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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment and/or arguments submitted on 08/24/2026 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-20 are pending:
Claims 2-11 are withdrawn
Claims 18-20 are new
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to 35 USC 112a rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 112a rejections of record has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to “Distinctions from Wang” have been fully considered.
Applicant asserts, page 2, that Wang fails to disclose silent to exhausting the out flow air at multiple vertical/axial locations along the furnace body to the outside.
The office agrees, the rejections of record are withdrawn. Please see below for new grounds of rejections.
Claim Interpretation - Language
Language and/or terms in the claims are interpreted as follows:
“temperature controlling space” is being read as a naming convention to label the instant “space”, as the space itself does not control temperature, but rather the space provide the location in which temperature is controlled via the gas supply/exhaust structure surrounding the space
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 12-15, 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN 112 013 674) in view of Kato (US 6,403,927).
Claim 1
Wang discloses:
“A processing apparatus (vertical furnace device of Fig1-3) comprising:
a processing chamber (furnace tube 12) including an inner cylinder (Fig1, inner tube containing wafer 16 within outer tube 12) configured to accommodate a substrate (wafer 16 within tube 12), and an outer cylinder (outer tube 12) covering an outer side of the inner cylinder (Fig1, outer tube 12/121 covers inner tube 122 that is within outer tube 12/121);
a furnace body (block 23/32, surrounding shell 11) covering a periphery of the processing chamber (Fig1, block 23/32 shell 11 surround tube 12) and configured to heat the substrate accommodated inside the processing chamber (functional language. SpecQuote11), the furnace body including a cylindrical housing (Fig1-3, cylindrical shell 11 is a part of the housing) integrally having a heat insulating part with a cylindrical shape (shell 11) and a ceiling (Fig1, top ceiling of furnace body covering the processing chamber of outer tube 12) and covering an entirety of the processing chamber (Fig1, furnace body covering the processing chamber of outer tube 12), and a reinforcing part (block 32) configured to reinforce the heat insulating part at an outer peripheral side of the heat insulating part (Fig1, block 32 radially reinforces shell 11 structurally);
a gas supply unit (air inlet structure 2) including a plurality of supply flow paths (Fig1/3, see flow arrows) provided in the reinforcing part (Fig1/3, see flow arrows that intersect block 32 inlet paths) along an axial direction of the furnace body (Fig1, see flow arrows on inlet side in vertical direction) and a plurality of supply holes provided in the heat insulating part along the axial direction (Fig1-3, see flow arrows on inlet side of shell 11 in vertical direction) and configured to supply a cooling gas (Abstract; best seen Fig1/3, see flow arrows, inlet holes 13) to a temperature controlling space between the processing chamber and the furnace body (Fig1-3, see flow arrows between gas inlet system 2 and outlet system 3 that flows outside of outer tube 12 and inside the furnace outer body); and
a gas exhaust unit (exhaust structure 3), wherein:
the reinforcing part (block 32) includes a plurality of exhaust flow paths penetrating the reinforcing part (Fig1/3, block 32 has exhaust flow paths with exhaust cavity 34, see flow arrows) and arranged side by side along the axial direction (Fig1-3, see flow arrows on outlet side of shell 11 in vertical direction),
the gas exhaust unit (exhaust structure 3) includes a plurality of exhaust holes (outlet holes 14) penetrating the heat insulating part that forms a sidewall of the housing (Fig1-3, see flow arrows on outlet side of shell 11 in vertical direction) and provided in a matrix arrangement (Fig1-3, plurality of outlet holes 14 are provided in both vertical/axial direction and circumferential direction) including first exhaust holes of the plurality of exhaust holes arranged along a circumferential direction of the heat insulating part and second exhaust holes of the plurality of exhaust holes arranged side by side along the axial direction (Fig1-3, plurality of outlet holes 14 are provided in both second vertical/axial direction and first circumferential direction), such that the second exhaust holes arranged side by side along the axial direction are disposed at axial positions identical to those of the plurality of exhaust flow paths arranged side by side along the axial direction (best seen Fig1, first axial/vertical locations of inlet/outlet holes are the same), and the first exhaust holes arranged along the circumferential direction at one axial position communicate with one exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths at the one axial position (best seen Fig3, see flow arrows – air flows from inlets to outlets for a given vertical height),
the gas exhaust unit (exhaust system 3) is configured to exhaust the gas in the temperature controlling space (Fig3, flow arrows) via the plurality of exhaust holes (exhaust holes 14) and the plurality of exhaust flow paths (Fig1-3, see flow arrows) to an outside of the reinforcing part (Fig1, exhaust leaves block 32 via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8), and
… exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths (Fig1-3, each flow path through outlet holes 14) penetrates through the reinforcing part (Fig1-3, exhaust cavity 34 in block 32) to open at an outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing part to exhaust the gas to an outside of the furnace body (Fig1, exhaust leaves block 32 via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8).”
The above noted limitations are considered functional language, and as the structure disclosed in the reference anticipates the claimed structure, the structure disclosed is capable of performing the recited function, see MPEP 2114.I,II. However, the functional language is disclosed as noted above.
SpecQuote11: “When performing the heat treatment process, the wafer bearing wafer of the wafer 16 into the furnace tube 12, heating wire 15 generates heat to the furnace tube 12 in the wafer performing heat treatment process.”
Wang is silent to exhausting the out flow air at multiple vertical/axial locations along the furnace body.
Kato teaches (Fig1/3) that it is known in the art alternatives for a vertical furnace to either have a single outlet through the furnace body to a blower (as shown in Fig1) or to have a plurality of furnace body outlets arranged vertically/axially to then flow to a blower (as shown in Fig3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arrangement of Wang to substitute the single furnace body outer outlet to a blower to have a plurality of vertically arranged furnace body outer outlets as taught by Kato, as Kato teaches that such a modification is merely a simple substitution of one known in the art outlet exhaust flow path arrangement for another, and the resulting arrangement has the reasonable expectation of successfully providing the arrangement of Wang with a working and known in the art alternative exhaust flow path through the furnace body as taught by Kato where instead of the exhaust downstream of outlets 31 traveling within the furnace body – the outlets 31 themselves exit the furnace body and then travel to the singular blower 8 as already disclosed.
Claim 14
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths, in a planar cross sectional view, has an arcuate shape extending along the circumferential direction inside the cylindrical reinforcing part (Wang: best seen Fig3, see flow arrows – flow path is curved in planar cross view along circumferential direction within shell 11).”
Claim 15
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein an arc length of the arcuate shape of each exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths is shorter than one-half a circumference of the reinforcing part (Wang: see annotated Fig3, arcuate flow path shown by arrowed line, exhaust flow path on either left/right side travels less than a full half of the circumference due to the width of cavities 34/23).”
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Claim 17
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner cylinder (inner tube 122) of the processing chamber is configured to accommodate multiple substrates simultaneously (Wang: Fig1, multiple wafers 16 shown within inner tube 122).”
Claim 12
Wang discloses:
“A temperature control method (furnace arrangement best seen Fig1-3) comprising:
heating (SpecQuote 121) a substrate (wafer 16 within furnace tube 12) accommodated inside an inner cylinder (inner tube 122) of a processing chamber (processing chamber within outer tube 12/121) having an outer cylinder (outer tube 12) covering an outer side of the inner cylinder (outer tube 12 covers inner tube 122), by a furnace body (Fig1, block 23/32, surrounding shell 11) that covers a periphery of the processing chamber (Fig1, outer body of furnace covers outer tube 12) and includes a cylindrical housing (Fig1-3, cylindrical shell 11 is a part of the housing) integrally having a heat insulating part with a cylindrical shape (shell 11) and a ceiling (Fig1, top ceiling of furnace body covering the processing chamber of outer tube 12) and covering an entirety of the processing chamber (Fig1, furnace body covering the processing chamber of outer tube 12), and a reinforcing part (block 32) configured to reinforce the heat insulating part at an outer peripheral side of the heat insulating part (Fig1, block 32 radially reinforces shell 11 structurally) and including a plurality of exhaust flow paths penetrating the reinforcing part (Fig1/3, block 32 has exhaust flow paths with exhaust cavity 34, see flow arrows) and arranged side by side along an axial direction of the furnace body (Fig1-3, see flow arrows on outlet side of shell 11 in vertical direction);
supplying a cooling gas (Abstract; best seen Fig1/3, see flow arrows, air inlet structure 2) to a temperature controlling space between the processing chamber and the furnace body (best seen Fig3, space between shell 11 and tube 12) by a gas supply unit (air inlet structure 2) including a plurality of supply flow paths (Fig1/3, see flow arrows) provided in the reinforcing part (Fig1/3, see flow arrows that intersect block 32 inlet paths) along the axial direction (Fig1, see flow arrows on inlet side in vertical direction) and a plurality of supply holes provided in the heat insulating part along the axial direction (Fig1-3, see flow arrows on inlet side of shell 11 in vertical direction); and
exhausting (exhaust structure 3, flow arrows) the gas from the temperature controlling space to an outside of the reinforcing part by a gas exhaust unit (Fig1/3, flow arrows from space between outer tube 12 and shell 11 to outside the system via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8) including a plurality of exhaust holes (outlet holes 14) penetrating the heat insulating part that forms a sidewall of the housing (holes 14 in shell 11, see Fig1-3) and provided in a matrix arrangement (Fig1-3, plurality of outlet holes 14 are provided in both vertical/axial direction and circumferential direction) including first exhaust holes of the plurality of exhaust holes arranged along a circumferential direction of the heat insulating part and second exhaust holes of the plurality of exhaust holes arranged side by side along the axial direction (Fig1-3, plurality of outlet holes 14 are provided in both second vertical/axial direction and first circumferential direction), such that the second exhaust holes arranged side by side along the axial direction are disposed at axial positions identical to those of the plurality of exhaust flow paths arranged side by side along the axial direction (best seen Fig1, first axial/vertical locations of inlet/outlet holes are the same), and the first exhaust holes arranged along the circumferential direction at one axial position communicate with one exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths at the one axial position (best seen Fig3, see flow arrows – air flows from inlets to outlets for a given vertical height),
wherein the exhausting the gas exhausts the gas in the temperature controlling space by the gas exhaust unit to the outside of the reinforcing part via the plurality of exhaust holes and the plurality of exhaust flow paths (Fig1/3, flow arrows from space between outer tube 12 and shell 11 to outside the system via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8), and … exhaust flow path of the plurality of exhaust flow paths (Fig1-3, each flow path through outlet holes 14) penetrates through the reinforcing part (Fig1-3, exhaust cavity 34 in block 32) to open at an outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing part to exhaust the gas to an outside of the furnace body (Fig1, exhaust leaves block 32 via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8).”
The above noted limitations are considered functional language, and as the structure disclosed in the reference anticipates the claimed structure, the structure disclosed is capable of performing the recited function, see MPEP 2114.I,II. However, the functional language is disclosed as noted above.
SpecQuote121: “When performing the heat treatment process, the wafer bearing wafer of the wafer 16 into the furnace tube 12, heating wire 15 generates heat to the furnace tube 12 in the wafer performing heat treatment process.”
Wang is silent to exhausting the out flow air at multiple vertical/axial locations along the furnace body.
Kato teaches (Fig1/3) that it is known in the art alternatives for a vertical furnace to either have a single outlet through the furnace body to a blower (as shown in Fig1) or to have a plurality of furnace body outlets arranged vertically/axially to then flow to a blower (as shown in Fig3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arrangement of Wang to substitute the single furnace body outer outlet to a blower to have a plurality of vertically arranged furnace body outer outlets as taught by Kato, as Kato teaches that such a modification is merely a simple substitution of one known in the art outlet exhaust flow path arrangement for another, and the resulting arrangement has the reasonable expectation of successfully providing the arrangement of Wang with a working and known in the art alternative exhaust flow path through the furnace body as taught by Kato where instead of the exhaust downstream of outlets 31 traveling within the furnace body – the outlets 31 themselves exit the furnace body and then travel to the singular blower 8 as already disclosed.
Claim 13
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The temperature control method as claimed in claim 12, wherein: the plurality of supply holes and the plurality of exhaust holes (Wang: Fig1-3, supply inlet/outlet holes between inlet/outlet system 2/3) are provided for each zone of a plurality of zones set along the axial direction of the temperature controlling space, respectively (Wang: best seen Fig1, five zones vertically/axially spaced at each of inlet cavities 23 and outlet cavities 34).”
Claim 18
Wang discloses:
“A processing apparatus (vertical furnace device of Fig1-3) comprising:
a processing chamber (furnace tube 12) including an inner cylinder (Fig1, inner tube containing wafer 16 within outer tube 12) configured to accommodate a plurality of substrates substrate (plurality of wafer 16 within tube 12), and an outer cylinder (outer tube 12) covering an outer side of the inner cylinder (Fig1, outer tube 12/121 covers inner tube 122 that is within outer tube 12/121);
a cylindrical furnace body (Fig1-3, cylindrical shell 11 is a part of the housing, block 23/32), covering a periphery of the processing chamber (Fig1, block 23/32 shell 11 surround tube 12), configured to heat the plurality of substrates accommodated inside the processing chamber (functional language. SpecQuote181), and including an outer peripheral surface (Fig1, outside of furnace body);
a gas supply unit (air inlet structure 2) including a combination of a supply flow path (Fig1/3, see flow arrows) and a plurality of supply holes communicating with the supply flow path, provided in the furnace body (block 32 inlet holes 21, shell 11 inlet holes 13) and configured to supply a cooling gas through the furnace body via the supply flow path and the plurality of supply holes to a temperature controlling space between the processing chamber and the furnace body (Fig1/3, see flow arrows, gas supplied to within furnace body in space between outer tube 12 and shell 11 via flow path and inlet holes 21/13); and
a gas exhaust unit (exhaust structure 3) including a combination of a plurality of exhaust holes (block 32 outlet holes 31, shell 11 outlet holes 14) and an exhaust flow path (Fig1/3, see flow arrows) communicating with the plurality of exhaust holes (Fig1/3, see flow arrows), provided in the furnace body (block 32 outlet holes 31, shell 11 outlet holes 14 are within furnace body), and configured to exhaust the gas in the temperature controlling space through the furnace body via the plurality of exhaust holes and the exhaust flow path to an outside of the furnace body (Fig1/3, flow arrows from space between outer tube 12 and shell 11 via outlets 31/14 to outside the system via heat exchanger 7 and fan 8), wherein:
the combination of the supply flow path and the plurality of supply holes is located at multiple positions along an axial direction of the furnace body (Fig1-3, see flow arrows and inlet holes are at multiple vertical/axial locations), and
the combination of the plurality of exhaust holes and the exhaust flow path is located at multiple positions along the axial direction of the furnace body (Fig1-3, see flow arrows and inlet holes are at multiple vertical/axial locations), such that the gas in the temperature controlling space (space between outer tube 12 and shell 11) is exhausted via the exhaust flow path at each of the multiple positions that opens at the outer peripheral surface of the furnace body (Fig1/3, exhaust flow through exhaust cavities 34 in block 32) to exhaust the gas … at the multiple positions along the axial direction of the furnace body (Fig1, block exhaust outlets 31 are located at multiple vertical/axial positions along the furnace body).”
The above noted limitations are considered functional language, and as the structure disclosed in the reference anticipates the claimed structure, the structure disclosed is capable of performing the recited function, see MPEP 2114.I,II. However, the functional language is disclosed as noted above.
SpecQuote181: “When performing the heat treatment process, the wafer bearing wafer of the wafer 16 into the furnace tube 12, heating wire 15 generates heat to the furnace tube 12 in the wafer performing heat treatment process.”
Wang is silent to exhausting the out flow air at multiple vertical/axial locations along the furnace body.
Kato teaches (Fig1/3) that it is known in the art alternatives for a vertical furnace to either have a single outlet through the furnace body to a blower (as shown in Fig1) or to have a plurality of furnace body outlets arranged vertically/axially to then flow to a blower (as shown in Fig3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arrangement of Wang to substitute the single furnace body outer outlet to a blower to have a plurality of vertically arranged furnace body outer outlets as taught by Kato, as Kato teaches that such a modification is merely a simple substitution of one known in the art outlet exhaust flow path arrangement for another, and the resulting arrangement has the reasonable expectation of successfully providing the arrangement of Wang with a working and known in the art alternative exhaust flow path through the furnace body as taught by Kato where instead of the exhaust downstream of outlets 31 traveling within the furnace body – the outlets 31 themselves exit the furnace body and then travel to the singular blower 8 as already disclosed.
Claim 19
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the exhaust flow path, in a planar cross sectional view, has an arcuate shape extending along the circumferential direction inside the furnace body (Wang: best seen Fig3, see flow arrows – flow path is curved in planar cross view along circumferential direction within shell 11).”
Claim 20
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein an arc length of the arcuate shape of the exhaust flow path is shorter than one-half a circumference of the furnace body (Wang: see annotated Fig3, arcuate flow path shown by arrowed line, exhaust flow path on either left/right side travels less than a full half of the circumference due to the width of cavities 34/23).”
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Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN 112 013 674) in view of Kato (US 6,403,927), and in further in view of Nunotani (JP 06-260429).
Claim 16
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato discloses: “The processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the inner cylinder has a flat ceiling (Wang: Fig1, inner tube flat ceiling), the outer cylinder has a … ceiling (Wang: Fig1, outer tube 12), the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder are formed of a heat-resistant material (Wang: inner and outer cylinder are both made of quartz; SpecQuote161: “furnace pipe 12 specifically can be made of quartz material pipe-shaped structure”, “the outer furnace pipe 121 and the inner furnace pipe 122 are made of quartz material pipe-shaped structure,”), and the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder are disposed coaxially inside the furnace body to form a double cylinder structure (Wang: Fig1 shows coaxial arrangement of inner and outer tube 122/12).”
The modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato is silent to the outer tube 12 having a dome-shaped ceiling.
Nunotani teaches (Fig1/2) that it is known in the art to form the tube that contains the treating chamber 3 to have a dome-shaped ceiling.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato to change the flat top of outer tube 12 to have a dome-shaped ceiling as taught by Nunotani, as Nunotani teaches that it is known in the art to select a dome-shaped top for the tube that contains the treatment chamber of a furnace, and the resulting arrangement has the reasonable expectation of successfully providing the modified arrangement of Wang by the teachings of Kato with a working and known dome-shaped ceiling as taught by Nunotani.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN HUNTER JR whose telephone number is (571)272-5093. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-18.
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/JOHN S HUNTER, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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