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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 01/30/2026, with respect to the 35 USC § 103 rejections over Watanabe in view of Yeon have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Watanabe (JP2010016285A) in view of Philipossian (US4992044A).
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) 11-15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (JP2010016285A), referring to the English translation dated 06/07/2024, in view of Philipossian (US4992044A).
Regarding claim 11, Watanabe teaches
a high pressure heat treatment apparatus (heat treatment apparatus 1A), the apparatus comprising:
an internal chamber accommodating an object to be heat-treated (processing vessel 2 comprising workpiece W) [0032];
an external chamber (outer vessel 8) accommodating the internal chamber (processing vessel 2);
a gas supply module including a process gas line (system beneath the outside of outer container 8 as shown on fig. 1, comprising outer container gas cylinder 17 and processing container gas cylinder 21) for supplying a process gas for the heat treatment to the internal chamber (gas pipe 22, flow path shown on fig. 1) at a first pressure higher than that of the atmosphere (“The temperature and pressure for the heat treatment are, for example, 600 ° C. to 1200 ° C. and 1 atmosphere to 50 atmospheres”) [0037] and a protective gas line for supplying a protective gas to the external chamber (gas pipe 18, flow path shown on fig. 1) at a second pressure set in relation to the first pressure (“the container gas is supplied into the outer container 8, and the inside of the outer container 8 is pressurized to substantially the same pressure as in the processing container 2”) [0037]; and
a purge module (outer container gas introduction nozzle 11) configured to purge the protective gas by injecting a purge gas into the external chamber (as shown on fig. 1, when heater lid 5 is in an open state, the nozzles 11 purge gas from the interior side of heater 3 to the exterior side of heater 3)
Watanabe does not teach
wherein the purge module includes a ring body surrounding the internal chamber, and a discharge channel aligned in the ring body in a radial direction straight toward a center line of the internal chamber such that the input purge gas is discharged straight toward a center line of the internal chamber
Philipossian teaches
wherein the purge module includes a ring body (symmetrical manifold collar 30, fig. 2 and 6) surrounding the internal chamber (tubular cantilever 16, fig. 2), and
a discharge channel aligned in the ring body in a radial direction straight toward a center line of the internal chamber such that the input purge gas is discharged straight toward the center line of the internal chamber (inner chamber 33 and openings 35, fig. 6)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the collar 30 of Philipossian to replace the nozzles 11 of Watanabe, in order to provide numerous purge gas outlets (as shown on fig. 6 of Philipossian), in order to uniformly distribute the purge gas around the processing container 2 of Watanabe.
Regarding claim 12, Watanabe, as modified, teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
wherein the discharge channel includes a loop line extending in a circumferential direction of the ring body (inner chamber 33, fig. 6 of Philipossian), and a plurality of branch lines connected to the loop line and arranged to face the internal chamber (openings 35, fig. 6 of Philipossian)
Regarding claim 13, Watanabe, as modified, teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
further comprising a heating module disposed in the external chamber and configured to heat the process gas and the protective gas (heater 3), wherein the discharge channel discharges the purge gas into a space between the internal chamber and the heating module (as shown on fig. 1 of Watanabe, as modified by collar 30 of figs. 1-2 and 6 of Philipossian)
Regarding claim 14, Watanabe, as modified, teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
wherein the gas supply module further includes a purge gas line connected to the protective gas line and supplying the purge gas to the discharge channel (as shown on fig. 1, gas pipe 18 branches into two separate lines. Therefore, the branch on the right side of fig. 1 can be interpreted as the protective gas line and the branch on the left side of fig. 1 as the purge gas line)
Regarding claim 15, Watanabe, as modified, teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
further comprising a gas exhaust module configured to exhaust the process gas and the protective gas from the internal chamber (low rate adjusting valve 28 and exhaust line 27) and the external chamber (flow rate adjustment valve 26 and exhaust line 25), wherein the gas exhaust module exhausts the protective gas to maintain the second pressure when the purge gas is injected (“In parallel with the introduction of the outer container gas 12, the gas in the outer container 8 is discharged from the exhaust line 25 to keep the pressure in the outer container 8 constant”) [0038]
Regarding claim 20, Watanabe, as modified, teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
wherein the external chamber includes a housing having an inner space (housing of outer container 8 comprising an inner space shown on fig. 1), and a partition plate (heater 3 comprising top plate shaped horizontal section) partitioning the inner space into a high-temperature zone (area within heater 3 comprising processing vessel 2) and a low-temperature zone (area outside heater 3 within wall surface cooling mechanism 10), wherein the high-temperature zone accommodates the internal chamber (area within heater 3 comprising processing vessel 2) and the low-temperature zone has a lower temperature than the high-temperature zone (area outside heater 3 within wall surface cooling mechanism 10), the partition plate includes a discharge hole opened to allow the high-temperature zone and the low-temperature zone to communicate with each other (upper opening 3a)
Watanabe, as modified, discloses the claimed invention except for “the discharge hole is offset from a center line of the internal chamber”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to arrange the upper opening 3a of Watanabe as claimed, since it has been held that the rearrangement of parts is an obvious matter of design choice when no criticality of the arrangement is provided (see pages 23-24 of applicant’s specification). In the instant case, the location of the upper opening 3a would effectively perform the same function of the heat treatment apparatus, as an upper opening 3a that is offset from the center line of the internal chamber will still allow gas circulation around heater 3 from the high temperature zones to the low temperature zones. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950); wherein the claims to a hydraulic power press which read on the prior art except with regard to the position of the starting switch were held unpatentable because shifting the position of the starting switch would not have modified the operation of the device. Therefore, the claim is given no distinguishable patentability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 and 16-19 are allowed. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Regarding claim 5, the subject matter not found includes “wherein the high-temperature zone is located under the height at which the partition plate is positioned and accommodates the internal chamber and the low-temperature zone is located over the height and has a lower temperature than the high-temperature zone”, in combination with the other elements of the claim. The closest art of record is Watanabe in view of Nakai and Nakao as applied in the previous action, however a modification to include the amended claim language would have been non-obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. No other prior art was found to disclose the claim in its entirety.
Claims 2-10 and 16-19 are allowable based on their dependence on claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art of record not relied upon includes:
Yeon (KR20200109672A), relied upon in previous office actions, which teaches a similar ring body to that claimed
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRETT P. MALLON whose telephone number is (571)272-4749. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 8am to 5pm.
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/BRETT P. MALLON/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /MICHAEL G HOANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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