge information of the notch portion (Col 9 lines 18-38 Fig 10 (shown below) explain that cameras 72-74 take the images and are subjected to signal processing by image processing unit 76, transmitted to the controller and the chamfering shape dimensions are then arithmetically operated; the edge would also be processed in this way and thus image information of the notch portion would be analyzed and edge information of the notch portion would be extracted by the processing unit 76); and
setting a processing path of the notch wheel using the extracted edge information and previously planned notch processing information (Col 9 lines 33-47 explain that the controller 15 can control the truing correcting operation according to the dimensions of the wafer obtained by the measuring device 70 and so the truer 41 can be controlled according to the data from 70 to set a processing path).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a measuring device and controller to the wafer processing method of Ahn in order to increase the accuracy and efficiency of obtaining the desired dimensions of the wafer (Katayama: col 9 lines 34-47). With Katayama modifying Ahn, the final claim limitation is met: in the processing of the notch portion, the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness, by controlling the notch wheel to move the set processing path (the measuring device and controller of Katayama would enable the notch wheel of Ahn to be controlled such that the notch wheel would move through the set processing path to ensure the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn in view of Katayama further in view of Chang et al (US PGPUB no 2017/0089043, hereinafter “Chang”) and Tomioka et al (US Patent no. 8591389, hereinafter “Tomioka”).
Regarding claim 3, Ahn discloses the limitations of claim 1 as described above. However, Ahn fails to disclose before the processing of the notch portion, identifying whether an existing notch wheel is mounted at one end of a spindle;
when the existing notch wheel is mounted, removing the existing notch wheel by moving the spindle to a preset zone;
identifying whether the existing notch wheel is removed from the one end of the spindle; and
moving the spindle to a cassette unit storing a plurality of new notch wheels and mounting one of the plurality of new notch wheels at the one end of the spindle,
wherein, in the processing of the notch portion, the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness, by moving the spindle on which the new notch wheel is mounted to the notch portion of the wafer.
Chang is also concerned with mounting work tools and teaches identifying whether an existing tool is mounted at one end of a tool holder (implement sensor 212 is configured to generate a signal that indicates the presence of a particular work tool 20 mounted on the stick 34, this information may be provided by RFID device mounted on the tool 20 [0023] Fig 1 shown below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a tool detecting sensor to the spindle of Ahn’s wafer processing method in order to provide the controller of modified Ahn with a way of verifying whether a tool is mounted to the spindle in order to ensure the subsequent tool head swapping steps work properly. With Chang modifying Ahn, the claim limitation is met.
Tomioka is also concerned with tool transfer systems and teaches when the existing notch wheel is mounted, removing the existing notch wheel by moving the spindle to a preset zone (Col 36, lines 62-67 explain that the worn tool (defined as notch wheel) held by 46 (defined as the end of spindle) is unloaded to the tool magazine 12, specifically unloaded in the upper tool pocket row “used tool pockets 192” Figs 1-2 shown below);
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identifying whether the existing notch wheel is removed from the one end of the spindle (Col 40 lines 41-51 explain that holder sensor 250 sends a signal to control device 300 that confirms whether or not the existing tool head is being held by used tool pocket 192); and
moving the spindle to a cassette unit storing a plurality of new notch wheels and mounting one of the plurality of new notch wheels at the one end of the spindle (Col 36-37 lines 62-12 explain that spindle extension 46 loads an unused tool (defined as new notch wheel) from the lower tool pocket row “unused tool pockets 192” (defined as the cassette unit) which is underneath the upper tool pocket row and thus the spindle has to move).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a tool transfer system to the wafer processing method of Ahn as it is well known that abrading tools wear down after frequent use and it be efficient to have a way to replace worn tool heads with unused tool heads (Tomioka: Col 36 lines 62-63 explain that a tool is no longer usable after it becomes worn after being used repeated times). With Tomioka modifying Ahn the final claim limitations are met: the aforementioned steps occurring before: the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness, by moving the spindle on which the new notch wheel is mounted to the notch portion of the wafer (processing the notch portion as described above in claim 1 but with the new notch wheel).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn in view of Katayama, and Tomioka further in view of Mortell et al (US Patent no. 6030276, hereinafter “Mortell”).
Regarding claim 4, Ahn discloses the limitations of claim 1 as described above. However, Ahn fails to disclose before the processing of the notch portion, determining whether to replace an existing notch wheel at one end of a spindle;
when it is determined to replace the existing notch wheel, removing the existing notch wheel from the spindle and mounting a new notch wheel;
measuring a first length from one end of the spindle to an end of the new notch wheel by using a check sensor unit; and
correcting processing position information of the existing notch wheel using the first length,
wherein, in the processing of the notch portion, the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion of the wafer has a preset thickness, by controlling the new notch wheel according to the corrected processing position information.
Mortell is also concerned with tool head measurement and teaches determining whether to replace an existing tool at one end of a spindle (Col 24 line 62- Col 25 line 27 and Figs 7a-7d (shown below) explain that top camera 128 generates images which are used to measure the diameter and length of the tool 16 and that if either measurement is found to be outside of specified tolerances the tool with be rejected from further processing).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a measurement system to communicate with the controller of the modified method of Ahn in order to verify the condition of the tool such that the processing of the wafer falls within expected parameters. With Mortell further modifying the modified method of Ahn, the final claim limitations are met: before the processing of the notch portion, determining whether to replace an existing notch wheel at one end of a spindle (using the measurement method described by Mortell: Col 24 line 62- Col 25 line 27 and Figs 7a-7d as described above but with the notch wheels of Ahn as opposed to the tool 16 of Mortell);
when it is determined to replace the existing notch wheel, removing the existing notch wheel from the spindle (Tomioka: Col 36, lines 62-67 explain that the worn tool (defined as notch wheel) held by 46 (defined as the end of spindle) is unloaded to the tool magazine 12, specifically unloaded in the upper tool pocket row “used tool pockets 192” Figs 1-2 shown above) and mounting a new notch wheel (Tomioka: Col 36-37 lines 62-12 explain that spindle extension 46 loads an unused tool (defined as new notch wheel) from the lower tool pocket row “unused tool pockets 192”);
measuring a first length from one end of the spindle to an end of the new notch wheel by using a check sensor unit (Mortell: Col 24 line 62- Col 25 line 27 and Figs 7a-7d explain that top camera 128 (defined as check sensor unit) generates images which are used to measure the diameter and length of the tool 16 (new notch wheel) and because the tool is mounted on one end of the spindle this length is defined as the first length from the end of the spindle the tool is mounted on to the end of the tool); and
correcting processing position information of the existing notch wheel using the first length (the newly collected length information added to the controller of Katayama would update the processing position information),
wherein, in the processing of the notch portion, the notch portion is processed so that the certain region of the notch portion of the wafer has a preset thickness, by controlling the new notch wheel according to the corrected processing position information (the controller of Katayama as described above would enable the notch wheel of Ahn to be controlled such that the notch wheel would move through the set processing path, with the corrected processing position information provided by the measurement system of Mortell, to ensure the certain region of the notch portion has the preset thickness).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn in view of Ikeue (US PGPUB no. 20220093446, hereinafter “Ikeue”).
Regarding claim 5, Ahn discloses the limitations of claim 1 as described above. However, Ahn fails to disclose supplying cleaning water by a wafer cleaning nozzle and cleaning the wafer,
wherein the wafer cleaning nozzle includes:
a first nozzle tip including a gas inlet and a gas outlet; and
a second nozzle tip including a cleaning water inlet and a cleaning water outlet,
wherein the gas outlet communicates with the cleaning water outlet.
Ikeue is also concerned with substrate processing and teaches supplying cleaning water by a wafer cleaning nozzle (cleaning unit 140 equipped with nozzle 141 supplies a dual-fluid cleaning liquid as a mixture of a liquid and a gas, i.e. a mixture of pure water [0044] Fig 4, 6 shown below),
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wherein the wafer cleaning nozzle includes:
a first nozzle tip including a gas inlet and a gas outlet ([0044]-[0045] explain that nozzle 141 is a dual fluid nozzle configured to supply a dual-fluid cleaning liquid as a mixture of a liquid and a gas, and further explains that the nozzle is connected to a gas supply 144 via supply line 142 and so the gas inlet is at the end of 142 that is connected to 144 and the gas outlet is at the nozzle tip); and
a second nozzle tip including a cleaning water inlet and a cleaning water outlet ([0044]-[0045] explain that nozzle 141 is a dual fluid nozzle configured to supply a dual-fluid cleaning liquid as a mixture of a liquid and a gas, and further explains that the nozzle is connected to a liquid supply 143 (and that the liquid may be water) via supply line 142 and so the cleaning water inlet is at the end of 142 that is connected to 143 and the cleaning water outlet is at the nozzle tip),
wherein the gas outlet communicates with the cleaning water outlet (as seen in Fig 6 above: the gas outlet and the cleaning water outlet communicate as they meet in 142 and when they are discharged by nozzle 141 as a dual-fluid cleaning liquid as a mixture of water and gas).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a cleaning nozzle to the wafer processing method of Ahn in order to clean debris off of the wafer after processing to allow for subsequent processing without the interference of debris. With Ikeue modifying Ahn, the final claim limitation is met: and cleaning the wafer (the wafer would be cleaned by the nozzle discharging a mixture of cleaning water and gas).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Noguchi et al (US Patent no. 6066031) discloses a wafer processing method and apparatus involving processing a notch portion of the wafer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M LARSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN MICHAEL LARSON/ Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/BRIAN D KELLER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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