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 .
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(s) 1-15 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawahara (US6511620B1) in view of Morita (US2007/0216021A1).
Kawahara discloses the claimed invention as follows (refer to Figs. 7-15 as one embodiment and 16-23 as another embodiment; limitations not disclosed by Kawahara are crossed out, below):
Claim 1. A molding apparatus for a semiconductor package, comprising:
a lower mold (104, Fig. 7A; 204, Fig. 16) comprising:
a seating surface (Fig. 7A: upper surface of lower mold 104; Fig. 16: 204a and 204b) on which at least one substrate (152 in Fig. 7A; 258 in Fig. 16) is configured to be seated;
at least one substrate suction groove (127 in Fig. 9AB corresponding to horizontal portion of 127 in Fig. 9B; 252 in Fig. 16) extending in at least one direction in the seating surface of the lower mold;
first vacuum holes (left and right 124 in Fig. 9A and 9B; left and right 250 in Fig. 16) extending through the lower mold such as to be in communication with the at least one substrate suction groove and in which at least a partial vacuum is configured to be formed; and
second vacuum holes (Fig. 9B: upper and lower 124; Fig. 16: not shown holes 250 corresponding to the upper and lower holes 124 of Fig. 9B) extending through the lower mold such as to be opened through the seating surface and in which at least a partial vacuum is configured to be formed;
an upper mold (102, Fig. 7A; 202 in Fig. 16) positioned above the lower mold and configured to be clamped with the lower mold to form a molding space (158 in Fig. 12; 264 in Fig. 22) configured to mold at least one semiconductor chip on the at least one substrate, wherein the first vacuum holes and the second vacuum holes are configured to vertically overlap with the molding space; and
the release film having through holes therein, wherein the through holes of the release film disposed on the seating surface are configured to be in communication with the at least one substrate suction groove, 1
wherein the release film is configured to be adhered on the seating surface by suctioning air from the second vacuum holes (see col. 9, lns. 30-38; see col. 13, lns. 11-33), and
wherein the at least one substrate is configured to be adhered on the release film by suctioning air from the first vacuum holes through the through holes of the release film (see col. 9, lns. 39-48; see col. 13, lns. 43-53).
Claim 2. The molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lower mold further comprises:
at least one film suction groove (Fig. 9B: vertical portion of 127 extending between upper and lower hold 124; Fig. 16: not shown portion of 252 corresponding to the vertical portion of 127 in Fig. 9B) extending in at least one direction in the seating surface of the lower mold, the at least one film suction groove being in communication with at least one of the second vacuum holes, and
wherein the at least one film suction groove is configured to vertically overlap with the molding space.
Claim 3. The molding apparatus of claim 2, wherein a length of the at least one substrate suction groove is greater than a length of the at least one film suction groove. In the left-to-right direction of Fig. 7A, substrate suction groove 127 (refer to Fig. 9B) is longer than grooves 134a-134d and 121 in the same direction. In the left-to-right direction of Fig. 16, substrate groove 252 is longer than grooves 244a-244d, 238.
Claim 4. The molding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one film suction groove (121 of Fig. 7A; 238 of Fig. 16) is located more inward than the at least one substrate suction groove with respect to the seating surface of the lower mold.
Claim 5. The molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one substrate suction groove extends in a first direction, and the through holes are spaced apart from each other in the first direction (see footnote 1).
Claim 6. The molding apparatus of claim 5,
Claim 7. The molding apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
Claim 8. The molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one substrate comprises at least one sealing material passage hole that extends in one or more directions and penetrates through the at least one substrate2, and wherein the lower mold further comprises at least one sealing material accommodating line (122, Fig. 7A) that extends in the seating surface to correspond to the at least one sealing material passage hole (see footnote 2).
Claim 9. The molding apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a first vacuum pump (vacuum sources; see col. 8, lns. 13-17; see col. 12, lns. 40-50) configured to form the at least the partial vacuum in the first vacuum holes; and a second vacuum pump (vacuum sources; see col. 8, lns. 18-35; see col. 12, lns. 50-57) configured to form the at least the partial vacuum in the second vacuum holes.
Claim 10. The molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein a spacing distance between the first vacuum holes is smaller than a spacing distance between the through holes (see footnote 1).
Claim 11. A molding apparatus for a semiconductor package, comprising:
a first mold (104, Fig. 7A; 204, Fig. 16) comprising a seating surface (upper surface of 104 in Fig. 7A; upper surface of 204 in Fig. 16) on which at least one substrate is configured to be seated;
a second mold (102 in Fig. 7A; 202 in Fig. 16) facing the first mold and configured to be clamped with the first mold to form a molding space (158 in Fig. 12; 264 in Fig. 22) configured to mold at least one semiconductor chip on the at least one substrate;
the release film having through holes that are spaced apart in the first direction (see footnote 1);
a first adhesion support mechanism comprising:
at least one first air suction line (127 in Fig. 9AB corresponding to horizontal portion of 127 in Fig. 9B; 252 in Fig. 16) extending in the first direction in the seating surface of the first mold;
first vacuum holes (left and right 124 in Fig. 9A and 9B; left and right 250 in Fig. 16) extending through the first mold such as to be in communication with the at least one first air suction line, wherein the first vacuum holes are configured to vertically overlap with the molding space; and
a vacuum pump (vacuum sources; see col. 8, lns. 13-17; see col. 12, lns. 40-50) configured to form at least a partial vacuum in the first vacuum holes, wherein the first adhesion support mechanism is configured to adhere the at least one substrate on the release film by suctioning air from the first vacuum holes through the through holes that are in communication with the at least one first air suction line (see col. 9, lns. 39-48; see col. 13, lns. 43-53); and
a second adhesion support mechanism comprising:
second vacuum holes (Fig. 9B: upper and lower 124; Fig. 16: not shown holes 250 corresponding to the upper and lower holes 124 of Fig. 9B) extending through the first mold such as to be opened through the seating surface of the first mold, wherein the second vacuum holes are configured to vertically overlap with the molding space; and
a second vacuum pump (vacuum sources; see col. 8, lns. 18-35; see col. 12, lns. 40-50) configured to form at least a partial vacuum in the second vacuum holes, wherein the second adhesion support mechanism is configured to adhere the release film on the seating surface (see Fig. 9A; the same effect is obtained by the second vacuum holes).
Claim 12. The molding apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second adhesion support mechanism further comprises at least one second air suction line (Fig. 9B: vertical portion of 127 extending between upper and lower hold 124; Fig. 16: not shown portion of 252 corresponding to the vertical portion of 127 in Fig. 9B) extending in the seating surface of the first mold, the at least one second air suction line being in communication with at least one of the second vacuum holes, and
wherein the at least one second air suction line is configured to vertically overlap with the molding space.
Claim 13. The molding apparatus of claim 11,
Claim 14. The molding apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:
Claim 15. The molding apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one substrate comprises at least one sealing material passage hole that extends in at least one direction and penetrates through the at least one substrate (see footnote 2), and wherein the first mold further comprises at least one sealing material accommodating line (122, Fig. 7A) that extends in the seating surface to correspond to the at least one sealing material passage hole.
Claim 21. The molding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one substrate suction groove linearly extends in a first horizontal direction (left to right portion of 127 in Fig. 9B; corresponding structure in Fig. 16), and wherein the at least one film suction groove linearly extends in a second horizontal direction (top to bottom in Fig. 9B; corresponding structure in Fig. 16) intersecting the first horizontal direction.
Kawahara discloses the claimed apparatus, except for the claimed release film supply. However, such mechanisms are conventional in the art. Morita discloses an apparatus similar to that of Kawahara, wherein upper and lower release films 40a, 40b are supplied by means of release film supply comprising a feeding roller 42a, 42b and winding roller 44a, 44b. See Fig. 1. Kawahara does not specify how the release films are provided. In view of the teachings of Morita, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify the apparatus of Kawahara to include upper and lower release film supply as taught by Morita, in order to provide a simple way to provide new release film with each molding batch.
Regarding the claimed pumps, Kawahara specifically mentions plural, independently-controllable vacuum sources (see cited sections above). If Applicant disagrees separate pumps are provided, as claimed, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have, nevertheless, found such limitations obvious, as providing multiple pumps to implement the independently-controllable functionality mentioned by Kawahara would have required merely routine knowledge in the art, and would have had predictable effects.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Although the same references are applied, the interpretation of the references is different.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 22-25 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
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 LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
1 The language in italics defines structural features of the release film, but does not further limit the structure of the apparatus; the apparatus is capable of use with such a release film
2 The language in italics defines structural features of the substrate, but does not further limit the structure of the apparatus; the apparatus is capable of use with such a substrate.
Prosecution Insights